When you are injured in an accident, your life can be upended. Getting the compensation you need to cover lost wages, medical expenses, and other damages can be difficult without a lawyer.
Our attorneys represent injury victims and fight their cases for them. We can help you file insurance claims or even go to court to get financial compensation from individuals, companies, and combinations of at-fault parties.
For a free case evaluation with our personal injury lawyers, call The Martello Law Firm right away at (914) 685-6950.
What Constitutes Negligence in an Injury Claim?
In most injury cases, you file a claim against the at-fault party not for intentionally putting you in the hospital, but for causing an accident. To prove an accident was their responsibility, you must prove four elements of “negligence”:
- Duty – The defendant owed you a legal duty. This often comes from laws on point (e.g., traffic laws, ordinances about shoveling sidewalks) or based on what is reasonable in a given situation.
- Breach – The defendant breached or violated that legal duty. This requires carelessness, inattention, lack of skill, or oversights of some kind.
- Causation – That breach must have actually caused or contributed to causing your accident.
- Damages – You must have faced injuries and damages you can seek compensation for in order to have a case.
Meeting all of these elements is common, but it takes hard evidence to prove them in court.
Evidence Needed
Our personal injury lawyers can often bring injury cases based on barebones evidence, but the more evidence you have, the stronger your case is and the higher your chances of winning are.
Most cases involve these kinds of evidence:
- Testimony from you and other witnesses
- Medical records showing the injuries you faced
- Bills and financial records showing the cost of the injury
- Pay stubs showing wages lost because of the injury
- Your statements and testimony from doctors, family, and friends about how the injury impacted your life.
In some cases, having the following additional evidence makes your claim even stronger:
- Testimony from experts about scientific or medical information, potentially including accident reconstruction experts
- Photos of the accident scene, damage, injuries, etc.
- Security footage, dash cam video, or cell phone video of the accident as it happened.
When to Call a Lawyer
In most injury cases, your first priority is getting to the hospital and getting medical care you need. It may take a few days before you are well enough to call a lawyer, but doing so should be one of the first things you do after your injury.
When we get on your case early, we can take the following steps:
- Track your injuries and recovery
- Start keeping records of damages
- Help you find specialists and care providers you need
- File first-party insurance claims, when available, to get you damages while your case plays out
- File lawsuits and insurance claims against the defendant to get your damages paid
- Advise you on the value of your case and whether settlements are appropriate.
You typically get 3 years to file your injury claim, but you should call a lawyer much sooner than that if you can.
FAQs for Injury Victims in New York City
What Should I Do After an Accident?
If you were hurt in a car accident, always call 911 and report the accident to the police.
In any accident, call 911 or otherwise get to a hospital get your injuries treated quickly. Going to an urgent care clinic or another doctor might not be the best choice, as they might not be equipped to treat serious injuries, and they might turn you away.
If you can stay at the scene and collect evidence, including the names and contact info of responsible parties, do that. Then, call a lawyer.
How Long Do I Have to Sue?
The statute of limitations for most personal injury cases in New York is 3 years.
Can I Change My Mind After Settlement?
If you settle your case, you typically sign away any right to additional damages. Even without an explicit release like this, accepting money still likely ends the case entirely.
That means you typically cannot get more money after a settlement, and you cannot change your mind and go back to court. Always make sure to review your case with a lawyer before settling.
What is My Case Worth?
Most injury cases cover medical bills, lost wages, any other expenses you faced because of the accident, and damages for pain and suffering. Calculating these damages and knowing what areas of damages you might be missing can be difficult without having a lawyer review your case.
How Do I File a Claim?
You should always work with a lawyer when filing a claim. For an insurance claim, you usually call the at-fault party’s insurance. Things are a bit more complex with auto accidents, because you use your insurance first and cannot make a claim against the defendant without “serious injuries.”
For a lawsuit, you file a complaint in the county court where the accident happened. This changes based on the borough you were in at the time.
How Does Settlement Work?
In most cases, the insurance company or defendant will try to settle the case for a low amount to end the case quickly and save themselves money. You should not accept this, as it will end your case.
Instead, allow your lawyers to negotiate for better damages and, if a fair settlement can be reached without going to court, you can accept that money.
Are Settlements Lump Sums or Structured Settlements?
In an injury case, you have the flexibility to agree to a one-time “lump sum” payment or periodic payments in a “structured settlement.” Which one is best will depend on whether you need money now, what your other family income is like, and what benefits you might need to qualify for. Your lawyer can explain the pros and cons of each option in the context of your specific case.
Call Our Personal Injury Attorneys in New York City Today
To get started on your case, call The Martello Law Firm’s personal injury lawyers at (914) 685-6950 today.
