After an accident, an attorney can help you take civil action against the person or company who caused the accident and get you financial compensation for your injuries and damages.
Generally, you must have suffered some bodily harm because of someone else’s actions. You also must file your claim within 3 years of when the injury occurs, barring special circumstances. Waiting that long could hurt your case, though. If you have been seriously hurt, you should get started on your case as soon as physically possible.
Evidence to prove your injuries and claims might come from several sources, such as photos, testimony, and medical records. We will need as much evidence as possible to prove your damages, which represent your losses, financial and otherwise. Talk to one of our lawyers soon so they can present the best possible case for you.
Get a private, free case evaluation from one of our personal injury lawyers by calling (718) 841-0083.
How Do I Know if I Have a Personal Injury Case in Brooklyn?
Personal injuries are a specific type of civil claim that may arise if you experience bodily harm. If you are unsure whether you have a potential personal injury claim on your hands, ask yourself the following questions:
Were you in an accident?
If you were hurt, you might have a valid claim. Accidents are arguably the main source of personal injury claims. The person responsible for the accident does not necessarily have to have committed a crime to be held responsible. Even minor accidents, like a small rear-end collision at a red light that caused you whiplash, may warrant legal action.
Have you been physically injured?
Remember, the hallmark of personal injury claims is that they involve bodily harm. If you were in an accident but were not hurt, you likely do not have a personal injury claim. However, that does not mean you do not have any claim at all. You should still talk to an attorney to see if you can still take legal action to recover compensation for things like damaged property.
Was your injury someone else’s fault?
ou generally cannot take legal action for an accident that you caused yourself. Many, if not most, personal injury claims are based on someone else’s negligence. Our personal injury lawyers are tasked with gathering evidence to prove that the defendant behaved negligently and that their behavior is the direct cause of the accident.
When to File a Personal Injury Case in Brooklyn
It is often unclear to injured victims whether it is a good time to begin a civil lawsuit. People tend to hesitate and take their time to think about their options. However, taking too much time to think it over might do more harm than good, as you have a limited time in which to file your case.
The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in New York is found under C.V.P. Law § 214 and gives plaintiffs only 3 years to file their claims in court. This limitation period begins on the day of the accident, so you might be running out of time as we speak. If you do not file your case on time, you might be unable to file it at all.
If a plaintiff is a minor when they are injured, the limitation period may be tolled until they are 18. This means the 3-year limitation period would not begin on the day of the accident but on their 18th birthday. If the plaintiff was under a mental condition that inhibited them from filing their claims on their own or understanding their rights and injuries, the limitation period may be tolled until their condition is removed.
Evidence Needed to Prove Your Personal Injury Case
Evidence is important in a personal injury case. You need to keep all medical records and the history of your medical case. Proving your injuries is necessary to establish the extent and value of your damages. To do this, we might need copies of your medical records. Our personal injury lawyers can help you get your records from the hospital where you were treated, and we can have a doctor review your records and explain them in court as a witness.
Non-medical evidence is also important and may include photos, witness statements, police reports, and video footage of the accident that caused your injuries. If a faulty product injured you, we need the product as evidence.
Testimony is powerful evidence, depending on the person testifying. If other people saw the accident happen or have personal knowledge about the accident, their testimony may be extremely valuable to your case. Your own testimony is also important. Only you may testify about certain aspects of the case, such as your pain, suffering, and what you personally witnessed during the accident.
What Money is Recoverable in a Personal Injury Case?
Damages in your personal injury case will vary based on your losses, injuries, and the extent of your personal experiences. Some people have high costs and experience severe distress after an accident. Others might have somewhat less extensive damages. Even so, you deserve fair compensation for your damages, and your attorney can help you.
Economic damages may be proved with evidence of costs and expenses. If you sought medical treatment after being injured – which you should definitely do – your hospital bills should be added to your economic damages claim. Similarly, the cost of repairing damaged property and the value of income you might lose from being too injured to continue working should be accounted for. If you have incurred other costs, talk about them with your lawyer.
Non-economic damages reflect painful experiences and are not tied to financial costs. As such, these damages are usually not proven with evidence of costs, and their value may be a bit more open to interpretation. Your trauma, distress, pain, humiliation, disfigurement, quality of life, and loss of overall happiness from your life are common in non-economic damages claims.
Why You Need One of Our Brooklyn Personal Injury Lawyers to Help You
People are often afraid of the process involved in filing a lawsuit and dealing with insurance companies. People also often think that filing a lawsuit means that they will personally incur expensive legal fees. However, trying to handle your personal injury case alone is not a good idea. Your case might be complex, and you need someone with legal experience to guide you.
If you use an attorney, you will not need to pay anything upfront to file a personal injury lawsuit in Brooklyn. Attorneys in personal injury cases get paid via something called a “contingency fee.” What that means is that we only get paid when we recover money for your injuries. If we do not win your case, you do not have to pay anything out of pocket.
Your attorney can help you get started by talking to the police. Depending on how you were hurt, the police might be involved. For example, law enforcement often gets involved in things like car accidents or cases of severe injuries. They are also involved when personal injury claims overlap with criminal law. If there is an investigation and the police uncover valuable evidence, your attorney can talk to them about it.
Your lawyer will also communicate with the defendant and their attorneys if they have any. As a general rule, you should not be directly communicating with any insurance companies, opposing counsel, or the defendant. Your lawyer will handle all of that.
We must also coordinate with the courts. Once your case is filed, hearings and court appearances are scheduled. There may be numerous pre-trial hearings about your case before anyone enters a court room. Your attorney will coordinate with the court regarding things like evidence, experts, paperwork, settlement offers, etc. Do not think of your case as one big trial. Think of it as many smaller hearings that must line up in a certain way, and your attorney can help you make sure everything goes smoothly.
Many cases do not ever even need to go to an actual trial. Many personal injury cases get settled before that happens. That is why it is so important to have an experienced attorney by your side to evaluate what your case is worth and then either negotiate a positive settlement for you or take your case to trial.
Call Our Brooklyn Personal Injury Lawyers for Legal Help Today
Get a private, free case evaluation from our personal injury lawyers by calling The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083. You do not have to do this alone. We can help guide you through this entire process.