United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I have recently found out that my child will have to appear in court and show her arm to a room full of strangers. I didnt know this at the time of filing and am now having big doubts about continueing as our case is pretty weak anyway. Im not sure humiliating my child like this is going to be worth it. Please could any of you parents who have been through this tell me what i should expect. How long did your child have to be in court? how old were they at the time? How were they treated? Was it worth it? How did it make your children feel. Im tearing myself apart right now any advise would be a great help. Thank you.

can your child go via a video link to make it easier?
this seems a VERY cruel thing to do to me - my son was 11 and only had to go into the court in front of the judge for an approval hearing, but he was still nervous and self conscious and we were GUARANTEED to get the money - I would be unhappy with this situation too - do you have a psychologist who would be willing to testify that this could be damaging to your child's self esteem?
ask the lawyers to look for alternatives - make them realise this is a CHILD they are dealing with.
I wish you all the luck in the world

We were going to have Matthew in court during the economists testimony. He's 2. We settled out of court but if we went to trial we felt it was important for the jury to see him for a few minutes.
Cindy

Talk to your attorney about choice in this. They often video in another small room. Is your child's injury visible? is the deformity visible? If so - make sure he is wearing clothing that will get the jury to see the differences. OR have the child wear the current splint he is wearing. They will need a way to see past a smiling, happy child. Good luck - I wish you the best and hope that your little one doesn't have to endure too much for this case.

Francine is right, make sure they can see you childs injury. Most attorney's are pretty easy on children. They can't come across being mean to the jury. Good Luck.

We labored long over this with our case. We did end up having Taylor come in for the jury to see her. She was three and a half at the time. In the end we decided it was important for the jury to see what the injury had done. Taylor knew our lawyer very well and trusted him. I went in with her to show the jury with our lawyer and she was fine. She has been through so many Dr's looking at her it was second nature to her to show others. She was only in for a maximum of 5 mins and then she was out and on her way home. We explained to her in advance all that she would have to do and who and how many would be there. Taylor attends early education classes and said that it was just like show and tell. This may not be the right decision for you, for us it was, knowing her personality and her attitude. The other attorney never even spoke to her or said a word . I hope this helps and that all goes well with your case.

Our attorneys are going to have Alek show his injury in court to the jury. They decided to have him go up with his therapist whom he is very comfortable with. I have really struggled with putting Alek on " display" but I really feel like this is the best way to show the jury his injury. Alek is 8 so we talk about it a lot to prepare him. I think often our children surprise us, with the way they handle what we think may be too much. Best of luck to you!
Sandra