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Each user must register individually as they will need their own login to access the program and comply with CLE requirements.

Spinal injuries are some of the most common injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents. In order to properly succeed in these cases, you need to be able to:

Properly identify your client’s injuries
Document and communicate those injuries to insurers
Use specialty imagery to confirm the economic/special and noneconomic/general damages in your cases
Better utilize treating providers and expert consultants
Optimize your prelitigation and demand-letter strategy
Successfully cross-examine experts
Effectively and efficiently litigate these cases in the courtroom

This six part series is designed to cover all of the above topics and more in order to help improve your spine injury outcomes via settlement, ADR, or litigation.

The following products are included in this package: (Each program is individually accredited—accreditation not guaranteed in all states)

Spinal Injury Cases, Session One: Basic Spinal Anatomy for Lawyers and Legal Staff (115 minutes)

Approved and Pending Credits: Click Here

In this session, Dr. DeShaw provides basic information about the spine so that you can obtain better outcomes when handling spinal injury claims. By better understanding the anatomy, you (and your paralegal staff) will be able to properly identify your client’s injuries and argue their case. The following areas are covered:

Basic anatomical terms
Planes of motion
Anatomy of the cervical spine
Anatomy of the thoracic spine
Anatomy of the lumbar spine
Anatomy of the pelvic ring, including the ilium, ischium, sacrum and coccyx
Joints of the spine
Intervertebral discs
Commonly injured ligaments
Neurology and the spine: Brain, brainstem and cranial nerves, spinal cord, autonomic nervous system, peripheral nerves.

Spinal Injury Cases, Session Two: Common Spinal Injuries (117 minutes plus 24 minutes of Q&A)

Approved and Pending Credits: Click Here

In the second session on spinal injury cases, Dr. DeShaw provides information on both common and uncommon spinal injuries so that you and your firm can obtain better outcomes when handling spinal injury claims.

The following areas are addressed:

Sprains and how they differ from strains
Scientific evidence of chronic spinal pain after trauma
The myth of symptom resolution within 4–6 weeks
Nervous system injuries (CNS, brain, brainstem and spinal cord)
Autonomic nervous system
Peripheral nerve injuries

Nerve root impingement vs. other injury
Multiple crush syndrome

Disc Injuries

Bulge

Herniation

Protrusion
Extrusion
Fragmented extrusion/sequestration

Stenosis (trauma vs. arthritis)

Soft-tissue injuries and how weather changes affect pain
Common orthopedic/neurological testing and what it tells you
Facet injuries
Spinal fractures
The effect of spinal degeneration before and after trauma on a claim
Ligament injury and spinal instability—how do you tell, and what is the value?

This presentation will help you better understand the types of spinal injuries in the cases you handle, and how to best document and communicate those injuries to insurers for settlement, ADR, or litigation.

Spinal Injury Cases, Session Three: Treating Providers, Imaging, Additional Examinations & Expert Opinions (117 minutes plus 15 minutes Q&A)

Approved and Pending Credits: Click Here

In the third session in this series, Dr. DeShaw provides information on spinal injury claims including information on treatment methods, supporting evidence, expert witnesses, and common defenses. These matters are addressed to ensure that you and your firm can obtain better outcomes when handling spinal injury claims. The following topic areas are addressed in this webinar:

Treatment methods
Treatment provider types
Expert witnesses
Healthcare (Including discussion on healthcare provider qualifications)
Additional expert witnesses necessary in minor impact cases
Common defenses: osteoarthritis as a pre-existing condition
Imaging methods (X-ray, DMX, MRI, MRA, CT, and bone scan)
AMA impairment ratings

This program will help you better understand the types of treating providers and expert consultants that are necessary in spinal injury cases. It considers specialty imaging and medical reports that help confirm the economic/special and noneconomic/general damages in your cases. And the use of medical imaging and medical illustrations in your demand letter and litigation will also be considered. This information will help you better document and communicate your client’s spinal injuries to insurers to increase outcomes in settlement, ADR, or trial.

Spinal Injury Cases, Session Four: Prelitigation Tactics & Demand Letters (136 minutes plus 25 minutes of Q&A)

Approved and Pending Credits: Click Here

In this session, Dr. DeShaw shares important information for successfully handling spinal injury claims during prelitigation so that you and your firm can obtain better outcomes for your clients.

Dr. DeShaw addresses the following topics:

Assisting the insurer to set reserves and getting an adjustor with sufficient authority to settle
Important insurer expectations for treatment
Determining if there are medical images or illustrations that can be used for the demand letter
The importance of having all medical bills and records the first time you submit the case for evaluation
Ensuring you have the correct expert reports, potentially including AMA impairment ratings
Medical bill review software
Bodily injury software for spinal injury cases
The best format for writing spinal injury demand letters

This presentation is designed to help you optimize how you handle spinal injury claims during prelitigation and improve your ability to best represent your injured clients.

Spinal Injury Cases, Session Five: Cross-Examining Defense Experts (93 minutes plus 35 minutes Q&A)

Approved and Pending Credits: Click Here

Dr. DeShaw is joined by lawyer and cross-examination expert Dorothy Clay Sims and forensic medical consultant Dr. Oregon K. Hunter. In this presentation, DeShaw, Sims, and Hunter share information about cross-examining defense experts so that you and your firm can obtain better settlements and verdicts in spinal injury cases.

The following areas are addressed:

Defense medical examinations
The defense expert’s motivations
How examinations should be conducted and what is commonly left out
Are there potential ethics violations by the expert?
Constructive vs. destructive cross-examination
Typical issues with various defense experts

Orthopedists
Neurologists
Physical medicine rehab specialists
Radiologists
Biomechanist
and more

Deceptive use of medical imaging
Cross-examining defense witnesses in deposition or trial
Researching the defense expert
Waddell’s test and other allegations of malingering
And more

Spinal Injury Cases, Session Six: Litigation (146 minutes)

Approved and Pending Credits: Click Here

In part six of this educational series on handling spinal injury cases, Dr. DeShaw is joined by Florida trial lawyer Matt Powell. In this program, DeShaw and Powell provide information that will help you perfect how you handle spinal injury litigation. Powell has dedicated his career to understanding traumatic spinal injuries, regularly tries spinal injury cases, and is one of the few lawyers in America who has obtained a verdict of $1,000,000 or more in a minor impact case.

In this presentation, DeShaw and Powell address the following:

Preparing yourself and your client for trial
Demonstrative evidence
Minor impact soft-tissue cases
Low property damage cases
Why you should try difficult cases
Common defense strategies

Pre-existing injuries
Normal X-ray
Gaps in treatment
Doctor lawyer conspiracy
Lack of surgery
Over treatment
Malingering/somatoform disorder

Important jury instructions to consider
Voir dire
Opening
Direct and cross-examination
Closing arguments
Using DMX in trial
Motions or motions in limine
Arguing noneconomic damages

*Attempts to purchase "Spinal Injury Cases Package - On Demand CLE" by attorneys that represent the defense of a civil action, an insurance company, or the prosecution of a criminal action is explicitly prohibited and any such use may expose the persons using this On Demand Program to ethical sanctions by Trial Guides and/or the appropriate state or local bar association. By adding this product to my cart, I agree that any such use is “unethical,” and any person purchasing access with the intention of using the information from the "Spinal Injury Cases Package - On Demand CLE" for such purposes is committing a “DISHONEST ACT” and an act of “MORAL TURPITUDE.”