How Do I Know if I Have a Valid NY Personal Injury Case?

You may have a valid personal injury case any time you sustain injuries caused by the negligent or willful acts of other parties. However, your claim must meet the NY legal definition of negligence, and you need compelling evidence to prove liability and other issues. Consulting with an experienced Manhattan negligence attorney can help educate you on all available legal options.

You may consider the term negligence to simply refer to anyone who fails to take an appropriate degree of care. However, when you sustain injuries due to negligence in NYC or elsewhere, the law requires you to prove that someone owed you a duty, he or she failed to meet the duty, the failure caused injury and you suffered damages.

To illustrate, assume you sustain injuries because part of a newly-purchased power tool broke off due to a manufacturing defect and struck you in the eye. The manufacturer has a duty to consumers to create a product free of defects. Since it failed to meet that duty, causing you injuries that resulted in medical costs and even disability costs due to blindness, you have a valid negligence claim.

Even if you share a degree of negligence for an accident, the contributory negligence laws of New York do not bar you from recovering damages from other negligent parties, although the law reduces the value of your claim based on your degree of negligence. So even if your hand slipped while using the drill, perhaps causing the defective part to break off, you can still most likely pursue the bulk of the damages. And, in this particular example, an experienced attorney might have the ability to prove that a slip of the hand does not constitute contributory negligence based on the facts of the accident.

Every personal injury situation has unique circumstances that determine the possibility of pursuing a legal case. At Rich & Rich, P.C. we investigate the facts and circumstances of your accident or injury and determine whether negligence played a role. We then determine the best legal strategy to recover the maximum amount of compensation for you or your loved one. Call us at 646-736-3999 to discuss your legal options in a free initial consultation.