Our personal injury team provides legal representation to those who claim to have been injured, physically or psychologically, as a result of the negligence or wrongdoing of another person, company, or other entity. Our team comprises of lawyers especially knowledgeable and experienced with tort law, which includes civil wrongs and economic or non-economic damages to a person’s property, reputation, or rights as a result of work injuries, automobile and other accidents, nursing home liability, slip/trip and fall accidents, and more. The team has achieved great success in these specialties, which are all bound together by a common thread: an individual has suffered serious physical or emotional injury.*

Personal Injury Cases – The Basics
 

• How Much is Your Injury Claim Worth?

If you’ve been involved in an accident or suffered any kind of injury for which someone else might bear legal responsibility, one of your first considerations is figuring out how much compensation you might be entitled to receive. Answering this question early on is important, because the rough dollar figure you come up with will help you decide whether or not it’s worth it to pursue a claim.
 

• Settling an Injury Case – What to Expect

From slip and fall cases to car accidents — and everything in between — almost all injury claims settle well before a court-based trial becomes necessary. A large number of cases settle before a personal injury lawsuit is even filed.

Trials can extend for months, or even for years if there are appeals. A victim who needs income and has medical expenses may not want to wait that long to get financial relief. A victim also may not feel up to going through a long trial, putting on a case, presenting evidence and doing everything else necessary to win a legal battle

When a case is taken to court, there is always a chance (however small) that the victim will lose the case and receive nothing. If settlement is an option, settlement allows a victim a guaranteed victory.
 

• Slip and Fall Claims

Slip and fall accidents can happen in all kinds of situations. Customers might slip on spilled products or a freshly-mopped floor. Tenants might lose their footing in a stairwell because of a broken banister or inadequate lighting. You might even take a spill on a dangerously uneven sidewalk or on a patch of ice.
 

• If you have slipped on or tripped over something and fallen, there are some initial questions you can ask to determine whether the property owner may be liable:

• If you tripped over a torn, broken, or ¬bulging area of carpet, floor, or ground, or slipped on a wet or loose area, had the dangerous spot been there long enough so that the owner should have known about it?

• If you tripped over or slipped on an object some¬one had placed or left on the floor or ground, was there a legitimate reason for the object to be there?

• If there once was a good reason for the object to be there but that reason no longer exists, could the object have been removed, covered, or otherwise made safe?

• Was there a safer place the object could have been located, or could it have been placed in a safer manner, without much greater inconvenience or expense to the property owner or operator?

• Could a simple barrier have been created or warning given to prevent people from slipping or tripping?

• Did insufficient or broken lighting contribute to the accident?

• Dog Bite Lawsuits & Pet Laws

Dog bites are a pretty common occurrence, and every year thousands of insurance claims and civil lawsuits are initiated after injuries caused by “man’s best friend.” New York does not have strict liability statute for vicious animals, but liability lack of a specific strict liability statute does not mean that liability may not attach under other theories of liability, such as negligence, nuisance, or willful misconduct of various kinds.

If you have been injured by a domestic animal, these are some steps to take (or that should have been taken):
 

• First, make sure that you obtain the owner’s information, especially the address, and find out as much information as you can about the animal–its name, whether it has been licensed, had all of its shots, and most importantly, had the animal bitten anyone previously.

• Second, if a cell phone or camera is available, take photographs of the animal, and of the property where you suffered the injury.

• Third, you must report the incident to the police so that there is an official report. Make sure that the police officer investigating the incident questions the animal owner about rabies shots and prior bites by the animal. The issue of previous attacks or bites by the animal is vital to a successful claim against the animal owner, based on the legal concept of notice. Notice means that the owner knew (or should have known) that his or her animal was dangerous based upon a previous attack, yet did not properly restrain or fence in the animal to prevent future attacks.

• Fourth, obtain prompt medical attention for your injuries at an emergency room or your private doctor. It is very important to confirm with the triage nurse or staff at the doctor’s office that they described the incident accurately, including where the bite happened, how it happened, and when it took place.

• Fifth, obtain a copy of the police report of the incident. If there are any inaccuracies in the police report, you should notify the department immediately that you wish to file an amended report so that all information in the report is correct.

• Nursing Home Negligence and Abuse

Nursing home neglect is too frequently overlooked and results all too often in a decline in general health and eventually the death of those elderly people entrusted to nursing home care facilities. The problem can occur anywhere and can take many shapes. What makes this particularly sinister is that it can be overlooked or ignored for so long. Even upon repeated visits to a nursing home, the signs of nursing home neglect can remain hidden.

In order to understand the scope of the problem, it is important to know the different types of nursing home neglect and nursing home abuse. The most obvious, most egregious, and the first that comes to mind for many people is physical neglect. Unfortunately common in nursing homes today, neglect takes many forms, however, all of which are disturbing in their own right.

Any of the following forms of neglect warrant contacting our office to bring justice to the victim of neglect, as well as make conditions safer for other residents.
 

• Bedsores

• Falls/Broken Bones

• Unexplained Injuries

• Malnutrition

• Dehydration

• Unexpected Death

*Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.