Traumatic Brain Injury Expert Services in AS

KWVRS Editorial Team. Last updated 2026-10-20.

KWVRS provides traumatic brain injury vocational and life care planning analysis for attorneys handling cases in American Samoa. KWVRS provides forensic economic analysis with its affiliated firm, Kincaid Wolstein Economics.

Overview

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases involve a bump, blow, or jolt to the head, or a penetrating head injury, that disrupts normal brain function. Vocational and economic damages in TBI matters are often complex because cognitive, behavioral, and emotional sequelae may coexist with physical limitations, and the injured person's pre-injury earning capacity must be reconstructed from education, training, work history, and transferable skills.

Vocational and economic impact

TBI can reduce sustained attention, executive function, processing speed, short-term memory, and emotional regulation. These limitations often prevent an individual from returning to skilled or high-demand occupations, and in moderate-to-severe cases may preclude competitive employment entirely. A vocational evaluation establishes residual work capacity, employability, and placeability in the relevant labor market, integrating neuropsychological test results with medical restrictions and transferable skills analysis.

Economic damages in TBI matters commonly include lost earnings, lost earning capacity, lost household services, lost fringe benefits, and the present value of future wage loss across the claimant's worklife expectancy. In catastrophic cases damages can extend into lost retirement contributions and reduced worklife expectancy.

Life care plans for TBI routinely address cognitive rehabilitation, neuropsychological follow-up, medications, assistive technology, case management, home modifications, attendant care, and in severe cases 24-hour supervised care. Plans are typically built in coordination with the treating physiatrist, neurologist, and neuropsychologist.

American Samoa courts and expert standards

Traumatic Brain Injury matters in American Samoa are litigated in the state's trial courts, with vocational, life care planning, and economic testimony evaluated under American Samoa's expert evidence standard. KWVRS prepares reports and testimony that account for these requirements.

Where these cases are heard

High Court of American Samoa (Trial Division) - General jurisdiction; felonies, civil cases above the District Court's limit, domestic relations, probate and admiralty matters
District Court of American Samoa - Limited jurisdiction; smaller civil cases, small claims, misdemeanors, traffic, adoptions, reciprocal support enforcement and public health cases

Highest court: High Court of American Samoa, Appellate Division (American Samoa has no separate supreme court). Federal venues: none.

Sources: Secretary of American Samoa, Public Laws of American Samoa, the act increasing the civil jurisdiction of the District Court (2008): the trial division of the High Court is a court of general jurisdiction, with felonies, civil cases above the District Court's limit, domestic relations, probate and admiralty matters among its cases; the land and titles division has exclusive jurisdiction over matai titles and land; the appellate division reviews the trial and land and titles divisions and appeals from the District Court; the District Court, a court of limited jurisdiction, hears smaller civil cases, misdemeanors, traffic cases, adoptions, reciprocal support actions and public health offenses (reviewed 2026-10-12); Secretary of American Samoa, Public Laws of American Samoa, the act on temporary associate judges (2015): the appellate, trial and land and titles divisions of the High Court (reviewed 2026-10-12); Secretary of American Samoa, American Samoa Administrative Code, 2024 Edition: suits in the trial division and petitions for review in the appellate division of the High Court of American Samoa, and citations filed with the District Court of American Samoa (reviewed 2026-10-12); American Samoa Department of Commerce, American Samoa Statistical Yearbook 2023 & 2024: its court tables, from the High Court of American Samoa, list the types of case filed in the High Court, among them land, matai (chief) title, divorce and probate cases, and in the District Court, among them civil, traffic, small claims, adoption and public health cases (reviewed 2026-10-12); American Samoa Department of Commerce, Data & Statistics: the American Samoa Statistical Yearbook 2023 & 2024 among the statistical yearbooks the page lists and links (reviewed 2026-10-12); United States Courts, About U.S. District Courts: the territories with courts that hear federal cases are Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (reviewed 2026-10-12)

Attorney guides for traumatic brain injury cases

Other case types in American Samoa

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a traumatic brain injury for litigation purposes?

For litigation, TBI is typically defined using clinical criteria such as the Glasgow Coma Scale, loss of consciousness, post-traumatic amnesia, and imaging findings, consistent with CDC and American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine guidance. Severity is generally classified as mild, moderate, or severe, which correlates with expected functional outcomes.

How is earning capacity evaluated after a TBI?

Earning capacity is evaluated by integrating the pre-injury vocational profile (education, training, skills, work history, earnings) with post-injury medical and neuropsychological findings, applying transferable skills analysis and labor market data to determine what occupations remain within the person's residual functional capacity and what those occupations pay in the relevant geographic labor market.

Do mild TBI cases require vocational experts?

Mild TBI cases can require vocational experts when persistent post-concussive symptoms affect occupational performance, particularly in cognitively demanding roles. Not every mild TBI results in vocational loss, which is precisely why an objective evaluation is useful in litigation.

How does a life care planner coordinate with treating physicians in TBI cases?

A certified life care planner obtains recommendations from the treating team (physiatrist, neurologist, neuropsychologist, therapists) and translates those recommendations into a comprehensive, itemized plan of care with projected costs over the life expectancy of the evaluee.

References

Ready to Get Started on traumatic brain injury cases in American Samoa?

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