New York Personal Injury Attorneys & Brain Injury Lawyers
The New York Personal Injury law firm of De Caro & Kaplen, LLP was founded in 1982 by Shana De Caro & Michael Kaplen. The firm quickly earned a reputation in the New York legal community for providing an extraordinary combination of knowledge, experience, and compassion to their clients. Their exemplary legal skills and empathy and understanding for those suffering from personal injury formed the groundwork of their personal injury practice.
Soon after forming their personal injury law firm, Shana De Caro and Michael Kaplen discovered their special skill in representing persons who have sustained traumatic brain damage. They have earned a distinguished reputation for their knowledge and experience as New York personal injury attorneys both within New York and nationally.
Due to their acquired knowledge in representing victims of brain trauma, Shana De Caro and Michael Kaplen are contributing authors to the New York Law Journal where they write the column on traumatic brain injury law.. The two have authored the chapter on legal issues following brain damage injuries for the world renowned medical publication, Psychiatric Clinics of North America. They have lectured at the ground rounds at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York on medical malpractice in hospital emergency departments and are contributors to the National Law Journal and the Huffington Post.
Our mission is to improve the quality of life for persons with brain damage injuries, their spouses and family members. We believe that the best cure for a brain injury is prevention. We are proud to sponsor and support the programs and activities of the Brain Injury Association of New York State and the Brain Injury Association of America. Our New York personal injury attorneys take great pride in representing clients with an unmatched level of compassion and zeal to see that justice is done.
Our brain injury law firm concentrates its practice on representing persons who have sustained a brain injury, head injury, coma, concussion, or other brain trauma. We represent our clients and their family members with compassion and with the understanding that a brain injury lasts a lifetime. Our legal team understands the unique issues and problems which are faced by brain injury victims, their spouses, and family members. We are prepared to undertake the legal battles that must be fought to obtain adequate compensation, the health care decisions that must be faced, and the important insurance issues following a traumatic brain injury.
- Graduates of Marquette University, College of Health Sciences, in Neuro Anatomical Dissection of the Human Brain and Spinal Cord
- Authors: Traumatic Brain Injury Defining Best Practices, Current Issues in NeuroLaw in Psychiatric Clinics of North America, December 2010; Grand Rounds, Emergency Room Malpractice, Mt Sinai Medical Center, New York
Michael V. Kaplen is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University Law School. He served for seven years as Chairperson of the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council and nine years as president of the Brain Injury Association of New York State. He is nationally recognized for his knowledge and experience in representing victims of brain damage injuries. He is the President of the American Academy of Brain Injury Attorneys.
He has been invited to lecture to attorney conferences, medical conferences and brain injury associations throughout the country on effective legal representation of victims of brain damage injuries and head trauma.
He was elected by his peers as Chairperson of the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and Section Chair of the Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway and Premises Liability Section of the Trial Lawyers of America. He serves on the Board of Governors of the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys and on the Board of Directors of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. He served as a Vice President, New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers and serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Melvin M. Belli Society. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the American Association of Plaintiff’s Interstate Trucking Attorneys and formerly served on the advisory board of the Crime Victims Bar Association.
Because of his experience and reputation as a New York personal injury lawyer, Michael was the Co-Chair of the New York County Lawyers Association, Tort Section. He is Certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and is Certified in the area of medical malpractice by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. He has taught courses in Law and Medicine at St. John’s University School of Law. He is a Clinical Professor, Graduate School of Psychology, Touro College and a Guest Lecturer at George Washington University, Center for Education and Human Services in Acquired Brain Injury. He is a Faculty Member, National College of Advocacy and a member of the Advisory Board, Touro University, Graduate School of Psychology, Institute for Neurobehavioral Studies.
Because of his knowledge and experience in the field of Brain Injury and effective advocacy in traumatic brain injury cases, Michael Kaplen has been an invited guest speaker at the Brain Injury Association of California, the Brain Injury Association of Florida, the Brain Injury Association of Indiana, the Brain Injury Association of Louisiana, the Brain Injury Association of Michigan, the Brain Injury Association of New York State, the Brain Injury Association of Ohio, the Brain Injury Association of Utah, the Brain Injury Association of Virginia, the Brain Injury Association of Wisconsin, and the North American Brain Injury Society. He has also been an invited guest speaker to lawyer associations in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin.
Michael Kaplen has received the honor of being selected a New York Super Lawyer and named as one of the Top One Hundred New York State Trial Lawyers by the American Trial Lawyers Association.
Shana De Caro has been an advocate for the rights of the Brain Injured for over thirty-five years. She is an officer and is serving her second term on the Board of Directors of the Brain Injury Association of America. She is past Chair of the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice and 1st Vice President of the American Academy of Brain Injury Attorneys. She has been elected secretary and serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Civil Justice Foundation. She serves as a member of the Ask the Expert panel for BrainLine. She is an elected fellow of the Melvin M. Belli Society and a member of the Nursing Home Litigation Group, Interstate Trucking Litigation Group, Birth Trauma Litigation Group, Stroke Litigation Group, and Medical Negligence Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the American Association of Plaintiff’s Interstate Trucking Attorneys.
New York personal injury attorney, Shana De Caro is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Interstate Bus Accident Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation She was the primary legal assistant to a Justice of the Supreme Court, Kings County, New York and has served as a editorial advisor to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America Work Place Reporter. Shana has also served as a member of the Medical Malpractice Panels in New York State, appointed to review medical malpractice matters by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First and Second Judicial Departments. Because of her outstanding reputation as a New York personal injury attorney, she was appointed as a member of the judicial screening panel of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Shana has been afforded the honor of being selected for inclusion in Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in American Law and selected by her peers as a New York Super Lawyer. She is one of the Top 25 Brain Injury Lawyers of America, of the American Trial Lawyers Association.
New York personal injury lawyer, Shana De Caro has received the honor of being named a Top One Hundred New York State Trial Lawyer by the American Trial Lawyers Association, and an Elite Trial Lawyer.
Because of her established legal expertise in personal injury law, Shana serves as editor of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, monthly legal update.
Shana is a member of the Brain Injury Association of New York State, American Association for Justice, New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, The New York State Trial Lawyers Association and the North American Brain Injury Association.
Preferred Attorneys—Brain Injury Association of America
You’ve come to the right place for help in finding legal representation. The Brain Injury Association of America has recognized the skills and experience of our New York brain injury law firm® by designating De Caro & Kaplen, LLP as “Preferred Attorneys.”
Attorneys in the Brain Injury Association of America Preferred Lawyer Program “know the carelessness of others changes lives in an instant. They know the physical, cognitive, emotional, and financial tolls a brain injury can inflict on individuals and their families. Firms enrolled in the BIAA Preferred Attorneys Program know the stakes are high and that settling for less has lifelong consequences.”