Brain Injury Attorney in San Francisco

Building Claims Around the Full Impact of a Brain Injury

A serious brain injury may affect memory, communication, mobility, behavior, work capacity, and independence, even when some effects aren’t immediately visible. At Bostwick & Associates, we represent clients in complex brain injury cases involving medical malpractice, catastrophic accidents, and other preventable incidents. We investigate responsibility and document how the injury has changed the person’s health, daily functioning, and future needs.

Families may be managing emergency treatment, rehabilitation, lost income, and difficult decisions about long-term support. Our San Francisco brain injury lawyers gather incident evidence, medical records, employment information, and testimony about functional changes. As part of our broader personal injury practice, we prepare serious brain injury claims for negotiation or trial and work on a contingency fee basis, so clients don’t pay attorney fees unless we win their case.

Take the first step toward answers and a clear legal plan. Call (888) 831-8448 or contact us online to speak with our San Francisco brain injury lawyers.

Understanding Brain Injury Types & Causes

Symptoms and functional limitations may appear immediately or become clearer as the injured person returns to work and daily activities.

Two common categories of brain injuries are:

• Traumatic brain injury: This results from blunt force trauma like that sustained in a car accident, construction accident, or slip and fall. Traumatic brain injury can also occur without a direct impact, such as when rapid acceleration and deceleration cause the brain to move within the skull.
• Hypoxic or anoxic brain injury: This occurs when brain tissue receives too little oxygen. It can result in brain cell damage and conditions such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, particularly in medical and birth injury circumstances involving interrupted oxygen flow.

Traumatic and oxygen-deprivation injuries can cause long-term disabilities that prevent victims from living or working as they did before. Medical evaluation and ongoing documentation are important because the nature and extent of an injury may become clearer over time. If negligence or a wrongful act caused the harm, our brain injury attorneys can assess the evidence and potential avenues for pursuing compensation.

San Francisco Brain Injury Case Results

Establishing a claim may require evidence connecting the accident or medical error to the diagnosis, functional limitations, treatment needs, lost earning capacity, and projected future care.

We’ve recovered more than $1 billion for clients across our decades of practice. Our reported brain injury results include:

• A $17 million settlement for a baby who suffered brain damage after providers failed to treat a pregnant mother’s routine infection. It was the largest California medical malpractice settlement to date in 2019.
• A $21 million verdict for a 56-year-old woman who sustained a mild traumatic brain injury when a truck struck her vehicle. It was the largest California non-punitive verdict for a single individual.

These results reflect present value rather than inflated payout calculations. Past results don’t determine the outcome or value of another claim because liability, medical evidence, damages, and defendants differ in every case.

Watch Jim Bostwick’s 1978 interview with Walter Cronkite discussing what was then the highest jury verdict in the United States.

Our attorneys represent clients with brain injuries and related disabilities caused by preventable accidents, medical errors, and birth injuries. These matters include:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
• Kernicterus
• Cerebral palsy
• Cardiac misdiagnosis and stroke injuries
• Brain damage resulting from medical malpractice

Long-Term Effects of Brain Injuries

The effects may change daily activities, personal relationships, communication, and the ability to work. A person who appears physically recovered may still experience serious problems with concentration, judgment, fatigue, or behavior.

Common long-term effects of brain injuries include:

• Memory loss and cognitive impairment
• Difficulty with speech and communication
• Emotional and behavioral changes
• Chronic headaches and fatigue
• Reduced mobility and coordination

Victims and families commonly incur medical bills for diagnosis, treatment, medication, therapy, and brain injury rehabilitation. Depending on the person’s condition, long-term needs may also include physical, occupational, or speech therapy, assistive services, transportation, home modifications, and household support.

Many injured people can’t return to the same occupation or work the same number of hours. A claim may therefore address lost wages and reduced earning capacity, which is the income the person is reasonably expected to lose over time because of the injury. Serious cases may also require projections for future medical care and support over many years, rather than documentation limited to expenses already incurred.

Our brain injury lawyers in San Francisco examine how these losses affect both the injured person and the family. We present evidence of medical expenses, rehabilitation needs, lost income, reduced independence, and changes in family relationships without treating the diagnosis alone as the complete measure of harm.

Legal Process for Brain Injury Claims in San Francisco

We begin by listening to the injured person and family, reviewing how the injury occurred, and identifying evidence that should be preserved. The process varies according to whether the claim arises from an accident, medical negligence, a birth injury, or another preventable event.

Key stages in a brain injury claim may include:

• Initial case evaluation: We review the incident, potential defendants, insurance coverage, and applicable California deadlines.
• Early evidence gathering: We collect medical records, incident reports, witness statements, photographs, and employment records showing lost income.
• Medical documentation: Neurological findings, neuropsychological testing, rehabilitation records, and treatment history may help establish cognitive, physical, and emotional effects.
• Damages analysis: We organize medical and financial evidence concerning current losses, future care, household assistance, and lost earning capacity.
• Insurance negotiations: We communicate with insurers and present the documented basis for the claim. Some matters resolve without a lawsuit.
• Litigation and trial preparation: When a lawsuit is appropriate, the process can include filing a complaint, discovery, depositions, mediation, and preparation for trial.

According to California Courts, personal injury claims generally have a two-year filing deadline, but important exceptions can change that period. Medical malpractice claims follow different deadline rules, and claims involving a government entity can require much earlier action. The applicable deadline depends on the injury, when it was discovered, the defendant, and other facts, so families shouldn’t assume one general deadline controls their case.

A case may proceed in San Francisco Superior Court when the court has jurisdiction and San Francisco is the proper venue. Venue can depend on where the injury occurred or where a defendant lives or does business. Throughout each stage, we keep clients informed about timing, strategy, and the decisions available to them.

How We Build Serious Brain Injury Claims

We represent people whose brain injuries require careful analysis of both present losses and future needs. A physician is available to evaluate projected future medical costs in appropriate claims, and we work with medical and economic professionals to assess future care, lost earning capacity, and necessary household support. Our goal is to present a clear, evidence-based account of what the injury has changed.

Our work on a brain injury claim can include:

• Evaluating damages: We examine medical expenses, rehabilitation, work limitations, future care, and the effect of the injury on daily functioning.
• Obtaining treatment records: We collect relevant records and opinions that explain the diagnosis, prognosis, and functional consequences.
• Communicating with insurers: We handle claim-related calls and requests so clients don’t have to manage those communications alone.
• Preparing for trial: We organize the evidence for presentation to a jury if the matter doesn’t resolve through negotiation or mediation.
• Keeping families informed: We explain case developments, answer questions, and discuss options at each major decision point.

Treatment records may come from facilities such as Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, UCSF Medical Center, or California Pacific Medical Center, depending on where the injured person received care. These facilities are examples of treatment and record sources, not affiliated institutions. We can review records from neurologists and rehabilitation professionals, document work restrictions and changes in daily activities, and present supported losses to insurers or a jury.

Our team has taken more than 80 jury trials to verdict. That courtroom experience informs how we investigate, document, and prepare high-stakes claims from the beginning, even when a case ultimately resolves without trial.

Discuss a traumatic, anoxic, birth-related, or medical-malpractice brain injury with our San Francisco brain injury lawyers. Call (888) 831-8448 or contact Bostwick & Associates online for a free, no-obligation consultation. We handle litigation costs, and you don’t pay attorney fees unless we win your case.

These independent resources provide treatment and public-health information. They aren’t affiliated with our firm and aren’t substitutes for medical or legal advice.

• UCSF Health - Brain Injury Treatment and Resources
• San Francisco Department of Public Health - Brain Injury Support Services

If a brain injury has changed your health, work, or family life, call (888) 831-8448 to discuss the evidence, deadlines, and next steps with our team.