Brain injury cases are one of the worst in the world, and people suffering from a personal injury like this can expect many years of hardship while trying to recover. Sometimes, this never happens, which puts a hardship on the family and the person in question.
These accidents happen because of a specific trauma to the head, such as a blow from a baseball bat or during a car accident. The at-fault party (the other driver or the one hitting/shooting the victim) has liability toward the victim and must pay compensation to them for the damages they did.
However, medical malpractice comes into play for brain injury cases, too. If the doctors and surgeons didn’t do their duty and caused more problems or damage, the victim has a right to make a personal injury claim against them and possibly the hospital in general.
The issue is most victims of brain injury cases have a hard time remembering the incident and may lose their sanity (for a while or permanently). Therefore, most cases rely heavily on witness testimony, sometimes called lay testimony or intimate acquaintance testimony.
Expert opinions and testimony from a loved one, such as a parent, child, or spouse, are different, and the victim cannot describe their problems or what happened most of the time.
Brain injuries often result in years of trial and challenge. The family wonders about the victim’s sanity and must take on extra responsibilities to care for the person and pay the bills. Generally, their mental health diminishes with time, and if medical malpractice is to blame, this means that someone must pay, such as the hospital, surgeons, doctors, and neurologists.
If your loved one suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI), it’s up to you to take care of their mental and physical health. This is often a challenge because of the many issues that make up a brain injury. You might not know what problems could arise.
But you learn as you go. Your loved one requires medical attention immediately, and you must focus on their well-being after the accident. It’s hard to know where to turn for help because hospitals and doctors are for the bottom line instead of showing concern for your family.
It’s best to consult with an experienced and aggressive Los Angeles brain injury attorney. Ehline Law Firm takes on personal injury cases related to medical malpractice and severe brain injuries. We can help you gather all of the evidence needed about the accident. However, your opinion is important here, too. You should get to stand up in court and give testimony about the sanity, mental health, and physical ailments of your loved one.
We make sure this happens so that everyone understands that, in your opinion, your loved one has lost their quality of life and can no longer function as they once did. You want to provide this testimony to win your case and get more compensation because your loved one deserves and you need it.
Though a witness’s opinion isn’t evidence, we use it to tell a compelling and emotional story that shows your loved one as the victim during your case. Please call our office today at (213) 596-9642 for your free case evaluation. We’re based out of Los Angeles, California, and we can help you choose an attorney near you. When you contact us on the phone, we can schedule a time for you to come in or visit you where it’s most convenient.
You’re under immense stress here, but a medical malpractice personal injury case causes undue challenges you must now handle on your own. The insurance company isn’t on your side, but we can take on the insurance companies and help you get a sufficient settlement. We protect your personal information with our solid attorney-client relationship.
Why Does This “Lay Testimony” Remain Vital for Brain Injury Lawsuits
What Is the Difference Between Expert Witnesses and Intimate Acquaintance Testimony?
A witness is a person who answers questions in court under oath during a trial or deposition, and the statement is a testimony. Whether the person is there to provide an expert opinion or as a lay witness makes a massive difference in whether the testimony is permissible and when.
Sometimes, the line between an expert and a lay witness varies in different jurisdictions and court systems. Since this is a brain injury case that falls under personal injury law, most judges allow intimate acquaintance witnesses to speak. While you can’t provide information on the evidence for the case, you can describe what happened, your feelings, and other essential information.
The attorney you choose uses those opinions to tell a heartbreaking and sad story, and it affects the judge, jury, and others present. This can help the medical malpractice case because it’s free and personal information provided to the courts.
What Are Lay Testimony or Intimate Acquaintance Witnesses?
Generally, the law divides the witnesses into two categories:
- Opinion
- Fact witnesses.
A fact witness testifies about firsthand knowledge – what they saw, heard, did, and said. Sometimes, they’re called intimate acquaintance opinions because they’re closely related to the injured person in some way, and eyewitnesses at the scene, family members, and business partners fall into this category.
What Is an Expert Opinion Testimony?
You call someone with specialty skill sets an opinion or expert witness, and they provide opinions to help the jury understand the factual evidence of that case. Expert witnesses testify and tell their views about specific events or facts. They don’t have firsthand knowledge of the event, but they use their technical skills, experience, knowledge, and methodologies to form an idea about the case. Most personal injury claims require experts to discuss the injuries, the situation leading up to the accident, and other pertinent facts.
What Is Admissibility?
An opinion witness is either an expert or an intimate acquaintance witness, so the opinions they can share depend on the classification of being an expert or a lay witness. The testimony is subject to separate rule sets governing admissibility, but this is primarily for federal courts. Lawyers classify brain injury cases as personal injuries, so they do not use the same, allowing family members and other loved ones to testify about the accident and how it affects them now.
While insurance companies can try to deny those opinions, most judges allow the witness to speak on behalf of their injured loved one.
A medical malpractice claim is another personal injury case type. Any criminal charges against the doctors or hospital are separate from the settlement the family hopes to receive.
If you want to be a part of the personal injury case and give your opinion on what happened and how it has affected you, it’s essential to speak to an attorney. They can investigate the medical history and evidence. The attorney also gets testimony from others who witnessed the events, such as nurses and doctors present and operating on the person.
Medical malpractice and brain injury cases go together. The law is quite clear on what to do, but if the injured person cannot speak for themselves or testify, you may do so on their behalf. You can talk about their mental health and sanity, which can raise the settlement amount that the insurance company must pay.
An intimate acquaintance offers their opinion on the matter, and it’s challenging. Many people dislike speaking in front of others because of the stress it puts on them. However, we can walk you through everything, and you have the protection of our attorney-client relationship.
You must seek California brain injury legal services from a reputable source, and Ehline Law Firm offers free consultations. We can come to your home, or you can come to the office for a free visit, but our goal is to find out what happened to see if there is a case.
If you choose us as your attorney team, we immediately start gathering evidence, talking to witnesses, and determining if it’s a medical malpractice case or a brain injury case. Regardless, we work hard to get you the settlement you need and to ensure that it’s sufficient for the damages done.
Please call us at (213) 596-9642 to request your free evaluation. Our aggressive and compassionate attorneys are on your side and offer an excellent attorney-client relationship that you will appreciate during this stressful and trying time.
Why Do You Need an Expert Witness Opinion?
We want you to be an intimate acquaintance witness, and we focus on many methods to get you the settlement you deserve for your loved one. Any lawsuit involving liability, evidence, proof, and damages in a settlement requires expert testimony. In brain injury cases, each of the experts must act as one to satisfy causation, liability, and damages for the plaintiff to win and receive an appropriate settlement.
A brain injury case involves negligence questions from a health care provider (medical malpractice), a manufacturer or creator of a drug or product, or someone causing a specific accident to result in the injury. Other issues here include the person’s cognitive capacity, medical expenses required to treat the person, ability to work and jobs they can do now, and psychological harm. Sometimes, a person’s sanity changes and the person requires mental health services to ensure that they can return to normal society again.
The burden of proof falls to the injured person, so it’s imperative to hire an attorney for assistance. Through the attorney-client relationship, the legal professional gathers evidence, which often means talking to a witness or two.
Once the claim for the brain injury comes out, the attorney must assemble various experts to testify about what happened. If a vehicular crash caused this brain injury, the accident reconstructionist should provide expertise about reaction times, distances, speed, and other factors to satisfy the negligent conduct claim. However, if a medical error occurred, a medical witness must specify that the practitioner’s conduct was inappropriate for the standard of care the person deserved for that injury.
Sometimes, the at-fault party shot, stabbed, or otherwise harmed the person. If this happened, you must obtain police reports and other evidence. However, the attorney can also call on police officers to explain what happened during the event and how they transported the person to the hospital. The police officers, first responders, and the hospital can have liability in the matter, depending on the events.
At Ehline Law Firm. We understand how crucial evidence is to the case and make sure that the right people testify to show medical malpractice or the liability of the at-fault party, whoever that might be.
For brain injury cases, a neuropsychologist or neurologist must testify about the extent and nature of the injury. This provides information about the person’s cognitive impairment, testimony about the treatment received or withheld, and the diagnosis of the injury. The expert explains why the person changed their behaviors and talks about the mental state and sanity of the victim.
Experts must also discuss how the victim adapts currently to the changed lifestyle. The psychologist or neurologist must have similar opinions when discussing the extent and nature of the impairment and how coping with the consequences of the injury affects the victim.
They must testify about the cost of future treatment and its necessity for occupational, vocational, or medical needs to get you a larger settlement. For example, if the neurologist claims that a victim has the capacity to do certain things, a vocational expert offers clinical findings and tests consistent with that opinion.
Expert communication in brain injury cases can help to present a viable and consistent lawsuit or claim to meet all the elements required to prove the case. Before the judge or jury can award the proper settlement based on the injury’s severity, the reasonableness and necessity of future and past damages, and how it’s going to affect the person’s life, the experts must agree and present an unvarying and logical theme with diagnoses. Those opinions might not be evidence in their pure form, but these experts help others understand the evidence and explain it in a way that everyone grasps.
Because an expert’s opinion plays a massive role in assembling a compelling personal injury case, victims and their families need to hire a Los Angeles brain injury attorney to get the right verdict and settlement. Contact Ehline Law Firm in California to receive a free consultation about your case.
The attorney-client relationship is imperative, and we always focus on your needs. We are available when you call, listening to your concerns, and assisting wherever possible. When you hire us as your attorney, we gather all the evidence and determine whether it’s a medical malpractice, personal injury case, or something else. The consultation is free, and we work aggressively to get the compensation you deserve.
Sufficient and qualified experts are our goal, but we also take intimate acquaintance testimonies from spouses, parents of the injured person, children of the injured person, and anyone else who can help with the case. Don’t hesitate to call us for your free case evaluation by dialing (213) 596-9642.
How Do You Know if the Victim Has a Traumatic Brain Injury?
Traumatic brain injury symptoms don’t always appear suddenly. Signs of an injury can take weeks or months to show up and can include the following:
- Cognitive (mental) changes
- Change insanity level
- Sensitivity to sound and light
- Loss of balance
- Dizziness
- Slurred speech
- Inability to wake up from sleep
- Numbness or weakness in the legs and arms
- Convulsions
- Seizures
- Repeated nausea or vomiting
- Loss of consciousness for up to a few minutes
- Headache that doesn’t go away or gets worse.
Most people learn 80 percent from seeing something and only take in 15 percent of what they hear. Therefore, visual evidence is our top concern here for brain injuries. Still, having a lay witness or two as an intimate acquaintance testimonial is imperative because it brings to light the realness of the case.
You live with the injured person and care for them, so your intimate nature shows everyone what you go through and how your loved one changed because of the accident. Insurance companies often try to avoid personal acquaintance testimony. Still, we include it whenever possible as an example of the injured person’s mental sanity and state of mind. This also ensures you receive sufficient compensation to cover doctor visits. If medical malpractice caused a brain injury, Ehline Law Firm knows how to handle such personal injury cases and fights aggressively against the insurance company to get you and your loved one what you deserve.
What Is Our Job as Your Attorney?
We want to provide an excellent attorney-client relationship, which only happens when you trust us to find the evidence, use it appropriately, and help you tell your story and that of the injured person. The issue is that most brain injury cases have invisible injuries; they’re all inside the person’s brain and head, so no one else can see what goes on. While their sanity may suffer, and they could develop a mental illness, these are hard to prove and show as evidence.
This makes it much harder for the attorney to build a personal injury case, but nothing is ever impossible with Michael Ehline on your side. To meet the challenges of a brain injury case, he thinks about this type of personal injury differently than a standard one. Though an expert witness is crucial here, using an intimate acquaintance witness becomes paramount.
As an intimate acquaintance witness, you’re in a unique position to describe how the brain injury affects the injured person’s daily life. No one can overstate that this perspective is highly valuable in such a case where, on the surface, the injured person might look and act normal but deep down has some mental defects and loss of sanity concerns.
Michael Ehline is a top attorney in California with various accolades and awards to show for his many years of legal service. He has always fought for his country and the right of others, which started in the US military as a US Marine. Medically discharged years later, he became a paralegal and worked his way up to an attorney. While challenges ensued each step of the way, he never lost sight of what he could do and wanted to do for the good people of California.
Ehline Law Firm’s mission is to help medical malpractice victims with brain injury cases get the most money in a settlement. Sufficient amounts of cash are crucial here so that the injured person receives the care they need here and in the future. Contact an aggressive and compassionate attorney who cares about you and focuses on your needs.
The phrase Ehline lives by is “honor, courage, and commitment.” He learned it in the Marines, but these things remain at the core of his value system, which sets him and his legal team far apart from the other attorney options. No other California personal injury lawyer can top the five-star attorneys here. Contact Ehline Law Firm today at (213) 596-9642 to request your free case evaluation.
Do you have questions about your personal injury claim or want to see if you have a case? Please call and speak to someone now. From there, you can decide to work with Ehline and his team to build an excellent attorney-client relationship and help build the brain injury case with the right evidence and experts.
California law is confusing enough, but for brain injury cases, things escalate and become more challenging very quickly. Gathering evidence is a chore because there are many people to talk to, including police officers, first responders, doctors, neurologists, and surgeons. Mental health practitioners must also discuss the person’s sanity and mental health.
Insurance companies hound the family, trying to get them to settle out of court and for a lot less money. Though it’s in the insurance company’s nature to under-pay, Ehline Law Firm ensures that doesn’t happen. You deserve sufficient funds to cover your loved one’s medical bills, and the insurance company needs to do this. Intimate acquaintance testimony is the best way to get this taken care of.
You can provide an idea of daily life for the traumatic brain injury victim, but you can also use your words and expressions to paint the sad picture of a once-healthy person who now has many challenges. The law is on your side, but fighting for your rights is often difficult. It doesn’t have to be when you work with the right attorney who can offer legal advice and protect your sanity during this trying and stressful time. Call (213) 596-9642 right now for your free consultation.
Who Are Suitable Candidates to Use as an Intimate Acquaintance Witness?
The best intimate acquaintance witness knows the injured person well, but the issue is ensuring that the judge or court doesn’t feel that this person has an ulterior motive for testifying. Therefore, it’s best to go with a family friend, co-worker, or neighbor who can testify about the changes they notice in the injured person since the injury occurred.
However, we don’t stop there and let close family members, best friends, spouses, parents, and children testify, though it is often less persuasive for them to speak on behalf of the injured person. These individuals have a close personal experience with the person’s condition, but trials focus more on credibility than anything. The court could feel (right or wrong) that a very close person to the injured person is motivated to paint sympathy to receive more compensation.
At Ehline, we don’t just focus on those who are “neutral.” We understand how challenging it has been for you as the injured person’s caregiver, so you have every right to speak as an intimate acquaintance witness. Our legal duty is to make sure that your examples showcase things in a different light while focusing on the big picture and speaking in a way that doesn’t make you seem like you’re trying to get more money.
If you’re concerned and wonder if you should testify, please call (213) 596-9642 for a free evaluation of your injury case, and let us provide you with the right legal advice for your needs.
You aren’t required to testify, either. While we may request that you provide a qualified testimonial about the state of the injured person’s mental health and sanity, it is solely up to you. Many people initially decline the offer to testify but change their minds because they want to tell their story. Regardless, we are here for you and help you muddle through all the legalities you now face. Call for a free consultation today!
What Testimonies Do We Elicit from an Intimate Acquaintance Witness?
The primary goal of having an intimate acquaintance witness is to testify and emphasize the case’s theme. This depends on many factors and facts, but the overall goal is to emotionally resonate with the pain and suffering the injured person now goes through.
For example, you may want to speak about the person’s capabilities before the injury and say things like:
- The injured person worked out many times a week
- Played sports all the time
- She visited her parents regularly
- Because of the injury, the person can no longer do those things.
An intimate acquaintance witness communicates to the judge or insurance adjuster that these are all facts and issues. Still, they do it emotionally and in a way to compel pain and grief and to show that the injured person requires more compensation to live life comfortably if not gainfully.
For example, the intimate acquaintance witness could say that the person was very active, supported their parents, played many sports, and was highly involved throughout life. Still, that’s all gone, and there’s an emptiness. They’re too mentally ill or tired to engage in those pre-accident activities, their behavior has changed to have angry outbursts, they’re irritable all the time, and they’re just not the person they were initially.
The intimate acquaintance witness is in a unique position to provide anecdotal stories and evidence that shows the impact of the brain injury on the person’s domains of function, daily activities, and relationships with others. While anyone can spout off the facts as evidence, providing anecdotal evidence and emotional context makes the message more persuasive.
Many people aren’t sure what to say or how to say it. You don’t want to get up there in front of everyone and burst into tears, but you also can’t act like a robot. The intimate acquaintance witness must present a clear idea of the person before the incident and who they are now. Structuring the testimony like this creates a story of the injury and its detrimental effects on their mental and cognitive abilities. We make sure that the intimate acquaintance witness testifies to create an emotional impact while ensuring that they deliver the information in a matter-of-fact way that’s easy to understand.
Most people find reading and understanding the evidence hard, but an intimate acquaintance testifying is often very persuasive. A compassionate, caring, and aggressive lawyer coaches people on what to say and how, when to speak up, and more. Please get in touch with Ehline Law firm for your free consultation. Alternatively, use our online form to request your free evaluation conveniently and quickly.
What Is Breach of Duty and What Does It Mean for Brain Injury Cases?
A negligence claim requires four elements: damages, causation, breach, and duty. Every state, including California, has rules and procedures for bringing a personal injury claim against another person. Each state applies rules regarding how much compensation an injured person can recover from a negligent party, including a medical provider.
Every person must always act with ordinary skill and care that a regular person might use in a similar situation. For medical malpractice claims and brain injury cases, the duty of care requires medical providers to use the same procedures and practices that other professionals in their geographic location and specialty might use for patients with similar demographics and conditions.
To establish a breach of duty, the lawyer must show that the at-fault party failed to act according to that standard of care. For example, a violation of responsibility for the standard of care could happen when the medical professional doesn’t diagnose the proper condition or offer timely care.
In both situations, their breach of the standard of care causes the patient to suffer from a brain injury.
After establishing the duty and the breach of duty, the lawyer has to show that the at-fault party caused the injuries to the victim. This is the legal cause of the damages if the patient did not have to suffer the injury but did so because of the breach of duty to standard care.
In brain injury cases, the patient must see another doctor quickly to diagnose the injury extent the negligent party caused. Because of the nature of such injuries, the scope and severity are hard to detect, analyze, and assess.
Brain injury symptoms include:
- Confusion
- Loss of memory
- Headache
- Disorientation
- Blurred vision
- Dizziness
- Other complications (sleep issues and a loss of motor function).
The injured person must know the nature of how the injury happened. For example, brain injuries result in situations where the patient ha,s a stroke or no oxygen gets to the brain for a particular time.
What Does Comparative Fault (Pure Comparative Negligence) Mean, and Why Is It Important?
California recognizes the rule for pure comparative fault. Therefore, a person involved in an incident can recover damages, even if they are at fault. The degree of fault reduces the degree of recovery. For example, suppose the injured person is responsible for 90% of the incident. In that case, they can still claim damages for the 10 percent that someone else is responsible for, making it slightly confusing for most people. With that, some cases have multiple at-fault parties involved.
If the person gets injured in a motor vehicle crash because of a drunk driver and then doesn’t receive the right care from the EMTs or the doctors at the hospital, the at-fault parties include the:
- Drunk driver
- Each EMT personnel
- Hospital
- Doctors
- Surgeons
- Neurologists
- Other specialists.
Therefore, personal injury cases are often confusing and challenging, which is why people require the help of a legal professional. The lawyer you choose must have the right skill set and knowledge with many years of experience with brain injuries and personal injury law.
It’s ideal to go with Ehline Law Firm for various reasons, such as:
- Free consultations
- Contingency-based fees (Don’t pay until we win the case)
- Variety of legal staff to assist with the case
- Gather evidence from all appropriate people
- Have a lawyer with skill, compassion, and aggression toward the at-fault parties and insurance companies.
Los Angeles is a dangerous place, but it’s also beautiful and exciting. Therefore, it’s important to stay vigilant and be aware of your surroundings at all times. Even so, you might be the victim of a stabbing or shooting, which can lead to severe brain injuries.
Gun violence is at an all-time high, and the crimes keep coming. With over 59 shootings in South Los Angeles in the first two weeks of the year, you know that it pays to protect your life and that of your loved ones.
Shootings and stabbings aren’t the only worries; drunk drivers and motor vehicle crashes could happen anytime. It would help if you didn’t fear brain injuries, but you must be aware that crime is on the rise, and accidents happen multiple times a day.
Though you’re not always going to have an incident or a brain injury. As a result, it’s always a possibility. If that happens, having a qualified, compassionate, and aggressive lawyer on your side is essential to help build your case and hold those accountable for the injuries you or your loved one sustained.
Ehline Law Firm has won $150 million for its clients, and our lawyers know what they’re doing. With 15 years of experience, we know how to fight insurance companies aggressively.
Also, we understand the severity of brain injuries and how they can affect a person many years down the road.
You are looking at many years to recover, if recovery is possible at all. Common causes of brain injury include:
- Auto accidents
- Defective products
- Incorrect healthcare
- Much more.
These life-changing events can cause a person to require physical therapy, mental health care, and so much more. While every case requires a thorough investigation of the evidence, you must have an intimate acquaintance witness or two to explain the person’s new quality of life and how it differs from their past.
Why Should I Choose an Experienced and Aggressive Los Angeles Brain Injury Lawyer to Fight the Insurance Company?
Accidents always happen, and while you try to prepare and protect yourself, you could become a victim. Most of them are senseless acts and are preventable, but carelessness and anger take away your quality of life or that of a loved one.
You have many bills and are looking at a long road to partial recovery with full recovery out of your grasp or barely a line on the horizon.
These injuries are detrimental to your life and may damage the spinal cord, spinal column, and brain. Now, you’re unsure what to do or where to turn, but a qualified lawyer can ensure you get a full settlement.
If your loved one suffered a traumatic brain injury, it’s time to call Ehline Law Firm. Our attorneys are there by your side each step of the way. We talk to you about being an intimate acquaintance witness and consider other people to take on this role.
This allows you to paint a picture of your loved ones the way they were and how they are now. This helps us show what a brain injury does to others and how these injuries continue to affect you.
Schedule a Free Consultation to Learn More about Intimate Acquaintance. “Lay Testimony” Remains Vital for Brain Injury Lawsuits
Charismatic lawyers from your local injury law firm care about you and your needs. We want to make sure you have sufficient funds to care for your loved one or get care for yourself.
It’s terrifying to be a victim of such a heinous incident, and the parties responsible must pay for their wrongdoing. Please call Ehline Law Firm at (213) 596-9642 for a free consultation.
We promise to assist severely injured victims. Try our online consultation form to get quick legal advice from compassionate, charismatic, and aggressive lawyers in Los Angeles today.
