Houston Brain Injury Lawyer

A brain injury can change how a person thinks, works, sleeps, communicates, and relates to family. Some injuries are obvious on the first hospital scan. Others are not. Either way, the legal case must show what changed, why it changed, and what the injured person will need in the years ahead.

Houston brain injury lawyer Greg Baumgartner has represented seriously injured Texans since 1985. Baumgartner Law Firm keeps a limited caseload so Greg can stay personally involved. We investigate the event, preserve evidence, develop the medical proof, and document the daily losses that an insurance company may try to dismiss.

Call (281) 587-1111 or request a free consultation. You pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.

Quick answer: A brain injury claim may be valid even when a CT or MRI does not show the injury. The CDC explains that a brain scan is not required to identify a mild TBI or concussion. The claim should be built from the complete evidence – symptoms, medical evaluations, witness observations, work changes, testing, and the facts of the accident.

On This Page

• Why Brain Injury Cases Are Different
• Normal Scans and Invisible Injuries
• Symptoms That Can Affect Daily Life
• How We Prove a Brain Injury
• Common Causes and Responsible Parties
• Compensation in a Brain Injury Claim
• Insurance Company Defenses
• Texas Deadlines and Shared Fault
• Houston Rehabilitation Resources
• Frequently Asked Questions

Why Brain Injury Cases Are Different

A broken bone can usually be seen on an X-ray. A brain injury may reveal itself through forgotten appointments, lost words, poor concentration, headaches, anger, exhaustion, or a personality change that only the family notices. Those effects are real, but they are easy for an insurer to label as stress, age, medication, or a pre-existing condition.

That is why these cases cannot be handled like routine claims. The lawyer must connect the force of the event to the medical history and then show how the person functioned before and after the injury. The evidence often comes from several sources, not a single test.

Greg’s perspective: After four decades of serious-injury work, I have learned that the most important brain-injury witness is often someone who knew the client well before the accident. A spouse, coworker, friend, or supervisor can explain the change in a way that a stack of medical records cannot.

Experience With High-Stakes Head Injury Claims

Baumgartner Law Firm’s published results include a $3.75 million recovery in a closed-head-injury case arising from a high-speed rear-end collision involving several defendants. Past results do not predict the outcome of another case. They do show why disputed head-injury claims require careful preparation and a willingness to litigate when responsibility or causation is denied.

A Normal Scan Does Not End the Inquiry

CT and MRI scans are important tools, but they do not answer every question. A CT scan may identify bleeding, swelling, or a skull fracture. MRI can provide more detail in appropriate cases. Yet a person may still have a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion without an abnormal routine scan.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes CT and MRI as commonly used imaging tools in TBI evaluation. The CDC’s mild-TBI guidance goes further: a scan is not needed to identify a mild TBI or concussion and may instead be used when there is concern about bleeding or another serious condition.

A lawyer should never diagnose a brain injury. That belongs to qualified medical professionals. Our job is to ensure the legal case does not reduce a complicated injury to a single line in a radiology report.

What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?

A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is an injury that disrupts how the brain works. It may be caused by a blow or jolt to the head, a penetrating injury, or a blow to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly. A person does not have to strike a windshield or lose consciousness for doctors to consider a TBI.

Mild, Moderate, and Severe TBI

The word ‘mild’ describes the initial medical classification; it does not promise a mild impact on someone’s life. Many people improve, but some continue to experience headaches, memory trouble, dizziness, sleep problems, or emotional changes. Moderate and severe injuries may cause extended unconsciousness, major cognitive or physical limitations, and a need for long-term supervision or care.

For a focused discussion of mild TBI, see our guide to concussions after an accident. When the injury permanently affects independence, employment, or daily function, it may also qualify as a catastrophic injury claim.

Brain Injury Symptoms Can Affect the Whole Person

Symptoms vary from person to person and may not all appear immediately. The CDC’s list of mild-TBI and concussion symptoms includes problems involving physical health, thinking, memory, emotions, and sleep.

Thinking and Memory

• Trouble concentrating or following a conversation
• Short-term memory problems or repeated questions
• Slower thinking, poor organization, or difficulty making decisions
• Word-finding problems or losing the thread of a task

Physical and Sensory Changes

• Headaches, dizziness, nausea, or balance problems
• Sensitivity to light or noise
• Blurred vision, ringing in the ears, or altered taste or smell
• Fatigue that is out of proportion to normal activity

Mood, Behavior, and Sleep

• Irritability, anxiety, depression, or emotional outbursts
• Changes in judgment, impulse control, or personality
• Sleeping much more or less than before
• Withdrawal from family, work, hobbies, or social activity

Medical warning: Some signs after a head injury require emergency care. Review the CDC’s concussion danger signs and call 911 or seek emergency help when appropriate. This page provides legal information, not medical advice.

How We Prove a Brain Injury Claim

 The goal is not to collect the largest possible stack of records. It is to build a clear, reliable picture of what happened and how life changed. Depending on the case, that work may include:

1. Preserving evidence of the event. We obtain crash reports, photographs, surveillance or dash-camera video, vehicle data, incident reports, witness accounts, and company records before they disappear.
2. Building the medical timeline. Emergency records, primary-care visits, neurological evaluations, therapy notes, medication changes, imaging, and specialist assessments can show the course of the symptoms.
3. Establishing the person’s baseline. Employment reviews, school records, calendars, text messages, prior medical records, and testimony from people who knew the client can demonstrate abilities prior to the injury.
4. Documenting the change. Family members, friends, coworkers, and supervisors may describe memory lapses, reduced stamina, personality changes, mistakes, missed work, or loss of independence.
5. Using qualified experts when needed. A case may involve neurologists, neuropsychologists, rehabilitation physicians, vocational specialists, economists, life-care planners, or accident-reconstruction professionals.
6. Measuring future needs. Serious cases must account for future medical care, rehabilitation, medication, supervision, transportation, home support, and reduced earning capacity.

Neuropsychological Testing Is One Part of the Evidence

Neuropsychological testing can evaluate areas such as attention, memory, processing speed, language, and executive function. It can be useful, but it is not a magic answer. Results must be interpreted by a qualified professional and considered alongside education, work history, language, prior conditions, effort, medications, sleep, pain, and the rest of the medical evidence.

We do not tell doctors what diagnosis to make. We gather the records, understand the opinions, and ensure the insurance company addresses the full medical picture rather than selecting only the evidence that supports its defense.

Common Causes of Brain Injuries in Houston

Brain injuries can result from many preventable events. Common claims we evaluate include:

• Car accidents involving high-speed impacts, rollovers, side impacts, or violent rear-end collisions.
• 18-wheeler and commercial-truck crashes involving extreme force, corporate defendants, and several layers of insurance.
• Motorcycle accidents in which the rider has little physical protection.
• Pedestrian crashes involving cars, delivery vehicles, rideshare drivers, or commercial vehicles.
• Construction accidents involving falls, falling objects, equipment failures, explosions, or a lack of fall protection.
• Workplace injuries and third-party claims involving unsafe contractors, property owners, equipment companies, or non-subscriber employers.
• Falls on unsafe property, assaults caused by inadequate security, defective products, and other negligent conduct.

Who May Be Responsible?

The person who caused the immediate event may not be the only responsible party. A negligent driver, trucking company, employer, contractor, property owner, maintenance company, product manufacturer, or other business may share liability. Identifying every responsible party matters because a severe brain injury can create losses far beyond one insurance policy.

We investigate corporate relationships, contracts, training, maintenance, safety rules, insurance coverage, and the decisions that led to the injury. In a fatal case, eligible family members may also have rights under Texas law. Our Houston wrongful death lawyer page explains those claims in more detail.

Compensation in a Houston Brain Injury Claim

There is no honest average value for a brain injury case. The value depends on the diagnosis, the person’s function before and after the injury, the expected recovery, future care, earning history, liability evidence, available insurance, and many other facts.

Recoverable damages may include:

• Past and future medical expenses, rehabilitation, therapy, medication, and specialist care.
• Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity.
• Assistance with household tasks, transportation, supervision, or personal care.
• Physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, and physical impairment.
• Loss of independence, relationships, activities, and quality of life.
• Other damages allowed by Texas law, including exemplary damages when the evidence meets the higher legal standard.

The Value Must Reflect the Future

One of the most serious mistakes is settling before the medical outlook is clear. A release usually ends the claim for good. If memory, fatigue, balance, behavior, or work problems continue after settlement, the injured person generally cannot return for additional money.

Greg’s perspective: The question is not simply, ‘What were the medical bills?’ The harder question is, ‘What will this injury take from this person over the rest of a working life?’ That is where careful preparation matters most.

How Insurance Companies Challenge Brain Injury Claims

Brain injury claims are often defended aggressively because the future damages can be substantial. Common arguments include:

• The CT or MRI was normal, so there was no injury.
• The person never lost consciousness.
• The symptoms began too late or were not reported at every visit.
• Headaches, anxiety, depression, ADHD, medication, age, or an earlier concussion explain the problems.
• The client returned to work, so the injury cannot be serious.
• The symptoms are exaggerated or unrelated to the accident.

A good response is evidence, not adjectives. We compare the pre-injury and post-injury record, examine the medical timeline, identify witnesses, and address alternative explanations directly. Pretending a prior condition never existed can damage credibility. The better approach is to show what was stable before the event and what objectively changed afterward.