Here are some questions to ask when interviewing attorneys:

•  How many brain injury cases have you handled?
• How many trials have you litigated for survivors?
• What were the outcomes of these trials?
• To which local, state, and federal government benefits will my survivor be entitled?
• What experience do you have negotiating with health insurers to obtain benefits for your clients?
• Are you familiar with the long-term challenges of living with a brain injury?
• Do you attend conferences sponsored by the North American Brain Injury Society, the Brain Injury Association of America, and/or the state brain injury associations?
• How will you determine what impairments my loved one is likely to have?
• How will you educate the judge and jury about these impairments?
• How will you calculate the financial settlement requested in the trial?
• What experts will you retain to help you prepare and try our case?

After the interview, think about how the attorney responded to your questions, how he treated you, and how knowledgeable he appeared to be about brain injury. Will you be comfortable working with him/her?

For the past six years, Garry Prowe has been asking survivors of life-altering brain injuries and their families what it means to successfully survive a brain injury and how one achieves success. These essays are excerpted from his forthcoming book "Successfully Surviving a Brain Injury," which is based not only on this research, but also his experiences caring for his wife Jessica, who acquired a brain injury eleven years ago. If you would like to participate in the project, please visit his Website at www.BrainInjurySuccess.org.