Brain injury claims often turn not on the diagnosis alone, but on how cognitive, behavioural and functional consequences are recognised, evidenced and explained. Subtle or “hidden” deficits can have a profound effect on employment, relationships, independence and day-to-day decision-making, yet may be difficult to identify from records or routine clinical presentation.

For solicitors handling clinical negligence and personal injury claims, these cases can raise complex issues around diagnosis, causation, prognosis, rehabilitation need and quantum. Difficulties often arise where symptoms are under-reported, misunderstood, attributed to other causes, or only become clear when the claimant attempts to return to work or resume normal life.

The session will also explore common areas of dispute and medico-legal risk, including under-recognised impairment, the interpretation of neuropsychological findings, the link between clinical evidence and real-world functioning, and the implications for causation, prognosis, rehabilitation need and quantum.

This session will help you to:

• Understand how subtle cognitive and behavioural deficits may present after brain injury and why they can be missed
• Identify red flags in records, histories and expert evidence that may indicate under-recognised impairment
• Assess how neuropsychological findings translate into functional loss, rehabilitation needs and quantum issues
• Strengthen analysis of causation, prognosis and long-term outcome in complex brain injury claims
• Improve your ability to link clinical evidence to real-world impact on work, relationships and independence
• Appreciate common areas of misunderstanding, dispute and challenge in acquired brain injury evidence