A serious injury can have negative implications for almost every aspect of your life. Your injuries are the result of more than just an accident. Someone’s negligence caused the accident, and they should be held responsible. You may be entitled to fair compensation for your injuries, and our lawyers can help you work to get it.
Getting compensation begins with a conversation with an experienced attorney. Your lawyer can review your case and determine if you have a valid cause of action. If you do, your lawyer can help you collect the evidence and information you need to file a complaint and start your case. How long your case takes to complete varies based on your situation, with some finishing in a few short months while others drag on for a year or more. Before your case even begins, we need to understand your damages. Your damages may include economic losses, non-economic injuries, and possibly more. To make sure you and your lawyer can effectively prepare your claims for damages, you should get started as soon as possible.
For a free case evaluation, call (631) 910-7493 and talk to our Long Island personal injury attorneys at The Carrion Law Firm.
Determining if Your Accident is a Personal Injury Claim in Southampton, NY
Personal injury law is so vast that there is no way to list all possible injuries and accidents here. Since cases may vary so greatly, it is incredibly important to hire an attorney who has the skills and experience necessary to handle a case like yours. Listed here are just a few examples of cases our team has worked on. Even if you do not see your case described here, call for legal help.
Drowning Accidents
People tend to underestimate the severity of drowning accidents. Whether you are in your own pool, swimming in someone else’s pool, or perhaps using the pool at your local gym, the risk of drowning is ever present. In many drowning accident cases, victims do not survive, and their families file wrongful death claims. However, this is not the only kind of drowning case. Many other victims survive, but they were deprived of oxygen for so long that they experience brain injuries and difficulties with cognitive functioning.
Many drowning accident cases stem from the fact that there was no lifeguard on duty. Public pools generally must have lifeguards. Otherwise, pool guests must be made aware of the lack of lifeguards. In many cases, public pools will not allow children to swim when there is no lifeguard.
Alternatively, the drowning accident might have happened for some other reason. Maybe the pool bottom drops off from shallow to very deep very quickly, and you were not prepared to suddenly lose your footing on the bottom of the pool. Maybe there were inadequate barriers preventing young swimmers from crossing from the shallow end to the deep end. Whatever the case may be, contact an attorney for help.
Dangerous Property
Some accidents result from dangerous conditions on someone else’s property. This might range from private property like a neighbor’s house to property owned by a larger business or company. While slip and fall accidents are a classic example of this kind of claim, premises liability cases may involve a whole host of injuries and damages.
Generally, the owner of the property where you were injured may be held responsible if they owed you a duty of care. Property owners may owe guests and lawful entrants on their property a duty of care and safety. This duty usually encompasses the duty to remove or repair hazards the property owner knows of and the duty to make reasonable inspections for possibly unknown hazards.
Only those who are lawfully present on the property may have a valid legal claim. Trespassers are usually not owed any duty of care, barring very special circumstances.
Auto Accidents
Among the most frequently filed personal injury claims are car accidents. New Yorkers and people living on Long Island are probably in a car on the road almost every day. As such, accidents are very common, and people are sometimes badly hurt. New York’s complex insurance laws might make filing a civil case difficult, and you should get assistance from an attorney.
According to I.S.C. § 5104(a), drivers in New York, including Southampton, must have no-fault insurance referred to as personal injury protection insurance. No-fault insurance laws require drivers to file claims with their own no-fault policies. The good news is that there is no need to prove the other driver is at fault, and you may be covered no matter who caused the accident. The downside is that car accident victims may not file civil lawsuits for their damages unless they have a “serious injury.”
The law defines what constitutes a serious injury under § 5102(d). Injuries may include broken bones, loss of a fetus, significant disfigurement, dismemberment, death, or the loss or permanent limitation of bodily functions or systems. Alternatively, a non-permanent injury that is medically diagnosed and inhibits your ability to perform regular daily chores for at least 90 days during the 180 days after the accident may constitute a serious injury.
Do not be intimidated by this extra legal hurdle. Even common injuries like broken bones may be enough to satisfy the serious injury requirement.
How to Get Fair Compensation for Personal Injuries in Southampton, NY
Getting compensation after an accident can be difficult, and you might be too badly injured to deal with everything on your own. Your first step toward fair compensation is to hire an experienced lawyer to help you. Your attorney should help you determine whether you have a valid legal claim and the best method to cover your damages.
Your lawyer can help you file a case on time. Something a lot of people do not realize is that legal claims often come with an expiration date. The statute of limitations may impose a strict limitation period, and if plaintiffs do not file on time, they might not be permitted to file anything. In New York, the statute of limitations for personal injury claims is under C.V.P. Law § 214 and provides 3 years to file a claim. This limitation period begins on the same day as your accident, so time is of the essence.
You cannot get fair compensation if our personal injury lawyers do not have strong evidence. Finding evidence to support your claims is easier said than done. Your lawyer may be able to figure out what kind of evidence you need, whether it is admissible, and whether it is even available. Remember, evidence is fickle. It might be readily available or difficult to obtain, and not all evidence may be allowed in court. As such, your attorney is a crucial part of your evidentiary plans and strategies.
Looking for Evidence for a Southampton, NY Personal Injury Case
Finding evidence is one of the most important elements of a civil case and also one of the hardest. Evidence can be very unpredictable. It might be abundant in some cases but scarce in others. It is also unique in each case, and you might not know what to look for until you speak to an experienced attorney.
Video Evidence
Cameras are almost everywhere in today’s increasingly technologically reliant world. There is a strong chance that a security camera was nearby when you were injured. If we can find the security cameras in the area and check their footage, we might find video evidence of the accident. Videos can be very hard for defendants to refute and they might show us exactly what the defendant did or failed to do that caused the accident.
Videos might come from sources other than security cameras. Most people today have cell phones with cameras, and they can quickly and easily record videos almost everywhere they go. If you recorded videos during or shortly after the accident, or if you believe someone else did, we need to get those videos before they can be erased.
Records
In some cases, certain records or documentation may be used as evidence. However, the New York Rules of Evidence have strict rules on how records and documentation may be submitted as evidence. According to Rule § 8.08, records may be admitted into evidence if a judge determines that the records were made as part of the regular course of business of the person or entity who made the records. Also, the records must have been made in the regular course of business at the time of the accident. Police reports may be admissible under this rule. If you are suing a business, their records of regularly conducted business might also be admissible under this rule.
Testimony
A mainstay of the courtroom is witness testimony. We might have various other pieces of evidence in our arsenal, but having another person take the witness stand and explain what they saw or what they know about the accident can be extremely powerful and persuasive to a jury. It is crucial that you remember the people around during an accident, as they may act as witnesses later. Your own testimony may also be extremely valuable. Only you can testify about how your injuries have affected your life.
How Long a Personal Injury Case in Southampton, NY Might Take
The time it takes for us to finish your personal injury case can be hard to predict. Some cases end relatively quickly. Others seem to drag on and on with no end in sight. While it is not unusual for many personal injury claims to take at least a few months to complete, you should talk about it with your lawyer before getting started.
Certain factors in your case might help us speed things up. For example, cases with very strong evidence that is hard for defendants to refute often end sooner. When defendants know that plaintiffs can prove their claims in court, they are more likely to settle in the hopes of getting things over with faster and avoiding a humiliating courtroom defeat.
Sometimes, the people involved in a personal injury case just want to end it as quickly as possible. If the defendant is willing to cooperate and work out a settlement, we might be able to complete the case much faster. However, defendants do not have to agree to settlements, no matter how strong or weak the evidence against them might be. Sometimes, cases drag on because defendants absolutely refuse to budge and demand a full trial. While we can help you prepare for this, it might take more time.
We should also consider whether the defendant is facing criminal charges. While many civil cases do not involve criminal charges, others might. Depending on what the defendant did to cause your injuries, they might be charged, and a hearing might be scheduled in criminal court. In such cases, civil claims often must wait until criminal proceedings are over.
Damages Recoverable in Southampton, NY Personal Injury Cases
Your damages are all the things you might have lost, the money you spent, and the pain you endured because of the accident. They form the basis of potential compensation, and we must account for all your damages and evaluate them carefully so you do not miss out on compensation.
Economic Damages
Many of your damages may be assessed based on how much money they cost you. Chief among these economic damages is your medical bills. Whether you needed extensive medical care or only went to the hospital once, you might be dealing with costly hospital bills. Even if you have health insurance to help you, your deductibles might still be very expensive.
In addition to medical costs, we should consider property damage. For example, if you lose your vehicle in a crash and the personal items inside are destroyed, you may claim the cost of replacing your property.
If your injuries make returning to work impossible, you might lose wages and income when you need them most. You may claim the value of your lost income. The longer you are unable to work because of your injuries, the greater these damages may be.
Non-Economic Damages
Your non-economic injuries may also be compensated, even though they often do not involve financial costs or expenses. Generally, non-economic damages revolve around personal and painful experiences. For example, you might claim non-economic damages for the intense pain of your injuries and psychological distress caused by the entire ordeal. In many cases, accidents are quite traumatizing, and plaintiffs suffer greatly. Since these damages are highly subjective and vary from plaintiff to plaintiff, the jury usually has the final word on their worth.
Speak to Our Southampton, NY Personal Injury Lawyers About Your Claims Now
For a free case evaluation, call (631) 910-7493 and talk to our personal injury attorneys at The Carrion Law Firm.