Cerebral Palsy Lawyers in Florida

For many families in Florida, the excitement from a new child can be clouded by a diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP). If your child has received this life-altering news, you’re likely overwhelmed with complex questions about what caused their condition and what their future holds.

At ABC Law Centers, we understand the profound challenges a cerebral palsy diagnosis brings. For over two decades, our firm has focused exclusively on birth injury cases, including CP caused by medical malpractice. Our compassionate cerebral palsy lawyers in Florida are dedicated to investigating the circumstances of your child’s birth, identifying any negligence, and fighting to secure the vital resources for their lifelong care. 

We assist families statewide, including those whose children received care at facilities like AdventHealth Orlando, Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, or Tampa General Hospital. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation to understand your legal options.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders impacting muscle coordination, posture, and often accompanied by other challenges like speech or learning difficulties. While CP isn’t progressive, its effects can evolve. Many CP cases are not genetic but stem from preventable brain damage occurring before, during, or shortly after birth. When this damage results from healthcare providers failing to meet accepted standards of care, it constitutes a medical malpractice birth injury.

CP often arises from preventable errors by medical staff during childbirth that deprive the baby’s brain of oxygen or cause trauma:

• Failure to Address Fetal Distress: Misinterpreting or neglecting fetal heart rate signals indicating a baby in distress.
• Delayed Delivery: Unjustified delays in performing necessary interventions like an emergency C-section when a baby’s oxygen supply is threatened.
• Umbilical Cord Issues: Failing to properly manage conditions such as a prolapsed or compressed umbilical cord.
• Mismanaged Placental/Uterine Complications: Negligent handling of emergencies like placental abruption or uterine rupture.
• Improper Use of Delivery Instruments: Misuse of forceps or vacuum extractors, causing head trauma, such as skull fractures or brain bleeds.
• Resuscitation Errors: Delays or improper techniques during neonatal resuscitation for a baby born not breathing or with low Apgar scores.
• Untreated Severe Jaundice: Failure to monitor and treat severe jaundice (hyperbilirubinemia), which can lead to brain damage (kernicterus).

Signs that a baby suffered a preventable brain injury can include:

• Unusual floppiness or stiffness in muscle tone.
• Persistent infant reflexes.
• Asymmetrical movements.
• Feeding or swallowing difficulties.
• Delayed developmental milestones (e.g., rolling, sitting, crawling).
• Lack of coordination or tremors.
• Neonatal seizures.
• Extended NICU stay.
• Needed resuscitation or cooling therapy at birth. 

Facing a CP diagnosis caused by medical malpractice requires keen legal insight. Families in Florida choose ABC Law Centers for our dedicated advocacy:

• Exclusive Birth Injury Focus: Our firm has exclusively focused on birth injury law since 1997, with exceptional experience in cerebral palsy cases.
• Proven Results: For over two decades, our attorneys have achieved substantial multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements, securing lifetime resources for affected children.
• Nationwide Reach, Local Collaboration: While licensed in MI, OH, and GA, we help families across the U.S. Our attorneys travel to you in Florida, collaborating seamlessly with local counsel. 
• Medical & Legal Acumen: Our legal team works with an in-house registered nursing staff and a vast network of medical experts to meticulously evaluate medical records, building strong cases that demonstrate how negligence occurred. 
• Compassionate Client-Centered Approach: We understand the profound emotional and financial strain birth injuries place on families. Our team offers unwavering support and clear communication, striving to alleviate your burden.
• No Upfront Fees: We operate on a contingency fee basis. You pay no legal fees upfront; our compensation is entirely dependent on securing a favorable verdict or settlement for your family.

Determining if your child’s cerebral palsy resulted from medical malpractice requires skilled evaluation. A CP case in Florida must prove that a healthcare provider’s negligence directly caused or worsened your child’s injury. This involves establishing four core legal elements:

1. Duty of Care: The medical professional owed a standard of care consistent with accepted medical practices.
2. Breach of Duty: They failed to meet this standard through their actions or inaction.
3. Causation: This failure directly caused or significantly contributed to your child’s cerebral palsy.
4. Damages: Your child suffered actual injuries and resulting damages due to the CP.

Our team  meticulously reviews records for signs of mismanaged labor or other care failures. If you suspect a medical error, contacting a knowledgeable cerebral palsy lawyer in Florida is the essential first step to find out if you have a case.

When cerebral palsy is caused by medical malpractice, identifying all negligent parties is critical for securing justice and compensation. Our investigations often focus on:

• Obstetricians: Doctors who mismanage pregnancy, labor, or delivery.
• Labor and Delivery Nurses: Nurses who fail to properly monitor, document, or communicate critical concerns.
• Anesthesiologists: Professionals whose errors during delivery compromise oxygen flow to the baby.
• Midwives: Caregivers whose actions fall below the standard of care during birth.
• Hospitals and Healthcare Systems: Institutions liable for employee negligence or systemic failures, like inadequate staffing or improper protocols. 
• Neonatologists or Pediatricians: In some cases, post-birth negligence, like delayed diagnosis or improper treatment, can worsen brain damage, leading to CP.

A cerebral palsy diagnosis often entails ongoing medical appointments, therapies, and significant adjustments for a child and their family. When this condition results from medical malpractice, a successful lawsuit in Florida aims to recover comprehensive compensation to address both tangible financial burdens and the profound intangible impact of the injury.

These damages aim to improve your family’s financial situation by covering quantifiable costs and losses, both those already incurred and those anticipated for your child’s lifetime:

• Lifelong Medical Care: This includes the full spectrum of necessary treatments, from initial emergency care, extended hospital stays (including NICU support), surgeries, and prescribed medications, to ongoing visits with specialists like neurologists, orthopedists, and pulmonologists.
• Essential Therapies and Rehabilitation: Compensation covers a wide array of vital therapies, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and cognitive or behavioral therapies crucial for your child’s development.
• Adaptive Equipment and Home Modifications: Funds for necessary assistive devices like wheelchairs, walkers, communication aids, and specialized computer equipment. It also covers crucial home and vehicle modifications to ensure accessibility, safety, and comfort for your child.
• Lost Future Income: If your child’s CP-related impairments limit or prevent their ability to gain employment as an adult, the lawsuit can account for this projected loss of lifetime earning capacity.
• Specialized Education and Vocational Training: Costs associated with individualized educational programs, private tutoring, and vocational training designed to help your child achieve their maximum potential and foster independence.
• In-Home Care and Personal Assistance: Coverage for professional in-home nursing care, personal care attendants, or the economic value of care provided by family members who must pause their own careers to dedicate themselves to their child’s needs.

These damages acknowledge the profound, non-monetary impacts and emotional toll CP has had on your child and family:

• Pain and Suffering: Compensation for the direct physical discomfort, chronic pain, and emotional distress your child endures due to their condition, medical procedures, and the daily challenges of living with CP.
• Loss of Life’s Pleasures: Recovery for the diminished quality of life, including the child’s inability to participate in typical recreational, social, and developmental activities that other children enjoy.
• Parental Emotional Trauma: In specific circumstances, parents may also seek compensation for the severe emotional distress, anxiety, and grief experienced as a direct result of witnessing their child’s devastating injury due to medical malpractice.

Our Florida cerebral palsy legal team works extensively with life care planners, economists, and medical experts to get the full scope of your child’s present and future needs. Our commitment is to help your family secure the financial stability necessary to provide your child with the highest possible quality of life.

Understanding the strict legal deadlines for initiating a birth injury lawsuit in Florida is absolutely critical. This specific timeframe is known as the statute of limitations. If your case is not filed within this period, your ability to seek justice and compensation may be permanently lost.

In Florida, the general statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases is two years from the date the injury occurred or when it was discovered, or should have been discovered. However, there are crucial rules that apply specifically to minors in birth injury cases:

• For the Child’s Claim: Florida law includes a specific provision for minors affected by medical malpractice. Generally, a lawsuit for a cerebral palsy birth injury must be filed on behalf of the child before their 8th birthday. This is a strict deadline, and, unlike many other states, discovery of the injury may not extend this period past age eight, though limited exceptions for fraud or concealment may exist, extending it slightly but no later than seven years after the incident.
• For the Parents’ Individual Claims: Any separate claims filed by the parents themselves, for instance, for their own emotional distress or direct financial losses like lost wages, are typically subject to the standard two-year statute of limitations from the date the alleged malpractice occurred or was discovered. These claims do not benefit from the extended period given to the child’s claim.

Given the complexities and strictness of these deadlines, particularly for children in Florida, it is paramount to connect with an experienced cerebral palsy lawyer as quickly as possible. Our legal team can meticulously assess your situation, clarify the precise deadlines that apply to your family’s unique circumstances, and help protect your legal rights.

For families grappling with a cerebral palsy diagnosis, the thought of adding legal expenses to already significant medical and care costs can be frightening. At ABC Law Centers, we firmly believe that financial constraints should never prevent a family from pursuing justice for medical malpractice that led to their child’s injury.

We operate on a contingency fee basis. This means our legal services come with no upfront financial burden for your family:

• No Hourly Fees: You will never be asked to pay any hourly legal fees, retainers, or upfront costs to our firm. This allows you to focus your energy and resources on your child’s well-being without financial pressure.
• Success-Based Compensation: Our compensation is directly tied to the successful resolution of your case. This means we only receive a legal fee if we secure a favorable verdict or settlement on your behalf. 

This transparent fee structure empowers families by allowing our firm to bear the significant financial risks and expenses involved in litigating complex cerebral palsy cases. Our unwavering commitment is to ensure that every family has access to excellent legal representation, making justice accessible to all.

At ABC Law Centers, we stand as your unwavering advocates, leveraging our skills and dedicated resources to navigate every part of your legal journey:

• In-Depth Investigation: We thoroughly review all medical records, including fetal monitoring strips and imaging, to pinpoint the negligence that led to your child’s CP.
• Collaborative Medical Expertise: We engage a network of leading medical specialists across the nation. Their invaluable insights and testimony are crucial for demonstrating how medical malpractice caused or worsened your child’s injury.
• Strategic Case Formulation: Our legal team constructs a powerful case, linking specific instances of negligence to your child’s CP and comprehensively quantifying all present and future damages.
• Decisive Negotiation: We handle all negotiations with opposing parties and their insurance companies, aiming for a just settlement that fully compensates your child and ideally avoids a trial.
• Litigation Preparation: If negotiations do not lead to a fair resolution, our skilled lawyers are fully prepared to litigate your case in court, advocating for the full measure of justice and compensation your child deserves.

Broad Reach & Personal Attention: Our cerebral palsy team’s practice extends nationwide. ABC Law Centers seamlessly collaborates with local counsel in states where we aren’t primarily licensed, ensuring consistent, high-caliber attention for your child’s unique case.

While some severe cases of cerebral palsy may be evident at birth, a definitive diagnosis often takes time. Doctors typically look for developmental delays and other neurological signs as a child grows, making a formal diagnosis usually between 1 and 3 years of age. However, the underlying brain injury often occurs around the time of birth.

A life care planner is a medical professional who specializes in determining the long-term needs and costs for individuals with catastrophic injuries. In a CP lawsuit, they create a detailed report outlining all anticipated future expenses for medical care, therapies, equipment, home modifications, and personal assistance, which is crucial for calculating damages.

It is common for hospitals and medical professionals to deny liability in medical malpractice cases. This does not mean you don’t have a valid case. Our firm has extensive experience countering such denials with thorough investigation, gathering compelling medical evidence, and leveraging expert testimony to prove negligence.