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It can sometimes be confusing to determine the dollar amount of your Nassau County personal injury case. You may be asking yourself: How much is my case worth?
Consider the following:
- What injuries did you sustain?
- How did the collision occur?
- Did you receive medical assistance?
- Will you require additional medical assistance?
- Did you have injuries before the crash?
- Was your lifestyle altered?
- Is your mobility restricted?
- Are you missing work/will you miss more in the future?
- Are you able to return to work?
- Did someone else’s carelessness cause a loved one’s wrongful death?
Answering these questions is a great start. Your personal injury attorney will investigate further into your case. They will research your incident and its impact on your job, life, family, and employment.
Types of Damages You Can Pursue in a Nassau County Personal Injury Case
You might be able to claim the following basic types of damages when you file a personal injury claim:
- Past and expected medical bills: These expenses include all bills accrued from the incident until the present day. Future medical expenses will also be calculated for the remainder of the injured party’s life.
- Loss of employment: In most personal injury cases, lost wages, tips, benefits, commissions, and hourly pay can be accounted for when filing your case.
- Wrongful death damages: If your loved one passed away from the incident, you could recover the costs of their medical bills, funeral and burial, and your loss of financial support.
- Pain and suffering: in addition to economic losses, you can recover non-economic damages for the pain and suffering you have endured.
This list of damages is not exhaustive. Call for a free case evaluation and a Nassau County personal injury lawyer can assess all your injuries and losses and calculate them accordingly.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer at Our Firm Serving Nassau County Can Help
Rosenberg & Gluck, L.L.P. offers a free consultation to accident victims, so you can speak with one of our team members. You have virtually nothing to lose in discussing your case with a legal professional, but you could have a lot to gain.
Our Nassau County personal injury attorneys can provide you:
Reliable Legal Advice
Don’t speculate when it comes to your financial future. When in doubt, we want you to call our firm. Our lawyers are advocates for you. Unlike insurance claims adjusters, your attorney won’t have a hidden agenda to save the company money. We just want to secure justice and recover compensation for you.
Step-by-Step Help
After a car accident or other traumatic incident, it’s natural to feel frightened, confused, or overwhelmed, but you don’t have to sift through the aftermath of a trauma alone. We ask you to consider consulting one of our attorneys after suffering an injury so you can enjoy immediate stress relief and peace of mind for the upcoming weeks and months.
Taking Care of Filing Your Personal Injury Lawsuit
New York courts have strict filing requirements and deadlines. CVP § 214 enforces a general three-year deadline for personal injury claimants to submit their lawsuits. If your loved one passed away from their injuries, you typically have two years to file under EPT § 5-4.1. Additional situations could shorten this time frame, such as when pursuing a case against a municipality or other governmental organization. In fact, you could have as little as 90 days to act.
Making a mistake can delay your case or even bar you from recovery. Ensure you file your case correctly and on time the very first time. Your lawyer on our personal injury team can accomplish this.
Doing the Legwork on Your Case
Unless you have legal experience, you probably won’t know where to begin on:
- Car accident investigations
- Evidence preservation
- The discovery phase
- Document and record collection
- Your burden of proof as a plaintiff
Retaining an attorney with our firm means having a professional take care of these aspects for you while you focus on healing.
Determining Whose Negligence Caused Your Injuries
Even though it might be clear, sometimes the person who looks like they caused your injuries isn’t necessarily at fault. The evidence we gather might point to the liable party being:
- Another driver or road user who caused the car accident
- A government agency
- A general contractor or subcontractor on a job site
- A property owner or manager
- A manufacturing or production company
- A medical facility
- Another third party
If you think someone else who isn’t listed here could be responsible for hurting you, we want to hear from you right away.
Negotiating with Insurance Companies
Again, during settlement negotiations, the insurance claims adjuster’s main goal will be to convince you to settle quickly and for as little as possible. Letting an attorney with our Long Island law firm take over negotiations with the insurance company for you means an advocate proving your losses and fighting for fair compensation.
The Ability to Go to Trial
While most personal injury claims in New York settle without trial, some defendants aren’t willing to offer the amount a claim is worth. Work with our trial-tested attorneys to pursue a fair resolution—even if it means taking the defendant to trial. You can represent yourself, but it’s not advisable unless you have legal experience.
Connections with Experts
Our law firm has years of experience with injury cases ranging from car accidents to a medical malpractice claim and everything in-between, along with a network of experts suitable for your claim. Expert testimony can prove invaluable in proving negligence to a judge and jury. You will gain access to these and other resources you cannot find elsewhere or tap into without help from a professional.
Personal Injury Law Basics
Personal injury is an intricate body of law with many nuances, rules, and regulations. The purpose of tort law is to allow an injured person to recover financial damages for losses that result from someone else’s negligence.
The personal injury system aims to “make the injured person whole” after suffering some type of harm or injury in a collision. Every personal injury claim is unique and requires a personalized approach to resolve. The basics of the law, however, remain the same.
These laws include:
Negligence
The four elements of most claims are duty, breach, causation, and damages. The defendant must have:
- Owed the plaintiff a duty of care
- Breached this duty in some way that caused the crash
- Harmed the plaintiff
- Caused the plaintiff losses
The only cases that do not require these four elements involve absolute liability and strict liability laws.
Strict Liability Laws
“Strict liability” refers to someone’s liability for damages regardless of negligence. In New York, strict liability laws apply in product liability claims when the product has a manufacturing error, design flaw, or marketing mistake.
Product Liability Laws
A consumer can sue a manufacturer and/or distributor for negligence if a product has a defect that causes injury. Depending on the situation, these claims can be based on negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty.
Dog Bite Laws
New York, unlike many states, does not automatically hold the owner of a dog responsible for dog bites. You must show that the dog previously displayed vicious propensities to hold the owner or custodian of a dog responsible for a bite.
Although there are many ways to show vicious propensities, the law is sometimes oversimplified as “one free bite.” Once prior vicious propensities are established, the owner or custodian of the dog is liable.
Intentional Torts
If someone intentionally causes another person harm, the victim can pursue civil damages simultaneously with a criminal case. A criminal case can result in a conviction and penalties, while a civil claim can result in the victim’s financial compensation. Keep in mind that intentional torts have their own statute of limitations.
Hundreds of federal, state, and local Nassau County laws could come into play during personal injury claims. A personal injury attorney from our firm can help you navigate all the laws that apply to your case. They can also help you use the laws that exist to your advantage.
Your Lawyer Will Explain the New York Negligence Laws Could Affect Your Case
An important step in any personal injury claim is to have at least a cursory understanding of the state’s negligence laws. New York’s negligence laws can dramatically impact the outcome of your case.
They can change who is liable, who shares fault, and how much compensation you are eligible to receive. Working with a personal injury lawyer with our firm is the best way to learn about the laws that apply to your claim.
Definition of Negligence
New York has a broad definition of negligence. As mentioned, negligence occurs when one person fails to act reasonably under the circumstances. This results in injury or other harm to another person. Someone is negligent if he or she fails to uphold the duties of care owed to another person, resulting in harm.
Pure Comparative Negligence
New York follows pure comparative negligence laws, which means that a claimant’s own conduct in relation to the collision shall not bar recovery. However, the courts will reduce the amount of damages recoverable concerning the claimant’s percentage of fault for the incident.
Generally, as long as a claimant is less than 100% responsible for the accident, he or she is still eligible for recovery in New York.
Assumption of Risk
The law in New York also does not necessarily bar a person from recovery if he or she assumes risk before the accident. This law means if you suffer an injury during an event in which you assumed certain implied or explicit risks, you do not automatically lose your right to recovery.
This can occur during:
- A surgical procedure
- While engaging in a risky activity such as skydiving or scuba diving
Our personal injury attorneys working with Nassau County families can answer questions or address concerns. The more you know about the negligence laws your claim will involve, the better prepared you’ll be during settlement negotiations or a trial.
What Are the Most Common Types of Personal Injury Cases in Nassau County?
Whether you’ve been referred to our site or have been looking online for assistance, you’ll find that our firm handles a wide range of personal injury cases. There is no claim too small for us to evaluate or too large for our team of personal injury lawyers serving Nassau County to handle.
Common Types of Personal Injury Cases
You don’t have to suffer through your injury alone. You can allow one of our injury lawyers to help you seek compensation and overcome this difficult time in your life. We can help you pursue damages after suffering injuries in the following types of incidents:
- Construction accidents
- Vehicle crashes, including trucks, motorcycles, and cars
- Pedestrian collisions
- Premises liability
- Boating collisions
- Bicycle collisions
- No-fault insurance claims
- Hit-and-run collisions
- Dog bite or another animal attack
- Birth injury
- Wrongful death
- Nursing home negligence
- Dangerous and defective products
Our firm is known for successfully holding those responsible for injuries accountable. Our attorneys serving Nassau County, NY, focus on providing compassionate support to our personal injury clients while pursuing cases with the legal experience needed to see results.
Precautions You Can Take After a Personal Injury Incident in Nassau County, New York
Taking these precautions after you or a loved one was injured in any type of incident can protect you (and your right to seek compensation from the at-fault party).
Take Care of Your Medical Needs
If someone didn’t call emergency services to the scene, go to the hospital or your primary care doctor as soon as you can. They can perform a physical examination and diagnose your injuries. Your doctor may even detect an underlying injury. According to Mayo Clinic, some injuries, such as a traumatic brain injury (TBI), manifest symptoms days or weeks after the traumatic event.
Once your doctor diagnoses you, they’ll set up a treatment plan for you—follow it exactly how they lay it out. That means:
- Take your medications.
- Follow up with your doctor.
- Go to physical therapy, and practice the exercises at home.
- Consult the specialists your doctor refers you to.
Not only will taking their advice benefit your health but also your case. As such, your adherence will display that your injuries were the outcome of the incident and that you did everything you could to reach maximum medical improvement (MMI).
Keep Your Guard Up When Talking to the Insurance Companies
If the insurance company calls you, you don’t have to speak to them. You can just direct them to your attorney, who will take care of the rest.
Nevertheless, the adjuster may ask you to give a recorded statement so they can get your perspective of what happened in your incident. Whatever you say, they could:
- Blame you for the incident
- Claim that your injuries aren’t that bad
- Look for loopholes that make it seem like something else caused your injuries
Insurance companies work to safeguard their bottom line—not pay your settlement. They’ll try to find any way to offer you a low settlement, delay your claim, or refuse to pay at all. So, politely decline their request for a recorded statement, and have one of our injury attorneys deal with them for you.
Connect with Rosenberg & Gluck, L.L.P. Today for a Free Consultation
Whether you were in a car collision on Long Beach Boulevard and East Park or slipped and fell at Nassau Mall, our firm is ready to help you. Call our Nassau County team to learn more about how a personal injury claim works and get your questions answered. We can assist clients in Spanish if needed.
You will get a no-obligation, free consultation and pay nothing unless you win compensation.
