Personal injury law covers any type of injury that is caused to an individual by the reckless or negligent behavior of another person or entity. Acts that are intended to harm a person and any actions that fall under the purview of strict liability are also considered under personal injury law.
Personal injury law covers any type of injury that is caused to an individual by the reckless or negligent behavior of another person or entity. Acts that are intended to harm a person and any actions that fall under the purview of strict liability are also considered under personal injury law.
Types of Personal Injury Claims
You may be able to recover damages if you have suffered a personal injury because of any of the following causes:
- Automobile accidents
- Premises liability
- Slip and fall or trip and fall incidents
- Accidents on construction sites
- Medical malpractice cases
- Dram Shop liability
- Nursing home abuse or neglect
- Dog bite injuries
- Infliction of emotional distress
- Product liability
- Wrongful death situations
If you or a loved one has been injured or suffered damage through any such situation and you want to know if you can recover compensation, get in touch with a stellar and committed personal injury lawyer in New York today.
What Situations are Covered Under Personal Injury Law?
In New York State, personal injury law covers situations that involve any type of physical, mental, and/or emotional injury. The important criterion is that the injury must have been wrongfully caused by an individual or an entity who failed to behave in a responsible manner and exercise a reasonable amount of care. Wrongful conduct situations may be categorized as:
Negligence
The law expects each person to exercise a certain minimum amount of care in their actions so that they do not cause harm to another person. In everyday situations, if anyone behaves in a careless manner, without the expected level of care or consideration, their actions can be termed as negligence.
Recklessness
Injuries may occur in some special situations, too. For example, when firefighters or police personnel are rushing to deal with an emergency, they may act in a manner that causes injury to other people. Such utter disregard for the safety of an individual is classified under reckless action.
Intentional acts of injury
If a person behaves in a certain manner on purpose, without any justification whatsoever, and their acts lead to your injury, their behavior is termed an intentional injurious act. If, for example, someone punches you in the face and breaks your nose, the injury caused by this intentional act is covered under personal injury law and you can claim damages.
Strict liability
Injuries that are caused by the use of a defective product or one that has been manufactured in an improper manner are considered under the heading of strict liability. Here, the question is not of whether the manufacturer behaved in a wrong manner, but rather that they are responsible for the injury caused by the use of their product.
To be able to recover damages in any such situation, the victim must be able to provide proof of a significant personal injury. In an accident that causes negligible or no injury such as a minor scrape or cut on the finger, it will not be possible to recover any damages even though the person responsible for this injury may have behaved in a negligent manner.
How is Liability Determined in a Personal Injury Case in New York?
Whether a defendant is held liable for the injury suffered by the plaintiff or not and the extent of the liability depends on several important factors. Some of the most important factors are as follows:
- Whether the defendant is the only person responsible for the injury. In situations where multiple parties caused the injury, the concept of comparative negligence will come into play, with each party being considered responsible to the extent of their contribution to the injury.
- Whether it was the actions of the defendant was the proximate cause of the accident. In other words, if the defendant’s actions were directly the cause of the accident, they are held liable. However, in situations where the defendant’s action triggered a set of events that finally caused the injury, they may not be held liable.
- According to the concept of strict liability, defendants may be considered responsible for the damage that their action or lack of action caused even if they are found not at fault for the accident.
- Liability in some situations may be influenced by a consideration of the background, knowledge, and experience of the defendant. Consider the situation of an emergency in which Person A administers first aid to Person B and in the process, injures Person B. If Person A is a layperson, they may not be held liable, but if Person A is a doctor, who is expected to exercise great care, the law may find them liable for the injury.
What Happens in a Typical New York Personal Injury Case?
Personal injury cases can involve a wide variety of situations in which an individual is injured due to the fault of another person or an entity. Consider the typical example of a car accident in New York City, a common enough occurrence.
Anyone who drives a vehicle is bound by the law to exercise due care when they are driving on the road. If they breach that duty and their negligence causes an accident in which you suffer a serious injury, you have the right to file a personal injury case to claim damages from them.
The person who files the lawsuit is called the plaintiff and the one who is blamed for the injury is called the defendant. Both sides begin the legal process called discovery by trying to collect more information and verify facts through oral depositions and written interrogatories. After completion of the discovery stage, the two sides have the option of negotiating with each other to arrive at a settlement without taking the case to court.
What is Settlement in a Personal Injury Case in New York City?
Settlement in the context of a personal injury case refers to a situation when both sides come to an agreement on the compensation amount. A seasoned personal injury lawyer in New York can help the plaintiff negotiate effectively so that the defendant offers a reasonable sum of money as a settlement.
If the plaintiff is happy with this amount, they sign a release stating that they absolve the defendant of any further liability in this matter. If the two sides cannot reach an agreement on the damages, the plaintiff can reject the offer and proceed to take their case to a court trial where it will be heard by a judge and jury, who will then decide the final outcome.
Why is it Important to File a NY Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Being seriously injured in an accident can be a life-altering experience that has an impact on the rest of your life. Besides the immediate physical damage, you also have to deal with a grave financial setback because of the expenses associated with recovering your health.
In some situations, the nature of the injury may be such that it leads to an impairment or disability that requires life-long medical care or assistance to perform even the most basic tasks of one’s daily life. These injuries also have a significant impact on your ability to earn a living and provide for your family. If you have been injured in an accident that was not your fault, but a result of the negligence of another individual, it is important that they be held accountable and be made to provide the compensation you deserve.
Compensation in a personal injury case covers economic and non-economic damages you had to suffer. Economic damage is compensation for the loss of wages you had to suffer and also your expenditure on medical treatment, medication, hospitalization, and therapy. Non-economic damage refers to the compensation for the pain and suffering you had to undergo and the loss of companionship or consortium that resulted from your injury.
Contact a Capable Personal Injury Lawyer in New York
When you are struggling to recover from an injury, it is quite natural that you feel you don’t have the energy to deal with the complicated procedures that are a necessary part of claiming compensation. However, as your medical bills keep mounting, and your ability to generate a meaningful income keeps reducing, you may find yourself staring at a financial crisis for no fault of your own.
The dedicated and resourceful team of personal injury attorneys at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP has the necessary expertise and experience to deal with different types of personal injury cases in New York City. Whether it is a car or motorcycle accident or a slip-and-fall accident or medical malpractice or a defective product that caused your injury, we can help you put together a strong personal injury case that obtains you the highest maximum compensation allowed.
We look forward to discussing your case and explaining the legal options available to you to move forward with courage and dignity. For a free case review and expert guidance on how to proceed with your case, get in touch with us today at 212-344-1000 or contact us online and one of our lawyers will get back to you at a convenient time.
