Birth Injury Lawyer in New York City
Cerebral palsy, HIE and Erb's palsy cases, handled personally by Reza Yassi
Birth Injuries
Yassi Law P.C. represents children injured during labor and delivery, and their families, when a doctor's, midwife's, nurse's or hospital's error causes lasting harm such as brain damage from lack of oxygen, cerebral palsy or Erb's palsy. Attorney Reza Yassi handles each birth injury case himself, in all five boroughs of New York City and in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The first consultation is free, and there is no fee unless money is recovered.
A birth injury claim is a medical malpractice case with its own rules: a child's deadline of up to 10 years, short notice deadlines at public hospitals, a State fund for some children's future medical costs, and a judge who must approve any settlement of the child's claim. We take a limited number of these cases and focus on permanent harm or death.
Birth injury cases we handle
Brain injury from lack of oxygen during labor or delivery, often diagnosed as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
Cerebral palsy linked to what happened during labor, delivery or resuscitation
Erb's palsy and other brachial plexus injuries after a shoulder dystocia
Skull fractures and bleeding in the brain after a difficult forceps or vacuum delivery
Serious injuries to the mother, and the death of a mother or newborn
What is a birth injury, and when is it malpractice?
A birth injury is harm to a baby or mother during labor, delivery or the care right after birth. It is malpractice only when the care departed from accepted medical practice and that departure caused the injury. Common grounds for a claim:
Not acting on a worrying fetal heart-rate pattern, or delaying a needed C-section
Too much pulling on the baby's head during a shoulder dystocia, or misuse of forceps or a vacuum
Not managing a known pregnancy risk, such as preeclampsia or gestational diabetes
Poor resuscitation of a newborn who is not breathing well
Responsible parties can include the obstetrician, midwife, residents, nurses, the newborn care team and the hospital, which is generally answerable for its employees' errors.
HIE, oxygen deprivation and cerebral palsy: what the records show
Is cerebral palsy a birth injury? Sometimes. HIE and cerebral palsy cases turn on timing: when the baby's oxygen supply fell, what the monitor showed and how fast the team responded. The key records are the complete fetal monitor strips, the nursing notes and labor timeline, the umbilical cord blood gases and Apgar scores, newborn brain imaging, the NICU chart and the placenta pathology report.
The defense often blames earlier events in pregnancy, infection or genetics, so both sides rely on expert testimony. For brain injuries from other causes, see our brain injury page.
Shoulder dystocia and Erb's palsy: can you sue?
Yes, when the nerve injury came from a departure from accepted practice, for example strong pulling on the baby's head while a shoulder was stuck, or no plan for a delivery whose risks were known, such as a very large estimated baby. Shoulder dystocia, when the baby's shoulder catches behind the mother's pubic bone after the head is out, is an emergency but not malpractice by itself.
Erb's palsy involves the upper nerves of the brachial plexus and mainly weakens the shoulder and upper arm; Klumpke's palsy involves the lower nerves and mainly affects the hand. Hospitals often blame the mother's own contractions (the "maternal forces of labor" defense), so the delivery note, which shoulder was stuck and later nerve testing matter.
Injuries to the mother, stillbirth and a newborn's death
A mother has her own malpractice claim when the care injures her, for example through uncontrolled bleeding or an injury during a C-section, and her emotional distress is part of that claim. Parents also have a claim for the child's medical expenses and loss of the child's services.
If malpractice causes a miscarriage or stillbirth, the mother can recover for her emotional distress without a separate physical injury. If the baby is born alive, she cannot recover for emotional distress over the baby's injury unless she has an independent injury of her own, and no wrongful death claim exists for a stillborn child (Sheppard-Mobley v. King, 4 N.Y.3d 627 (2005)). Our guide on emotional distress after a birth injury walks through these rules.
When a baby born alive or a mother dies from the malpractice, the estate's representative can bring a wrongful death action within two years of the death (EPTL 5-4.1), but only if the malpractice claim had not already expired.
How long do you have to sue for a birth injury in New York?
For the child, generally until the 10th birthday for a delivery error. Other claims run much shorter:
The child's claim: the usual two years and six months (CPLR 214-a) is extended during infancy, but in a malpractice case never beyond 10 years after the malpractice (CPLR 208(a)).
The parents' claims and the mother's own injuries: two years and six months, not extended because the child is young.
A death: two years from the death (EPTL 5-4.1), also against NYC Health + Hospitals and NUMC (Public Authorities Law § 2981), where the notice of claim is due within 90 days after the estate's representative is appointed.
Do not plan around the 10-year limit. Monitor strips, records and witnesses are easiest to secure early.
Births at public hospitals: the 90-day notice and a child's extra time
If your baby was born at a public hospital, a notice of claim is usually due within 90 days, so find out right away who runs it.
NYC Health + Hospitals (such as Bellevue, Kings County, Jacobi and Elmhurst) and Nassau University Medical Center: a sworn notice of claim within 90 days and suit within one year and 90 days (Health and Hospitals Corporation Act § 20(2); Public Authorities Law § 3415).
Hospitals run by New York State: within 90 days, a claim filed in the Court of Claims or a notice of intention, each served on the Attorney General (Court of Claims Act § 10(3)), which has its own rule for claimants under a legal disability such as infancy (§ 10(5)).
Federally funded community health centers covered by the Federal Tort Claims Act, and their doctors and midwives (check who employed them, even if the birth was at a private hospital): a claim against the United States must be presented in writing to the federal agency within two years (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b)), and a child's age does not extend it.
For a child's claim against NYC Health + Hospitals or NUMC, the time to sue is extended by the infancy toll in CPLR 208 (in malpractice, still no more than 10 years), and a court may allow a late notice of claim during that longer period (Cohen v. Pearl River Union Free School District, 51 N.Y.2d 256 (1980)). The court weighs factors such as whether the hospital knew the essential facts, and it may still say no (General Municipal Law § 50-e(5)).
The New York Medical Indemnity Fund
The Medical Indemnity Fund pays the future health care costs of a child with a qualifying birth-related neurological injury, in place of the part of a settlement or verdict that would otherwise cover them (Public Health Law § 2999-j). The State Department of Health runs it (§ 2999-i).
Who qualifies: a live-born infant with a brain or spinal cord injury caused by oxygen deprivation or mechanical injury during labor, delivery or resuscitation, or by other care during the delivery admission, leaving a permanent and substantial motor impairment or a developmental disability (§ 2999-h).
How a child gets in: only through a malpractice verdict or settlement and a New York court order of enrollment (§§ 2999-h(4), 2999-j(7)).
What it pays: future medical, nursing, therapy, equipment, home and vehicle modification and similar costs the treating providers find necessary; private health insurance pays first (§§ 2999-h(3), 2999-j(12)).
Enrollment can pause: when estimated liabilities reach 80% of the Fund's assets, new enrollments stop until new money is deposited, and a notice must be posted online. A child turned away during a pause is paid through the judgment or settlement as if the Fund did not exist (§ 2999-i(6)).
Enrollment can pause when the Fund's money runs low (it closed briefly in 2024), and any pause must be posted on the Department of Health's Medical Indemnity Fund page, so check it before settling. The Fund administrator's number is (855) 696-4333.
What a birth injury case is worth, and court approval
A birth injury case is valued on what the child's lifetime needs will cost, so no one can give you a reliable number at the first meeting. Damages can include future medical and attendant care priced in a life-care plan (paid through the Medical Indemnity Fund instead when the child qualifies and enrollment is open), the child's lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, the parents' expenses and the mother's own damages.
No settlement of a child's claim is final until a judge approves it, and the order also approves the lawyer's fee (CPLR 1207).
The court decides how the money is held, for example in insured accounts that cannot be touched without a court order until the child turns 18, or through a structured settlement funded by an annuity (CPLR 1206). A supplemental needs trust can hold funds meant to supplement, not replace, government benefits such as Medicaid (EPTL 7-1.12).
What to do if you think your child's injury was preventable
Keep your child's care first.
Ask in writing for the complete records of mother and baby, including the full monitor strips, NICU records and imaging. Paper copies cost no more than 75 cents a page (Public Health Law § 18).
Write down who was there and what you were told.
Find out who runs the hospital, and call a lawyer well before 90 days pass if it may be public.
The complaint must ordinarily come with the lawyer's certificate that a physician was consulted and there is a reasonable basis to sue (CPLR 3012-a), so the records are reviewed first.
Fees, timing and who handles your case
The contingency fee is capped by Judiciary Law § 474-a: 30% of the first $250,000, 25% of the next $250,000, 20% of the next $500,000, 15% of the next $250,000 and 10% over $1,250,000, on the net sum after case expenses such as medical expert fees. In a child's case the court fixes the fee (Judiciary Law § 474). A written retainer agreement sets out the terms.
These cases usually take years and end in a court-approved settlement or a trial. You deal directly with Reza Yassi, who meets families at 333 Park Avenue South, by phone or video, or at home or in the hospital when travel is hard. Birth injuries are one part of our personal injury practice.
Guides on this topic
Shoulder dystocia and Erb's palsy in Brooklyn deliveries: answering the hospital's "maternal forces of labor" defense.
Emotional distress after a birth injury: when a mother can, and cannot, recover for her own distress.
New York notice of claim under GML § 50-e: the 90-day notice for public hospitals, including late notice for a child.
Fatal medical malpractice and the wrongful death deadline: why a family's time to sue after a death is often shorter than expected.
Frequently asked questions
Can you sue a hospital for a birth injury in New York?
Yes, when its doctors, midwives or nurses departed from accepted practice and that caused the injury. A public hospital needs a notice of claim, usually within 90 days.
How long do you have to sue for a birth injury in New York?
The child's claim generally within 10 years of the malpractice, usually by the 10th birthday for a delivery error (CPLR 208(a)). The parents' and the mother's own claims have two years and six months. Public hospitals need a notice of claim within 90 days, and federally funded health centers have a two-year federal deadline.
Can you sue for cerebral palsy?
Yes, if a preventable error caused it, such as ignoring fetal distress or delaying a needed C-section. Not all cerebral palsy comes from malpractice; the records decide.
Does Erb's palsy go away?
Many mild stretch injuries improve within months. Torn nerves can leave lasting weakness, and those permanent injuries are our focus.
What is the New York State Medical Indemnity Fund?
A State fund that pays the future health care costs of children with a qualifying birth-related brain or spinal cord injury after a malpractice verdict or settlement and a court enrollment order (Public Health Law §§ 2999-h, 2999-j). Enrollment can pause when funding runs low.
Will a settlement affect my child's Medicaid or SSI?
It can if the money is set up badly. A supplemental needs trust is designed to supplement, not replace, government benefits (EPTL 7-1.12), and the judge approves how the money is held.
Is a birth injury case personal injury or medical malpractice?
Both. Medical malpractice is a type of personal injury case with its own deadlines, a certificate of merit and a capped fee.
How much does a birth injury lawyer charge?
No fee unless money is recovered. The fee follows the Judiciary Law § 474-a scale, from 30% down to 10%, and in a child's case the court fixes it. The consultation is free.
If you believe your child's injury, or your own, came from a preventable error during labor or delivery, call Reza Yassi at (646) 992-2138 or contact us for a free consultation.
