Long Island Personal Injury Lawyers

The timeline for a personal injury case can vary. It will ultimately depend on case complexity, the willingness of the other parties to settle, and the strength of your evidence. Trust the accident injury lawyers at Rosenberg & Gluck to work tirelessly to resolve your case as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Because every injury is unique, we cannot accurately estimate the time it will take for a personal injury case to settle. However, several factors can affect the duration of a case's progress.

They include:

• The severity of your injuries
• Whether you are undergoing medical treatment
• Strength of your case and the evidence supporting your claim
• The total value of the claim
• The complexity of the case
• The number of parties involved in the suit

We understand that you want to settle a case as quickly as possible after an injury.

You are likely facing a growing pile of expensive medical bills and might be missing work because of the extent of your injuries. We understand how financial stress only compounds your physical pain.

Working with an injury lawyer can ensure your case stays on the right track and that mistakes are avoided, preventing unnecessary delays.

Do Not Accept a Settlement Until You Know Your Prognosis

One of the most essential parts of the process of settling a personal injury claim is ensuring you get the medical treatment you need to get your life back to normal, if possible.

Once you have received a final prognosis or recovered to the best of your ability, your doctor and lawyer will better understand how your injuries will impact your life moving forward. After an injury, your health can rapidly and unexpectedly take a turn for the worse. This is why it may not be best to settle too quickly after a case, as you may miss out on compensation necessary to treat your injuries fully.

If we build a strong case documenting the extent and severity of your injuries and other losses, the insurer may be inclined to settle quickly to avoid a costly trial. However, if the insurer does not want to pay, it may be necessary to take your case to trial to reach a fair settlement. If this is the case, you may find yourself waiting months or longer before receiving a verdict.

Pain and suffering is a non-economic damage that is awarded in a personal injury lawsuit.

Everyone experiences pain and suffering differently, and assigning a monetary value to these experiences is challenging.

Unlike with economic damages (NY §1411), there are several methods for calculating pain and suffering.

Insurance companies employ various methods to calculate pain and suffering.

In some cases, they may add up your total economic losses and then multiply them according to the extent of your pain and mental anguish.

In other cases, the insurance company may set an amount to apply to each day the victim suffered and then multiply it by the number of days.

Or the insurance company may rely on complex software to calculate pain and suffering.

Several factors can increase or decrease the value of pain and suffering. They include:

• The severity of the injuries
• The extent to which the injuries will impact the victim’s future health
• The impact on the victim’s lifestyle and emotional health

To prove pain and suffering, we must investigate your injury and gather key evidence to support your claim.

The following types of evidence can help convey the extent of your pain and suffering in a personal injury claim:

• The documented opinion of a physician who testifies regarding your state of mind
• The documented opinion of your level of pain
• The extent of treatment you have undergone for physical injuries
• Documentation regarding the medication you have had to take to manage physical pain or mental anguish and anxiety as a result of your injury
• The testimony from friends and family regarding the extent of your pain and suffering, and details about how your life has been altered as a result of your injuries

A lawyer can help you by building a strong case that shows you have suffered and how your life has been altered as a result of your injuries.

A personal injury lawyer can stand up for your rights and talk to the insurance company on your behalf. We recommend that our clients not speak with the insurance company directly themselves.

By allowing a personal injury lawyer to manage communication with the insurance company, you avoid what could become a costly mistake in your claims process.

The Insurance Company May Attempt to Take Advantage of You

An insurance adjuster will likely contact you shortly after the accident and request a recorded statement. They will likely be very friendly, and it may seem as though they want to help you. However, this is often a trap.

They will ask pointed questions, searching for answers they can twist into an admission of guilt.

For example, you might say, “I’m sorry” to the insurance adjuster for the accident that occurred. They can take this as an admission of fault for the accident. Or, if you say that you are okay when asked, the adjuster can claim that you said you were uninjured.

After you make an official statement, it is difficult to backtrack. If you need to speak with the insurance company, we recommend discussing only the location, time, and circumstances of your injury, as well as the parties involved. If the insurance adjuster has any other questions, direct them to us.

If you have been involved in an accident where the at-fault party does not have car insurance, you can recover compensation through your own personal auto uninsured motorist coverage.

Every vehicle registered in New York must carry liability coverage of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and uninsured motorist coverage must be included in motor vehicle insurance policies.

It may make sense to pursue a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver. This would require us to prove that your injuries meet the threshold requirement for “serious injury” in the state of New York.

Even in cases where you are recovering compensation through your insurance company, it is the goal of insurance companies to pay out as little as possible following an accident. If you are hurt and facing a mounting pile of medical bills as a result of your injuries, you may be tempted to accept whatever offer the insurance company makes to get access to compensation more quickly.

You Have the Right to Negotiate

Many people accept the first settlement offer they receive because they assume that is all they may be entitled to. However, the insurance company regularly offers lowball settlements. These settlements are typically for much less than you deserve.

You are likely entitled to a larger settlement amount. You have the right to negotiate for that higher settlement amount. Our team will handle negotiations to get you the compensation you deserve.

Insurance coverage can be complex and confusing, especially when an uninsured motorist is involved. Our team can handle the complexities of your insurance claim, allowing you to focus on rebuilding your life.

What a Personal Injury Lawyer Looks for in a Case

After a personal injury, the personal injury system is designed to help you recover financial damages for losses that result from someone else’s negligence.

To do this, there are four things a personal injury lawyer looks for in a case:

• Duty of care;
• Breach of duty;
• Causation;
• Damages.

To pursue a lawsuit against the at-fault party, we must prove that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care.

For example, in a car collision, the duty of care requires driving carefully and obeying traffic laws. For an injury on another party’s property, they have a duty to exercise reasonable care of the property for the safety of those on the property legally.

Next, there must be a breach of duty, or negligence, on behalf of the defendant. In the case of a car collision, this could include failing to obey traffic laws or driving while distracted, which can cause a crash.

For an injury on another party’s property, it could be a manager who knows there is water on the floor of their store and fails to make any attempt to clean it up or communicate to the patron that it is there. That is a breach of duty to the plaintiff to maintain a reasonably safe business.

We then look for causation. In other words, did the negligent behavior of the defendant actually cause harm?

In complex cases involving multiple parties, this may not always be clear, and we may need to conduct a thorough investigation into the injury, gathering evidence like:

• Video surveillance from security or traffic cameras
• Police reports, eyewitness statements, and photos from the scene of the injury
• Bills, receipts, and estimates that document the extent of your financial losses

The last thing a personal injury lawyer looks for is the extent of damages.

We must prove that your injuries were caused by the incident, which resulted from the defendant’s negligent actions.

In some cases, the defendant’s lawyer may claim that you were partially responsible for your injuries.

Because New York follows the pure comparative negligence rule, if it is determined that you are partially at fault for your injuries, any damages awarded in your case will be reduced in proportion to your degree of responsibility.

At Rosenberg & Gluck, we operate on a contingency fee basis. You do not pay any upfront legal costs or fees unless we win your case.

We prioritize ensuring our clients receive the legal representation they need without adding financial stress to their lives.

Compensation for personal injury cases typically includes medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other related damages.

Our team will work tirelessly to ensure that all potential avenues for compensation are fully explored and pursued.

The statute of limitations restricts how long you have to file a claim. Early action also helps preserve evidence and the recollections of witnesses.

Acting quickly also enables you to meet important filing deadlines that, if missed, could diminish or deny your claim altogether.

The strongest evidence in a personal injury case includes medical records, witness statements, photos or videos of the accident scene, and other documentation of your injuries. Our team will work diligently to help you gather these and other vital evidence to support your personal injury claim or lawsuit.