Our Legal Expertise
Michael Kaplen, Chairperson of the Brain Injury Association Annual Conference, Understanding the Medical and Legal Aspects of Traumatic Brain Injury
Pursuing Justice with a passion–making a difference in lives.
What sets us apart from most personal injury law firms is our commitment and passion to protect the rights of brain injury victims.
De Caro & Kaplen, LLP Provides Compassionate Legal Representation to the Victims of Negligence and Their Families
New York brain injury attorney Michael Kaplen has more than 30 years of experience in negligence and personal injury litigation. He concentrates his practice on representing victims of head injury and brain trauma. He has been nationally recognized for his expertise in the areas of personal injury including brain injury, automobile and construction accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home malpractice and wrongful death. He chairs the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council, is the President of the American Academy of Brain Injury Attorneys, and was the three term president of the Brain Injury Association of New York. He is the past chair of the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. He is Vice President of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is a member of the board of governors of the Melvin M. Belli Society. He is a member of the National Advisory Board and New York State Advisory Board of the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of American. Michael is also a founding member of the Railroad Accident Trial Lawyers Association.
Michael Kaplen is Board Certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and Board Certified in the area of Medical Malpractice by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. Because of his nationally recognized expertise as a personal injury lawyer with a focus on the legal representation of victims of brain damage, Michael Kaplen has been interviewed by CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, N.Y. Times, N.Y. Daily News, N.Y. Post, Newsday, Gannett Papers and other television stations, newspapers and leading periodicals throughout the nation. He is co-author of the traumatic brain injury outside counsel column for the New York Law Journal. His summations in cases with multi-million dollar brain injury verdicts and medical malpractice verdicts have been published in the Art of Advocacy Series, Matthew Bender, Publishers.
He is a Clinical Professor, Graduate School of Psychology, Touro College, 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. He has presented at the grand rounds of Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York on medical malpratice in the emergency department and has co-authored the chapter on legal issues following brain trauma for the Psychiatric Clinics of North America edition on traumatic brain injury.
With his expertise as a brain injury lawyer, Michael Kaplen is frequently invited to share his expertise in brain injury legal cases with brain injury associations, brain injury rehabilitation facilities and legal groups throughout the country.
New York brain injury attorney, Shana De Caro has been an advocate for the rights of the disabled for over 25 years. She too focuses her practice on the legal representation of brain injury victims and their families. Brain injury lawyer, Shana De Caro practices in the fields of brain injury litigation, automobile and construction site accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home malpractice and wrongful death. With her expertise in traumatic brain injury she serves as an officer of the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. She is 1st Vice President of the American Academy of Brain Injury Attorneys. She is the elected secretary and member of the Board of Trustees of the Civil Justice Foundation. She is a member of the Ask The Expert Panel for BrainLine. She has successfully handled trials and appeals in State and Federal Courts on behalf of New York brain injury accident victims.
She is a graduate of Marquette University, College of Health Sciences, in Neuro Anatomical Dissection of the Human Brain and Spinal Cord and the lead author of: Traumatic Brain Injury Defining Best Practices, Current Issues in NeuroLaw in Psychiatric Clinics of North America, December 2010. She has presented at the grand rounds of Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York on medical malpratice in the emergency department.
She is a member of the Brain Trauma Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice, the Interstate Trucking Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice, Nursing Home Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice, the Birth Trauma Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice and the Medical Negligence Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. Shana De Caro was elected a Fellow of the prestigious trial lawyers’ group, The Melvin M. Belli Society and is a founding member of the Railroad Accident Trial Lawyers Association.
Shana De Caro is the editor of the New York Law Update published by the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers and co-author of the traumatic brain injury outside counsel column for the New York Law Journal.
Michael V. Kaplen
Education and Accomplishments
- B.A. from New York University – 1976
- J.D. from Brooklyn Law School – 1979
- Board Certified, Civil Trial Advocate, National Board of Trial Advocacy
- Board Certified, Medical Malpractice, American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys
- Chair, New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council
- President of the Brain Injury Association of New York State
- President, American Academy of Brain Injury Attorneys
- Vice President , New York Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Past Chair of the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the American Association For Justice
- Past Chair of the Automobile, Highway & Premises Liability Section of the American Association For Justice
- Past Co-Chair of the Tort Section of the New York County Lawyers Association
- Has taught courses in Law and Medicine as well as Trial Practice at St. John’s University School of Law
- Appointed as a member of the Medical Malpractice Panels in New York State by the Appellate Divisions of the First and Second Departments of the Supreme Courts of the State of New York
- Board of Directors, Trials Lawyers for Public Justice
- Honored by Trial Lawyers Care for his successful volunteer representation of victims of the World Trade Center disaster
- National Advisory Board, Association of Plaintiff’s Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America
- Advisory Board: Crime Victims Bar Association
- Fellow, Southern Trial Lawyers Association
- Member, Birth Trauma, Litigation Group, American Association for Justice
- Member, Interstate Trucking Litigation Group, American Association for Justice
- Member, Nursing Home Litigation Group, American Association for Justice
- Fellow, National College of Advocacy, American Association For Justice
- Sustaining Member, American Association For Justice
- Member, New York State Trial Lawyers Association
- Member, New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Member, Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Member, New Jersey Trial Lawyers Association
Invited Speaker to Brain Injury and Lawyer Associations Across the NationMr. Kaplen’s knowledge and experience as a brain injury attorney and his effective advocacy in traumatic brain injury cases has led to him being an invited guest speaker at the Brain Injury Associations of various locations including California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin as well as the Brain Injury Association of American and the North American Brain Injury Society. Mr. Kaplen has also been an invited guest speaker to lawyer associations in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin.
Shana De Caro
Shana De Caro, Treasurer of the American Association for Justice, Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, presents Susan Connors, Executive Director of the Brain Association of America, with 2010 brain injury prevention and education, endowment donation.
Education and Accomplishments
- B.A. degree from George Washington University – 1977
- J.D. degree from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law – 1980
- Attended Oxford University Institute on International and Comparative Law in Oxford, England
- Officer, the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group of the American Association For Justice
- 1st Vice President, American Academy of Brain Injury Attorneys
- Ask The Expert Legal Panel, BrainLine
- Editor, Monthly Law Update, New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers
- Elected, Who’s Who in the Law
- Elected, Who’s Who American Women
- Member, New York State Trial Lawyers Association
- Member, Brain Injury Association of New York State
- Board of Trustees, Civil Justice Foundation
- Appointed as a member of the Medical Malpractice Panels in New York State by the Appellate Divisions of the First and Second Departments of the Supreme Courts of the State of New York
- Primary legal assistant to a Justice of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Brooklyn)
- Editorial adviser to the American Association For Justice, Work Place reporter
- Admitted to the Court of International Trade
- Fellow, National College of Advocacy, American Association For Justice
- Honored by Trial Lawyers Care for her successful volunteer representation of victims of the World Trade Center Disaster
- Member, Birth Trauma, Litigation Group, American Association for Justice
- Member, Interstate Trucking Litigation Group, American Association for Justice
- Member, Nursing Home Litigation Group, American Association for Justice
- Member, Trial Lawyers For Public Justice
- Member, American Association For Justice
If your loved one or yourself has been a victim of traumatic brain injury caused by a motor vehicle accident, medical malpractice, premise site negligence or work place injury, contact the New York brain injury law team at De Caro & Kaplen, LLP, for a free, no obligation consultation.
