How Long Do I Have to File a Slip and Fall Lawsuit in NYC?

You won’t have an unlimited amount of time to file your slip and fall accident lawsuit in New York City, and if you miss the deadline, you miss your chance to get compensation.

In most cases, victims have three years from the date a slip and fall accident happens to file a lawsuit in New York City. There are a few exceptions to this, like tolling for minor victims, but victims should not rely on exceptions applying to their claims. Assume you have just three years to sue and initiate your case immediately. If you wait too long to file and try to sue later than three years after the accident, the court may dismiss your case. If this happens, you won’t have a viable path to recovery for your damages. Our lawyers can help victims avoid this by preparing claims right away, keeping the filing deadline in mind, and meeting it to protect their recoveries.

Call (718) 841-0083 to get a free case assessment from the New York City slip and fall accident lawyers of The Carrion Law Firm.

How Long Do Most Victims Have to Sue for Slip and Falls in NYC?

When victims are hurt in slip and fall accidents, they can file premises liability claims against negligent property owners in New York City. To get any compensation, victims must file lawsuits within a strictly enforced window of time.

The accrual date for the statute of limitations is typically an accident’s date. Under C.V.P. Law § 214(5), victims generally have three years to file injury lawsuits against negligent parties. Depending on how much time has passed since the accident took place, you might not have three full years remaining to file an injury claim.

We’ll determine the final date you can file your lawsuit based on the date of the accident. Our Brooklyn slip and fall accident lawyers will keep that deadline in mind as we prepare your case but will likely aim to file sooner than that so as not to delay your access to compensatory damages unnecessarily.

Why Do Some Victims Get More Time to Sue for Slip and Falls in NYC?

Only a few exceptions to the statute of limitations feasibly apply to slip and fall injury claims in New York City. Learning whether or not any of these exceptions apply to your case is important, especially if it has been some time since the accident occurred.

Fraudulent concealment is a real issue in premises liability claims, as property owners might take intentional steps to hide their liability from injured victims. To get tolling for fraudulent concealment in your case and undermine a statute of limitations defense, our lawyers may have to demonstrate to the court that the defendant took subsequent and specific steps after the accident to prevent you from bringing a claim. Immediately destroying evidence indicating negligence before a victim realizes what happened, refusing to document the accident via incident reports, or intentionally hiding the property owner’s identity to evade liability could be seen as fraudulent concealment and real roadblocks to a victim’s ability to bring a timely claim.

When injured as minors in slip and fall accidents, victims will see the statute of limitations tolled until they turn 18, after which point they will have three years to sue according to § 208.

Though delayed discovery for latent injuries is less common in slip and fall accident claims since many injuries are often somewhat apparent right away, victims can get tolling for this reason in certain situations.

What Happens if You Wait Too Long to File a Slip and Fall Accident Lawsuit in NYC?

If you wait too long to file your slip and fall accident lawsuit in New York City, you could miss the filing deadline for your case altogether, barring you from compensation.

Statutes of limitations exist so that defendants aren’t held financially liable for damages victims incurred long ago, even if the defendants did cause those injuries. Courts enforce the statute of limitations in New York and will likely dismiss any claims filed late that do not meet any of the few exceptions to § 214(5). If the court dismisses your lawsuit, you cannot recover damages in a settlement with the defendant or through a jury award. Victims who miss the filing deadline might have to cover their damages themselves, the cost of which might be extreme.

While you will have three full years after the slip and fall accident to file your premises liability lawsuit, you should not wait that long. Right after the accident, our lawyers can determine if the property owner was negligent and is liable for your injuries. As we do this, we will gather evidence confirming your case, including eyewitness statements, medical records, photographs, incident reports, and security camera footage. Victims who wait too long to sue might become overwhelmed by their medical expenses and lost wages, and delaying a case might only add to those difficulties.

How Long Does Filing a Slip and Fall Lawsuit Take in NYC?

The amount of time slip and fall claims take varies from case to case and often depends on whether victims settle or go to trial for their lawsuits in New York City.

While there is a limit on how long victims have to file lawsuits, there is no time limit on how long those lawsuits might take. Our lawyers appreciate that victims often prioritize making fast financial recoveries, so we can focus on preparing a strong case quickly so that we have sufficient evidence to leverage during settlement negotiations to reach a fair agreement with the defendant as soon as possible.

If settlement negotiations do not progress quickly enough, we can change directions and take your case to court. A trial’s length will depend on each side’s arguments and evidence, but they typically last no longer than a few weeks.

Call Our NYC Injury Lawyers About Your Recent Slip and Fall

Call (718) 841-0083 for a free case review from the Huntington, NY slip and fall accident lawyers of The Carrion Law Firm.