Personal Injury FAQ

After an accident, your first priority should be safety and medical attention. Seek medical care right away, even if your injuries seem minor, since some symptoms don't appear until hours or days later, and a prompt medical record also documents the connection between the accident and your injuries.

Once you've addressed any immediate medical needs, a few additional steps can protect your ability to bring a claim later:

• Report the incident. Call the police for a car accident, notify a property manager or business owner for a slip and fall, or report a workplace accident to your employer.
• Document the scene. If you're able, take photos or videos of the location, any hazards, vehicle damage, or visible injuries.
• Gather information. Get the names and contact information of any witnesses, along with the police report number or incident report number.
• Keep records. Save medical bills, discharge paperwork, and any correspondence related to the accident.
• Avoid giving recorded statements to insurance adjusters before speaking with an attorney.

At your first consultation with a personal injury attorney, be sure to mention every injury you've experienced, even ones that seem minor. Omitting details early on can make it harder to include those injuries in your claim later.

In New York, most personal injury claims must be filed within three years from the date of the accident. However, this general rule has important exceptions, and the deadline that applies to your case depends on the type of claim involved.

Exceptions to the Standard Three-Year Rule

• Medical or dental malpractice claims generally must be filed within two and a half years, with some exceptions depending on when the malpractice was discovered.
• Wrongful death claims must generally be filed within two years of the date of death.
• Claims against a municipality, such as New York City or one of its agencies, require a notice of claim to be filed within 90 days of the injury, well before the standard statute of limitations even applies.
• Discovery rule exceptions exist for cases involving foreign objects left in the body after surgery or certain cancer cases tied to delayed diagnosis.

Because these deadlines vary significantly depending on the circumstances of the accident and the parties involved, it's important not to assume you have the full three years to act. Missing a filing deadline, particularly the 90-day notice of claim requirement for municipal claims, can permanently bar you from recovering compensation. Speaking with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after an accident is the best way to make sure your claim is filed on time.

You are not legally required to hire a lawyer to file a personal injury claim, but doing so significantly improves your ability to recover fair compensation. Insurance adjusters are trained to minimize payouts, and without legal representation, injured people often accept settlements far below what their claim is actually worth.

A personal injury lawyer handles the parts of a claim that are easy to get wrong, including calculating the full value of your damages, gathering evidence, negotiating with insurance companies, and meeting strict filing deadlines. What you say to an insurance company or another party after an accident can also be used against you, so getting legal guidance early, before speaking with adjusters, helps protect your claim from the start.

You may have a personal injury case if you were harmed, physically or otherwise, because of someone else's carelessness or wrongful conduct. This includes common accident injury scenarios like motor vehicle accidents, construction accidents, and premises liability incidents such as slip and falls.

Personal Injury Cases Aren't Always Physical

Personal injury law also covers certain nonphysical harms. For example:

• In an assault claim, you don't need to prove actual physical contact occurred, only that the other party's actions caused you to reasonably fear imminent harm.
• Claims can also arise from intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, or defamation of your reputation.

If you're unsure whether your situation qualifies as a personal injury claim, an attorney can review the facts and let you know whether you have grounds to pursue compensation.

A personal injury settlement is an agreement in which the at-fault party, or more often their insurance company, pays you compensation in exchange for resolving your claim without going to trial. Most personal injury cases in New York settle before reaching a courtroom.

Factors That Determine Settlement Eligibility

Three main factors are generally considered when evaluating a potential settlement:

1. Liability: Determining who was at fault for the accident.
2. Extent of injuries: Assessing the severity and long-term impact of your injuries.
3. Available insurance coverage: Confirming there is a policy in place to cover the claim.

Settlement negotiations typically begin after your medical treatment has progressed enough for your attorney to understand the full scope of your damages. Settling too early, before you know the extent of your injuries, can result in accepting less than your claim is truly worth.

Compensation in a personal injury case, often called damages, is intended to address both the financial and personal impact of an accident. The specific damages available depend on the facts of the case, but commonly include:

• Medical expenses, both past and future
• Lost wages and diminished earning capacity
• Pain and suffering
• Property damage
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Wrongful death damages, in fatal accident cases, which may include funeral expenses and loss of financial support for surviving family members

An attorney can review verdicts and settlements involving similar injuries to give you a general sense of your claim's potential value. That said, every case is different, and your specific recovery may be affected by available insurance limits or a finding that you were partially at fault for the accident.

Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no upfront legal fees. Attorneys' fees are only collected as a percentage of your recovery if the case is won or settled successfully. If there is no recovery, you owe nothing for legal fees.

Case-related expenses, such as costs for outside experts or court filing fees, are separate from attorneys' fees. In New York, these expenses must be approved by the court and are only reimbursed out of a successful settlement or verdict, not billed to you upfront or along the way.

Under New York's pure comparative negligence rule, you can still recover compensation even if you were partially responsible for causing the accident. Your total award, however, will be reduced by your percentage of fault.

For example, if you're found to be 20 percent at fault for a car accident and your damages total $100,000, you would still be eligible to recover $80,000. This rule applies across personal injury claims in New York, including motor vehicle accidents, premises liability cases, and construction accidents, making it important to have an attorney who can push back against inflated fault claims from insurance companies.

Whether you can sue your employer after a workplace accident depends on the circumstances of the incident. In many cases, injured workers are limited to pursuing workers' compensation benefits rather than filing a personal injury lawsuit directly against their employer, provided the employer carries workers' compensation insurance.

When a Personal Injury Claim May Still Be Possible

A personal injury claim, separate from workers' compensation, may be available when:

• A third party's negligence contributed to the accident, such as a subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, or property owner not directly employed by your company.
• Specific New York labor laws apply, which is common in construction accidents involving falls, scaffolding, or unsafe worksite conditions.
• A fatal workplace accident occurred, in which case surviving family members may be able to pursue a wrongful death claim.

Because workplace injury cases often involve overlapping legal claims, it's worth having an attorney evaluate all potential sources of compensation rather than assuming workers' compensation is your only option.

If an insurance adjuster contacts you after an accident, it's best to avoid giving a recorded statement or discussing details of the accident until you've spoken with a personal injury attorney. Insurance companies, including your own in some cases, are businesses focused on minimizing payouts, and statements made early on can be used to dispute or reduce your claim later.

You are generally not obligated to accept the first settlement offer an insurance company presents, and early offers are often lower than what a claim is ultimately worth. Politely decline to provide detailed statements or sign any documents, including medical authorizations, until you understand how they may affect your case.

Signing a consent form, such as a medical treatment waiver, does not automatically prevent you from bringing a personal injury claim. New York law generally does not allow a party to use a signed consent form as a shield against liability for their own negligence.

If you've signed paperwork after an accident and are unsure whether it affects your legal rights, it's worth having an attorney review the specific document rather than assuming your claim is barred.

Strong evidence is often what separates a successful personal injury claim from one that struggles to get fair compensation. Useful evidence typically includes:

• Photos and videos of the accident scene, hazardous conditions, vehicle damage, or visible injuries
• Medical records documenting the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis related to your injuries
• Police or incident reports filed at the time of the accident
• Witness statements from anyone who saw the accident occur
• Employment and wage records, if you're claiming lost income
• Correspondence with insurance companies related to the claim

The sooner this evidence is gathered, the stronger your claim tends to be, since witness memories fade and physical evidence like surveillance footage can be deleted or overwritten within days or weeks of an accident.

There's no fixed timeline for resolving a personal injury case, since the length depends on factors such as the severity of your injuries, whether liability is disputed, and if the case settles or proceeds to trial. Cases involving straightforward liability and clear injuries may settle within several months, while more complex cases, such as those involving serious injuries, multiple parties, or wrongful death, can take considerably longer.

Rushing to settle before your medical treatment is complete can result in accepting compensation that doesn't account for the full extent of your injuries. An attorney can help you weigh the benefits of a quicker resolution against the value of waiting until your damages are fully understood.