Brooklyn Personal Injury Attorney

Don’t Delay in Filing Your Claim!

According to N.Y. Civ. Prac. R. section 214 the statute of limitations on personal injury cases in New York is three years. This means you have three years from the date of your injury to file a claim or you may lose your right to pursue compensation. If your claim is against a city in New York, you have only ninety days to file a claim. The state of New York does recognize some exceptions to the statute of limitations depending on the circumstances of your case, including if your injury was caused by medical malpractice, in which case the statute of limitations is different.

Damages in a Personal Injury Case

There are three types of damages an injury victim can pursue in a personal injury claim, economic, non-economic, and punitive damages. Economic damages, also called special damages, compensate for financial losses associated with suffering an injury such as medical expenses and missed days at work. Non-economic damages, on the other hand, compensate for more abstract losses such as pain and suffering and mental anguish. Since non-economic damages compensate for such intangible losses they are also called general damages Together economic and non-economic damages seek to compensate the injured party for all of their losses. The last type of damages, punitive, differs from the first two, in that their main purpose is to punish the negligent party for their reckless behavior. As such punitive damages are not often awarded

How Is Fault Determined After An Accident?

Negligence is always the factor that plays a role in many accident claims. The concept is relatively straightforward: another party acted either carelessly, recklessly, or disregarded the rules regarding safety.

These are the four major components regarding negligence:

• One party owed “duty of care” to the other. For example, there is an existing or established doctor-patient relationship. Drivers inherently acknowledge this responsibility when they apply for licenses; there is assurance that they will obey the rules of the road and that they will do everything in their power to limit harm to others.
• One party “breached” the duty of care to the others. That individual or entity acted in an unreasonable manner or outside the standard practice that would be expected. One example would be a driver who rear-ends another vehicle because he or she was not paying attention.
• The injured party, or plaintiff in a lawsuit, must show that the other person (the defendant), is responsible for the accident and that his or her actions led up to the accident.
• The element, the plaintiff, must prove that he or she sustained injuries or damages due to the accident.
• The fourth component is perhaps the most vital in negligence claims. Because, even if the other party did cause an accident, and it is confirmed, acknowledged, and supportive by clear evidence, a plaintiff has no basis for a claim if there were no damages or injuries suffered.

Your claim would include an account of the accident and every person whom you believe was responsible for the accident. It would not be that much more involved than if you were dealing with one person or group. Alternatively, if you are found partially at fault or had some contribution to the accident, you can still file for recovery. In New York, because of the no-fault system, regardless of whoever was at fault, you can make a claim with your own insurance company. Filing a lawsuit against the responsible parties can assist you as well by helping to ensure you receive the maximum worth of your claim. For more information contact one of our personal injury lawyers near you!