Occupational Therapy For Birth Injured Children
Occupational therapy for children that are diagnosed with cerebral palsy or other birth injuries is aimed at promoting rehabilitation and quality of life improvements by focusing on daily life activities with support from trained occupational therapists (OTs) and therapy assistants.
The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) defines occupational therapy (OT) as a form of therapy for children to learn how to improve their abilities to perform all the daily activities they wish to do or have to do with as much independence as possible.
The ability to receive OT is one of the goals of the birth injury lawyers at Miller Weisbrod Olesky. We fight to recover the compensation that will pay for the highest levels of therapy including occupational therapy throughout the life of your children. Our experience over the last 35 plus years of representing birth injured children as proven that continued therapy throughout childhood and into adulthood provides the best chance of our young clients to reach the highest possible level of independent living.
At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, We Help You and Your Child Find Help NOW!
Staffed with a team of nurses and nurse attorneys, we begin the therapy process as soon as possible even if your child’s lawsuit has not been settled. Learn about our Miller Weisbrod Olesky nurses and our liaison program that ensures your child gets help NOW so they can begin the process of maximizing their occupational therapy results.
A child’s activities, such as self-care, work/school skills, and play are referred to as activities of daily living (ADLs). An occupational therapist carries out a comprehensive evaluation to identify issues that interfere with your child’s ability to perform these skills or tasks. The issues, which commonly occur with cerebral palsy and other birth injuries, include weak muscle tone, poor eye-hand coordination, inadequate sensory processing, and lack of visual perceptual skills.
Based on their professional evaluation, the pediatric occupational therapist will recommend an occupational therapy plan to enable your child to participate as independently and actively as possible in all types of ADLs. The occupational therapy is child-directed and may also involve the use of assistive or adaptive equipment to increase the child’s independence. The earlier an occupational therapy program starts, the more effective may be its lifelong results for a child with cerebral palsy.
Occupational Therapy Works for All Types of Cerebral Palsy Symptoms
Children with cerebral palsy often experience difficulties in performing or completing daily routine tasks benefit from occupational therapy. Some of the common symptoms where occupational therapy can be useful for children with CP include:
Ataxic Cerebral Palsy (Caused by damage to the cerebellum, which is a part of the brain that controls balance)
- Lack of balance and coordination
- Shakes and tremors
- Difficulty with movements involving precision
Spastic Cerebral Palsy (Caused by damage to the motor cortex of the brain, which controls movement)
- Tight and stiff muscles (hypertonia)
- Jerky or exaggerated movements
- Abnormal gait
Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy (Caused by damage to the basal ganglia of the brain, which sends messages for coordination)
- Poor movement control
- Abnormal posture
- Difficulty grasping, eating, and speaking
Mixed Cerebral Palsy (Caused by a combination of damage to different motor control centers of the brain)
- Abnormal reflexes
- Poor posture
- Problems with coordination
- Shakiness or tremors
- Jerky or exaggerated movements
How does Occupational Therapy Help a Child with Cerebral Palsy?
Motor Impairment
Children with CP are affected by motor impairments in different ways, which can make it difficult for them to complete daily tasks. For instance, the child may have difficulty maintaining posture, moving around, practicing daily hygiene, and completing school work or other physical tasks because of limitations in movement.
A qualified OT can assess a child’s unique needs and create a tailored occupational therapy plan to achieve best results. Activities and exercises may vary for each child with CP, but will usually include motor learning strategies (MLS) and neuromuscular facilitation techniques to develop bilateral coordination, grip and pinch strength, arch development, separation of the sides of the hand, and finger isolation.
Cognitive Impairment
Children with CP who have cognitive impairment can benefit from occupational therapy. Setting up of daily routines with reminders can help children with this condition remember to perform daily chores, such as brushing their teeth, dressing up and completing school tasks.
The goal of the OT in these cases is to help the child perform multiple cognitive exercises so that they learn and relearn everyday skills and any potential cognitive decline is arrested. Occupational therapy can also help improve the child’s memory when targeted cognitive games and activities (example: crossword puzzles) are included in the therapy program.
Visual/Perceptual Impairment
Children with cerebral palsy may experience mild or severe visual impairment. Occupational therapy can be helpful even when the impairment is severe. The occupational therapist may make use of specific visual input cues and tools as well as verbal directions to train the child about the safe performance of essential daily activities.
Sensory Perceptual Motor (SPM) training is used to help the child’s sensory or perceptual skills connect with their motor skills. In other words, it helps the brain connect with the body so that the child can confidently and safely interact with their environment. This type of occupational therapy may include teaching the child time-related movements (moving slow vs. fast), directional movements (moving back, forward, or sideways), and spatial awareness (knowing where your body is in space in relation to other people or objects).
Types of Routine Tasks Where Occupational Therapy can Help
Occupational therapy strategies should change according to the child’s age to reflect their growing needs. For instance, a baby may play with stimulating toys to improve motor skills and cognition, while a teenager with cerebral palsy may need to learn skills to perform their school work or other advanced tasks, such as using a computer or smartphone.
Routine Tasks at Home
- Brushing teeth
- Bathing
- Personal grooming
- Dressing
- Eating
- Grasping objects
- Playing
- Writing
- Using a phone or computer
- Cooking
- Interacting with parents or caregiver
- Using assistive or adaptive devices
Routine Tasks at School
- Traveling on the school bus
- Opening doors
- Sitting at a desk or chair
- Using the bathroom
- Avoiding or resolving physical obstacles
- Holding and reading books
- Handwriting and stationery use
- Opening and closing the locker
- Interacting with teachers and peers
- Participating in extra-curricular activities and sports
- Completing homework and assignments
Routine Tasks in the Community
- Using public transportation
- Navigating public spaces
- Interacting with service personnel
- Interpersonal skills
- Shopping
- Using community-based resources
Occupational therapy not only benefits the child, but it may also have indirect benefits for the parents and family. With successful therapy, parents and other family members can achieve a great sense of satisfaction and mental peace as they witness their child improve physically, psychologically, and emotionally, and become more independent.
Skills and Training of an Occupational Therapist
Occupational therapists along with their assistants perform occupational therapy in a public or private setting. An OT generally holds a master’s degree and a state license to practice. Most states require OTs to be a graduate from an accredited school, who has completed a minimum number of fieldwork hours, and passed the National Board for Certification Examination in Occupational Therapy.
Children with cerebral palsy who require occupational therapy are generally referred to a pediatric OT by their family doctor or cerebral palsy resource center/support group. The assistant to the OT would usually have completed a two-year associate degree program. Some states also require OT assistants to obtain a license for which they must complete relevant school and fieldwork. Many children with Cerebral Palsy benefit from having occupational therapy assistants who are trained to help them succeed.
Occupational therapy can be performed in various settings, such as inpatient medical centers, outpatient offices, specialized occupational therapy centers, nursing center, and in the home with a certified OT. Pediatric OTs usually have a dedicated expertise in assessing the child’s strengths and weaknesses in order to develop a tailored occupational therapy plan to help the child achieve their goals as best as possible.
Occupational Therapy Techniques
for Children with Cerebral Palsy
An occupational therapy treatment plan for a child with cerebral palsy must be highly individualized to match with their unique physical, mental, emotional, and social abilities. Before the therapy sessions begin, the OT will perform a comprehensive evaluation. This may include assessing the child’s perceptual, fine motor and oral motor skills, and noting how the child responds to movement and touch.
The OT will also interview the parents or caregivers to learn about the child’s general strengths and weaknesses related to the performance of everyday tasks. Based on this detailed assessment, the OT will create a targeted approach to therapy as well as identify specific goals for the child to work toward. Children with cerebral palsy will usually require periodic reevaluations every six months to ensure that their occupational therapy plan can be calibrated according to their age, progress, and condition.
Occupational Therapy Exercises
for Children with Cerebral Palsy
Exercises used in occupational therapy for children with CP are designed to focus on the following skill sets:
Clasping Hands
Touch the Pointer Finger
Control Fingers Individually
Pick-Up by Pinching
Holding Crayons
Opening
Hair Brushing
Buttoning
Zipping
Fine Motor Control: It involves working on the child’s hand muscle strength, in-hand manipulations, finger isolations, arching the palm, pincer grasp and thumb opposition to increase hand dexterity. OT activities may include pushing coins into a piggy bank slot, playing with water squirt toys, and squeezing a clothespin.
Upper Body Stability: It involves stabilizing and strengthening the core (trunk), wrist, and shoulder muscles through simple OT exercises and activities. Examples include crawling on the floor, pouring water from a kettle into a cup, playing catch while in a kneeling position, and lying on the stomach while reading a book.
Bilateral Coordination: It involves training the child to control and utilize both sides of their body at the same time. Occupational therapy activities to enhance bilateral coordination may including pulling apart toy building blocks (such as Lego), pushing a rolling pin, and drumming.
Cross the Midline: It involves teaching the child to reach across the middle portion of their body with their legs and arms to the opposite side. OT activities such as throwing balls at a target to the left or right of center and making figures (such as eight) with streamers may be helpful.
Visual Motor & Perceptual Skills: Activities such as throwing and catching a ball, stringing beads, and drawing or sketching can help improve visual motor skills and hand-eye coordination. To improve perceptual skills (the ability to assess and interpret what is visible), OT activities such as matching games, playing with diverse shapes, and alphabet puzzles can help.
Adaptive & Assistive Devices
Adaptive and assistive equipment and technology continue to evolve with advanced innovations that support occupational therapy for children with cerebral palsy. Some examples of the adaptive devices and equipment that are used in occupational therapy include:
- Walkers, canes, and braces
- Specialized sports equipment
- Devices to navigate transfer from original position
- Specialized utensils for eating
- Bath chairs and toilet aids
- Toys and games that help with motor and cognitive skills
- Adaptive carpentry to meet specific needs
- Specialized school chairs and tables
- Desks that rotate
- Household equipment and aids, such as adaptive scissors
- Adaptive clothing (reachers, button hooks, zipper pulls)
- Pencil grips
- Writing & typing tools
- Communication boards
- Electronic Braille systems
- Tablets
- Accessibility-focused software and apps
- Voice-to-text technology
- Computerized systems for environment control
Sensory Integration Therapy
When a baby suffers from a birth injury to their brain, such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), resulting in cerebral palsy, it may alter the brain’s ability to process sensory perceptions. Sensory integration therapy can be helpful in rebuilding the physical and mental framework within the child’s nervous system.
This type of OT can improve a child’s ability to accurately perceive sensory inputs, comprehend the purpose behind a specific sound, movement, texture, or another stimulus, and appropriately regulate their responses. Sensory integration therapy may not only offer physical but also psychological benefits to the child.
For example, as part of the sensory integration occupational therapy, the therapist may ask the child to pick up a ball or another object. Although the child may be able to identify the ball and comprehend what it is used for, they may not be able to describe the ball because of sensory miscues. A child with cerebral palsy may have impairments in the ability to perceive the texture and weight of the ball because of excessively high or low sensitivity to touch.
Occupational therapists may use finger paints, sand, silly putty, colorful liquids, and Play-Doh, among other similar tools to perform sensory therapy to improvement on these “touch” “description” impairments. This occupational therapy should be used early during the child’s development because treating sensory deficits early will give the child the advantage of learning to adjust and compensate for their condition while the senses are still developing.
Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT)
Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (spasticity in one side of the body) will usually start compensating early for motor impairments by using only the active arm on the functioning side of the body. If no intervention is made, the less frequent use of the affected arm will gradually render it completely non-functional. A specialized form of occupational therapy called constraint-induced movement therapy or CIMT can help in countering this condition.
CIMT involves two primary components:
- A. The occupational therapist will restrain the unaffected arm using a sling, cast, splint, mitt, or glove. This will encourage the child to use the affected arm because it’s the only one available for use.
- B. The affected arm becomes the focus of intensive occupational therapy so that the child learns how to move and utilize it correctly.
CIMT not only promotes the physical function of the affected arm, it also helps stimulate the brain to reinforce neural pathways for associated movement. CIMT may sometimes be modified according to the child’s needs. But its primary role is to encourage the use of the affected arm for most part of the day with specialized activities under the supervision of the occupational therapist to achieve the most effective outcomes.
Research shows that CIMT for babies in the age group of three months and above is also an effective and feasible treatment when it consists of professional caregiver coaching, age-appropriate activities, and therapy performed in the child’s typical environment. Parents can also support different forms of occupational therapy by helping their child practice new skills at home according to the OT’s recommendations.
Is Your Child’s Cerebral Palsy or other Birth Injury Related Complication the Result of Medical Malpractice?
Parents whose children suffer from cerebral palsy or other birth injury related complications should receive answers as to how their child suffered this injury and whether the consequences resulting from it were preventable.
- Were there signs during the pregnancy, labor, and delivery process that birth related complications were occurring, but accurate diagnosis, correct treatment, or an emergency c-section was either delayed or not performed at all leading to a birth injury?
- Were signs of fetal distress not recognized and responded to in a timely manner?
- Did the neonatal resuscitation team not act quickly and appropriate to treat your child following a difficult birth?
- Should cooling (also called “hypothermia therapy”) have been offered to your baby, but the doctors and nurses failed to perform the appropriate tests or ignored the results of the tests?
Our dedicated birth injury attorneys can help you find out if any of these things occurred during or after the birth of your baby. With an experienced birth injury lawyer from Miller Weisbrod Olesky you can recovery medical malpractice settlement that will help provide specialized medical therapy and assistive devices that can help maximize the independence of your child throughout their life. A birth injury settlement will substantially increase the quality of life and care for your child.
If your child has been diagnosed with a birth injury (including Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) or cerebral palsy), and you believe this may have been caused in part by mistakes of the doctors, nurses or hospital employees, Miller Weisbrod Olesky will thoroughly investigate the circumstances of your case and hold responsible the at fault medical providers by prosecuting a medical malpractice lawsuit against them. The recoveries our clients receive helps them pay for their child’s current and future occupational therapy, and specialized treatment to help their child cope while living with a permanent disability, and to be able to pay for cutting-edge devices that increase a child’s quality of life.
Sometimes families are reluctant to contact a medical malpractice attorney. It’s also not uncommon for parents to feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities they encounter in caring for their injured child and worried that they will not be able to help out in a lawsuit involving their child’s birth injury. Let us take these worries and concerns away.
Registered Nurses and Nurse-Attorneys Are a Vital Part of Our Birth Injury Team…and Yours
Most national birth injury law firms will employ one or two nurses to assist the review of cases and medical research. But Miller Weisbrod Olesky offers an unmatched number of nurses and nurse-attorney employees support to both the birth injury attorneys and our clients.
Our team of registered nursing staff and nurse-attorneys bring a deep level of medical and personal insight to every client’s case. Our nursing team includes both an experienced labor and delivery nurse as well as an ICU nurse. Working closely with the rest of the team, they investigate the reasons behind a birth injury and how medical professionals breached their standard of care.
Meet our Legal Nursing Team
Linda Chalk
As a registered nurse, Linda practiced ICU nursing for 44 years while caring for a wide range of patient conditions. She has worked closely with founding partner Les Weisbrod for over 30 years, investigating and pursuing birth injury cases.
Along with DJ Weisbrod, Linda heads up the firm’s birth injury intake, screening, and medical literature research team. She personally screens all potential cases to ensure that medical issues have been addressed before we file lawsuits on behalf of birth-injured children and their families.
DJ Weisbrod
Before joining Miller Weisbrod, DJ practiced as a surgical nurse in various hospital and operative settings. She has been with the firm over 30 years.
DJ directs Miller Weisbrod’s birth injury intake and medical screening team. She has also served as firm founder Les Weisbrod’s trial nurse for all cases involving medical negligence and birth injury.
Linda Cuaderes
Linda Cuaderes is both a registered nurse and a licensed lawyer. Linda works exclusively in Miller Weisbrod’s Birth Injury and Medical Malpractice section. Linda acts as the firm’s patient advocate and liaison with our young clients and their parents.
Linda combines her legal and nursing experience along with her exceptional organizational talent and attention to detail to make sure each child we represent is provided the highest level of medical care and attendant care during the pendency of their case. Linda communicates with our parent clients regularly to monitor their birth injured child’s treatment, provide guidance as to additional care and therapies and when necessary assist them in obtaining specialized medical providers.
Linda was raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing with Honors at the University of Oklahoma. She started as an Oncology Nurse at Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City, quickly becoming the Assistant Head Nurse of the Outpatient Endoscopy Unit. Linda then entered the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Following graduation, Linda joined Les Weisbrod in the Medical Malpractice Section. After taking time off to raise her three lovely children, Linda returned to Miller Weisbrod and her passion of holding healthcare providers accountable for preventable errors. Linda is active in the American Association for Justice, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, and the Texas Bar Association. Linda is an active member of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group and Medical Negligence Section of the American Association for Justice.
She is admitted to practice before the Texas Supreme Court and routinely works on cases pending throughout the United States. Linda has worked with child victims of birth injury, their parents and other victims of medical malpractice in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Iowa, Ohio, New York, Alabama, Georgia, Arizona, Utah and Missouri.
Education
- University of Oklahoma - School of Law, 1990, J.D. - Norman, Oklahoma
- University of Oklahoma - School of Nursing, 1985 - Norman, Oklahoma
Areas of Practice
- Birth Injury/Birth Trauma
- Medical Malpractice
Associations & Memberships
- Texas Bar Association
- American Association of Justice
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
Kristin Jones
Kristin combines her medical and legal training to provide invaluable, passionate service to parents struggling to care for their birth-injured children.
Families often have questions as they go through the birth injury lawsuit process. Kristin diligently identifies and investigates all medical issues so the birth injury attorneys at Miller Weisbrod can answer those questions Kristin ensures that our birth injured children’s medical records are thoroughly reviewed and organized. Miller Weisbrod’s birth trauma litigation attorneys and medical experts retained by the firm need her services while pursuing justice for our clients.
Kelly Kunkel
Kelly Kunkel was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She has 15 years’ experience in hospital based High Risk Obstetrics and Labor and Delivery bedside nursing care. Kelly graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Nursing from El Centro College in December of 1990 and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from West Texas A & M University in 2008; graduating with honors.
In addition, Kelly has over 25 years’ experience in medical malpractice case management and litigation and has worked with David Olesky for over 22 years. After many years of assisting in defending healthcare providers and hospital systems in medical malpractice cases involving complex litigation matters related to birth injury, catastrophic injury and death, Kelly has proudly joined David Olesky in the national birth injury and medical negligence practice at Miller Weisbrod Olesky.
Why Should You Talk with the Knowledgeable Attorneys at Miller Weisbrod Olesky?
The only way to find out if you have a birth injury case is to talk to an attorney who understands birth injuries leading to a delay or failure in developmental milestones including birth injuries that cause cerebral palsy. It’s not uncommon that a premature birth related complication can be a preventable birth injury, but it takes a detailed expert review by a birth injury lawyer of the facts and circumstances of your child’s birth to determine the birth injury was the result of medical malpractice.
At Miller Weisbrod Olesky, a team of committed lawyers, nurses and paraprofessionals uses our detailed medical negligence case review process to assess your potential birth injury case. We start by learning more about you and your child and the status of meeting/missing developmental milestones. Then we gather medical records to determine what happened before, during, and after your delivery. We call in skilled medical experts who review your records and let us know if they think medical errors could have caused your child’s injuries.
If we feel medical negligence caused or contributed to your child’s injuries, we meet with you to discuss how you can receive compensation from the medical professionals who made the errors. Our birth injury attorneys have recovered millions of dollars in settlements for families of babies that have suffered a birth injury.
At no point in our legal intake process will we ask you to pay anything. The medical review of your case and the consultation are free. We only receive payment when you do.
Contact Our National Birth Injury Lawyers
Our Birth Injury Attorneys
Les Weisbrod
Les Weisbrod has been on the cutting edge of the national birth injury litigation scene for almost 40 years.
As a national birth injury attorney, Les has settled over 204 medical negligence cases for more than $1,000,000. He also obtained settlements in 75 birth injury cases for over $1,000,000 each.
His $31 million verdict against Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas was one of the top 100 verdicts in the United States that given year.
Les is recognized nationally and internationally as one of the top plaintiff’s medical malpractice trial lawyers in the United States. But the recoveries for the clients and the differences made in the lives of the children and families Les has represented tell only part of the story.
Les has worked with his law partner Clay Miller for years to build a one-of-a-kind law firm.
Miller Weisbrod Olesky provides unique and unparalleled services to families of birth-injured and brain-injured children from the moment the firm decides to take the case.
The registered nurses and registered nurse-attorneys on staff are valuable team members who assist Miller Weisbrod birth-injury clients. Les has designed a system where each birth injured child is assigned a nurse-attorney liaison to guide them through the process of medical treatment/evaluation, therapies, home assistance, and quality of life improvement.
Miller Weisbrod’s unmatched service allows families to better cope with the immediate challenges facing our young clients.
Birth-injured children and their families are Les and Miller Weisbrod’s priority.
Les and the attorneys at Miller Weisbrod fight for the justice their clients are entitled to under our nation’s system of justice.
This fighting spirit has taken Les across the United States to represent clients in birth injury and medical negligence cases. In fact, he has personally handled cases not only in Texas but also in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, Iowa, Ohio, Oregon, Montana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and New York.
Les and Miller Weisbrod continue to expand their reach of helping brain-injured children to new states each year as we strive to bring a sense of justice to each affected family. And Les is not the only one who notices he fights for his clients.
Michael Rustad, a Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School in Boston who has done extensive research on punitive damage awards, says,
“Les Weisbrod has obtained more medical malpractice punitive damage jury verdicts for his clients than any other attorney in the United States.”
Also, a well-known defense medical malpractice attorney dubbed Les Weisbrod the “pitbull” of the Texas medical malpractice bar in a media profile of Les published by a major newspaper.
Les shares his experience and knowledge to improve the representation of all birth-injured children and their families.
In the early 1990s, Les recognized that a more focused effort needed to be made to educate attorneys who handle birth injury cases. As a result, Les was the founding Co-Chair of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Birth Trauma Litigation Group in 1991. He also was a founding Co-Chair of AAJ’s Medical Negligence Litigation Group in 1999 and served as Chair of AAJ’s Professional Negligence Section in 1996.
Combined, these groups have put on more than a hundred continuing education seminars across the United States. helping to educate other attorneys by bringing in world-renowned experts in the fields of:
- labor and delivery
- neonatal care
- the care and treatment of birth-injured children, including those suffering from cerebral palsy and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
Education and professional experiences back up his dedication to helping children and families harmed by medical malpractice.
Les received his B.A. magna cum laude in 1975 from Claremont Men’s College and his J.D. in 1978 from Southern Methodist University Law School.
He is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law.
Les was a past president of the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association in 1993. He has been a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association Board of Directors since 1990.
His work with the American Association for Justice (AAJ) (formerly ATLA) includes serving as President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Parliamentarian. Mr. Weisbrod has also served on the AAJ Board of Governors since 1998 and the 17-member Executive Committee of AAJ since 2001. In 1990, he was chosen as a Rising Star of the ATLA and presented a paper entitled “Dirt and Greed: A New Look at Medical Malpractice Cases.”
Les has written and lectured extensively on birth injury litigation, medical malpractice, and medical product topics.
Les is a contributing author to the 1996 text Operative Obstetrics published by Williams & Wilkins. He also co-authored the “Drugs & Medical Devices” chapter in AAJ’s Litigating Tort Cases.
He also has lectured to lawyer groups across the U.S., Canada, England, and Australia.
Education
- Southern Methodist University - School of Law, J.D. - Dallas, Texas, 1978
- Claremont Men's College - B.A. - Claremont, California, 1975
Areas of Practice
- Medical Malpractice
- Birth Injury/Birth Trauma
- Products Liability
- Personal Injury
Associations & Memberships
- State Bar of Texas
- National Association Of Distinguished Counsel
- Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- American Association for Justice
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
- Pan-European Organization of Personal Injury Lawyers
- American Society of Law and Medicine
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association
- Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas and American Bar Associations
- ABOTA (American Board of Trial Advocates)
Clay Miller
Clay is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Clay has practiced solely in the field of catastrophic injury and wrongful death since graduating from law school. His practice has been limited to the representation of victims. Over the past twenty-four years, Clay has successfully settled or tried to verdict cases in the areas of vehicular negligence, medical malpractice, construction site accidents, workplace injury, premises liability, and commercial trucking and a nationwide business loss case (suits filed in a dozen different states) involving defective truck engines sold to trucking companies.
Clay represented dozens of trucking companies in lost profit and diminished value claims against Caterpillar in 2010 through 2012. These cases were filed in over a dozen states with the bellwhether trial set in Federal Court in Davenport, Iowa. After intense litigation and trial preparation, a global confidential settlement was reached for all the clients.
Clay's most recent 2017 victories are a $30,800,000 jury verdict in Tennessee arising from fraud claims in the sale of heavy-duty truck engines and a $26,500,000 jury verdict in a construction accident, obtained within 60 days of each other.
Clay was raised in Lewisville, Texas and completed his undergraduate degree in Finance at
Texas A & M University. Following graduation from Southern Methodist University School of law, Clay worked for two Dallas firms representing victims. In 1998, Clay began his own practice before forming his current partnership. In addition to his law practice, Clay has lectured at seminars and published in the areas of construction accidents, jury selection techniques, medical negligence, trucking accidents and settlement tactics.
He is active in local and statewide trial lawyers' associations including serving as the Chair of the Advocates for the Texas Trial Lawyers' Association in 2002 and remains on the Board of Directors. Clay served as President of the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association from 2008-2009. He has also been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) since 2014.
Education
- Southern Methodist University School of Law - Dallas, Texas
- Texas A&M University - Finance - College Station, Texas
Areas of Practice
Associations & Memberships
- State Bar of Texas
- State Bar of New Mexico
- State Bar of Colorado
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers’ Association
- American Association of Justice
David Olesky
David Olesky is Vice Chair of the Health Care Professional Liability practice. David is a trial lawyer focusing his practice on complex litigation matters that involve defending and protecting clients in all types of cases related to catastrophic injuries or death, but with a special focus on birth injury cases. David regularly advises his health care clients on the issues and challenges that they face on a daily basis. Clients repeatedly look to him for guidance to handle such high stakes cases and matters in Texas and jurisdictions outside of Texas.
David has earned the trust and reliance of clients he has worked with by consistently getting the results that matter most to them, whether that is a win at trial or a favorable outcome through alternative dispute resolution outside the courthouse. Through his representation, David demonstrates a true loyalty and hardworking commitment to the clients that he serves.
David believes the foundation of any client relationship is to act as a trusted advisor instead of simply as a litigator. Clients value his earnest representation of their business interests, accompanied by a devotion to understanding their businesses, prompt attention to their immediate needs and the challenges they face in their individual roles.
Education
- Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, J.D., 1992 - Dallas, Texas
- University of Texas, B.B.A, 1989 - Austin, Texas
Areas of Practice
Associations & Memberships
- American Bar Association
- Dallas Bar Association
- Dallas Bar Foundation Fellow
- Texas Bar Association
Alexandra V. Boone
Alexandra Boone is a partner in Miller Weisbrod. She concentrates her legal practice in the area of birth injury, medical malpractice and mass tort products liability. Alex currently works directly with firm partner Les Weisbrod in managing the birth injury docket and working with the firm’s highly qualified expert witnesses in the review of potential cases. Alex also litigates her own docket of medical negligence cases.
Over the course of her 17 years with the firm, Alex has focused on the administration and prosecution of mass tort litigation, originally focusing on occupational toxins, but more recently in the area of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. In the past, she has actively pursed cases involving hormone therapy, Vioxx, Fosamax, and Reglan. Alex was also instrumental in our firm successfully resolving thousands of cases transvaginal mesh, hip prosthetics, and the blood thinner Xarelto. She is actively prosecuting over 1,000 cases.
In addition to being a member of the Texas bar, she is also licensed in Oklahoma and is a member of the American Association of Justice, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Oklahoma Association of Justice and the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association.
Education
- Baylor University - School of Law, 1996, J.D. - Waco, Texas
Areas of Practice
- Products Liability
- Mass Tort
Associations & Memberships
- State Bar of Texas
- American Association of Justice
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Oklahoma Association of Justice
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
Pro Bono Activities
- East Texas Legal Services/Nix Law Firm Pro Bono Project, 1996 - 1997
Robert Wolf
Robert E. Wolf was born in Dallas, Texas and graduated Magna Cum Laude as a proud horned frog from Texas Christian University in 1997, with Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Mortar Board. He obtained his law degree from Southern Methodist University in 2000 while serving as an Articles Editor for the International Law Review and winning awards at Mock Trial and Appellate competitions.
Robert has been named a Thomson Reuters | Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star (less than 2.5% of attorneys in Texas receive this distinction) in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. Further, Robert was recognized as a National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 attorney for Texas in 2012 (no more than 40 attorneys in Texas are eligible for this award annually).
Robert brought his passion for and over 14 years of experience of representing seriously injured individuals and their families to Miller Weisbrod in January 2015, and has concentrated his legal practice in the area of medical malpractice, products liability, and pharmaceutical/mass tort litigation. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, American Association for Justice, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and Dallas Trial Lawyers Association.
In addition to many successful jury verdicts and settlements across Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Idaho, Robert’s role as an attorney representing victims and their families has led to numerous changes to key safety practices and policies and procedures at corporations and medical facilities.
Robert and his wife Suzy also get plenty of exercise trying to keep up with their precious and very active daughter.
Education
- Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law, J.D. - 2000 - Dallas, Texas
- Texas Christian University - B.S. Political Science - 1997 - Fort Worth, Texas
Areas of Practice
- Medical Malpractice
- Personal Injury
- Products Liability
Associations & Memberships
- State Bar of Texas
- American Association of Justice
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
Carrie Vine
Carrie Lynn Vine has over 15 years of experience in medical malpractice litigation, with a particular focus in representing children and families who have suffered birth injuries as a result of the negligence of either doctors, nurses or hospitals.
She is a passionate advocate for her clients and has handled hundreds of birth injury and birth trauma cases throughout the United States. As part of Carrie’s national birth injury legal practice, she has handled cases in Texas, Arkansas, California, Nevada, Kentucky, Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and North Dakota. She is determined to seek justice and works to obtain fair compensation for the children and families she represents.
Carrie earned her law degree from Northern Illinois University where she tutored other law students. Prior to law school, she received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in Biomedical and Biological Science, and earned both a Master’s Degree and a Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University in Anthropological Genetics. She then conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Michigan Medical School before deciding to attend law school. She applies an academic mindset and love of science and medicine to mastering the medical principles and literature relevant to the cases she pursues.
Carrie is an active member of the American Association of Justice as well as the Birth Trauma Litigation Group (BLTG).
Education
- Northern Illinois University:
Law School
- University of Notre Dame:
Biomedical Science
- Pennsylvania State University:
Anthropological Genetics
Areas of Practice
- Birth Injury/Birth Trauma
- Medical Malpractice
Associations & Memberships
- American Association of Justice:
Member
- Birth Trauma Litigation Group:
Member
Larry Lassiter
Lawrence R. Lassiter is an AV-rated attorney with more than twenty years of experience in appellate and trial advocacy. He has been consulted by attorneys across the country to conduct research, evaluate cases, prepare appellate and trial briefs, and formulate litigation strategy. He has prepared hundreds of appellate briefs in federal and state appellate courts, including the highest courts of Texas, West Virginia, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio, Nebraska and Tennessee, and he is member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court. Larry has a national appellate and legal briefing practice. Larry has filed extensive briefs and/or argued before either state or federal courts in 30 out of 50 states in his career.
Larry assists the Birth Injury team in all aspects of legal briefing. Unlike many other birth injury firms across the United States, Miller Weisbrod has an attorney dedicated to handling legal briefing on behalf of our clients across the country. Larry has handled extensive briefing in birth injury and other medical malpractice cases in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, New York, Utah, Arizona, Louisiana and West Virginia.
Since joining Miller Weisbrod in 2010, Larry has won a number of important victories vindicating the rights of our clients in both state and federal appellate courts, including Vitacost.com, Inc. v. McCants, 210 So.3d 761 (Fla. Ct. App. 2017); TTHR Ltd. Partnership v. Moreno, 401 S.W.3d 41 (Tex. 2013); In re E.B., 729 S.E.2d 271 (W. Va. 2012); Mid-Continent Cas. Co. v. Davis, 683 F.3d 651 (5th Cir. 2012); Rouhani v. Morgan, 2017 WL 3526719 (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.] 2017, no pet.); Mid-Continent Cas. Co. v. Andregg Contracting, Inc., 391 S.W.3d 573 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2012).
He was as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Harlington Wood Jr., Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Larry was a University of Iowa Presidential Scholar and served as Editor in Chief of the Iowa Law Review.
Larry is an active member of the American Association for Justice. He is a member of AAJ’s Birth Injury Litigation Group and Medical Negligence Sections.
Education
- University of Iowa - Political Science & History - B.A. - Iowa City, Iowa
- University of Iowa - School of Law - J.D. - Iowa City, Iowa
Areas of Practice
- Appellate Advocacy
- Medical Malpractice
- Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices
- Products Liability
- Personal Injury
Associations & Memberships
- State Bar of Texas
- American Association of Justice
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
Laurie Pierce
Laurie draws upon extensive experience in state and federal courts with a focus on complex claims involving medical malpractice cases. After many years of defending health care providers and hospital systems in medical malpractice cases, Laurie joined David Olesky in the national birth injury and medical negligence practice at Miller Weisbrod Olesky.
Laurie’s focus is to understand not only the facts and circumstances of the matter at hand, but to understand the specific needs and goals of the client and their unique business considerations. Her extensive background in commercial litigation provides a foundation that enhances her health care litigation practice. She works with clients that require more than a strong trial lawyer; they expect an attorney who understands the relationship between law and their specific business and who will work tirelessly to protect their rights, interests and bottom line.
Education
- Southern Methodist University:
Dedman School of Law - 1992
- Order of the Coif:
Journal of Air Law and Commerce, J.D. - 1992
- Miami University-Oxford, Ohio
B.S. Education - 1982
Areas of Practice
- Birth Injury/Birth Trauma
- Health Care Industry
- Health Care Litigation
- Litigation and Dispute Resolution
- Medical Malpractice
Associations & Memberships
- American Association for Justice
- American Bar Association
- Dallas Bar Association
- Dallas Bar Foundation Fellow
- Texas Bar Association
Distinctions
- Admitted to Pro Bono College of State Bar of Texas in 2019 for outstanding delivery of legal services to low-income Texans
Court Admissions
- United States Supreme Court
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas
Linda Cuaderes
Linda Cuaderes is both a registered nurse and a licensed lawyer. Linda works exclusively in Miller Weisbrod’s Birth Injury and Medical Malpractice section. Linda acts as the firm’s patient advocate and liaison with our young clients and their parents.
Linda combines her legal and nursing experience along with her exceptional organizational talent and attention to detail to make sure each child we represent is provided the highest level of medical care and attendant care during the pendency of their case. Linda communicates with our parent clients regularly to monitor their birth injured child’s treatment, provide guidance as to additional care and therapies and when necessary assist them in obtaining specialized medical providers.
Linda was raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing with Honors at the University of Oklahoma. She started as an Oncology Nurse at Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City, quickly becoming the Assistant Head Nurse of the Outpatient Endoscopy Unit. Linda then entered the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Following graduation, Linda joined Les Weisbrod in the Medical Malpractice Section. After taking time off to raise her three lovely children, Linda returned to Miller Weisbrod and her passion of holding healthcare providers accountable for preventable errors. Linda is active in the American Association for Justice, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, and the Texas Bar Association. Linda is an active member of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group and Medical Negligence Section of the American Association for Justice.
She is admitted to practice before the Texas Supreme Court and routinely works on cases pending throughout the United States. Linda has worked with child victims of birth injury, their parents and other victims of medical malpractice in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Iowa, Ohio, New York, Alabama, Georgia, Arizona, Utah and Missouri.
Education
- University of Oklahoma - School of Law, 1990, J.D. - Norman, Oklahoma
- University of Oklahoma - School of Nursing, 1985 - Norman, Oklahoma
Areas of Practice
- Medical Malpractice
- Birth Injury/Birth Trauma
Associations & Memberships
- Texas Bar Association
- American Association of Justice
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
Kristin Jones
Kristin combines her medical and legal training to provide invaluable, passionate service to parents struggling to care for their birth-injured children. Families often have questions as they go through the birth injury lawsuit process. Kristin diligently identifies and investigates all medical issues so the birth injury attorneys at Miller Weisbrod can answer those questions. Kristin ensures that our birth injured children’s medical records are thoroughly reviewed and organized. Miller Weisbrod’s birth trauma litigation attorneys and medical experts retained by the firm need her services while pursuing justice for our clients.
Education
- SMU Dedman School of Law - Dallas, Texas
- University of Texas at Arlington - Arlington, Texas
Areas of Practice
- Medical Malpractice
- Birth Injury/Birth Trauma
Associations & Memberships
- State Bar of Texas
- American Association of Justice
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
Matt Adair
Matt Adair is an attorney specializing in medical malpractice, products liability, and pharmaceutical litigation. He received his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. During his time there, he studied abroad at the New College at Oxford University in Oxford, England.
Matt is a member of the State Bar of Texas, American Association for Justice, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and Dallas Trial Lawyers Association.
Education
- University of Notre Dame - Philosophy, B.A. 2012 - Notre Dame, Indiana
- Baylor University - School of Law J.D. 2015 - Waco, Texas
Areas of Practice
- Medical Malpractice
- Products Liability
- Pharmaceutical Litigation
Associations & Memberships
- State Bar of Texas
- American Association of Justice
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
Garrett Stanford
Garrett Stanford was born in Dallas, Texas and graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2017 with a B.A. in Political Science. After graduation, he attended Baylor University School of Law. During his time at Baylor, he was a member of the Order of the Barristers and he won the Judge W.C. Davis Endowed Criminal Practice Professional Track Award. He obtained his law degree and license to practice law in 2020.
Garrett joined Miller Weisbrod in August 2021. His legal practice is concentrated in the area of birth injury and medical malpractice. Garret is actively involved in handling birth injury and medical malpractice cases in Texas, Ohio, Utah, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Education
- Southern Methodist University - Political Science, B.S. - Dallas, Texas
- University of Baylor - School of Law, J.D. - Waco, Texas
Areas of Practice
- Medical Malpractice
- Birth Injury/Birth Trauma
Associations & Memberships
- State Bar of Texas