Personal Injury

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"Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this." ~ Abraham Lincoln

What Is a Personal Injury Accident?

“Personal Injury” law covers all cases where someone is physically or emotionally injured, or their private property is damaged. A person may receive compensation in personal injury settlements and claims for damages caused by someone else’s carelessness, negligence, recklessness, or intentional actions. Personal injury accident law is the largest area of “tort” law.

Thousands of people are injured each year due to someone else’s negligence and a personal injury lawyer can help determine your rights. Every injury suffered can be a traumatizing experience for all of those involved. Most New Yorkers are pretty savvy legal customers. The field of personal injury law is probably familiar to most residents of our busy city. At a minimum, we’ve all seen commercials for personal injury attorneys on TV, ads in the local papers we read on the subway, on the backs of the local buses we ride, and even on billboards. The New York personal injury lawyers at LS represent clients from all over NY state and we will help you understand your legal rights. Let the experienced legal professionals at our personal injury law firm of New York help you obtain the money you deserve.

***Your initial consultation with a personal injury lawyer in NYC is always free.

***We do take a small retainer fee held against the outcome out of our percentage contingency fees if we believe in your recovery chances.

What is a personal injury claim?

What is personal injury law exactly? Personal injury law is broad, covering things like car accidents, medical malpractice, slip and falls, and more. At one point in each person’s life, he or she has probably been confronted with some sort of injury, even if no lawsuit was pursued. It is important to be aware of the law, especially in cases of a life-altering, or even life ending, injury.

Torts: What does this word mean?

The legal term most associated with personal injury law is the law of torts. In basic terms, a tort is a “civil wrong” that, when committed, allows those hurt to receive financial recovery for injuries due to the negligence of others. For example, a tort is committed if you are injured by someone who rode their bicycle straight into you while you were walking on the sidewalk. Personal injury law allows you to recover money for the negligent acts of the bicycle driver.

As you can imagine, in a busy metropolis like New York, injuries caused by the unreasonable conduct of others is quite common. Car accidents, bike collisions, constructions mishaps, dangerous falls, and similar incidents often involve torts.

The person who committed the negligence can be held liable in a civil court and sometimes in a criminal court as well. However, the remedies for a civil case are limited to money damages and can run parallel to but separate from a criminal trial for the same negligent action. In fact, a civil case can succeed even if a criminal case finds the defendant not criminally liable. The standard of proof in a civil personal injury trial is substantially lower than that for a criminal trial. In a criminal trial, the illegal activity must be proved “beyond a reasonable doubt.” That is a very high standard and the jurors must feel certain of the guilt of the accused. In civil cases, the standard is by a “preponderance of the evidence,” which means that the person who was injured must prove that wrong-doing and fault are more likely than not – based on the evidence presented.

Most Common Personal Injury Actions

Personal injury claims are the most common variety of legal action that is pursued in the United States in any given year. This is partially due to the wide scope of issues that fall under the category of personal injury actions, such as:

Injuries caused by negligence such as car accidents, premises liability claims like slip and fall injuries, defective product cases, dangerous drug cases, and medical malpractice cases.

Injuries at schools, daycare centers, and extracurricular activities, including issues such as gym class or sports injuries, injuries caused by improper supervision, injuries resulting from cases of schoolyard fights and bullying.

Wrongful death lawsuits that can potentially arise from cases where a party’s negligence resulted in a death.

Assault & battery, abuse, and other crimes. Many criminal offenses such as battery, domestic violence, and child or elder abuse also have potential civil components that can be pursued through the civil process.

Civil Liability Accountability

Personal injury law serves two key purposes:

  • To ensure that injury victims receive the compensation they deserve to help in their recovery;
  • Spurring changes to prevent future accidents.

It is crucial that negligent parties pay for the harm that they cause, from medical bills and property damage to lost wages. On top of that, because of personal injury law- people, companies, and even the government are incentivized to use best practices and a high standard of care to protect one another from preventable injuries.

If you or a loved one has been hurt by the negligence of another in The City of NY (Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, and Staten Island), contacting an experienced New York personal injury lawyer at The LS firm is a great first step to determining whether you have a case and what to do next. Our personal injury law firm has over 50 years of combined experience helping injured individuals like you.

Some lawsuits need be filed before an impending expiration date, known as the Statute of Limitations. Therefore, call or contact our personal injury law firm in NY right away to ensure that you do not waive your rights to money damages or other benefits.