Massachusetts Child Injury Lawyer Neil Burns

Throughout my career, I have represented children in Massachusetts who have been injured as the result of others’ negligence. Whether it's visiting a child at the hospital, engaging the child in a game to discuss how an incident happened, or preparing them to testify, I feel grateful to be involved, to be trusted, and to be helpful.

The cases range from injuries sustained in motor vehicles accidents, injuries from negligent landlords, burn injuries, broken bones and injuries from dangerous products.

When a child is injured, the case may be more complicated than when an adult is injured. First, the parent has to be involved in finding the lawyer and assisting in the preparation of the case. Second, the child has to be involved – talking to the lawyer about the accident or the medical treatment, talking about how it has affected the child at home or school, and perhaps being prepared to testify. This requires the gaining of the child’s trust. I must spend time with the child, with the parents present, to gain this trust.

While the insurance companies often do not want to go to trial with a child as the victim, they will not hesitate to make the child, and the family, jump through as many hurdles as they can to dissuade the family from prosecuting the case. Thus, many cases do require filing suit and having the child testify in a deposition. We have defended many of these depositions. You want an experienced trial attorney present when you child is examined by the insurance defense lawyers.

Another aspect of representing children in injury cases is obtaining medical testimony. The Law Office of Neil Burns has been successful in working with doctors at Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and doctors outside the state to secure expert opinions that are critical to proving important medical elements of the case.

Following good results, when we settle or win monies for the child, I am often selected to be trustee of the monetary proceeds of the case. This gives me the opportunity to remain involved with the family - helping provide educational vacations, tutors, and motor vehicles for them when they grow up! For some of my clients, I have remained trustee of trusts even beyond their adulthood, and some for decades.

For more information, click Child Injury Resources for a guide to websites which have specific information on injuries to children