Miami Brain Injury Lawyer

An Injury You Cannot See From the Outside

A broken bone shows up on an X-ray. A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, often does not. The person looks fine, sounds fine on a short phone call, and yet struggles with headaches, memory, concentration, mood, and sleep in ways only their family sees.

Insurance adjusters take advantage of that gap. They point to normal scans, early statements that you "felt okay," and gaps in treatment, and they offer a number that covers a few ER bills and nothing else. A brain injury claim done right looks very different: it documents how the injury actually changed your life, and what it will cost over the years ahead.

At Leyva Law, your case is handled directly by attorney Daniela Leyva, not passed to a call center. She builds the medical record, deals with the adjusters, and prepares every claim as if it will go to trial. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.

Brain Injury Symptoms Can Take Days to Appear

According to the CDC, symptoms of a traumatic brain injury, including a concussion, may not show up until days after the injury. Watch for headaches that will not quit, dizziness, nausea, blurry vision, trouble remembering or concentrating, irritability, anxiety, and changes in sleep.

That delay matters for your health and for your claim. See a doctor even if you felt fine at the scene, and report every symptom as it appears so it becomes part of your record. If your injury came from a car crash, Florida's no-fault law (section 627.736, Florida Statutes) generally requires treatment within 14 days for your Personal Injury Protection benefits to pay.

A Normal CT Scan Does Not Rule Out a Brain Injury

One of the most damaging things an adjuster can say is that the scan came back clean, so nothing is wrong. Emergency CT scans are built to find bleeding, swelling and skull fractures, the things that need surgery that night. They are not built to find the microscopic damage that often causes a concussion or a mild traumatic brain injury, and a standard MRI can miss it too.

That is why many people with a real brain injury go home the same day with normal imaging and a headache that never goes away. A clean scan is good news medically. It is not proof that your brain was not hurt, and it should not end the conversation about your claim.

Neuropsychological testing measures something different. Instead of pictures of tissue, it measures function: memory, attention, processing speed, word finding, executive function and mood. A qualified neuropsychologist scores your results against what someone of your age, education and background would be expected to do. That gap, written down and repeated over time, is often the clearest proof that the injury is real. Mild does not mean temporary. A mild TBI can leave deficits that never fully resolve, which is why the word mild describes how the injury looked on day one, not how it will affect the rest of your life.

Car Crash Brain Injuries and Florida's No-Fault Threshold

PIP benefits are only a starting point, and they run out fast against the cost of a brain injury. Florida law lets you step outside the no-fault system and pursue the at-fault driver for the full harm, including pain and suffering, when your injury crosses the threshold in section 627.737(2), Florida Statutes: a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death.

Many brain injuries meet that threshold, but meeting it on paper takes the right proof: neurological evaluations, neuropsychological testing, imaging, and treating physicians who connect your symptoms to the crash. We build that record piece by piece so the insurance company cannot wave the injury away.

The $2,500 PIP Limit and the Emergency Medical Condition Rule

Most people believe Florida PIP pays $10,000 in medical benefits. It can, but only if a qualified provider determines that you had an emergency medical condition. Without that determination, reimbursement is limited to $2,500 under section 627.736(1)(a)4, Florida Statutes.

Head injuries get caught by this rule constantly. Someone is checked at the emergency room, the scan looks normal, they are discharged with no emergency medical condition determination in the file, and benefits stop at $2,500 right as the headaches and memory problems are starting. Ask your treating doctor whether that determination has been documented, and tell us early if it has not.

What a Brain Injury Claim Should Cover

The first offer after a brain injury almost never accounts for the future. A full claim should, including:

Medical care, now and later. Emergency treatment, neurology visits, cognitive rehabilitation, therapy, medication, and the care you are likely to need years from now.

Lost income and earning capacity. The paychecks you have already missed, and the difference if you cannot return to the same work, the same hours, or the same career.

A life care plan. For serious injuries, a detailed projection of lifetime care needs and costs, built with your treating doctors and qualified professionals, so the claim is measured against your future instead of your first hospital bill.

Pain and suffering. Where the law allows it, compensation for what the injury has taken from your daily life, your relationships, and your independence.

When the Insurance Company Says the Crash Was Partly Your Fault

Shifting blame is a standard move in brain injury cases, partly because the injured person often cannot remember the accident clearly. Florida uses modified comparative fault. Under section 768.81(6), Florida Statutes, a party found to be more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm recovers nothing. Below that line, the award is reduced by your share, so a 20 percent finding takes 20 percent off. That subsection does not apply to claims for medical negligence under chapter 766.

This is why memory gaps get used against you, and why the crash investigation matters as much as the medical file. Scene photos, vehicle damage, camera footage and independent witnesses can settle the fault question before it turns into your word against a driver who remembers the day better than you do.

How Long You Have to File a Brain Injury Claim

For accidents after March 24, 2023, you generally have two years to file a negligence lawsuit (section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes). Earlier accidents may fall under the older four-year deadline.

Delayed symptoms make early legal help more important, not less. The sooner the injury is documented and tied to the accident, the harder it is for the insurance company to blame something else. If your TBI came from a crash, our Miami car accident page covers those cases in more detail.

Brain Injury Cases We Handle in Miami-Dade

• Concussions and Mild TBI
• Post-Concussion Syndrome
• Car and Truck Accident Head Injuries
• Motorcycle Crash Brain Injuries
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents
• Slip and Fall Head Trauma
• Construction Accident Brain Injuries
• Wrongful Death From Brain Trauma

Miami Brain Injury FAQ

Sources

• Section 627.736, Florida Statutes (Personal Injury Protection benefits, the 14 day treatment rule and the emergency medical condition limit): official text. "Reimbursement for services and care ... is limited to $2,500 if a provider ... determines that the injured person did not have an emergency medical condition"
• Section 627.737, Florida Statutes (tort exemption and the threshold for pain and suffering): official text. "Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function"
• Section 768.81, Florida Statutes (comparative fault): official text. "any party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages"
• Section 95.11, Florida Statutes (time limits for filing suit): official text. "WITHIN TWO YEARS ... An action founded on negligence"

Related: car accidents · motorcycle accidents · slip and fall injuries. This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.