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If you were seriously hurt in an accident in New York City, a New York City personal injury lawyer can help you recover money for your medical bills, your lost income, and the pain and disruption the injury has caused. The days after a serious accident are hard. Hospital bills and surgery, time out of work, and pain that may still be getting worse all arrive at once, and the other side's insurance company is often the first to call.
This guide covers what accident victims in New York need to know: whether you have a case, what to do right after a crash or a fall, how the claims process works, how long you have to file, and what it costs to hire a lawyer. Knowing your rights early is what protects them.
Korman Lynch Lustig & Sassower is a New York City personal injury law firm. We represent injured people and the families of people killed by the carelessness of others throughout the five boroughs and the surrounding region, in cases involving construction accidents, car and motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, municipal liability, medical malpractice, workplace injuries, and wrongful death. We build every case as if a jury will hear it.
You may have a personal injury case if someone else's carelessness caused your injury. In New York, most personal injury claims come down to four things: another person or company owed you a duty of reasonable care, they broke that duty, the breach caused your injury, and you suffered real harm as a result. When those pieces are present, you generally have the right to bring a claim for your losses.
The clearest way to know is to have the facts looked at. Our New York City personal injury lawyers review how the accident happened, who was responsible, what evidence still exists, and what your injuries have cost you, and then explain your options in plain terms. Common personal injury claims share these same elements, and part of our job is finding them in the specific facts of your situation.
Get medical care right away, report the accident to your supervisor, and call a lawyer before the site changes. Construction scenes are cleaned up and repaired fast, and the scaffold, the ladder, the hoist, or the debris that caused the fall can be gone within days.
New York's construction safety law places strict, non-delegable duties on property owners and general contractors to protect workers from falls from heights and from falling objects, and that can make more than one party responsible for what happened to you. If you were hurt on the job, you may have a workers' compensation claim and, when a party other than your employer is at fault, a separate injury case that can run alongside it. Photograph the scene if you can, hold on to your gear, write down the names of any coworkers who saw what happened, and keep every medical record. Immigration status does not take away your right to be compensated for a job site injury in New York.
Call the police to the scene, get medical attention even if you feel okay, and do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company. What you do in the first hours shapes the whole case. A few steps protect both your health and your claim:
New York's no-fault benefit pays your initial medical bills and part of your lost earnings regardless of who caused the crash, but when your injury is serious you may also have a separate claim against the at-fault driver for the full range of your losses. Our lawyers handle both sides of that at the same time.
A New York personal injury claim moves through a set order, and knowing that order removes a lot of the fear. Most cases follow the same path from investigation to resolution, and understanding where you are in it tells you what comes next.
The process usually starts before any lawsuit is filed, with an investigation and the preservation of evidence that tends to disappear. Where a public entity is involved, we serve a notice of claim, which is the formal notice you have to give a city or public agency before you can sue it, and attend the hearing that follows. From there comes the summons and complaint that starts the lawsuit, the bill of particulars that spells out the details of the claim, written discovery and depositions where both sides answer questions under oath, and the independent medical examination, where a doctor chosen by the defense examines you. After that come motion practice, a settlement conference and mediation, and, if the other side will not offer fair value, trial in front of a jury, followed by any appeal. Many cases settle along the way. Building the file for trial from the first day is what puts real value on the table.
For most New York negligence cases you generally have three years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit, but several situations run on much shorter clocks. Missing the deadline can end a valid case before it starts.
When the City, the MTA, the Housing Authority, or another public entity is involved, you may have as little as ninety days to serve a notice of claim, long before any lawsuit is filed. Medical malpractice claims and wrongful death claims each run on their own, shorter deadlines. Because the right deadline depends on who is responsible and how you were hurt, the safest step is to have your specific case reviewed quickly rather than assuming you have years to act.
Nothing upfront. We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you owe no attorney's fee unless we recover money for you, and the first consultation is free. That structure exists so that the ability to hire a lawyer does not depend on what you can pay while you are out of work. You can have your case evaluated, get your questions answered, and find out whether you have a claim at no cost and no obligation.
We represent injured people and grieving families across the full range of New York personal injury and workplace injury cases, including:
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