Chandler Injury Lawyer: Your Sports and Fitness Injury Advocate
Chandler Injury Lawyer Paul Ticen is committed to guiding you through the complexities of a sports and fitness injuries, committed to a positive client experience and committed to client’s receiving fair and reasonable compensation.
Understanding Inherent Risks in Sports and Fitness Related Activities
Engaging in physical activity carries an inherent risk of injury. Stepping off a sidewalk awkwardly can result in a sprained ankle. When physical activities involve faster movements and involve greater levels of force, like competitive athletics and fitness activities, the inherent risk of injury increases.
Fortunately, experienced, skilled and competent sports and conditioning coaches and group fitness instructors can reduce this risk through sound and reasonable guidelines, protocols, programming, instruction and supervision. The need for reduced risk of injury is especially true when an athlete or fitness enthusiast is particularly vulnerable due to age (both youth and elderly), lack of training experience and knowledge, lack of current strength and conditioning or when there are known prior injuries and functional limitations.
When coaches and instructors fall below the standard of care, and his or her negligent and reckless conduct leads to injuries, the coaches, instructors and organizations who employ them, may bear fault for the injuries.
Paul Ticen seeks to hold negligent and reckless coaches, instructors and organizations accountable and to secure fair and reasonable compensation for athletes and fitness enthusiasts who were injured as a result of negligent and reckless conduct.
Common Sports and Fitness Injury Scenarios
While every sports and fitness injury case is unique, Paul Ticen handles cases involving:
- Negligent Instruction & Supervision: Those vulnerable to injury such as youth, the elderly or inexperienced and deconditioned adults require sufficient instruction and supervision to minimize the risk of injury. When one or both is lacking, injury is an unfortunate consequence.
- Negligent Programming & Workout Design: When a strength, conditioning and fitness program is properly and carefully designed it can lead to progressions in what is being trained while the risk of injury is minimized. Similarly, a well-crafted training session can lead to the desired stimulus without increasing the risk of injury When a particular workout or overall program, however, is poorly designed, thought out and significantly exceeds an athlete or fitness enthusiast’s physical abilities whether from lack of training experience, deconditioned state, pre-existing injury or functional limitations, the risk of injury is enhanced.
- Dangerous & Defective Equipment: Poorly designed and manufactured machines or equipment can fail under what is normal intended use in athletic strength and conditioning programs or general population fitness classes. Failure when executed dynamic movements or under heavy loads can lead to catastrophic injuries. Machines or equipment can also fail and lead to injury due to improper maintenance or repair.
- Concussion & Return to Sport Protocol Breaches: Through publicity from the NFL concussion litigation, public knowledge and awareness increased regarding the dangers of concussions and premature return to sport and activities. These dangers are especially pronounced with youth athletes who require even more time to fully heal even once post- concussion symptoms have resolved. Being pushed to return to the field, court or whatever sport can lead to subsequent concussions and the cascading damage and long-term effects that result from repeated concussions.
Representative Sports and Fitness Injury Cases
- Senior Group Fitness Class – Lumbar Disc Herniation and Permanent Strength Deficits: During a senior-focused class, an instructor failed to properly demonstrate and supervise an exercise on an inflatable ball leading to hyperextension, which caused an acute L3–4 disc extrusion and left-sided radiculopathy. The injury led to permanent strength deficits in her left quadricep and adversely affected the client’s quality of life. The primary argument was negligent programming and supervision or a vulnerable individual.
- High Impact Movement under Fatigue with Prior Knee Injury – Adult Female, ACL and Medial Meniscus Tear: Under the guidance of a personal trainer using a commercial gym’s metabolic-conditioning program, a client with a known prior knee injury was pushed into a high-impact dynamic movement under significant fatigue. The client tore her ACL and medial meniscus. The client had little to no athletic background and no prior experience with metabolic conditioning. Expert testimony was used to establish the standard of care and how the trainer fell below the standard of care by instructing the client to perform jump squats under extreme fatigue with a known prior knee injury
- Box Step-Ups for Deconditioned Individual – Thoracic Spine Burst Fracture: During a 20″ plyometric box step-up and step-down movement during a HIIT session, a 50-year- old client lost her balance stepping down under significant fatigue, fell and suffered a T12 burst fracture. She wore a back brace for months and had limited mobility, requiring extensive physical therapy. Expert testimony was used that the gym and group fitness coach fell below the standard of care as the program and exercise selection far exceeded the client’s physical ability and safer alternative movements could have been used while building unilateral leg strength.
Common Defenses in Sports and Fitness Injury Cases
Defendants often raise defenses designed to limit liability. The most prevalent include:
- Assumption of the Risk: The client understood and voluntarily accepted the inherent dangers of the activity.
- Release and Waiver: The client signed an agreement that he or she waives any claim against the gym or trainer.
- Comparative Fault: The client’s own conduct caused or contributed to his or her injuries.
- Product Misuse: In equipment-failure cases, asserting the injury resulted from improper or dangerous use, or doing so outside the scope of its intended purpose.
Paul Ticen meticulously analyzes and challenges these defenses.
Fair and Reasonable Compensation You May Be Entitled To
Based on the nature, extent and duration of the injury:
- Reasonable expenses of necessary medical care, treatment and services (past and future)
- Lost income and reduced earning capacity
- Rehabilitation and home-care expenses
- Pain and suffering (past and future)
- Emotional distress/anxiety (past and future),
- Loss of enjoyment of life (past and future)
- Permanent impairment, disability or disfigurement
Why Consult and Hire Paul Ticen
- Comprehensive Case Analysis: Paul Ticen’s experience and knowledge with evaluating, building up and litigating sports and fitness injury cases enables him to identify the factual and legal issues that can make or break these cases. A thorough evaluation is necessary to determine if there is a viable case.
- Sport and Fitness Specific Expertise: Paul Ticen’s background as a former collegiate athlete and life-long fitness enthusiast with decades of training experience provides a deep familiarity and understanding of how injuries arising from sport and fitness can arise from negligent and reckless conduct by those who were relied upon to reduce the inherent risk of injury.
- Sport and Fitness Expert Connections: Paul Ticen has developed relationships with professionals in the sports and fitness industry who can consult and even serve as standard of care experts when necessary for specific cases.
- Transparent, Compassionate Service: Paul Ticen’s empathy, transparency and interpersonal skills make for a positive client experience during difficult times.
- Contingency Fee Commitment: No fees unless we recover fair and reasonable compensation for you.
Take the Next Step: Free Consultation
If you’ve been injured in a sports or fitness activity in the Phoenix area or elsewhere, contact Chandler Injury Lawyer Paul Ticen today for a free, no-obligation case review to gauge whether Paul is the right fit to handle your sports and fitness injury case. Cases are handled on a contingency fee basis. Contact Paul Ticen at (480) 646-9382, paulticen@injurylawchandler.com or click on the link below to submit your information online and get started on your case.
