Personal Injury Case Timeline in New York
There are a lot of things to deal with after you’ve been injured in an accident. Medical treatment often involves many appointments with different doctors and specialists. Still, you must also deal with other problems in your life, from time missed at work to paying a stack of medical bills. The pain and emotional distress of your experience don’t make it any easier to deal with all these problems.
A timely personal injury settlement from the at-fault party’s insurance company would make everything much easier, but settling too quickly is often a mistake. If you accept the first settlement the insurance carrier offers, you might not get a large enough settlement to cover all your expenses.
Understanding the personal injury case timeline in New York will help you manage the process as you pursue the compensation you deserve. The severity of your injuries will impact how quickly your case can settle. With the help of an experienced personal injury attorney, you can ensure you’re seeking maximum compensation and help avoid unnecessary delays in your case.
The Tadchiev Law Firm, P.C. is a personal injury firm in Floral Park serving Queens, New York. We handle many different types of personal injury cases, from car crashes to slip-and-falls. If you’ve been injured in an accident in New York caused by someone else’s negligence, contact the Tadchiev Law Firm, P.C. today for your free consultation.
Get Medical Treatment for Any Injuries
The timeline of a personal injury case begins in the moments immediately following an accident. After reporting the accident, your priority should always be to seek medical treatment for any injuries.
Some people would rather not go to the doctor unless they need to. They may try to avoid getting medical treatment after an accident if they think they only have minor injuries. The problem with this mentality is that injuries are often worse than they initially seem. You might choose not to seek medical attention but then discover you have a traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury. That could cause problems when you file your personal injury claim.
If you don’t have medical records showing that you sought treatment immediately, the insurance adjuster can claim that you weren’t seriously injured and don’t deserve more than minimal compensation. That’s why it’s essential to always seek medical care right away after any accident.
Your medical records will also provide detailed information about your condition immediately after the accident. This can help your lawyer determine how much your case is worth.
Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer
The next step is to consult a personal injury lawyer. You should call a lawyer as soon as you’ve received medical treatment rather than waiting until after you speak to the insurance company. Most people don’t know how to talk to an insurance adjuster without unintentionally saying something that will damage their personal injury claim.
The insurance adjuster will sound friendly, caring, and sympathetic on the phone. Still, they are trained to ask questions the insurance company can use to deny your claim or minimize your settlement. It’s far safer to contact a personal injury lawyer first and let them handle all communications with the insurance company.
Filing a personal injury claim is also a complicated legal process. There are many steps involved, and a mistake at any point can delay your settlement – or even ruin your case. Plus, you have more than enough going on with recovering from your injuries. A Queens personal injury attorney can handle the claims process for you from start to finish so that you can focus on your health.
Investigate to Gather Evidence
Once you’ve hired a personal injury lawyer, they will investigate your case immediately. Some evidence, such as tire tracks on the road after an accident or the damaged escalator that caused you to fall in a department store, may disappear unless documented right away. This is one reason why it’s important to contact a lawyer as soon as possible.
There are several sources of evidence in any personal injury case, including:
- Your medical records
- The police report
- The injury report if you got hurt on someone else’s property
- Statements from eyewitnesses
- Photos or video of the accident scene
- Photos of your injuries
- Photos of the product that injured you
- Damage to motor vehicles
Your lawyer may consult experts to determine what happened in the accident and why. For example, it is often possible to reconstruct the events that led to a car accident and determine whose negligence caused the crash. In some cases, there is more than one person to blame for your injuries.
Identify the Liable Parties
In some personal injury cases, liability is straightforward. For example, if a speeding driver ran a red light and slammed into your car, that driver is responsible for your injuries. However, what if the driver was intoxicated because a bar overserved them? In that case, the bar may also be liable under New York’s dram shop law.
Truck accidents often involve more than one liable party, as well. For example, a trucking company’s policies may encourage drivers to violate federal hours-of-service regulations and drive without enough sleep. The driver and the company may be liable for the injured party’s losses if a collision results.
In some cases, the other party may argue that they weren’t at fault for the accident. You must build a solid case against them with evidence establishing that their actions caused your injuries. That’s when obtaining critical evidence, such as surveillance footage or cell phone records, is necessary. But this proof is often hard to get without the help of a lawyer.
Identifying all the liable parties in a personal injury case isn’t always easy. Your experienced attorney will know how to determine who is at fault and hold them accountable for their negligence.
Document Any Financial Losses and Other Damages
Settlements in a personal injury case are based on the losses the injured person suffered, including financial or intangible losses. Financial or economic losses can include:
- Medical bills, such as hospital stays, doctor visits, medications, and physical therapy
- Future treatment, including long-term care and rehabilitation
- Any medically necessary changes to your home
- Lost income and reduced earning capacity
Intangible, non-economic losses can include:
- Pain and suffering caused by your injuries
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Emotional distress you have suffered as a result of the accident
Your personal injury attorney will thoroughly document all your losses and calculate what fair compensation is in your case. However, it is impossible to know your full medical expenses until your condition has improved as much as possible. Your lawyer may wait to take any further steps until you have reached the point of maximum medical improvement (MMI). This is the point at which your condition has stabilized and is unlikely to improve with additional treatment.
Prepare a Settlement Demand Letter
Once your attorney knows the full extent of your losses, they will prepare a settlement demand letter for the insurance company. This letter will tell the insurer how much money they must offer to avoid a lawsuit. Because court is unpredictable, the insurance company may agree to settle at this stage to avoid the risk of going to trial. However, they will probably respond with a lower counteroffer, and your attorney will need to start settlement negotiations.
Negotiate a Settlement
The insurance company will support their lower counteroffer with whatever evidence they have obtained for their version of events. Your attorney will back up your settlement demand with the evidence they have gathered. The parties will make a series of offers and demands until they either agree on a settlement figure or decide they cannot agree and must take the case to trial. If the insurance company makes a fair settlement offer for your losses, the case will end at this point. Otherwise, it’s time for your lawyer to file a personal injury lawsuit.
File a Personal Injury Lawsuit
The New York statute of limitations generally gives you three years from the accident date to file a personal injury lawsuit. Your lawyer will file before the deadline unless the insurance company settles. If the case does go to trial, the insurance company can still settle at any point up until the final verdict. Your lawyer will represent you in court and aggressively advocate for you to demand fair compensation.
Our Queens Personal Injury Lawyers Are Ready to Help You
Were you injured in an accident in Queens, New York? Do you have questions about the personal injury case timeline and how the process works? Our personal injury lawyers are ready to answer your questions and help you pursue justice for your injuries.
The Tadchiev Law Firm, P.C. is a personal injury law firm based in Floral Park. We serve the borough of Queens by providing dedicated and skilled legal advocacy for accident victims seeking maximum compensation for serious injuries. No matter what type of personal injury case you have, we will approach it with a comprehensive and personalized strategy – all while treating you with the compassion and respect you deserve.
If you’ve been hurt in an accident someone else caused, we believe that you deserve to be made whole again. We charge no fees unless we win, so there’s nothing to lose. Contact the Tadchiev Law Firm, P.C. today to get started with a free consultation.