The Legal Side of Brain Injuries with Jeffrey Moorley
Show Notes:
The system that we are a part of is, unfortunately, not victim-focused. Today’s guest, personal injury lawyer Jeff Moorley, knows this better than most, and he has positioned himself on the side of brain injury victims to assist them in getting the help they are so often denied. It is commonly stated that the average concussion survivor takes two weeks, to a few months to get back to 100% function, but we know that many people suffer from post-concussion symptoms for many, many years. In today's episode, Jeff explains what his work as a personal injury lawyer (focusing on mild traumatic brain injuries) involves, the challenges that he faces working in this industry, and the steps that you can take to make it easier for a lawyer like him to advance your case. Just like there is no quick-fix for post-concussion syndrome, there is no quick-fix on the legal side of things either, but it’s well worth your time to find a lawyer who can help you fight for what you deserve!
Key Points From This Episode:
• Jeff’s educational background, and where his interest in brain injury law originated.
• Some of the biggest challenges that Jeff faces as a personal injury lawyer.
• Why Jeff always recommends getting in touch with a personal injury lawyer after an accident, even if you don’t end up needing them.
• The importance of seeing a medical professional after experiencing a brain injury: making it easier for a lawyer to advance your case.
• Value in letting the people around you know that you are struggling, from the perspective of advancing your case, and looking after your mental health.
• Serious problems that can occur if you hide your symptoms from the world for too long.
• Information that you should find out prior to choosing a lawyer.
• Jeff explains why he uses a contingency fee model.
• The litigation process is a lengthy one, but if you find a lawyer you can trust, it will be worth it!
Get in contact with Jeff and learn more here
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Transcript - Click to Read
[INTRO]
[00:00:05] BP: Hi. I’m your host, Bella Paige. Welcome to the Post Concussion Podcast; all about life after experiencing a concussion. Help us make the invisible injury become visible.
[DISCLAIMER]
The Post Concussion Podcast is strictly an information podcast about concussions and post-concussion syndrome. It does not provide, nor substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician, or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice, or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast. The opinions expressed in this podcast are simply intended to spark discussion about concussions and post-concussion syndrome.
Hi, everyone. It’s me, Bella. Before today’s episode, I wanted to do a quick update on what’s going on before there’s so many great things to come and I am so excited. Concussion Connect launched just last month and I wanted to take the time to tell you more about it. There are articles that get posted by myself, including other resources. You can ask as many questions as you want, comment, share what you’re going through. We do weekly updates with each other. We have a support group that runs every week and we’ll be adding more. There are also monthly themes to focus in on what we need help with. Such as this month is communication. Next month is depression and dealing with mental health. The month after that is dealing with socializing with others out in public, which can be very difficult. Even in the summer, way of being active is a topic because it gets really important to a lot of people.
There are so many different things you can do on the website. You can join at concussionconnect.com or through our website, postconcussioninc.com like always. You can find so many good things there and really get the help that you need. You can reach out to other survivors at any time and you can also not be over stimulated, which is one of my favorite parts. I didn’t want to be overly crowded, too busy, really hard to keep track of, with ads, or pop ups or anything, like a regular social media website. It’s very focused on just you working with your recovery and getting better.
If you do join Concussion Connect, which I really hope you do. I really love the community we’re creating there. If you invite new members, you can earn Concussion Awareness apparel, including our exclusive podcast hats, which aren’t in our story actually, so they are very exclusive. I really want to mention that. Also, our 101 Concussion Tip book is being launched soon. Once it’s released, if you are a member of Concussion Connect, you will not only get early access to the book, but you will also get a huge discount. If you have questions before joining Concussion Connect, make sure to send me a message on social media or through the website. I’m always here to answer all your questions, which you can also constantly do on Concussion Connect or in the coaching session that I’ve been loving. I’ve felt so proud of so many individuals, and if you’re one of those individuals, I’m so proud of you for really taking charge in your recovery and putting yourself first.
Don’t forget, you can sign up for those on our website as well. I wanted to just do one last thing and thank all of the individuals who have donated to the show lately. It really does help so much with covering fees and the cost of running everything, buying new equipment and all those types of things. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone and thank you to all of my listeners who have hard the show. It really makes a big difference and I really look forward to meeting you all on Concussion Connect, so we can really create that inclusive environment that survivors need for all.
Now, I guess it’s time to get to our episode and I will see you there.
[EPISODE]
[00:04:28] BP: Welcome to today’s episode of the Post Concussion Podcast, with myself, Bella Paige, and today’s guest, Jeffrey Moorley. Jeff is a personal injury lawyer at White Macgillivray Lester LLP in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Since 2013, Jeff has dedicated his practice to helping people who have been injured through no fault of their own, or have had their insurance benefits wrongly denied. Many of his clients have suffered traumatic brain injuries and Jeff guides his clients through the legal system and helps reintegrate them into the community. Welcome to the show, Jeff.
[00:05:02] JM: Great to be here.
[00:05:04] BP: To start, do you want to tell everyone a bit about what created your interest in brain injury law?
[00:05:10] JM: Sure. My undergraduate degree is actually in psychology. Out of high school, I was interested in the brain side of psychology, anatomy of the brain, how it works, that kind of thing, pathology, what can go wrong, psychopharmacology, how you can change brain chemistry, that kind of thing. That was kind of my first foray into that. After undergrad, I went to law school and fell in love with the idea of helping injury victims. I think I naturally gravitate to trying to help the underdog. In the personal injury context, I started working in 2013, and have been strictly doing plaintiff’s personal injury law since then. That’s helping individuals with their claims against insurance companies. Just through doing that, a lot of my work naturally involves helping clients who have suffered mild traumatic brain injuries.
[00:06:25] BP: Yeah. I think it’s always interesting how people get started, because it’s definitely a unique area to focus on for sure. Though we know, as brain injury survivors, that there’s a lot of people suffering, the general public does not realize how many people there are out there who are suffering with this invisible injury. Brain injury law is, of course, a little bit complicated, because what you’re fighting for is something invisible. Can you explain some of the difficulties that you come across when dealing with brain injured clients?
[00:07:03] JM: Yes, absolutely. You hit the nail right on the head with the invisible injury portion. The biggest issue is just proving that the brain injury exists in the first place, I think. There’s a natural skepticism by insurance companies and defense lawyers about plaintiffs being injured in the first place. We have to go about proving that there actually was a brain injury. Sometimes that’s hard for insurance companies to believe. Because let’s say, in a car accident case, they’ll often ask, “Well, did you remember striking your head?” or “Did you strike your head?” If the answer is no, then sometimes they take the position that, “Well, how could there possibly be a brain injury if your head didn’t strike anything.”
Another challenge is proving that the brain injury has lasting impairments or disability on the client. Sometimes insurance companies take the position that even if there was a brain injury, that it should be resolved by now, and that the person should be able to work or be able to get back to all of their activities of daily living, just based off of statistical recovery rates for people who have brain injuries and not focusing on the individual.
[00:08:31] BP: Yeah, it’s interesting when you said the head, like striking your head, because you actually do not need to hit your head to experience a brain injury. You can experience something like whiplash, like a lot of car accident victims. A lot of the time that’s why they don’t realize that they suffered a concussion, because they came to a stop at such a fast rate, but they didn’t hit their head on anything because they had a seatbelt on or they were protected. So there was nothing for them to hit their head on, they just flew forwards. Then they don’t realize, it will be a few months, and then they start to experience issues. How does that work if someone, they experience a car accident, and then six months later, they start to realize that they’re still dealing with difficulties from that car accident in the past? Is there anything they can do?
[00:09:22] JM: Right. In that case, it’s going to be especially challenging, if six months after the fact, you’re trying to really advance the claim, which is not really a victim-focused system. Because sometimes, the time when it’s best to focus on the victim is when you know that there’s going to be an enduring effect and it’s not going to be the typical recovery period for this individual. But six months or so after the fact, there’s still things that can be done. It’s just a lot more challenging, because you have to link the symptoms to the car accident, or the negligent act, or someone being at fault for that injury being caused.
There’s certainly a challenge there, but that’s why I typically advise people to get in touch with a lawyer right away, even if it seems that it’s just a mild injury, at least you’ve opened up that avenue, and you know what you can do to protect yourself in the case that things don’t get better. I have initial consultations with potential clients all the time, and lots of them, I don’t see them again and that’s fantastic. I don’t want people to have enduring disabilities. But sometimes, that’s not the way it goes and we have more of a longer relationship, which is fine too. But I always say, knock on wood, you’ll recover and you’ll never have to see it again. That’s the best-case scenario, I think.
[00:11:05] BP: Yeah, for sure. I think it’s true that you said it’s not victim focused. It’s really tough, because what we’re dealing with as survivors is invisible, and a lot of the time, people don’t realize that they’re suffering right away. Sometimes they do, but a lot of the time, it is a few months out, where you start to realize that you’re still not okay. That can be really tough when it starts to affect things like work and your financial means to carry on with life. It’s hard because like you said, they focus on statistics and the statistics for brain injuries are a little skewed. They’re tough to deal with because they always say the average concussion survivor, it’s like two weeks to a few months and then they’re back at 100% back to normal. But the people that often listen to the show, and a lot of people that we have on and we talk with in our concussion community called Concussion Connect that we started, it’s years. It can either be from one head injury or can be from a few, but it’s years of suffering. It’s definitely not a few months and it’s definitely life altering. It can be a very long time where sufferers and survivors are readjusting, and doing therapy and being unable to work. It can definitely be a really long road to go down, especially if you’re trying to also fight a case to help yourself.
[00:12:34] JM: Absolutely. Sometimes it feels like it’s kind of a double whammy for clients, right? They have this injury that they’re dealing with and then at the same time, they have a legal case where they’re fighting a skeptical insurer to get the compensation or just to get caught by that safety net that should be there to catch them when they’ve suffered this terrible injury.
[00:12:58] BP: Yeah, I know. It’s interesting, when you think of survivors because what they’re suffering from, they don’t get to walk into a courtroom, or it’s very hard to show how you’re injured. We’re actually going to get to that next, but with that, we’re going to take a quick break.
[BREAK]
[00:13:20] BP: Wow! I can’t believe it’s been one year. The support from everyone has been truly amazing. Due to reaching our one-year anniversary, you can now book one-hour sessions with myself, Bella Paige. I offer help with understanding loved ones, finding your new normal and finding specialists near you. Find the Work with Bella link in our episode description. I am looking forward to another great year.
[INTERVIEW CONTINUES]
[00:13:49] BP: Welcome back to the Post Concussion Podcast with myself, Bella Paige, and today’s guest, Jeffrey Moorley. Something I wanted to get into is, what types of things can help an individual’s case when they are trying to fight for that car accident they were in or worker’s comp kinds of cases?
[00:14:08] JM: Sure. There’s lots of things that can be done to help an individual’s case. I think the biggest thing would be to see some medical professionals and create basically the evidence, recording what your symptoms are and getting a diagnosis. If you don’t have those things, advancing your case is going to be very challenging. See a medical professional if you think that you might have a concussion. The medical records are the evidence that we rely on to advance the case. I’ve read countless number of medical records every single day. That’s the key thing that a person can do to help their case.
Outside of that, another helpful thing to do is to just tell people generally how you’re feeling and don’t keep your symptoms or your emotions bottled up. I know it’s difficult to do that, and not everyone has people that they can talk to about that. But the more that people know about how you’re feeling, the more evidence there is just in the world to support your case. Even if you don’t have someone to talk to, you could also record your symptoms in a journal. I’m sure there’s templates that you could use for doing that, if you’re not necessarily certain about how to describe how you’re feeling. I don’t need to tell you this. But of course, there’s a constellation of symptoms that’s connected to post-concussion syndrome. Sometimes it’s difficult to record them all or remember to write them all down. The more evidence we have, the better we can advance your case.
[00:16:03] BP: That makes a lot of sense. I know you said medical records matter, and that’s tough, because I know for a lot of individuals, if they’ve suffered from concussions in the past, they won’t go to the hospital, or to a general practitioner when they experience another one because they know that in their past experience, or maybe some of their past experience, nothing was really done. You go to the ER, they tell you you have a concussion and they give you this piece of paper that has all these things to do and not do, and symptoms to watch out for, and when to come back, and then they send you home. It can be tough because a lot of individuals don’t want to go.
If you are in something like a car accident, I always recommend for people to go anyways, because it’s important to rule out the scary stuff. Not that a concussion can’t be scary and life changing, there’s still things that are a little bit more severe and it’s good to rule those out. It’s important to go and see a doctor and see a medical professional. You said be open, and that’s really tough. I know for myself, I bottled things up a lot when I was going through this especially as a teenager, because I was trying to hide how ill I was so that I could keep competing as an athlete. It’s amazing how much you can hide when people can’t see what you’re going through. Maybe you sleep in bed for a little longer, maybe people who live with you might notice but outside of your general household, most people probably won’t know what you’re going through because you can just fake it. It’s really easy to fake it, but it is very tough to fake it for a long time.
What often occurs with a lot of survivors as they fake it, and they keep pushing and then we experience something called burnout. When that burnout occurs, symptoms usually shoot through the roof. All of a sudden, they can’t get out of bed, they can’t walk, they can’t read. They’re having trouble speaking. It’s really tough, so even just being open, and creating that communication with those around you could help you, for example, legally, but could also help you just in general with your lifestyle. Because others out there are watching out for you and maybe checking in on you because they realize that you are actually going through something.
[00:18:21] JM: I agree 100%. I’ve had probably hundreds, hundreds of clients with brain injuries. I see this very, very often. Look, I know it’s easy for me to say these things, but living through it is a much different thing. But there’s no shame in telling people about how you’re feeling and telling people that you’re not feeling your best. I think that works for the concussion side and the mental health side, which are often intertwined. Another thing, I think is that, there’s this tendency for people to be somewhat in denial about not really acknowledging what they’re capable of, or how their life has changed, following something serious like traumatic brain injury.
The sooner you kind of address how you’re feeling about things, and on the legal side, start talking to people about it or getting treatment to help you. In my experience, people have better outcomes. That’s just what I’ve observed. Every individual is different, but that’s a very common thing that I see.
[00:19:31] BP: Yeah, for sure. It can definitely help you when you’re going through something invisible. Do you have any tips for survivors and their families when they are in the process of litigation, when they actually have decided, “We’re going to fight this, we’re going to try to see what we can do”? Do you have any tips for them, like emotionally? Kind of just anything to help them get through it.
[00:19:56] JM: Sure. The first thing that I would recommend is, do your research at the front end when you’re looking for a personal injury lawyer. Ask what kind of cases do they do, do they exclusively practice in personal injury law? There’s so much to learn just in personal injury law, that if someone’s doing lots of different types of law, then it’s a real challenge I think to have that expertise in the particular area. See if they’re connected with treatment providers in your community, so they can know who bills through particular insurance companies, who offers concussion treatment, that kind of thing. It’s very important to get a good personal injury lawyer, an experienced personal injury lawyer to help you through what can often be years long process. Do that work right off the hop.
One thing just to make people aware of is that, it doesn’t cost anything often to meet with a personal injury lawyer. We work on what’s called a contingency fee basis. On that model, you don’t pay a lawyer an hourly rate, the lawyer gets paid at the end of the claim, assuming that the insurance company pays something towards the claimant or that their success at a trial, the lawyer gets a percentage of that award. The reason we work on that model is because oftentimes people can’t work when they come and see us and they don’t have the savings or resources to retain a lawyer. That model works for everyone in some ways.
[00:21:44] BP: Yeah. I like the due diligence factor that you mentioned, it’s really important. We mentioned it with individuals when they’re going to see doctors as well come in with a list of questions. Bring your list, so you don’t forget, because it’s really common with survivors to forget. Don’t be afraid to ask them, this is the person that’s supposed to be helping you. It’s important that you know them just as well as they know you if you’re going to be trusting them with this process.
[00:22:11] JM: Exactly. My last point on tips for the litigation process, I think is, just once you’ve selected that lawyer, and you’re confident in your selection, just trust that lawyer and trust the process. Sometimes, I think it seems like progress is not being made, but it is a very long process. The lawyer hopefully knows what he or she is doing, and it’s very much an imperfect system that we’re dealing with in Ontario and Canada. Your jurisdiction might be a little bit different wherever you are, listener, but the legal system is notoriously slow, but it’s the best system that we have. Be patient and work with your lawyer. It’s going to be a long-term relationship. That’s where you get the best outcomes is when there’s diligence and trust.
[00:23:08] BP: Yeah, for sure. It is a long process. I think some people, we want a quick fix. We want a quick fix medically as well. We eventually sit alone, but it doesn’t really work that way, but we wish it did. Because if we could just get a quick fix, it’d be a lot easier. But the litigation process, it’s so slow, honestly. In my personal opinion, it is so slow. It’s kind of crazy how it can be like, “Oh! I’m still dealing with that and it happened over a year or two ago.” It’s still in the process, especially with COVID, everything got pushed back. It’s definitely a process to go through, but if you believe that somebody was in the wrong, or you’re going to need that financial help, then it can definitely be worth it. Is there anything else you would like to add before we end today’s episode?
[00:24:00] JM: Nothing else to add. I‘m just really grateful for platforms like this and for people like you who are talking about brain injuries. I mean, awareness, I think, is huge. Like you said, the general public, I don’t think that there’s much awareness about the prevalence of brain injury in society. Whenever we do jury trials, when you’re just selecting six people, for civil cases, six people off of the street, it seems that we’re not at the point yet where we can assume that people know anything, but that we can assume that people understand what a brain injury is and the effects that it can have on people’s lives, and what the common symptoms are and the enduring effects that they can have and the difficulties that people deal with. The more awareness, I think, the better.
[00:24:58] BP: Yeah, I definitely agree, considering to this day, I’ve been doing this for over a year and I still get shocked when I meet more and more people who are survivors and I never knew. They find out what I do for work, and all of a sudden, they have a story to tell. It’s something they don’t often share with others. I just wanted to thank you so much for joining us today and sharing some of your work with brain injury survivors.
[00:25:23] JM: Thanks so much, Bella.
[END OF EPISODE]
[00:25:27] BP: Has your life been affected by concussions? Join our podcast by getting in touch. Thank you so much for listening to the Post Concussion Podcast and be sure to help us educate the world about the reality of concussions by giving us a share. To learn more, don’t forget to subscribe.
[END]
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