East Village Personal Injury Lawyer
The East Village is one of the most populated neighborhoods in Manhattan, making it a hotspot for personal injuries. Although negligence is common here, many victims do not know what to do afterward and might be intimidated by the idea of filing a lawsuit.
Our attorneys can help alleviate the stress of how you will cover your losses by preparing and filing a claim against the negligent party. With our team’s wide-ranging experience, there is virtually no claim that we cannot help you with. We will gather evidence that shows the defendant owed you a duty of care and violated that duty by acting negligently. Our team can also fight claims that you were partially responsible for your damages and show the court that the defendant was the cause of your suffering.
Call The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 to receive your free case review with our personal injury lawyers today.
When to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in the East Village, Manhattan
If you suffered an injury for which you will need to seek compensation in a legal claim, you must be aware of the filing guidelines, commonly known as the “statute of limitations.” This is the brief window of time injury victims have to file a lawsuit against the negligent party. If your claim is not filed before the limitations period closes, you will have no other recourse to cover your losses.
Under C.V.P. Law § 214(5), you have three years to file a lawsuit for injuries suffered in the East Village, and the time starts counting down from the moment you are injured. After getting immediate medical care, reach out to our personal injury attorneys so that we can use this time to your advantage. If you get your case started just after getting injured, we can use the time to further assess the extent of your injuries and damages. You might not know all the damages you have suffered because you are still treating, so filing too soon could mean settling for compensation that does not cover your future losses.
The statute of limitations is one of the stricter rules in personal injury law, but exceptions exist if you need more time to file. For instance, the limitations period will be “tolled,” or paused, if the defendant left the state after the accident, according to § 207. Considering that getting out of the East Village and New York altogether involves just a short drive across the Hudson River, this situation is quite possible. Once the defendant returns to Manhattan, we must be ready to file your claim since the clock will start running again.
Injury victims under a disability of “infancy” or “insanity” at the time of the accident will also have the time tolled. Infancy refers to victims under 18 years old, while insanity can mean any valid mental or physical disability that prevents victims from filing their claims. Under § 208, these individuals have three years from the day the disability is removed to file a lawsuit.
What You Need to Prove to Get Damages for a Personal Injury in the East Village, Manhattan
The causes of personal injuries are numerous. Many victims are injured in car accidents, while others are hurt by property owners’ and healthcare providers’ negligence. Regardless of the reasons for your injuries, we must prove the same elements in a personal injury lawsuit to recover damages. We must show that the defendant owed you a duty of care and breached that duty when they caused your damages. We might also have to fight the defendant’s claims of your contributory negligence.
The Defendant’s Duty of Care
We must first establish that the defendant owed you a “duty of care.” But when do people owe others a legal duty? A duty to use reasonable care exists based on the relationship between the defendant and the injured party. The parties can be total strangers to each other, but the situation creates the duty.
For example, drivers owe a duty of care to other drivers, pedestrians, bikers, and everyone else while on the road. Property owners have a duty to others to keep their premises safe, including checking for and warning about dangers on the property. Doctors, nurses, and healthcare providers have a duty to employ the same level of care as another similarly trained and experienced provider. Manufacturers and designers of consumer products have a duty to customers to make products free of defects. Once we have established this legal relationship, we can turn to how the defendant violated that duty.
The Defendant’s Breach of Duty
Next, we must prove how the defendant “breached” their duty of care. Essentially, the breach is the actual negligent conduct that caused the accident, so it will be different in each case.
For example, perhaps your doctor misdiagnosed a condition that another similarly trained physician would have caught. The misdiagnosis would be the breach. If another driver hit you because they were texting, distracted driving was the breach of duty. Your landlord would breach their duty if you fell down the stairs because they did not replace the lights in your apartment’s stairwell.
The Breach Caused Your Damages
Once we have satisfied the two elements above, we must prove that the breaching conduct actually caused your injuries. There must be a causal link between the defendant’s breach of duty and your damages. If another person was ultimately responsible for the accident or your damages were the result of previous injuries, that link might be broken. We will argue that but for the defendant’s actions, you would not be injured, or your prior injuries would not be worse.
Further, the defendant will likely claim you were comparatively negligent. Fortunately, you can still recover compensation if you were also at fault, according to § 1411.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers in the East Village Today to Discuss How to Recover the Compensation You Deserve
For a free case evaluation with our personal injury attorneys, contact The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083.