What We Do

Since 1982, we have successfully protected the rights of thousands of clients with:

• Brain Injuries
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Selected Medical Malpractice
• Children's Claims
• Disability Insurance Claims
• Fibromyalgia and Other Chronic Pain
• Contested Wills
• Class Actions / Product Liability
• Helping people with a disability

Brain Injuries: Brain injuries can occur without any loss of consciousness and without any blow to the head. The hallmark of a brain injury is the change in a person's personality and in the way they deal with the world. The most common changes seen following a brain injury include problems with:

• Short-term memory
• Attention and concentration
• Ability to do a number of things at the same time
• Ability to plan and organize
• Temper
• Knowing what's socially appropriate
• Energy level
• Sensitivity to lights, to noise or to alcohol

Spinal Cord Injuries: the key to representing an accident victim with a spinal cord injury is to look beyond the actual injury to the impact it has had - and will have on their life. While paralysis can be easily measured by the doctor, what must be carefully examined with a spinal cord injury are the issues of energy level, chronic pain and emotional problems.

From our experience, we know the importance of effective and early rehabilitation, and the need for long-term financial planning.

Selected Medical Malpractice: Medical malpractice is an area that most lawyers avoid because of the difficulty in succeeding in a claim against doctors or hospitals - yet this is a major focus of our practice. The key to our success is early evaluation, analysis, and understanding of the medical issues.

Children's Claims: Claims involving serious injuries to children have specific challenges. Firstly, assessing the nature and long-term effect of an injury is a difficult and slow process. When serious injuries are suffered to a young child, the question of their pre-injury job prospects and career is very important - and difficult to prove. Problems in school and problems with behavior are sometimes difficult to connect to an injury.

Our lawyers have extensive experience in helping families after a serious injury to a child.

Disability Insurance Claims: While disability insurers are happy to take the premium, after an injury or illness, they often will refuse to pay or refuse to continue paying benefits. Disability insurance contracts are quite complex and the insurance company often refuses to understand that a person cannot return to work.

Fibromyalgia and Other Chronic Pain: We know from medical literature that a small, but significant percentage of people don't recover after whiplash or other injuries. Instead, they continue to suffer severe pain after the so-called "standard" recovery time. Insurance companies have little patience for these people, and may be inclined to dismiss their claims.

The team at Murphy, Battista ensures that all facets of the case are explored in depth, including hiring medical experts to assess and prove the chronic pain. We prepare the evidence to show the full extent of the struggles and losses.

Class Actions / Product Liability: Class actions are a relatively new process for people with similar claims to group together to challenge a large company or government action in a more cost-effective manner.

Product liability cases are based on design defects, manufacturing defects, and/or defects in marketing or labeling.

These cases require enormous expertise, planning, and resources - which cannot be supplied by the average law firm. Our lawyers will look after your interests and help you evaluate your potential claim.

Helping People With a Disability: Some people have a developmental disability or a disability as a result of an injury. Our lawyers have a special interest and bring considerable expertise in helping these individuals. This includes helping to protect their assets and ensuring that their best interests are respected.

Sometimes, this may involve the appointment of a Committee, where a close relative or other key individual in that person's life is appointed by the Court to handle the legal affairs and in some cases the personal affairs for that person.