Personal Injury Lawyer Manhattan

Personal injury claims are some of the most common types of legal action both in New York City and in the United States. Millions of injury victims file lawsuits each year in an attempt to recover financial compensation due to the negligent, reckless, or even deliberate actions of another person. In the state of New York, accident victims have three years from the date of the injury to initiate contact with a personal injury lawyer and bring a lawsuit against the party that caused the injuries.

Don’t Hesitate to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer from Our Manhattan Law Firm

With personal injury cases in New York, the plaintiff bringing the action must prove that he or she would not have sustained serious injuries if not for the actions of the other party. When you consider this along with the three-year statute of limitations in New York, it’s imperative that you request a free case evaluation from O’Dwyer & Bernstien, LLP as soon as possible. While three years may sound like a long time, remember that it can take several months to years to collect evidence, present the other party with a lawsuit, and negotiate your case or take it to court.

As one of the oldest personal injury law firms in the New York City area, O’Dwyer & Bernstien, LLP have served the needs of injured people for more than 100 years.

Call for your free consultation today at 212-571-7100.

Auto Accidents Are the Most Common Type of Personal Injury Cases

According to the legal website Justipedia, a person who has sustained serious injuries in a car accident is the most likely to file a personal injury lawsuit. Motor vehicle accidents can involve two or more passenger cars striking each other, vans, buses, personal and commercial trucks, and pedestrian or bicycle accidents.

Your priority after any car accident in Manhattan must always be your own safety and that of any passengers or other people involved. We encourage you to visit a doctor immediately after your accident to determine whether you have any injuries and the significance of them. Even if you seem fine, remember that some injuries such as whiplash or concussion don’t always appear right away. By going to a doctor or the nearest emergency room, you create a medical record that your personal injury attorney can use later to prove your case.

Read About What To Do After A Car Accident: NYC Car Accident Guide

Claiming Medical Malpractice in a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Although medical malpractice currently stands as the third-leading cause of death in the United States, these cases are some of the most notoriously difficult to prove and win in court. At our NYC law firm, we contract with leading medical experts to provide testimony demonstrating that your provider violated a standard of care considered acceptable in the medical field. An accepted standard of medical care means that a professional with similar training and experience would not have made the same mistakes.

While not all poor medical outcomes occur due to medical malpractice, you have the right to pursue legal services if you feel any medical staff person failed to act in a manner consistent with his or her training and experience. Your Manhattan attorney will work hard to prove that the provider committed a breach of duty against you and that your injury would never have occurred if not for his or her professional negligence.

Wrongful Death

Wrongful death is the most severe and tragic outcome of personal injury cases in New York, New York. If you have lost a loved one due to the negligent, reckless, or deliberate actions of another party, we first want to offer our condolences. We encourage you to contact us for an initial consultation to learn more about how you may be able to recover funeral and burial costs, the medical expenses of your loved one before he or she succumbed to the injuries, damages for loss of companionship, trauma before and after the death, wages your family member would have contributed to the household, and several other categories of compensation.

Premises Liability

Property owners, whether they own a private or commercial home or building, have the legal obligation to keep it free of obvious dangers. For example, a store owner must post a sign that floors could be slippery when an employee has just finished mopping while a homeowner must repair broken steps if he or she is expecting company.

The amount you may be able to collect depends on whether the property owner invited you to the property, you were there on business, or you were trespassing on the property. New York also recognizes that certain items, such as swimming pools, are an attractive nuisance to children and owners must safeguard them at all times. The law may even hold people liable in a premises liability case if a reasonable person would have known about and repaired the danger but the property owner did nothing. Especially after a tragic slip and fall accident.

Construction Accidents

Construction accidents are so common in New York State that legislators have passed several laws unique to this industry that allow workers to sue. Whether you had scaffolding collapse underneath you, a foreign object struck you and caused a brain injury, or you faced toxic fume exposure, O’Dwyer & Bernstien, LLP is on your side. Please contact us today to learn more about New York Labor Law 240, 241, and other applicable laws.

Truck Accidents

A semi-truck that collides with any other type of vehicle can cause considerable injuries. Unfortunately, these cases can also be challenging to prove due to the multiple parties that may bear responsibility. Although it may seem like only the truck driver is to blame, he or she could be acting under a direct order from a supervisor to drive while fatigued or with an overweight load. Insurance companies, manufacturing companies, and mechanics are other parties that may share some responsibility for your accident.

Product Liability and/or Defective Products

Product designers, manufacturers, and retailers all share responsibility for ensuring that products are safe for public use. Because these parties often try to claim operator error in personal injury cases, you need the assistance of our Manhattan law office to prove that’s not the case. We comb through every phase of the product’s life from concept to final sale to locate the critical mistake that caused your injuries.

Workers’ Compensation

In most cases, the workers’ compensation system in New York prevents injured workers from suing their employer. However, it makes exceptions in cases of grievous offenses or when the employee feels he or she has received unfair treatment from both the employer and the workers’ compensation insurance companies that represent the employer. We will assist you in preparing a strong case to increase the likelihood of collecting additional compensation to get you through this challenging time until you can get back to work.

Motorcycle Accidents

According to Justipedia, motorcycle accidents are among the most serious and deadly of all motor vehicle accidents. This is easy to understand when you consider the small size of motorcycles compared to other types of vehicles. You also need to consider that motorcycle drivers and passengers don’t have the same level of protection afforded by the interior of larger vehicles. An accident that knocks you off your bike and onto the road can cause brain injury, paralysis, burns, and other serious and life-changing injuries.

Trip and Fall Accidents

Sometimes we’re all a bit clumsy and it isn’t necessarily anyone’s fault when we trip and fall. However, when you trip and fall on someone else’s property due to their negligence, you may have a legitimate reason to file a personal injury lawsuit. For example, assume you fell down the stairs while visiting a friend’s apartment because maintenance did not repair a frayed rug that caused you to stumble and fall. As with premises liability cases, the jury will consider whether the property owner should have known about the possible danger and repaired it but failed to do so.

Types of Compensation You May Receive When You Hire a New York Personal Injury Lawyer

While we can never guarantee you will win your case or offer a specific dollar amount with a successful outcome, you should know that you stand a far greater chance of success working with a personal injury attorney from our Manhattan law firm than you do trying to represent yourself. Some of the specific categories of compensation you may receive include:

• Medical bills, which includes past and future
• Property damage or destruction
• Lost wages or the difference in wages if your injuries force you to earn less or quit working
• Psychological counseling related to the event
• Pain and suffering

Judges in New York State typically divide lawsuit compensation into two categories. The first is actual financial damages such as medical bills and lost wages and the second is subjective damages such as pain and suffering. Proving how much the accident affected your day-to-day life with help from our Manhattan personal injury lawyers is crucial to recover as much compensation as possible in the second category.

Request Your Free Consultation Today

O’Dwyer & Bernstien, LLP handle personal injury cases in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, NYC, and all surrounding communities. We invite you to request a case evaluation where you will learn more about the process of filing personal injury claims with an accident injury attorney. We never charge a fee for legal representation unless we win your case.