This DVD set contains highlights from the first advanced Trial Guides CLE seminar dedicated to motor vehicle cases. It features epidemiologist/crash reconstructionist Dr. Arthur Croft, researcher Dr. Paul Ivancic, and trial lawyer Dr. Aaron DeShaw.
In addition to handling a wide variety of issues related to injury causation, accident reconstruction, and typical defenses related to all types of auto cases, the set also addresses challenges specific to minor impact cases. It provides an advanced and in-depth consideration of motor vehicle cases that will take you from the fundamentals of insurance claims settlement and through more advanced topics.
This set will give you the information necessary to get your clients fair compensation for their losses and overcome the defense’s junk science. You will learn the following:
- Details of the eighty-nine scientific studies that prove a high percentage of people who sustain injuries in motor vehicle collisions experience long-term chronic pain
- The risk factors most likely to lead to injury in a crash and the factors most likely to result in a permanent injury
- How defense experts use average velocity to mislead the jury into thinking your client wasn’t injured
- Citations for scientific and medical journal articles that support your cases
- How to cross-examine a crash reconstructionist, biomechanist, or defense medical examiner
- How crash testing has increased nonfatal crash injuries
- How to disprove the junk science and myths used by the defense
- How to get event data recorder or “black box” data before it is lost
- And much more
*Please note: This video set includes highlights from an exclusive $1,200 live event for lawyers. Due to copyright and other restrictions, this set does not include the written materials from the conference. Dr. Croft's book Whiplash and Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries cites many of the studies (or similar) that were mentioned in this video. Visit our Seminars & CLE page to discover more case-changing CLE programs.
Please Note: If you choose the Audiobook option, you can access it through the Trial Guides App for Lawyers button on your account page.
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DVD: Disc 1 [1:37:00]
- An Overview of Traumatic Injuries in Motor Vehicle Cases (Part 1)
- Introduction
- The Epidemiology of Traumatic Injuries
- Risk of Injury and Outcome
- Zero Valid Studies Support Healing in 6-12 Weeks
- Is It an Accident?
- Forces Involved in a Crash
- Peak Acceleration Versus Average Acceleration
- How Our Thinking Has Evolved
- The Impact of Collision on the Neck
- Future Problems with Neck Fusions
- The Effect of Occupant Weight on Injury
- Increasing Acceleration on the Body and Head
- The Type of Acceleration That Hurts Your Clients
- The Impact of Being “Out Of Position”
- How Live Subject Crash Tests Demonstrate Real Crash Factors In Cases With Minor Property Damage (Samples from Machine Vs. Man)
- Differences in Occupant Acceleration Depending Upon Seat Location
- Speed Versus Injury Risk
- Experts Cannot Determine Injury Severity From Property Damage
- The Problem With Stiffer Cars
DVD: Disc 2 [00:56:00]
- An Overview of Traumatic Injuries in Motor Vehicle Cases (Part 2)
- The Impact of Car Assessment Program on Occupant Injuries
- Crush Damage
- The Impact of Seat Back Stiffness and Seat Failure
- The Shortcomings of Medical Imaging
- Causation of Shoulder Injuries
- Causation of Low Back Injuries
- Delay in Onset of Symptoms
- Causation of Traumatic Brain Injury (and MS)
DVD: Disc 3 [01:13:00]
- Auto Crash Reconstruction for Lawyers
- Bumper Scuff Marks
- Computer Human Simulation Modeling (MADYMO)
- Important Vehicle Parameters
- Event Data Recorders (aka Black Box)
- Sample of a “False Start” Case
- Using the NASS Database
DVD: Disc 4 [02:01:00]
- Defense Myths and Legends
- Introduction
- Defense Myth 1 - “The force is the same as sitting down in a chair”
- Defense Myth 2 - “All injuries resolve in 6-12 weeks” and the story behind the Lithuanian Study
- Defense Myth 3 - “5 mph Delta v injury threshold”
- Defense Myth 4 - “The Bumper Game”
- Defense Myth 5 - The “My foot slipped off the brake” Defense
- Defense Myth 6 – “50% of asymptomatic people have herniated discs”
- Defense Myth 7 – “Positive Waddell’s Sign = Malingering”
- Defense Myth 8 – “Everything is due to pre-existing conditions”
- Cross Examination Ideas
- Defense Myth 9 – “It is Somatoform / Somatization Disorder”
DVD: Disc 5 [02:18:00]
- Overcoming Minor Impact Defenses In Auto Cases
- Introduction
- Claims Segmentation
- Minor Impact Claim Handling
- Getting Claims Away from Minor Impact Claim Handling
- Special Investigations Unit
- Increase Settlements by Trying Cases
- The Importance of Polarizing the Case in Minor Impact Cases
- Critical tasks for Voir Dire
- Dealing with Jury Bias Against Chiropractors as Expert Witnesses
- Cross Examination of Biomechanists / Accident Reconstructionists
- Cross Examination of Defense Medical / Psychological Witnesses
- Defeating the Malingering / Somatoform Defense
- The “Fake Bad Scale”
- Objective Proof of Spinal Injury Claims
- Closing Arguments in Minor Impact Cases
- Going to Trial Increases All of Your Settlement Offers
- Important Resources for Improving Your Case Outcomes
DVD: Bonus Disc [01:39:00]
- Advanced Topics in Biomechanics
- Introduction to Dr. Paul Ivancic
- Biomechanists
- Factors in Determining Causal Relationships
- Risk Factors for Injury
- Injury Epidemiology
- Injury Biomechanics
- Disc Injuries After Trauma
- Shoulder Injuries from in Motor Vehicle Cases
- Traumatic Brain Injuries in Motor Vehicle Cases
- Soft Tissue Injuries
- Spinal Instability
- Injury Prevention Systems and Their Impact on Injury
- Injuries Resulting from Head Strike