Invisible Injuries, Visible Advocacy: Proving Your Case When the Injury Can’t Be Seen
By: Erin R. Applebaum, Partner
Kreindler & Kreindler Partner Erin Applebaum has authored Invisible Injuries, Visible Advocacy: Proving Your Case When the Injury Can’t Be Seen, published in the New York Law Journal. In her article, Applebaum examines the legal and practical challenges of proving post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in aviation accident and passenger injury litigation. Drawing on the February 2025 crash of Delta Connection/Endeavor Air Flight 4819 in Toronto, she illustrates how survivors can escape with minimal physical harm yet suffer severe psychological trauma that permanently alters their lives.
Invisible injuries require the same rigorous advocacy as catastrophic physical injuries and urges lawyers to ensure that courts fully recognize the lasting impact of psychological trauma.
Applebaum outlines diagnostic criteria for PTSD — including flashbacks, hypervigilance, avoidance, and emotional numbness — and explains why the condition’s reliance on self-reporting invites skepticism from insurers, defense counsel, and juries. She then offers practical guidance for plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking to translate these invisible injuries into credible legal evidence: ensuring consistent psychiatric treatment, maintaining symptom journals, securing qualified mental health experts, and proactively addressing any pre-existing mental health history. Credibility, she argues, is the central battleground in PTSD litigation.
Erin surveys key legal developments expanding PTSD’s recognition as a compensable injury, including a landmark turbulence recovery secured by Kreindler & Kreindler and the appellate decision in Doe v. Etihad Airways, which permitted PTSD recovery under the Montreal Convention where even minor physical injury was present. She notes that PTSD claims are increasingly common across a range of catastrophic events — from car accidents to mass shootings — though courts remain divided on whether the condition qualifies as a “serious injury” under New York law. She concludes that invisible injuries demand the same rigorous advocacy as physical ones, and urges attorneys to ensure courts fully recognize the lasting impact of psychological trauma.
Author
Erin R. Applebaum
Erin has dedicated her career to seeking justice for people harmed during air travel. As a partner in Kreindler’s aviation practice, she represents the interests of victims severely injured or killed in general aviation accidents and commercial airline disasters. Erin is part of the Kreindler litigation team representing 34 victims of the January 2025 midair collision in Washington, DC, serving as a member of the court-appointed Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee. She also represents 14 passengers in the litigation arising from the February 2025 crash-landing of Delta Flight 4819 in Toronto, serving as co-chair of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee. She is widely recognized as an authority on the Montreal Convention, the international treaty on commercial air travel.
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Invisible injuries require the same rigorous advocacy as catastrophic physical injuries and urges lawyers to ensure that courts fully recognize the lasting impact of psychological trauma.
