Our Legal Expertise
Pursuing Justice with a passion--
making a difference in lives.
What sets us apart from most personal injury law firms is our commitment and passion to protect the rights of brain injury victims.
De Caro & Kaplen, LLP Provides Compassionate Legal Representation to the Victims of Negligence and Their Families
New York brain injury attorney Michael Kaplen has more than 26 years of experience in negligence and personal injury litigation. He concentrates his practice on representing victims of head injury and brain trauma. He has been nationally recognized for his expertise in the areas of personal injury including brain injury, automobile and construction accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home malpractice and wrongful death. He chairs the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council and was the three term president of the Brain Injury Association of New York. He is the past chair of the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is a member of the National Advisory Board and New York State Advisory Board of the Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of American.
Michael Kaplen is Board Certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and Board Certified in the area of Medical Malpractice by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. Because of his nationally recognized expertise as a personal injury lawyer with a focus on the legal representation of victims of brain damage, Michael Kaplen has been interviewed by CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, N.Y. Times, N.Y. Daily News, N.Y. Post, Newsday, Gannett Papers and other television stations, newspapers and leading periodicals throughout the nation. His summations in cases with multi-million dollar brain injury verdicts and medical malpractice verdicts have been published in the Art of Advocacy Series, Matthew Bender, Publishers.
With his expertise as a brain injury lawyer, Michael Kaplen is frequently invited to share his expertise in brain injury legal cases with brain injury associations, brain injury rehabilitation facilities and legal groups throughout the country.
New York brain injury attorney, Shana De Caro has been an advocate for the rights of the disabled for over 25 years. She too focuses her practice on the legal representation of brain injury victims and their families. Brain injury lawyer, Shana De Caro practices in the fields of brain injury litigation, automobile and construction site accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home malpractice and wrongful death. With her expertise in traumatic brain injury she serves as an officer of the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. She also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Civil Justice Foundation. She has successfully handled trials and appeals in State and Federal Courts on behalf of New York brain injury accident victims.
Shana De Caro is the editor of the New York Law Update published by the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Michael V. Kaplen
Education and Accomplishments- B.A. from New York University - 1976
- J.D. from Brooklyn Law School - 1979
- Board Certified, Civil Trial Advocate, National Board of Trial Advocacy
- Board Certified, Medical Malpractice, American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys
- Chair, New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council
- President of the Brain Injury Association of New York State
- Board of Directors, New York Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Past Chair of the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the American Association For Justice
- Past Chair of the Automobile, Highway & Premises Liability Section of the American Association For Justice
- Past Co-Chair of the Tort Section of the New York County Lawyers Association
- Has taught courses in Law and Medicine as well as Trial Practice at St. John's University School of Law
- Appointed as a member of the Medical Malpractice Panels in New York State by the Appellate Divisions of the First and Second Departments of the Supreme Courts of the State of New York
Board of Directors, Trials Lawyers for Public Justice - Honored by Trial Lawyers Care for his successful volunteer representation of victims of the World Trade Center disaster
- Advisory Board: Crime Victims Bar Association
- Fellow, Southern Trial Lawyers Association
- Fellow, National College of Advocacy, American Association For Justice
- Sustaining Member, American Association For Justice
- Member, New York State Trial Lawyers Association
- Member, New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Member, Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Member, New Jersey Trial Lawyers Association
Invited Speaker to Brain Injury and Lawyer Associations Across the Nation
Mr. Kaplen's knowledge and experience as a brain injury attorney and his effective advocacy in traumatic brain injury cases has led to him being an invited guest speaker at the Brain Injury Associations of various locations including California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin as well as the Brain Injury Association of American and the North American Brain Injury Society. Mr. Kaplen has also been an invited guest speaker to lawyer associations in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin.
Shana De Caro
Education and Accomplishments- B.A. degree from George Washington University - 1977
- J.D. degree from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law - 1980
- Attended Oxford University Institute on International and Comparative Law in Oxford, England
- Officer, the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the American Association For Justice
- Editor, Monthly Law Update, New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Elected, Who’s Who in the Law
- Elected, Who’s Who American Women
- Member, New York State Trial Lawyers Association
- Member, Brain Injury Association of New York State
- Board of Trustees, Civil Justice Foundation
- Appointed as a member of the Medical Malpractice Panels in New York State by the Appellate Divisions of the First and Second Departments of the Supreme Courts of the State of New York
- Primary legal assistant to a Justice of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Brooklyn)
- Editorial adviser to the American Association For Justice, Work Place reporter
- Admitted to the Court of International Trade
- Fellow, National College of Advocacy, American Association For Justice
- Honored by Trial Lawyers Care for her successful volunteer representation of victims of the World Trade Center Disaster
- Member, Trial Lawyers For Public Justice
- Member, American Association For Justice
If your loved one or yourself has been a victim of traumatic brain injury caused by a motor vehicle accident, medical malpractice, premise site negligence or work place injury, contact the New York brain injury law team at De Caro & Kaplen, LLP, for a free, no obligation consultation.
