Brain Injury Lawyer

After reading about the outrageous amount of money the welding industry paid to Paul Lees-Haley, Ph.D., as reported by Mother Jones (July/August 2008) and The Center for Public Integrity, I decided to do a Google search of Dr. Lees-Haley.  In doing that search, I came upon a 2000 article written by Dr. Lees-Haley and John C. Courtney, Psy.D. entitled “Are Psychologists Hiding Evidence?  A Need For Reform”.  In that article, Drs. Lees-Haley and Courtney write:
 
 Many psychologists produce their data promptly when asked to do so by litigating attorneys.  Others refuse, claiming that it is unethical to disclose tests or test data to insurers, attorneys or jurors.  It is irresponsible for the Courts to permit psychologists retained by parties in litigation to determine what is relevant for juries to review.  Doing so allows psychologists to displace the Court.  “Without seeing the test and test data, an attorney cannot possibly fully understand the methodology or the reasoning process used to draw conclusions from test data, and cannot possibly fully cross-examine the expert on the reliability and validity of the allegedly scientific methodology.  Giving psychologists this power is not in the best interest of consumers and is against social policy.”
 
The article continues to dissect the various excuses given by psychologists and neuropsychologists who refuse to turn over their test data and provides  persuasive arguments why these excuses are not valid.
 
Reading this article made me remember a more recent article written by Dr. Lees-Haley which took  the exact opposite position.  I went to my book shelf and pulled out an early issue of the Brain Injury Professional, the official journal of the North America Brain Injury Society. I found this statement with regard to the dissemination of test data to attorneys in litigation.  There Dr. Lees-Haley wrote:
 
 Most of us feel that attorneys should not have unrestricted access to tests and their answers.
 
I wonder what caused Dr. Paul Lees-Haley to take this position, a position he previously called irresponsible? Are these real controversies, or made up controversies? You will have to be the judge.

The Brain Injury Association of New Jersey, along with HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospitals of New Jersey invite you to join them for their full-day conference designed for people with disabilities and their families, friends, caregivers and healthcare professionals. The conference, Life Challenges: Turning Disabilities into Possibilities, will focus on how life-changing disabilities can lead to new and positive possibilities for the disabled, their families and friends.

The event will be held Thursday September 18, 2008 from 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM at the Sheraton Eatontown Hotel. The conference will feature Eric Taylor, a national speaker, who will present his seminar, “Ten Life Lessons I Learned from Superman: How I Learned to Fly and You Can Too!”  Mr. Taylor's presentation is based upon his personal friendship with the late actor and activist for the disabled, Christopher Reeve.

The conference will also feature nationally known comedian and stroke survivor John Kawie who will perform his highly acclaimed off-Broadway show “Brain Freeze.” He will discuss how to live with a disability and keep your sense of humor.

For more information, please call 732-505-5003.

It seems like deja vu reporting on another Court decision in which a trial judge has barred the testimony of a “biomechanical expert” employed by Biodynamics Research Corp. out of San Antonio, Texas.  This time it was the Supreme Court of Nevada and the proposed expert was Dr. Alfred Bowles II.
 
In Hallmark v. Eldridge, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. 48 (July 24, 2008), plaintiff filed suit for injuries he sustained when a vehicle owned by the defendant backed a company truck into the side of plaintiff’s car.  Plaintiff sustained two ruptured lumbar disc herniations as a result. 
 
Tradewinds Construction, the defendant in the case,  hired and presented, over plaintiff’s objection, the testimony of a physician, Alfred Bowles, II, M.D. who was credentialed and qualified as a “biomechanical engineer” to testify that the forces involved in the collision could not have caused plaintiff’s back injuries.  While the jury found defendant 100 % at fault, $200,000 for past damages which appears, from the decision, to be for “special damages” and $20,000 for future damages.  Plaintiff moved for an additor (an increase in the award) or in the alternative a new trial limited to the issue of damages.  The District Court denied plaintiff’s motion and the appeal followed.
 
Plaintiff asserted on appeal that the District Court erred in allowing Dr. Bowles to testify.  At trial, Dr. Bowles conceded on cross-examination, that he had formed his opinion without knowing the starting positions of the vehicles, the speeds at impact, the length of time that the vehicles were in contact during impact, the distances traveled, or the angle at which the vehicles collided.  Dr. Bowles also conceded that his opinion relied solely on photographs of plaintiff’s vehicle since he did not have the opportunity to examine it. 
 
The Supreme Court found that the District Court did not abuse its discretion when it determined that Dr. Bowles qualified as an expert under Nevada law.  However, the Nevada Supreme Court did find that the District Court abused its discretion when it allowed Dr. Bowles to testify “Because his biomechanical testimony and report did not assist the jury in understanding the evidence or determining a fact in issue.”  The Court found that defendant failed to introduce any evidence demonstrating: 1) that Dr. Bowles’ biomechanical opinion was capable of being tested; 2) that Dr. Bowles’ theories had been published or subjected to peer review; 3) that these types of opinions were generally accepted in the scientific community.
 
The Supreme Court concluded that the Court’s abuse of its discretion required that the matter be remanded to the District Court for a new trial limited to the issue of damages.  The Court instructed that on remand, Dr. Bowles’ evidence be excluded from consideration by the jury.

Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama, and his potential running mate, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, along with eight additional senators sent a letter to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates Monday urging him to increase medical coverage and care for Iraq war veterans left with serious brain injuries.

The letter references a recent study from the RAND Corporation, which estimates that over 320,000 troops returning home from the two Iraq wars experienced a traumatic brain injury.

The other senators signing on to the letter include political notables Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-CT.

You can read more on this story here.

The Brain Injury Association of New Jersey will host the 6th Annual Walk For Thought / Cycle For Safety event on Saturday, October 18, 2008 at the Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville, NJ and at the Saddle River County Park in Paramus, NJ.

The Walk For Thought / Cycle For Safety program is designed to encourage prevention, awareness, and fundraising for those who have suffered or know someone who has suffered from a traumatic brain injury.  The event hopes to raise awareness of traumatic brain injuries and celebrate the achievements of people living with brain injury. The day also honors those who have sustained brain injuries and cannot participate in the walk.

You can access additional information on the Walk for Thought/Cycle for Safety event including a schedule of events for the day, registration information and sponsorship opportunities here.

The Center for Public Integrity has just released a shocking story disclosing that Paul Lees-Haley, Ph.D. and other researchers were paid millions of dollars by the welding industry which has been  embattled in litigation over whether welding fumes contain manganese, a toxic metal that specialists suggest cause Parkinsonism.
 
According to the story, lawsuits against the welding industry have been ongoing since the 1970s.  The welding products industry has consistently argued that there were no reliable scientific data to prove that welding fumes cause the Parkinson-like syndrome known as Parkinsonism.
 
Recently, in December, U.S. District Judge Kathleen O’Malley, who has been handling hundreds of these cases, ordered both sides to fully disclose payments made by any of the parties to researchers.  Court documents obtained by the Center for Public Integrity demonstrate that “The welding companies paid more than $12.5 million to 25 organizations and 33 researchers, virtually all of whom have published papers dismissing the connection between welding fumes and workers’ ailments.  Most of the money, $11 million,  was spent after the litigation achieved critical mass in 2003; attorneys for the welders, meanwhile, spent about half a million.”
 
The documents revealed that Jon Fryzek who works for Maryland’s International Epidemiology Institute - “known for its industry-commissioned studies” was paid $971,000 from welding defendants.
 
The defendants also paid $860,000 to Paul Lees-Haley, while C. Warren Olanow, M.D., a Manhattan neurologist who has  “published at least a dozen articles cited by defense experts” received almost $2.9 million.  The Parkinson Institute in California received nearly $3.4 million  to conduct a four-year study.  
 
The revelations about Dr. Paul Lees-Haley strongly confirm the opinions published by Erin Bigler, Ph.D., an internationally-renowned neuropsychologist who recently published an article entitled “Motion to Exclude” in the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, where Dr. Bigler criticized defense forensic neuropsychologists.
 
The story published by the Center for Public Integrity can be found on their website and is also being published concurrently in Mother Jones magazine.

The Brain Injury Association of New Jersey is offering a free copy of Preparing for Life after High School: The Next Steps, Living With Brain Injury. The booklet is reprinted with permission from the Brain Injury Association of America and describes the opportunities and resources available to students with brain injuries, their families, and others who care about them.

The booklet provides guidance on how to make a successful transition from a high school student to young adult and emphasizes the importance of understanding the student’s rights, of exploring options, of collaborative planning, and of flexibility. For more information, contact the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey at 732-745-0200.

I am pleased to advise my readers that I have been elected as President-Elect of the Melvin M. Belli Society. The society is named after Melvin M. Belli, a founder and past president of ATLA (Association of Trial Lawyers of America) and one of the truly great lawyers of the 20th century.

Life magazine dubbed Melvin Belli, “the king of torts” and his courageous, innovative use of demonstrative evidence and his willingness to teach and share his techniques are legendary.  The Belli Society continues his tradition with hard-hitting, practical seminars featuring courtroom skills.  This weekend, in Philadelphia, I was honored to be elected president elect of this wonderful society.

Pictured from left to right: Bruce Stern, Howard Nations, Linda Atkin, Ira Leesfield, Kirk Morgan and Thomas Dempsey.

I have just returned from a week in Philadelphia where I attended the American Association for Justice national convention.  It was an extremely busy week starting on Friday afternoon where I was honored to be one of 35 presenters at the annual Belli seminar.  My presentation was entitled Third Party Observers During Neuropsychological Testing.

On Saturday, I was nominated and elected as president elect of the Belli Society.  Saturday morning I also gave a presentation entitled Rules of the Road-The Opening Statement.  On Sunday, through Tuesday, I attended numerous educational seminars on various topics of trial advocacy.  The convention ended on Thursday with my attendance at the AAJ Board of Governor’s meeting, where I serve as national governor for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America-New Jersey.

The North American Brain Injury Society will hold the 21st Annual Legal Conference on Brain Injury in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 2-4, 2008. The conference will offer detailed, practical information on every aspect of litigating a traumatic brain injury case. Over 50 of the leading attorneys and medical experts from North America will provide the tools you need to successfully handle these challenging cases.

You can access additional information including a list of speakers, how to register, CLE credit information, and a full conference schedule of events here.