New York: What Can You Do If You’ve Been Injured?

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One of the most common questions that accident victims have is:  do I really have a personal injury case?  Sometimes, people who have been injured are not able to recover damages because their injuries were not due to someone else’s negligence.  However, in other cases the victims are unaware that they could be compensated for their injuries and fail to file a claim.

It is very important if you have been injured to discuss your case with a personal injury attorney like those at Fitzgerald Law Firm in New York.  Even if you are not sure if you have a personal injury case, the attorneys at Fitzgerald will examine the facts of your injury and tell you if you should file a claim.

A Quick Primer on Personal Injury

Anyone can file a personal injury lawsuit in New York.  Lawsuits have been filed for every reason imaginable, although many of them have not been successful.  Just because you can file a personal injury lawsuit does not mean that you will win.

In order to win a personal injury lawsuit, you must show that:

  • Your case is filed within the statutory time period. New York has statutes of limitations that limit the amount of time in which you can file a personal injury lawsuit.  The statute of limitations varies from one type of case to another, but, in general, runs for three years after the date of the accident.  If you do not file in this time period, you could lose your right to file a lawsuit based on your injury.
  • Someone else has, at least, some responsibility for your injury. Contrary to popular belief, the other party does not have to have 100 percent responsibility for your injury.  Because New York follows the pure comparative negligence rule, you could recover compensation even if you share responsibility for your accident.
  • You passed the “serious injury” threshold in a car accident.  If your claim is based on a car crash, you must have passed the “serious injury” threshold in order to sue for damages.  Otherwise, your own no-fault insurance policy must pay the bills.

If you have questions about exercising your rights in filing a personal injury lawsuit or about how to go about pursuing a claim, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Fitzgerald Law Firm in New York today.

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