Spine Injuries: Demonstrating or Disputing Existence and Extent Using Diagnostics, Expert and Treating Witnesses

Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Personal Injury and Med Mal
- event Date
Thursday, June 20, 2024
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
-
This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE course will offer guidance to personal injury attorneys proving the existence and extent of spinal injuries. The panel will explore difficulties in identifying spinal injuries, overcoming recurrent defenses, working with the right experts for different types of injuries, and quantifying what may seem like "invisible" damages.
Faculty

Mr. de Saint Phalle has established himself as one of California’s top personal injury trial lawyers, having personally litigated multiple cases to settlement, verdict, or judgment with awards in excess of $1,000,000 and as high as $25,000,000. For the last fifteen years, he has been running a trial team dedicated to the representation of injured individuals in California which has handled matters specializing in civil litigation that involve complicated medical issues and disabilities. Mr. de Saint Phalle is an accomplished civil litigator in a variety of areas, including industrial accidents, product liability, exceptions to workers’ compensation, premises liability, professional malpractice, auto, bicycle and boating accidents, as well as business disputes.

Licensed as a chiropractor, Dr. DeGaetano has worked with medical doctors, chiropractors and law firms all over the United States to help professionals work together across disciplinary lines. His areas of expertise include whiplash and brain trauma, the biomechanics of spine trauma, soft tissue injury and repair, pain and proprioceptive neurology, and the management of spine and spine-related disorders.

Ms. Leary is an associate in the Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC (“RLS”) Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation Groups. She represents people who have suffered serious injury as a result of negligence, including personal injury actions, intentional torts and whistleblower actions. Ms. Leary earned her B.A. in political theory from the University of San Francisco, graduating Summa Cum Laude. She earned her J.D. from the University of California at Davis, and was a recipient of the Dean’s Merit Scholarship.
Dr. Padmaja Doniparthi, MD is an Interventional Pain Management Physician. Her Board Certifications include, American Board of Anesthesiology and Pain Management American Board of Anesthesiology and Hospice and Palliative.
Description
Spinal injuries are a frequent result of events with impact forces: motor vehicle accidents, workers' compensation cases, premises liability lawsuits, construction accidents, and many others. These injuries can affect a myriad of areas of the spine and some of these common injuries can be difficult to identify and diagnose.
Diagnostic imaging is a helpful tool, although it should not be singularly relied on to identify these injuries. Instead, a holistic understanding of injury causation, symptomology, testing, and treatment modalities is needed for a personal injury attorney (either plaintiff or defense) to be able to recognize possible spinal injuries in injured parties.
The impact of these injuries and likely future outlook of the plaintiff must be addressed by multiple treaters and experts to properly prepare these issues for trial. The selection, preparation, and deposition of treating physicians and expert witnesses will also be discussed in this webinar.
Listen as our experienced panel discusses demonstrating or disputing the existence and extent of spine injuries using an understanding of anatomy, diagnostic testing, and the use of treating and expert witnesses.
Outline
- Causes of spine injuries
- Categories of spine injuries
- Selection and effective use of experts
- Diagnosing spine injuries
- Causation
- Symptomology
- Persuading the trier of fact
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- What is the difference between a spinal cord injury and a back injury?
- What areas of the spine can hide invisible or hard to diagnose injuries and why are they difficult to find?
- What is a holistic understanding of injury causation, testing, and treatment modalities and why is it needed?
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