If you were injured due to someone else’s negligence in New York, you have the right to seek compensation through a personal injury lawsuit. New York personal injury law covers car accidents, slip and falls, construction accidents, medical malpractice, dog bites, and many other situations where one person’s carelessness causes another person’s harm. This guide walks through what a personal injury case actually involves from the day of the accident through resolution, so you know what to expect.
The Legal Standard: Negligence in New York
Nearly every personal injury case in New York is built on the legal concept of negligence. To succeed, you must prove four elements:
- Duty: The defendant owed you a duty of care. Drivers have a duty to operate their vehicles safely. Property owners have a duty to maintain safe premises. Doctors have a duty to provide care consistent with accepted medical standards.
- Breach: The defendant failed to meet that duty. Speeding through a red light, ignoring a known hazard on the floor, or making a surgical error are all potential breaches.
- Causation: The breach directly caused your injury. The legal test is whether the injury would not have occurred “but for” the defendant’s negligence.
- Damages: You suffered actual harm, whether physical, financial, or both.
All four elements must be established. Strong injuries without clear liability can lose. Clear liability with minimal injuries results in modest recovery.
Step 1: The Accident and Immediate Aftermath
What happens in the hours and days after an accident often determines whether a case can be won and how much it is worth.
Medical treatment: Seek care immediately, even if your pain feels manageable. The emergency room record, urgent care notes, or primary care visit creates a contemporaneous link between the accident and your injury. Insurance companies treat a gap in early medical care as evidence that the injuries were minor.
Documentation: Photograph the scene, the hazard, and your injuries. Collect contact information from witnesses. Get the police report number if officers respond.
Insurance notification: Report the accident to your insurance company as required by your policy. Do not give a recorded statement to the other party’s insurer without speaking to an attorney first.
Step 2: Retaining a Personal Injury Attorney
Most personal injury attorneys in New York work on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing unless the attorney recovers money for you. The standard contingency fee in New York personal injury cases is one-third of the recovery before trial, with court rules governing cases that proceed further.
During an initial consultation, an attorney will assess:
- Whether you have a viable liability claim
- Whether your injuries are significant enough to justify the cost of litigation
- What insurance coverage is available
- Whether any government entity is involved (which triggers a 90-day Notice of Claim deadline)
Step 3: Investigation and Evidence Gathering
Before any demand or filing, your attorney will gather evidence to support the claim:
- Medical records and bills from all treating providers
- Police reports, accident reports, or incident reports
- Surveillance footage if the incident was captured on camera
- Witness statements
- Expert reports, including accident reconstruction or medical expert opinions
- Employment records to document lost wages
In construction accident cases, this phase includes obtaining OSHA inspection records, safety violation records, and site photographs. In car accident cases, it includes obtaining the full insurance policy information for all vehicles involved.
Step 4: Filing a Notice of Claim (When Required)
If your case involves a government defendant, including New York City, the MTA, the New York City Housing Authority, the Port Authority, or a public school, you must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days of the accident. This is a strict deadline. Missing it bars the claim.
For private defendants, no Notice of Claim is required. The case is filed directly in New York Supreme Court.
Step 5: Demand Letter and Pre-Suit Negotiations
Once your medical treatment is complete or your injuries have stabilized to maximum medical improvement, your attorney will send a demand package to the defendant’s insurance carrier. The demand includes:
- A summary of liability
- A complete set of medical records and bills
- Lost wage documentation
- A settlement demand
Insurance companies will respond with an offer, often well below the demand. Most personal injury cases resolve through negotiation at this stage, without ever filing a lawsuit.
Step 6: Filing the Lawsuit
If pre-suit negotiations do not produce a fair offer, your attorney files a Summons and Complaint in New York Supreme Court (the court of general jurisdiction for civil cases in New York, despite its name). The defendant is served and has 20 to 30 days to file an Answer.
In New York, the statute of limitations for most personal injury cases is three years from the date of the accident. Medical malpractice cases have a two-and-a-half-year statute, with specific rules for cases involving continuous treatment.
Step 7: Discovery
After the lawsuit is filed, both sides exchange information through the discovery process. This typically includes:
- Document production: Medical records, tax returns, employment records, and accident-related documents
- Interrogatories: Written questions that each party answers under oath
- Depositions: In-person sworn testimony of the parties, witnesses, and sometimes expert witnesses
Discovery in a complex personal injury case typically takes 12 to 18 months in New York Supreme Court.
Step 8: Mediation and Settlement Conferences
New York courts require settlement conferences before trial. Many cases resolve at mediation, where a neutral mediator facilitates settlement discussions. Mediation is non-binding, meaning neither party is required to accept any offer. However, the process regularly produces resolution because both sides see the risks of trial clearly.
Step 9: Trial
If the case does not settle, it proceeds to trial before a jury in New York Supreme Court. The jury hears evidence from both sides, including expert witnesses, and decides:
- Whether the defendant was negligent
- Whether that negligence caused the plaintiff’s injuries
- What dollar amount of damages the plaintiff should receive
New York follows pure comparative negligence. If the jury finds that you were 30% at fault for the accident, your award is reduced by 30%. You can recover even if you were mostly at fault, though few cases with high plaintiff fault result in meaningful recovery.
What Damages Can You Recover?
New York law allows personal injury plaintiffs to recover:
- Medical expenses: All past and reasonably anticipated future treatment costs
- Lost wages: Income lost during recovery and diminished future earning capacity for permanent injuries
- Pain and suffering: Physical pain and mental anguish, both past and future. This is often the largest component of a serious injury award.
- Loss of consortium: A separate claim by a spouse for loss of companionship and services
- Punitive damages: Available in rare cases involving egregious or intentional conduct; not available in most accident cases
How Long Does a Personal Injury Case Take in New York?
Cases that settle before a lawsuit is filed typically resolve within 6 to 18 months of the accident. Cases that proceed through litigation take 2 to 4 years on average in New York Supreme Court, depending on the borough and court calendar. Manhattan and the Bronx tend to have longer timelines than Brooklyn, Queens, or Staten Island.
Frequently Asked Questions: Personal Injury in New York
What is my personal injury case worth?
There is no standard answer. Value depends on the severity and permanence of your injuries, the clarity of liability, available insurance coverage, and your lost wages. Soft tissue injuries typically resolve for less than fracture or surgical cases. Permanent injuries affecting your ability to work are valued significantly higher.
Do I have to go to court?
Most personal injury cases, roughly 95%, settle before trial. Trials are the exception, not the rule.
What if I cannot afford to pay a doctor?
In New York personal injury cases, many treating physicians will provide care on a medical lien basis, meaning they treat you now and are paid from the settlement proceeds. Your attorney can help arrange this.
What if the at-fault party has no insurance?
If the defendant is uninsured, your own Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage applies for car accidents. For other types of cases, your attorney will investigate all sources of potential recovery.
Can I handle my own personal injury claim without a lawyer?
You can, but insurance companies have experienced adjusters whose job is to minimize payments. Studies consistently show that represented claimants recover more than unrepresented claimants, even after deducting attorney fees.
Talk to a New York Personal Injury Attorney
Liakas Law represents personal injury clients throughout New York City, including car accident victims, construction workers injured on the job, and people hurt on dangerous premises. Our attorneys handle every aspect of the case from investigation through trial, and we work on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win.
Contact Liakas Law today for a free consultation.
