You may have been injured in an “accident,” but it is likely someone is still responsible for that accident. When people, companies, property owners, drivers, and others make mistakes that leave you injured, they should be held responsible for your damages.
Claiming damages for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering after an accident can be the difference between affording your damages and moving forward with your life or struggling financially for years to come. Let our attorneys help you get justice in a personal injury claim.
Call Basch, Keegan & Spada’s personal injury attorneys at (845) 303-2748 for a free review of your potential case.
Determining Fault in an Injury Case
To hold anyone responsible for the injuries they caused you, you need to show they were at fault.
Potential Parties
Personal injury lawyers let the evidence guide them to the at-fault parties; we do not pick defendants first. However, different cases usually put the same kinds of people and companies at fault:
- Car accidents are usually the other driver’s fault.
- Truck accidents are often the trucker and trucking company’s fault.
- Slip and falls and other premises liability cases are often the property owner’s fault.
- Defective and dangerous product injury cases are often the manufacturer or seller’s fault.
Elements of Negligence
Some injury cases are based on claims of intentional injury, but most are based on “negligence.” In a negligence claim, you prove that the defendant is responsible because
- They owed you a legal duty.
- They breached that legal duty.
- That breach caused the accident.
- The accident resulted in injuries and damages you can seek compensation for.
Comparative Fault
In some cases, fault is divided among many people – potentially including the victim. Courts can assign a whole-number percentage of fault to each party involved, and they each pay that share of damages.
When you are partially at fault, you lose out on that percent of the total damages. In most cases, there is no limit to your percentage of fault (e.g., you can sue for someone’s 1% fault), but in car accidents, you cannot sue if you are over 50% at fault.
Filing a Lawsuit for a Personal Injury Case in Newburgh
A lawsuit usually follows these processes, but there are exceptions to when you can file a lawsuit in the first place for car accidents and work injuries.
The Process
Most injury claims progress like this:
- Collect evidence.
- Call a lawyer.
- Build your case.
- File an insurance claim.
- Try to negotiate a settlement.
- File a complaint in court and serve the defendant with a copy to start the formal lawsuit.
- Make arguments and motions to keep the case in court and progress toward trial.
- Continue to try to settle.
- Exchange evidence.
- Put on a trial.
- Let the jury decide fault and damages.
Special Exception: Car Accidents
In a car accident, you cannot sue unless your injuries meet the “serious injury threshold.” This means showing you have a permanent injury, broken bone, or other very serious injury before you can take your case to court.
Special Exception: Work-Related Injuries
In work injury cases, you can sue an outside party for their fault, but employees cannot sue their employers for injuries in most cases. You can only sue your employer when they are at fault for the accident and committed some specific safety violation under New York law.
FAQs for Personal Injury Cases in Newburgh, NY
How Long Do You Have to File a Claim?
Most personal injury cases need to be filed in court within 3 years of the date of the accident. There may be special rules that apply for injured minors, who can typically sue within 3 years of turning 18.
There are also special rules for when an injury was inherently undiscoverable, delaying the start of this limitations period until you do discover (or should have discovered) the injury’s cause. This is most common in medical malpractice cases and is rare outside of that.
Do You Need a Lawyer?
You should always work with a lawyer. While it is not absolutely required under the law, and you can legally represent yourself, you should have a lawyer.
First, the defendant will have their own lawyer provided through insurance, so you should have a lawyer, too. Additionally, our experience and legal knowledge are indispensable tools you should have on your side.
Can You Talk to Insurance on Your Own?
You should not talk to the insurance companies on your own. They will try to make recorded statements and use anything you say against you. They may also try to give you paperwork or checks that, if you sign or accept, function as a settlement and end the case without you even realizing it.
Always talk to a lawyer, and let the insurance companies go through us. In the meantime, do not sign or accept anything from insurance.
When Should You Contact a Lawyer?
You should contact us as soon as you can after the accident happens. There are pieces of evidence that can be lost or destroyed shortly after the accident, such as security camera footage. By acting quickly, we can preserve evidence, start building a case, and negotiate with insurance, aiming for a quick settlement.
How Long Will an Injury Case Take?
Cases can settle quickly if the facts are clear and the evidence is strong, but insurance companies may still contest the claim and drag out the case. Contested claims can take months before they reach a fair settlement. If you have to go all the way through trial, it could take over a year.
Should You Settle or Go to Trial?
You should never accept a settlement that is too low. Let our lawyers put a value on your case to see whether the defense’s offer meets that price or not. If it does not, we can negotiate for a better settlement.
If all of that fails to result in a fair value for your settlement, we can take the case to trial.
Call Our Newburgh Personal Injury Attorneys for Help Today
Call (845) 303-2748 for a free case evaluation with our personal injury attorneys at BKS Injury Law.