James W. Vititoe
Partner - Law Offices of Masry & Vititoe

James Vititoe focuses his legal expertise on medical injury cases. Over the last 25 plus years, Jim has specialized in civil tort litigation, including wrongful death, catastrophic and spinal cord injuries, work-related injuries, and other types of personal injuries. His focus and specialty has been Acquired Traumatic Brain Injuries, which are classified as mild, moderate and severe.

Acquired Traumatic Brain Injury (ATBI): Acquired Traumatic Brain Injury results from rapid acceleration and deceleration of the brain. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are approximately 1.5 million cases of ATBI annually in the U.S., of which 1.2 million are mild.

An unknown proportion of those are not hospitalized may experience long-term problems, such as:

• Cognitive and/or memory problems
• Persistent headaches
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Fatigue
• Vision or hearing problems
• Confusion
• Mood changes

In most cases of diagnosed MTBI, the patient recovers fully. Some research indicates that up to 15% of patients diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury have experienced persistent disabling problems. The leading causes of MTBI are motor vehicle accidents, falls and sports activities. The groups most at risk are adolescents and young adults (age 15-24) and older adults (65 and over).

EDUCATION

• College of William and Mary, B.A., Psychology, 1971
• Southwestern University, J.D., 1976
• Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) Certified Civil Trial Specialist, 2001
• American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA) National College of Advocacy - Fellow of Trial Advocacy, 2001, Diplomate of Trial Advocacy, 2003

OFFICES

• American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA) - Board of Governors
• Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group (ATLA) - Executive Board
• Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TPLJ) - Board of Directors
• Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) - Board of Governors
• Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) - Past Board of Governors
• Civil Justice Foundation - Board of Trustees

FEATURED SPEAKER

• CAALA - Soft Tissue Disc Injury; Premises Liability
• CAOC - The Erin Brockovich Story; The Ultimate Premises Case
• Curry School of Education, Univ. of Virginia, Communication Disorders
• Iowa Trial Lawyers Convention, Featured Luncheon Speaker
• Kentucky Trial Lawyers Convention
• Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers Workhorse Seminar
• Consumer Attorneys of California Convention
• Tennessee Trial Lawyers Convention
• Wyoming Trial Lawyers Convention
• North American Brain Injury Society - Evidence of ATBI in Survivors with English as a Second Language
• California Brain Injury Medical and Legal Conference

AWARDS

• U.S. Congressional Award - Trial Lawyer of the Year, 1990, 1991, 1992
• ATLA - Presidential Award of Merit, (Weideman-Wysocki Award), 2003
• TLPJ - President's Award, 2001; Public Justice Enhancement Award, 2003; Wall of Honor
• CAOC - Trench Soldier of the Year, 1996; Presidential Recognition Exceptional Contribution, 1996; Consumer Advocate of the Year, 1997; President's Award of Merit, 2000, 2002, 2003

If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of another party's negligence contact a California traumatic brain injury lawyer today at Masry & Vititoe.