Before you pursue a claim, learn how untreated newborn jaundice can cause kernicterus and what a malpractice review looks for, including the questions worth asking.
Of the 284 firms that show birth injury work on our 114 city lists in the United States, Walkup Personal Injury Lawyers scores highest on malpractice focus, published results, client reviews and experience, followed by Wapner Newman Attorneys At Law and Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf. Each firm keeps its best score from the cities it serves; open a city for its full list.
Best Kernicterus Lawyers in the United States
Feature your firm first on this page
This spot goes to one firm for a year. It's shown first, above everyone below, and labeled Featured.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.6115 Google reviewsRated 4.6 out of 5 on Google from 115 reviews
Best for: Cerebral palsy and HIE claims
For a Brooklyn child with cerebral palsy, Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf publishes a $90,939,857 verdict. Placental abruption went undiagnosed in that case.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.8181 Google reviewsRated 4.8 out of 5 on Google from 181 reviews
Best for: Birth-related brain injury claims
The cases Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. publishes include Erb’s palsy and severe brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery. That’s why both fit this birth injury list directly.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
Kernicterus lawyers by state
The rules change from one state to the next, so the lawyers near you are the ones to call.
When newborn jaundice goes untreated, a baby can suffer brain damage called kernicterus. A malpractice claim may be possible if your baby was injured because bilirubin wasn't monitored or treated. A diagnosis alone doesn't prove negligence. To connect the care to your baby's injury, a lawyer who handles birth injury claims in your state will need to examine the newborn records.
Even if you don't know what went wrong with your baby's care, you can ask for help. Ask what the hospital did about the jaundice once staff recognized it (and whether they recognized it at all). Could treatment have prevented the injury? Ask that question next.
What kernicterus means
Untreated jaundice can damage a newborn's brain; that damage is called kernicterus. Preventing that damage means monitoring bilirubin and treating it. When you look back at your child's care, remember that jaundice can cause a brain injury, but having jaundice doesn't mean having that injury.
If the diagnosis isn't clear to you, ask your child's treating clinician to explain it. Don't interchange those terms. Unless your child's brain injury has been confirmed, you can't take a mention of jaundice in the chart to mean that your child has kernicterus. What has the medical team confirmed about your child's condition, and what remains unclear? Ask them to explain.
Could the care support a legal claim? That's this page's focus. If you have related concerns, the broader birth injury page may help, though newborn injuries don't all involve the same condition.
How an untreated-jaundice concern becomes a case
As the jaundice worsened, did staff recognize it and treat it properly? That response matters. According to RWB's published case result, the allegations concerned a hospital's systems and protocols: they weren't appropriate for diagnosing and treating newborn babies whose jaundice was increasing.
Only one hospital's care is covered by that allegation. You can't assume the cause matches other cases. To review your child's care, someone needs to look at what happened and how staff responded, taking account of what they knew at the time.
Warning signs and questions about the response
In RWB's published case account, the warning was that the jaundice kept getting worse. You won't find a symptom checklist here or a bilirubin level that calls for treatment. Ask a clinician which changes in your baby need assessment without delay. Don't wait for a legal consultation to seek care if you're worried about your child's condition right now.
When the care team first noticed the jaundice increasing, did they record it?
Was the baby's bilirubin measured? Ask the clinician to explain any results you find in the chart.
Why did staff act when they did, and what treatment did they give or consider?
What instructions did the family get from staff about monitoring and follow-up?
Use these questions to look at the care, not to establish fault. If you don't clearly remember someone's words, say so. Keep what you remember separate from what the hospital chart actually says when you write down your notes now.
What makes it malpractice rather than a bad outcome
Someone needs to examine the injury itself, not just the alleged mistake in your child's care. Ask the lawyer to explain the standard of care: what care should your child have received under the circumstances at the time? Do the records show that your child received less care than that standard required?
Check what caused the injury. Someone must explain how the missed step caused your child's brain injury; pointing to a step that was missed doesn't establish that connection. What medical support could connect the failure to the injury? Ask the lawyer. A diagnosis alone isn't enough to make that connection, so don't assume it.
When the lawyer reviews the claim, they also need to look at how your child was harmed. How do your state's rules affect the injury documented in your child's records and the care they need? Ask the lawyer. This is general information; it isn't legal advice. To understand what those requirements mean for your child, talk with a lawyer who practices in your state.
If you're questioning the hospital's protocols, consider asking for a hospital and nursing negligence review. You may also need to ask about delayed diagnosis if staff didn't recognize that the jaundice was getting worse. These labels name the care being questioned. Calling the care negligent doesn't prove that staff did anything wrong.
What published results can tell you
For a baby who suffered kernicterus, the brain injury caused by untreated jaundice, RWB's site reports a recovery of $18 million. According to that account, the allegations concerned hospital systems that weren't appropriate for diagnosing and treating newborns whose jaundice was getting worse. What another child might recover can't be estimated from that result.
Recovery identified in RWB's published untreated-jaundice case result; not an average or a prediction.
Texas non-economic damages cap per claimant against all individual defendants, as described by The Hastings Law Firm; ask a Texas lawyer how it applies.
Don't use those figures in each other's place. A state-specific limitation doesn't tell you a kernicterus claim's total value; it's different from the amount a firm reports recovering in a case. You can't work out a national average from either of those figures.
If a firm brings up its result, ask about that case's facts and how they differ from what happened to your child. A large dollar figure won't give you much to work with when deciding what to do unless the firm explains those differences.
Deadlines depend on the state
The state determines medical malpractice deadlines. Even if you find a deadline online, it may not apply to your child, whose age doesn't automatically answer the timing question. Look first at the state pages. To identify the statute of limitations that applies, ask a lawyer in the state where the care took place.
When talking with the lawyer, give your child's birth date and the dates of the care you're concerned about. Include when you first learned that an injury was suspected. Mention treatment across state lines at the start if that happened. Let the lawyer identify the deadline.
What to do next
Prepare for a kernicterus case review
1
Address current medical concerns
Seek medical assessment if you're worried about your baby's jaundice right now. A lawyer shouldn't be your first stop. Ask the treating clinician what the diagnosis means for your child if an injury has already been established.
2
Gather the records you already have
Gather any bilirubin results you have with the newborn chart and discharge instructions. Include records from later care that discuss kernicterus. Before you make the first call, you don't need every record assembled; the lawyer can tell you what else to request.
3
Write a short account
Using dates you know, explain when you became concerned and what staff did in response. If details are uncertain, say so. Rather than substituting a rewritten summary, keep the original messages or paperwork that describe what happened at the time.
4
Ask for a focused review
What failure the lawyer suspects, and what would connect it to the injury, are questions to ask about your child's care. Ask the lawyer to explain the deadline before discussing a possible recovery.
5
Clarify the next decision
Ask how fees and expenses would work, and what the firm plans to do next, before you agree to representation. Who will contact you is worth asking, too, along with what information you'll need to give them.
Don't go beyond what you know. Without claiming to know why a clinician made a particular decision, you can write, “I raised a concern about jaundice,” to describe what happened. Point out any apparent conflict between the chart and your memory so it can be reviewed.
Choosing a lawyer for this review
Rather than asking only about birth injuries, ask what work the firm has done on untreated-jaundice claims. Among its practice areas, RWB lists kernicterus, and it publishes a recovery related to that condition. Those facts give you a place to start asking questions. Don't assume from them that the firm meets every family's needs.
What claims involving increasing newborn jaundice or kernicterus have you handled?
How would you evaluate causation, and who would review the medical records?
For the state where the care occurred, can you assess the filing deadline?
What costs might we have to pay if we sign the proposed agreement?
If an answer isn't clear, ask for clarification. Ask what facts were behind a published result when the firm mentions one. To understand why the firm can't assess your claim yet, ask what information it still needs for that decision.
When newborn jaundice goes untreated, it can cause brain damage called kernicterus. Preventing that damage depends on monitoring bilirubin and treating it. Ask the treating clinician what supports the diagnosis and what it means if the term appears in your child's records. Whether a failure in care caused the injury is a different question, which the legal review examines. Having the diagnosis doesn't settle that question.
Is it worth suing for medical malpractice involving kernicterus?
Have the case reviewed first. Before doing that, you don't need to decide to sue. Do the records show care below the required standard, and does that failure connect to your child's injury, are questions to ask. Along with the financial terms of representation, discuss which deadline applies to the claim. To weigh these questions, talk with a lawyer in your state rather than treating a published recovery as a prediction of what your child might receive.
What kinds of medical negligence can lead to a kernicterus claim?
When reviewing newborn jaundice care, the main concerns are missed monitoring or treatment. RWB's published case account describes an allegation about a hospital: it lacked appropriate systems and protocols to diagnose and treat babies whose jaundice was increasing. You can ask whether that concern warrants investigation. Don't treat it as proof that the same failure occurred in your child's care, or as a checklist that will establish negligence in a claim.
What is the average payout for medical negligence involving kernicterus?
You can't establish an average payout from the sources linked here. For one untreated-jaundice case, the recovery RWB reports is $18 million. What another claim may be worth can't be determined from that one result. To understand how your child's documented injury would be evaluated, ask a lawyer which state rules may limit particular damages, too. A firm's headline result isn't an amount you should expect to recover.
What are the four proofs of negligence?
What duty was owed to your child, and whether the care fell below the applicable standard, are questions for the lawyer to explain. Along with those questions, the review must examine whether that failure caused the injury and what harm it left your child with. Which points have support, and which remain unproven, are worth asking about. To meet the precise legal requirements, the evidence must satisfy the rules of the state involved.
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