If a musician is injured, the Law Offices of Anthony Carbone help by finding who is legally responsible, handling the insurance companies, building proof of what really happened, and then fighting for money that can cover medical care, lost gigs, future earning ability, and the long, quiet cost of not being able to play the way you once did.
That is the short version. The slightly boring version, maybe. But if you play piano or any other instrument, you probably know the truth behind that line: getting hurt is not just about a broken bone or a sore back. It is about your hands, your hearing, your posture, your timing, the way your whole body supports what you play.
And when that is taken away because of someone else’s carelessness, the legal side is not just some formality. It can decide whether you can afford hand therapy, a special keyboard setup, or even enough time off from teaching or performing to heal without panicking about bills.
Why injuries feel different when you are a musician
From the outside, an injury might look simple: a fractured wrist, a concussion, a back strain. On paper, those are normal personal injury cases. But for a pianist or any serious musician, the same injury can affect almost everything you do.
Think about what your body actually does when you play:
- Your hands and fingers handle fast, small movements.
- Your shoulders, neck, and back hold your posture for long stretches of time.
- Your ears track tiny differences in tone and timing.
- Your brain coordinates all of it in real time.
That means an injury that might be annoying for someone else can be career changing for you. A slight nerve problem in one finger. Constant ringing in one ear. A lower back that tightens up after 10 minutes at the piano bench.
For a musician, a “minor” injury can be the difference between playing at your best and not playing at all.
When a law office understands that, the whole case changes. They do not just ask “how bad did it hurt” but “how did this change your ability to perform, record, practice, or teach.” That sounds obvious, but many claims do not look closely at that part.
Common ways musicians get injured
Not every injury happens on stage. Many do not. Here are a few situations that often show up in cases that involve musicians.
Car crashes before or after a gig
Maybe you are driving home after a late performance. Or rushing from a rehearsal to a teaching job. A distracted driver hits your car. For most people, this is already stressful. For a pianist who ends up with hand, neck, or back problems, it can be more than that.
A firm like Anthony Carbone’s will usually look at:
- How the crash happened and who is clearly at fault.
- Whether there is commercial insurance involved, for example if the other driver was on the job.
- Your medical records, including which joints, nerves, or muscles are affected.
- Your work history, to show how much of your income comes from music related work.
Many musicians piece together different income streams. Performances, lessons, church work, accompaniment, studio sessions. That can confuse insurance adjusters who want tidy numbers. A careful lawyer spends time making that picture clear, not just for insurance but for a jury if it goes that far.
Injuries at venues, studios, or rehearsal spaces
A cracked step backstage. Loose wiring around a piano. An unstable platform where your keyboard is set up. Wet floors in the loading area.
These sound small. They are not small when you are carrying an amp or trying to move a heavy keyboard or when you fall and instinctively throw your hands out to protect yourself.
These are usually called premises liability cases. That just means the injury happens on property that someone else is supposed to maintain in a reasonably safe condition.
When a musician falls at a venue, the legal question is not only “did you get hurt” but “did the owner ignore a danger that should have been fixed.”
This can involve:
- Security camera footage from the venue.
- Maintenance logs or cleaning schedules.
- Witness statements from other performers or staff.
- Photos of the scene before anything is changed.
A law office that is familiar with performers will ask questions a bit differently. They might ask where your hands hit the ground, or which way your wrist bent, or how soon after the fall it hurt to play. These details matter when doctors later test for ligament injuries or nerve damage.
Equipment accidents and faulty products
Pianists and other musicians rely on a lot of equipment now. Digital pianos, pedals, stands, benches, lights, monitor speakers. Things can go wrong.
For example:
- A defective bench collapses and you fall backward.
- A keyboard stand fails and the whole instrument lands on your leg or wrist.
- A poorly made pedal housing cuts or crushes your foot.
Cases that involve defective products can be more complex. There might be a manufacturer, a distributor, and a retailer. Each one has different legal duties. The firm will look at who designed the product, who made it, and whether others have complained about the same problem.
Assaults and unsafe environments
This is the part that people do not always like talking about, but it happens. Late night venues, parking decks, poorly lit alleys behind theaters. If a club, hall, or other business fails to provide reasonable security, and someone is attacked, that can lead to a claim against the property owner as well as the attacker.
For a musician, the injuries may be physical and also mental. Anxiety. Fear of performing at certain places again. Problems focusing during practice. These do not show up on an x ray, but they can change how and whether you work.
Why hand, wrist, and back injuries hit musicians so hard
Lawyers are not doctors, but good ones learn patterns. They see how specific injuries affect specific trades. For musicians, three areas show up again and again: hands, spine, and hearing.
Hand and wrist injuries
For a pianist, this is the nightmare scenario. But it is common after falls or car crashes. Fractured fingers, torn ligaments in the wrist, carpal tunnel that flares up after trauma.
On paper, the medical record might say something like “full range of motion restored.” That might be enough for someone with a typical office job. For you, “full range” is not the question. The question is whether you can handle octaves, repeated chords, or fast passages without pain, stiffness, or weakness.
A personal injury case for a musician should focus on fine motor control and endurance, not just whether a joint moves from point A to point B.
Lawyers who understand this will work with doctors and, sometimes, occupational or hand therapists to draw a clearer picture. They may even ask you to bring in recordings from before and after the injury, or written notes from students if your teaching had to change.
Neck and back injuries
Sitting at a piano for long rehearsals is physical work. Your back and neck stabilize your arms. When a crash or fall leads to a herniated disc or chronic muscle spasms, you feel it every time you sit down.
These injuries can affect:
- How long you can sit at a bench without needing a break.
- Whether you can carry your own gear to gigs.
- Your ability to drive to rehearsals or lessons.
- Sleep quality, which then affects focus and accuracy when you play.
Again, a lawyer has to connect those dots for the insurance company. Not in some dramatic way, but plainly and with evidence. Sometimes that is through your own testimony. Sometimes through testimony from people who work with you.
Hearing problems and head injuries
Head injuries from crashes or falls can mean more than a bump. Concussions, tinnitus, and sound sensitivity can all follow. For a musician, that is not a small side effect. It may change where and how often you can play, and sometimes whether you can tolerate rehearsals at all.
With these kinds of injuries, a firm may bring in neurologists or audiologists to explain, for example, how a concussion can lead to concentration problems or how tinnitus can make fine listening tasks exhausting.
How a law office builds a case around a musician’s life
A lot of people think a personal injury case is just filling out forms and waiting for a settlement offer. That might happen in simple situations. But when you are a musician, and your whole craft depends on details, the legal work becomes more detailed too.
Step 1: Listening to your actual day to day
This part seems simple. It is not. When you sit down with a lawyer, they usually ask about:
- What you were doing when the accident happened.
- Your medical treatment so far.
- How the injury affects your daily life.
For a musician, that third part matters a lot. A careful lawyer will dig into questions like:
- How many hours per week did you practice before the injury?
- How often did you perform or teach?
- What tasks during practice or performance cause the most pain now?
- Have you had to change repertoire, cancel gigs, or cut back lessons?
This is where you may feel a little self conscious, because you might hear yourself saying things like, “I can still play, but only slower,” or “I can get through 20 minutes, then my hand locks up.” Those are not complaints. They are information. And frankly, without that detail, a case for a musician looks just like anyone else’s on paper.
Step 2: Putting numbers to your music work
This part can feel uncomfortable. Musicians are used to talking about practice hours, not dollar amounts. Still, the law looks at financial loss.
A firm like Carbone’s will try to build a clear record of your money related history, for example:
- Copies of contracts for performances or residencies
- Invoices for lessons or accompaniment work
- Tax returns that show self employment income
- Pay stubs if you work for a school or orchestra
Then they compare that with what happened after the injury:
- Gigs you had to cancel
- Students you lost because you could not teach
- Extra time it now takes to prepare material
- Projects you turned down because you were not physically ready
Is this perfect? No. Creative work is unpredictable. Some years are better than others. But over time, patterns appear, and those can be used to explain your loss in more grounded terms.
Step 3: Projecting the future, carefully
Personal injury law also looks at future loss. For a young pianist who loses fine control in one hand, the long term effect can be huge. For an older teacher who planned to keep working part time, chronic pain may cut that short.
Lawyers often work with economists or vocational experts to estimate how much income a person is likely to lose over a lifetime. With musicians, that job is tricky. There is no standard salary chart for “working pianist.” But there are ways to make reasonable estimates based on:
- Your age
- Your training and degrees
- Your work history
- The music scene in your area
- The type of gigs or positions you are likely to get
None of this proves the future, of course. It just gives the judge or jury something realistic to look at instead of guesswork.
How medical evidence and musical reality meet
Medical charts are written in medical language. They describe swelling, fractures, ligament tears, nerve issues. They rarely say, “This patient cannot play the Brahms piano concerto at a professional level anymore.”
So the law office has to build a bridge between those two worlds.
Working with doctors and therapists
A good injury lawyer spends time with your medical team, not as a patient but as a translator. They might ask your doctor questions like:
- Which specific movements are limited?
- Is the limitation expected to improve, stay the same, or worsen?
- How long can this person safely sit or stand?
- Does repetitive motion make the condition worse?
Then the lawyer connects those medical points to music tasks. For example, if you have limited wrist extension, they might explain how that affects chord playing across the keyboard. If prolonged sitting aggravates pain, they will relate that to a standard rehearsal schedule.
Independent examinations and second opinions
Insurance companies often send injured people to their own doctors for evaluations. Those reports sometimes downplay the problem. When that happens, your lawyer might arrange an independent exam with a different specialist who spends time listening to you and testing things that matter to musicians.
For example, instead of just asking whether you can grip something, a hand specialist might test:
- Speed of finger tapping
- Strength in specific fingers
- Fine sensation in the fingertips
- Fatigue over repeated movements
Those are the types of measures that matter to someone playing Chopin etudes, not just opening jars in the kitchen.
Dealing with insurance companies when your work is “different”
Insurance adjusters handle thousands of cases. Many involve similar jobs: drivers, office workers, store staff. When they hear “pianist” or “music teacher,” they may not know what to do with that. Some even assume it is more hobby than job.
A major role of your lawyer is to explain, with proof, that music work is real work, with real wages and real future loss.
This usually involves:
- Breaking down your income into clear categories
- Showing how much time you actually spend working
- Giving examples of typical weeks or months before the injury
- Drawing a link between the body part that is hurt and tasks you can no longer do
Sometimes, the firm will prepare a short written summary for the adjuster that walks through your day as a musician. That might sound odd, but it helps someone who has never been backstage understand why, for example, being unable to carry a keyboard two flights of stairs is a real barrier.
What kinds of compensation injured musicians can seek
Every case is different, and no lawyer can honestly promise a number. But the categories of damages are fairly consistent. Here is a simple table to show how they often apply to musicians.
| Type of damage | What it usually covers | How it might look for a musician |
|---|---|---|
| Medical expenses | Past and future treatment costs | ER visits, surgeries, hand therapy, pain management, follow up tests |
| Lost income | Money you already lost because you could not work | Canceled performances, missed lessons, lost studio sessions, reduced church or ensemble work |
| Loss of earning capacity | Projected future loss if you cannot work at the same level | Shorter career span, fewer touring options, having to switch to lower paid non performing roles |
| Pain and suffering | Physical pain and mental distress | Chronic pain while playing, anxiety about performing, depression from career disruption |
| Loss of enjoyment of life | Loss of ability to enjoy activities you valued | No longer able to play piano for pleasure, withdraw from chamber groups, avoid jam sessions |
Not every case will include all of these in a large way. Some injuries heal fairly well, and the main claim might be for medical bills and a short period of time off. Others change the whole arc of a career.
Why specialization in injury law matters more than you think
You might wonder if you really need a lawyer who handles personal injury all the time. Maybe a general practice attorney could do it. Sometimes that works. But injury law has layers, and they change from state to state.
Time limits apply. Evidence has to be preserved early. Some defendants are government entities with different rules. If several parties share fault, the case becomes more complex. And damages for future loss rely heavily on experience with past cases and local verdicts.
That is why people often choose a firm that spends most of its time on this kind of work. The details that seem picky at the start often control how strong your claim is when settlement talks begin or when a case heads toward trial.
What you can do right after an injury as a musician
Legal help matters, but you are not a passive piece in the story. What you do in the first few days and weeks can affect both your health and your claim.
Get medical care, even if you think it is “not that bad”
Many pianists try to play through pain. You probably know the feeling. You think, “I can still move my fingers, so it is fine.” That instinct might work for a small strain from over practice. It is risky after a crash or fall.
Timely medical care does two things:
- Helps catch problems before they become permanent
- Creates a clear link between the accident and your symptoms
Waiting a month and then going to a doctor makes insurers argue that something else might have caused your pain. They might be wrong. But you make their argument easier if you delay.
Document your music work and your limitations
Right after an injury, memory feels sharp. That fades. Keeping simple records helps.
- Write down gigs or lessons you cancel and why.
- Note when pain starts during practice and how long it lasts.
- Keep emails or texts where you turn down work because of the injury.
- Ask a trusted colleague to write what they observed about your playing before and after.
This does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be honest. Your lawyer can sort out what is legally useful later. They cannot recreate lost details months after the fact.
Be careful what you share publicly
This part is not fun, but it matters. Insurance companies and defense lawyers often check public social media. If you say you cannot use your hands but then post a video that looks like a full recital, they will use that against you, even if you played through intense pain.
That does not mean you must hide from the world. It just means think before posting. If you do share music online during recovery, be honest in the caption about the limits and pain you are dealing with. At least then the record is more accurate.
How this connects back to piano and daily musical life
If you are reading this on a piano or music site, you might be thinking, “Is this all too legal for me?” I do not think so. Law might feel far from scales and fingerings, but injuries live in both worlds at once.
Picture two pianists who suffer the same car crash.
- One does not get legal help, accepts a quick low settlement, and goes back to playing too soon. They skip proper therapy because they cannot afford more time off. Ten years later, their hand is permanently limited.
- The other works with a focused injury firm, gets a settlement or verdict that covers extended rehab, tries adaptive techniques without financial panic, and adjusts their career path in a thoughtful way.
The crash is the same. The bodies are different, the choices different, the legal support different. And the long term outcome is far apart.
Sometimes we like to think that talent and discipline can fix everything. For many musicians, they fix a lot. But bones and nerves do not really care about willpower. They heal on their own schedule, if they are given the right chance.
Questions you might still have
Q: What if I still can play, just not as well as before?
A: That still matters. Personal injury law is not only about people who are completely unable to work. If your earning potential has dropped, or if you have to spend more time to earn the same amount, or if your risk of flare ups makes you turn down higher level work, those changes are real damages. The tricky part is proving them, but that is exactly why detailed documentation and careful legal help exist.
Q: My injury came from overuse, not a crash. Is there any legal case?
A: Often, repetitive strain from regular practice or normal performances is not something you can bring a claim for, since there is no outside careless party. There are exceptions, though. If, for example, a school or employer forced you to play in unsafe conditions, ignored clear medical limits, or used faulty equipment that was known to cause harm, there might be a path. Those cases are harder, and not every situation will qualify. A direct conversation with a lawyer is usually the only honest way to sort it out.
Q: I feel guilty about “putting a price” on my music. Is that strange?
A: Not strange at all. Many musicians see their work as part of who they are, not just a job. But the legal system can only speak in certain terms, mostly medical facts and money. Thinking about loss in those terms does not cheapen your art. It gives you a practical tool to rebuild the parts of your life that money actually can touch: treatment, time, equipment, and stability while you recover. Your relationship with music is still more than any case file. The point of a good law office is to protect the part that money can reach, so you have more room to protect the part it cannot.