What is a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit?

What is a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit?

About 1 in 345 children in the U.S. have cerebral palsy. In many cases, it’s nobody’s fault. But sometimes, it’s the direct result of a medical mistake—one that leaves a family to shoulder a lifetime of costs and care they never planned for.

A cerebral palsy lawsuit holds healthcare providers accountable when negligence during pregnancy, labor, or delivery leads to a child’s condition. It’s a legal tool families use to seek compensation for medical bills, therapies, and other expenses tied to raising a child with cerebral palsy.

At Cerebral Palsy Lawyer Alliance, our network of lawyers connects families with experienced attorneys across the country. Call (888) 894-9067 today, and a local lawyer will review your case for free.

What Is a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit?

When a doctor, nurse, or hospital messes up during childbirth and that mistake leaves a child with cerebral palsy, the law gives families a way to fight back. And if you prove it, the people responsible owe you for the damage they’ve done.

A cerebral palsy lawsuit is a type of medical malpractice claim. It specifically targets situations where poor decisions or careless mistakes by healthcare providers led to a newborn’s brain injury, causing cerebral palsy. These cases focus on what happened before, during, or immediately after delivery—times when a single wrong move can have lifelong consequences.

The lawsuit isn’t about punishing anyone just to make a point. It’s about forcing accountability when professionals don’t meet the basic standards of care. It’s also about getting families the money they need to cover medical treatments, therapy, equipment, and all the other costs that come with cerebral palsy.

In legal terms, these lawsuits fall under medical negligence and personal injury law. Most states base these claims on the same general principles:

• Duty of care: Healthcare providers are legally required to provide a reasonable standard of care during pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
• Breach of duty: A provider breached that duty through an action (or inaction) that fell below accepted medical standards.
• Causation: The breach directly caused the child’s cerebral palsy.
• Damages: The family and child suffered measurable harm as a result.

Some states have specific laws that apply to medical malpractice claims. For example:

• In California, the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) limits non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits to $350,000 for cases filed after January 1, 2023.
• In Texas, the Civil Practice and Remedies Code §74.301 caps non-economic damages at $250,000 per defendant, with a total limit of $500,000 when multiple parties are involved.

Grounds for Filing a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit

Medical errors during childbirth aren’t rare. But not every mistake leads to a lawsuit. 

The law recognizes that doctors and nurses aren’t fortune tellers. They don’t guarantee perfect outcomes. What they are responsible for is following accepted standards of medical care. When they don’t, and that failure leads to cerebral palsy, that’s where the legal system steps in.

Medical Negligence

Negligence is legal shorthand for carelessness. In the context of cerebral palsy, it means a healthcare provider failed to act as a reasonably competent professional would under the same circumstances. That failure directly harmed the child.

Some common examples include:

• Improper use of delivery tools: Forceps or vacuum extractors misused during delivery can cause skull fractures or brain bleeds, leading to permanent damage.
• Failure to monitor fetal distress: Modern fetal heart monitors exist for a reason. Ignoring abnormal readings, or responding too late, deprives a baby of oxygen—sometimes causing irreversible brain injury.
• Delaying a C-section: Labor doesn’t always go as planned. When complications arise, timely decisions are everything. Waiting too long to perform an emergency C-section risks cutting off oxygen to the baby’s brain.

Failure to Act

Sometimes it’s not what a doctor does—it’s what they don’t do. Inaction in the face of an obvious problem can be just as damaging as an outright mistake. The legal term is failure to act, and it shows up in birth injury cases more than you’d think.

A few situations that qualify:

• Ignoring risk factors: Mothers with high blood pressure, diabetes, or infections like chorioamnionitis face higher-risk deliveries. Failing to address these issues increases the odds of a complicated labor and possible injury to the baby.
• Not treating jaundice: Newborn jaundice might seem harmless, but untreated severe jaundice can lead to kernicterus, a type of brain damage that may cause cerebral palsy.
• Inadequate resuscitation: If a newborn isn’t breathing, every second counts. A slow or botched resuscitation can leave a child with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a condition directly linked to cerebral palsy.

In short, medical staff must respond quickly and correctly. When they don’t, they put the baby’s brain at risk.

The Legal Standard

Courts rely on expert medical testimony to establish whether a doctor’s actions (or lack thereof) fell below accepted standards. In a cerebral palsy lawsuit, the plaintiff’s legal team brings in physicians who review the records and explain where the healthcare team went wrong.

States like New York require a certificate of merit (CPLR § 3012-a) before a malpractice lawsuit moves forward. That certificate confirms a qualified medical expert has reviewed the case and found evidence of negligence. Other states, including Pennsylvania, follow a similar rule under Pa. R.C.P. 1042.3, mandating a certificate of merit within 60 days of filing the complaint.

Eligibility Criteria for a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit

Plenty of families wonder whether their situation qualifies for a lawsuit. They replay conversations with doctors, second-guess decisions made in the delivery room, and question if something could have been done differently. But suspicion alone doesn’t open the door to legal action. There are specific criteria that separate a valid cerebral palsy lawsuit from an unfortunate medical outcome.

Proof of Causation

Legal teams dig deep to show the sequence of events:

• Was there a delay in delivering the baby after signs of fetal distress?
• Did the medical team fail to diagnose or treat an infection that caused brain damage?
• Was improper force used during delivery, causing physical trauma to the baby’s head?

The plaintiff’s attorneys typically rely on expert witnesses who explain these points in court. These experts connect the dots—demonstrating, for example, how a delay in addressing umbilical cord prolapse led to hypoxia, which damaged the baby’s brain.

Each jurisdiction sets the bar for what constitutes sufficient proof. In California, courts apply the “substantial factor” test, which means the plaintiff must show the defendant’s negligence was a substantial factor in bringing about the injury. Other states, like Texas, use the “proximate cause” standard, focusing on whether the injury was a foreseeable result of the provider’s conduct.

Steps in Filing a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit

Once a family decides to move forward with legal action, the process kicks into gear. Filing a cerebral palsy lawsuit isn’t like returning something at a store. It’s methodical. It takes time. And it demands precision. Each step builds on the last, and missing one can sink a case before it ever sees a courtroom.

Consultation

It starts with a conversation. Families reach out to a law firm—or a referral network like Cerebral Palsy Lawyer Alliance—to find out if they even have a case. The initial consultation sets the tone. During this meeting, an intake specialist or attorney gathers the facts: pregnancy history, delivery details, medical records, and how the child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Most firms handle these consultations for free because most work on a contingency fee basis. If they don’t win, they don’t get paid. So, they won’t waste time unless they believe the case holds water.

Investigation

After intake, things get serious. Lawyers and their teams dig into the records: prenatal charts, labor and delivery notes, APGAR scores, NICU reports. They call in medical experts to analyze whether the care provided met professional standards. These experts write reports that spell out what went wrong and why it matters.

A good investigation finds the moment when things went off the rails. Maybe the doctor ignored signs of fetal distress. Maybe a nurse charted something that proves staff waited too long to intervene. These are the details that turn questions into evidence.

Filing the Lawsuit

Once the lawyers and experts feel confident, they file a complaint with the court. This document lays out the case in plain terms:

• Who the defendants are (doctors, nurses, hospitals)
• What they did wrong (specific negligent acts)
• How their mistakes caused cerebral palsy
• What damages the family seeks (medical costs, pain and suffering, etc.)

Different states have different rules about filing. In New Jersey, for example, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-27 requires an affidavit of merit from a qualified healthcare professional within 60 days of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Without it, the case doesn’t move forward.

Discovery Phase

Once the lawsuit lands in court, both sides get to dig through each other’s evidence. This stage is called discovery. Lawyers exchange documents, take depositions (sworn out-of-court testimony), and line up witnesses.

Families might have to sit for depositions. Doctors and nurses do too. This is where each side sizes up the other. Some cases settle here because the evidence is too strong—or too weak—to risk a trial.

Settlement Negotiations

Nobody wants a trial if they can avoid it. Lawsuits are expensive. Trials are unpredictable. That’s why most cerebral palsy cases settle before a jury ever hears them.

During negotiations, the defense might offer a settlement. The plaintiff’s team weighs whether the offer covers the child’s lifetime costs: surgeries, therapies, equipment, home modifications, lost income for parents who leave the workforce to provide care. Some offers make sense. Others are insulting. The family decides whether to accept or keep fighting.

Trial

If negotiations stall, the case heads to trial. The courtroom is where everything gets laid bare. Experts testify. Lawyers argue. A judge or jury decides whether the healthcare providers failed in their duty and how much they owe if they did.

Trials aren’t guaranteed wins. But when a case has strong facts and a clear story of negligence, juries frequently side with families. Some states, like California, limit non-economic damages under MICRA, but economic damages—like lifetime medical costs—have no cap.

Potential Compensation from a Cerebral Palsy Lawsuit

Damages in a cerebral palsy lawsuit fall into specific categories, each tied to real costs and real losses.

Medical Expenses

Families deal with surgeries, therapies, medications, specialized equipment, and home modifications. And these costs don’t end when the child turns 18. They extend throughout adulthood.

Common expenses that lawsuits account for:

• Hospital bills and surgeries: Operations to treat spasticity, hip dislocations, or scoliosis add up quickly.
• Physical, occupational, and speech therapy: Many children need multiple therapies several times a week, sometimes for life.
• Durable medical equipment: Walkers, wheelchairs, orthotics, communication devices—all of it carries a price tag.
• Home modifications: Ramps, widened doorways, stair lifts, and accessible bathrooms make a home livable but cost thousands.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the lifetime cost of care for a person with cerebral palsy at $1 million or more.

Lost Wages

Parents of children with cerebral palsy often leave the workforce to become full-time caregivers. Others reduce hours or turn down promotions because they need flexible schedules. Lost income impacts the entire family, and courts recognize this in damage awards.

This category includes:

• Past lost earnings: Income already sacrificed because of caregiving responsibilities.
• Future lost earnings: Projected lost income over years or decades, based on the parent’s career trajectory before the child’s diagnosis.

Economists frequently testify in these cases. They calculate future losses by analyzing job history, education, age, and market trends.

Pain and Suffering

Not everything fits neatly into a spreadsheet. Cerebral palsy brings physical pain and emotional struggles—both for the child and the family. Courts allow compensation for this suffering, though it’s harder to measure.

Factors considered in pain and suffering awards:

• Physical limitations: Involuntary muscle movements, spasticity, seizures.
• Emotional distress: Anxiety, depression, isolation.
• Loss of quality of life: Inability to participate in age-appropriate activities.

Future Care Costs

A child with cerebral palsy may require assistance with daily living tasks as they age. Personal care attendants, group home placements, or nursing home facilities could become necessary. Lawsuits calculate these future costs using life care plans prepared by medical experts and financial professionals.

Components of a life care plan typically include:

• Attendant care services: Full-time or part-time caregivers.
• Residential placement: If living independently isn’t possible.
• Medical management: Ongoing assessments, medication management, and health monitoring.

Juries or judges award future care damages to cover these long-term needs. Many courts place these funds into special needs trusts, ensuring the money benefits the child without disqualifying them from government programs like Medicaid.

Hold Doctors Accountable. Secure Your Child’s Future.

No family plans for a cerebral palsy diagnosis. But when medical mistakes steal a child's chance at a healthy life, someone needs to answer for it. A lawsuit won’t undo the damage, but it forces accountability—and gives families the resources they need to move forward.

At Cerebral Palsy Lawyer Alliance, our network of attorneys helps parents take that first step. Call (888) 894-9067 today. A local lawyer will review your case for free and explain your next move.