Presenter: Dr. Justin Dick, DC

Organization: Clear Life Scoliosis And Chiropractic Center

CLE Sponsor Number: Justin Michael Dick, Doctor of Chiropractic #8967

Approved by: North Carolina State Bar — CLE Department

Research and publications: Personal Injury Research Hub

Published: May 16, 2026

Last updated: May 16, 2026

Reviewed by: Corrine Holdridge M.S.

Continuing Legal Education: Spinal Injury in Motor Vehicle Collision Cases

About this CLE program

Dr. Justin Dick, DC is an approved North Carolina State Bar Continuing Legal Education sponsor. This program provides NC-licensed attorneys with a structured, evidence-based clinical framework for understanding spinal injury in motor vehicle collision cases — covering radiographic findings, biomechanical mechanisms, injury classification, documentation standards, and the clinical factors that determine case complexity and recovery trajectory.

This is not an advocacy presentation. It is a clinical and scientific education program designed to give attorneys a more precise and defensible understanding of the medical evidence they encounter in personal injury practice.

NC State Bar CLE course record

  • Course title: Spinal Injuries
  • Course number: 1
  • Sponsor: Justin Michael Dick, Doctor of Chiropractic #8967
  • Type: Live
  • Location: Charlotte, NC
  • Credit: 1.00 hour — General/Other
  • Most recent delivery: January 24, 2025
  • Verified at: NC State Bar CLE Course Search — portal.ncbar.gov

Note: The 2025–2026 course registration is currently being updated with an expanded curriculum and revised course title reflecting the full radiographic biomechanics content. This page will be updated when the new listing is confirmed on the NC Bar portal. Topic "Spinal Biomechanics and Radiographic Interpretation in Motor Vehicle Collision Cases".

Course summary

Most personal injury attorneys encounter complex spinal injury cases without a clinical framework for evaluating the medical evidence beyond what is stated in reports. This program addresses that gap directly.

The course covers how the spine is injured in a motor vehicle collision, what the medical literature says about symptom onset, recovery, and prognosis, what radiographic findings mean and how they should be interpreted in context, which injury categories are commonly missed on standard imaging, and how documentation quality affects the clinical credibility of a case.

Attorneys who complete this program leave with a working clinical vocabulary and a structured framework for evaluating the spinal injury component of motor vehicle collision cases — including whiplash-associated disorder, disc injury, facet joint injury, nerve involvement, and radiographic biomechanics.

Educational objectives

Upon completion of this program, attendees will be able to:

  1. Explain the three broad categories of spinal injury after a motor vehicle collision — fracture, disc injury, and support-ligament injury — and understand why each category has different imaging and documentation implications. See the 3 main injuries a spine can have after a car accident.
  2. Understand why a normal X-ray does not exclude soft tissue, facet joint, or nerve injury, and what additional evaluation is appropriate when imaging is normal. See imaging after a car accident and facet joint injury after a car accident.
  3. Recognize the clinical significance of delayed symptom onset after a collision and why "I felt fine at first" does not mean the injury is minor or unrelated. See delayed symptoms after a car accident.
  4. Understand what loss of cervical lordosis means on lateral radiograph, how it is measured, and why it matters as a post-traumatic finding. See loss of cervical curve after whiplash.
  5. Distinguish between pre-existing degenerative findings and post-collision change, and understand the clinical framework for comparison-based interpretation. See pre-existing condition vs new injury vs aggravation.
  6. Identify the components of a strong personal injury medical record — mechanism, chronology, objective findings, functional loss, and re-examination progression — and recognize documentation gaps that weaken case credibility. See medical documentation after a car accident.
  7. Understand what objective testing after a collision includes — range of motion, neurological screening, orthopedic testing, and postural analysis — and how these findings are documented and interpreted. See objective testing after a car accident.
  8. Recognize the clinical and recovery implications of chronic post-collision pain and understand the evidence on recovery trajectories in whiplash-associated disorder. See chronic pain after a car accident.

Topic areas covered

Radiographic biomechanics

This section covers how spinal imaging is selected and interpreted after a motor vehicle collision. Topics include the appropriate role of X-ray, CT, MRI, and dynamic radiography in post-collision evaluation; what each imaging type shows and what it does not show; and how radiographic findings — including cervical curve measurement, segmental alignment, and disc space findings — are interpreted in clinical context rather than as standalone diagnoses.

Relevant pages: imaging after a car accident · stress X-rays after a car accident · loss of cervical curve after whiplash

Whiplash-associated disorder and symptom patterns

This section covers the clinical definition of whiplash-associated disorder, the breadth of symptom patterns that fall within WAD, why symptoms may be delayed, and what the medical literature says about recovery variation. The section also covers post-traumatic headache mechanisms, cervicogenic dizziness, and the clinical significance of neck pain, headache, and dizziness as a symptom cluster rather than unrelated complaints.

Relevant pages: whiplash explained · post-traumatic headaches after a car accident · cervicogenic dizziness after a car accident · neck pain, headaches, and dizziness after a collision

Injury classification and commonly missed injury categories

This section covers the three broad injury categories after a collision — fracture, disc injury, and support-ligament injury — with specific attention to facet joint injury, nerve injury, and soft tissue injury as categories that are frequently underrecognized when evaluation stops at fracture exclusion.

Relevant pages: the 3 main injuries a spine can have after a car accident · facet joint injury after a car accident · nerve injury after a car accident · soft tissue injury after a car accident

Impairment concepts and documentation standards

This section covers what strong personal injury medical documentation looks like, what the five key components of a credible PI medical record are, how pre-existing findings are distinguished from post-collision change, and how objective examination findings contribute to case credibility beyond pain report alone.

Relevant pages: medical documentation after a car accident · objective testing after a car accident · pre-existing condition vs new injury vs aggravation

Evidence hierarchy in personal injury medicine

This section provides attorneys with a framework for evaluating the relative strength of medical evidence — distinguishing between guidelines, systematic reviews, cohort studies, and case-level clinical judgment — and explains what the strongest evidence actually supports in whiplash and spinal injury cases.

Relevant page: Personal Injury Research Hub

Speaker biography

Dr. Justin Dick, DC is a Doctor of Chiropractic practicing at Clear Life Scoliosis And Chiropractic Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. His clinical focus includes personal injury evaluation, spinal biomechanics, radiographic analysis, and post-collision rehabilitation.

Before entering chiropractic medicine, Dr. Dick completed a clinical career in nuclear medicine technology and diagnostic CT imaging, earning credentials as a Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist (CNMT) and Registered Technologist in Nuclear Medicine and Computed Tomography (RT(N)(CT)). This background in diagnostic imaging gives him a depth of radiologic literacy that directly informs his clinical work in personal injury evaluation — he reads structural spinal imaging not merely as a treating clinician but as a credentialed imaging professional.

Dr. Dick has authored 8 peer-reviewed publications in PubMed-indexed journals, making him one of the most published active clinician-researchers in his specialty network. His published research includes studies on:

  • Radiographic sagittal alignment and neurological changes following conservative cervical structural rehabilitation after motor vehicle collision
  • Refractory lumbar pain following motor vehicle collision in a geriatric patient with prior lumbar surgery
  • Abnormal cervical mechanics in patients with scoliosis
  • Radiographic sagittal alignment and kinetic chain alterations in geriatric patients with scoliosis

Full research portfolio, PubMed links, and clinical summaries: Personal Injury Research Hub · Author and research profile

Dr. Dick holds the following credentials and affiliations:

  • Doctor of Chiropractic — Sherman College of Chiropractic, 2016
  • Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist (CNMT)
  • Registered Technologist in Nuclear Medicine and Computed Tomography — RT(N)(CT)
  • CLEAR Institute Fellow and Board Member
  • CLEAR Institute Intensive Care Certified
  • ISICO World Masters Certification in Scoliosis Conservative Care
  • DOT Certified Medical Examiner
  • Field Doctor — Life University, Sherman College of Chiropractic, Palmer Chiropractic College
  • NC State Bar Approved CLE Sponsor — #8967

Dr. Dick has presented at the Clear Symposium Fall 2025 Celebration and the International Research and Philosophy Symposium (IRAPS) 2026 hosted by Sherman College of Chiropractic, delivering clinical research presentations to audiences of clinicians, researchers, and advanced trainees.

Clinical resources for attorneys

The following pages from this website provide clinician-authored, evidence-based explanations of the most common clinical issues in motor vehicle collision personal injury cases. Each page includes references to peer-reviewed medical literature and is written for a professional audience.

Foundation

Injury classification

Radiographic and imaging

Symptom patterns

Documentation and evaluation

Schedule a CLE presentation or case consultation

Dr. Dick is available for CLE presentations to law firms, bar associations, and legal professional groups in the Charlotte metro area and across North Carolina. Presentations can be delivered on-site at your firm or as a live webcast.

In addition to CLE presentations, Dr. Dick is available for case consultations, medical record review, and expert opinion on spinal injury questions in personal injury matters.

To schedule a presentation or discuss a case consultation, contact Clear Life Scoliosis And Chiropractic Center directly:

This page is for professional education and informational purposes. Nothing on this page constitutes legal advice or establishes an attorney-client or physician-patient relationship.

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