Lafayette Birth Injury Lawyer

Birth injury lawyers serving Lafayette, IN and the surrounding area are dedicated to families pursuing accountability for preventable harm.

If your child was hurt during labor or delivery, we understand that as a parent this can be a scary situation to be in and completely disorienting. Our Lafayette, IN birth injury lawyer has been representing injured clients and their families since 1997. Attorney Susannah Hall-Justice has more than 25 years of serious personal injury and medical negligence work. For a no-cost and confidential consultation, contact us today so we can speak with you further.

Birth Injury Lawyer Lafayette, IN

A birth injury attorney handles medical negligence claims that arise from something that went wrong during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. This is different from a birth defect, which is the result of genetic or developmental causes. A birth injury happens because a provider made a mistake, missed a warning, or failed to act when a response was needed.

For Lafayette families, there’s the procedural aspect along with the emotional one. Indiana’s Medical Malpractice Act requires that a proposed complaint be filed with the Indiana Department of Insurance before any lawsuit can move forward. That filing triggers a medical review panel process. The timeline has deadlines, and missing it can end a valid claim before it begins.

Types of Birth Injury Cases We Handle in Lafayette

The injuries themselves vary widely, and so do the circumstances that caused them. At Hall-Justice Law Firm LLC, we handle birth injury and related medical negligence claims across a broad range of situations.

Oxygen deprivation injuries (hypoxia/anoxia). When oxygen is cut off during labor or delivery, the damage can be permanent within minutes. Conditions caused by medical negligence, such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, often trace back to a delayed response, a missed reading on the fetal monitor, or a C-section that should have happened sooner.
Cerebral palsy. CP affects muscle tone, movement, and coordination for life. Some cases have no connection to delivery, while others are directly tied to a cascade of poor decisions that caused a preventable brain injury.
Erb’s palsy and brachial plexus injuries. The brachial plexus is the nerve cluster running from the neck through the shoulder and down the arm. It can be stretched or torn when excessive force is used during delivery, particularly in shoulder dystocia situations. The outcome ranges from partial weakness to full loss of arm function.
Brain injuries. Prolonged labor, improperly used forceps or vacuum extractors, untreated maternal infection, and delayed emergency responses are among the causes we see in these types of cases. What the medical records show, and what they don’t, is often where the analysis begins.
Skull fractures and physical trauma. Not all delivery tool injuries are obvious. Some fractures and soft tissue injuries only surface in imaging done days later, after a parent noticed something was wrong.
Maternal injuries during delivery. Uterine rupture, uncontrolled hemorrhage, and surgical injuries. These can result from a provider’s failure to recognize a deteriorating situation.
Failure to monitor fetal distress. Fetal heart rate tracings exist because distress has a pattern. When nursing staff or physicians fail to notice it and act quickly, the opportunity for medical intervention closes fast.
Infections and sepsis. A failure to screen, treat, or respond to infection at the right time may constitute medical malpractice.

Why Choose Hall-Justice Law Firm LLC as My Birth Injury Lawyer in Lafayette, IN?

Susannah Hall-Justice, Practicing Since 1997

Susannah Hall-Justice owns and leads Hall-Justice Law Firm LLC. She was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1997 and the Illinois bar in 1998, and she has been handling serious injury and negligence cases in this state ever since. Her J.D. is from Indiana University Maurer School of Law, and her undergraduate degree in History is from Harvard.

She serves on the Board of Governors of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, which is the organization that represents plaintiff trial lawyers across Indiana. Our personal injury lawyer in Lafayette, IN has been president of both the Tippecanoe County Bar Association and the Carroll County Bar Association. She has presented at legal seminars on topics including medical billing in injury cases. The Martindale-Hubbell Client Champion recognition she holds reflects client feedback accumulated over nearly three decades of practice.

What We’ve Recovered for Clients

Hall-Justice Law Firm LLC has helped clients recover millions of dollars in past cases. Birth injury cases routinely involve some of the highest damages in civil litigation, including lifetime medical care, long-term therapy costs, adaptive equipment, lost earning potential, and losses that are harder to quantify but no less real. We build these cases the same way regardless of whether they settle or go to trial.

Understanding Birth Injury Cases

Damages, Liability, and Compensation in Birth Injury Cases

Indiana birth injury claims fall under the Medical Malpractice Act. Liability comes down to whether the provider did what a competent practitioner in that specialty would have done in similar circumstances. If the answer is no, and that failure caused the injury, there’s a case. The categories of damages in these claims tend to be large, and in some cases permanent:

Medical expenses: Surgeries, hospitalizations, diagnosis, and treatment costs already paid or still owed.
Future medical care: Everything from ongoing therapy to specialized equipment to long-term attendant care.
Lost future earnings: Particularly relevant when injuries affect cognitive or physical development in ways that will limit adult employment.
Pain and suffering: For the child, and in some cases for the parents.
Loss of normal life: The experiences, milestones, and opportunities the injury takes away.

Important Aspects of a Birth Injury Case

These cases are built on documents. Medical records, fetal monitoring strips, nursing notes, anesthesia records, and delivery room logs. The legal analysis follows from the medical analysis. Here is what that means practically:

Standard of care. The assessment of what should have happened and what the standard of care should have been that failed to be provided.
Causation. Evaluating whether the failure caused the injury directly, or if the outcome would have been the same regardless.
Pre-suit requirements. Indiana requires a proposed complaint to go to the Indiana Department of Insurance before a lawsuit is filed. A medical review panel then evaluates the claim. The panel’s opinion carries weight even though it isn’t binding in court.
Evidence. Request complete medical records as early as possible. Fetal monitoring strips in particular are sometimes retained for limited periods.

Birth Injury Case Timeline

The timeline in these cases is longer than most people before they begin. Here are the general steps that are involved with filing a birth injury lawsuit:

Consultation and initial review. We look at what records are available, assess the facts, and give an evaluation of whether the evidence supports a claim.
Full record collection and medical review. Complete hospital and prenatal records are gathered. Qualified medical professionals review them against the applicable standard of care.
Filing the proposed complaint. This goes to the Indiana Department of Insurance. It formally starts the time on the pre-litigation process.
Medical review panel. A panel of healthcare providers in the relevant specialty evaluates the claim and issues an opinion. This stage can continue anywhere from several months to well over a year.
Litigation or resolution. After the panel opinion, the case moves toward settlement negotiations or trial preparation. Some cases resolve, while others don’t, and then the case needs to go to a jury.

What to Bring to Your Birth Injury Consultation

Bring what you have been able to gather so far related to what happened. But don’t worry about having everything as we can get more details as your case moves forward. Typically, the following information is useful during your consultation:

Any medical records already in your possession, such as prenatal records, hospital discharge summaries, and newborn records.
A written account of what you experienced and what you were told, including approximate dates.
Names of providers involved in the delivery and any treating physicians since.
Records of expenses, diagnoses, or therapy your child has received.

Indiana Legal Resources for Birth Injury Cases

Indiana birth injury cases are governed by the Medical Malpractice Act and related statutes. Some useful starting points:

Statute of Limitations for Minors (IC 34-18-7-1): Children under the age of six at the time of injury generally have until their eighth birthday to file. The statute is on the Indiana General Assembly’s site.
Indiana’s Comparative Fault Framework (IC 34-51-2): This chapter governs how fault is allocated in Indiana tort cases.
I.C. § 34-11-2-4: The general two-year personal injury SOL, which applies to birth injury claims that fall outside the Medical Malpractice Act, such as cases against non-qualified healthcare providers.

Reach Out to Hall-Justice Law Firm LLC to Schedule a Consultation

At Hall-Justice Firm LLC, we handle birth injury cases on a contingency basis, which means there are no fees unless we recover compensation for your family. Contact us for a free, confidential case review. Attorney Hall-Justice is ready to get to work for you and your family right away.