When you’re hurt in a slip and fall in New York City, you have rights. New York has strong laws that benefit victims of slip and fall accidents in New York City. While there are laws that protect slip and fall victims, it’s important to understand what your rights are and how to assert them. Here are your rights when you slip and fall in New York City:
An NYC personal injury lawyer will help you claim compensation
If the slip and fall accident occurs because of the negligence of a property owner or another party, you may have the right to compensation. A slip and fall accident is a type of tort. It’s a civil wrong that results because one person or company doesn’t exercise appropriate care in the circumstances. If you’re hurt in a slip and fall because of the actions of someone else, you have the right to seek compensation from the responsible party. Call The Team At Pulvers Thompson Today For A Free Case Evaluation.
Slip and fall cases are premises liability cases
Slip and fall cases in New York City are a special type of tort called a premises liability case. They’re a case that’s based on the property owner’s failure to keep the property in a safe condition. In most slip and fall cases, the property owner has a high duty to keep the property safe for guests who enter on the property.
If your slip and fall occurs when you’re a patron of a business, the highest duties apply to the business owner. A business owner must actively take steps to inspect their property in order to find dangers. If a property has dangerous conditions, a business owner must inspect the property within a reasonable period of time in order to find the danger. If they see a dangerous situation, they must warn you, or they must fix the dangerous condition before it can cause harm.
You have rights based on principles of negligence
When you’re hurt in a slip and fall, your slip and fall lawyer New York helps you build your claim based on negligence. Negligence means showing that the business didn’t take the proper steps based on what a reasonable business should do in a similar circumstance. A slip and fall claim is a comparison of the property owner’s behavior to the behavior of a fictitious, reasonable person. If a reasonable person would have done a better job inspecting the property or fixing a dangerous condition, the property owner may be liable for their actions. A property owner can also be liable based on reckless conduct or intentional misconduct.
The standard may depend on the reason you enter the property
Your rights after a slip and fall accident may vary depending on your purpose for entering the property. If you enter the property in order to do business on the property, the property owner has the highest standard. Even if you enter the property for a social purpose or a mutually beneficial purpose, the property owner still has some standards in order to protect you from known dangers. The property owner may even have some liability to a trespasser for a slip and fall accident. An experienced Manhattan injury lawyer can help you determine what standards apply to your claim.
You must assert your rights through the court
When you’re hurt in a slip and fall accident, you must assert your rights in order to receive compensation. Simply informing the property owner of your injuries is not enough. You must start the claims process in order to receive compensation. A personal injury lawyer NYC can help you take the first steps. Although you can notify the property owner and their representatives of your claim for compensation, unless you begin a formal legal process, your request may be ignored. Instead, you can work with a slip and fall lawyer New York to begin a formal claims process. While you have the right to fair compensation based on negligence after a slip and fall, you must assert your rights in order to receive the compensation that you deserve.
Types of compensation you may receive in a slip and fall
When you’re hurt in a slip and fall, you have the right to receive compensation for all of the types of injuries and damages that you suffer. Your medical bills are an important piece of the puzzle, but when you’re hurt in a slip and fall accident, your medical bills are just the beginning. There are many types of compensation that you may receive when you’re hurt in a slip and fall. You have the right to compensation for all of the physical, mental, emotional and financial damages that you suffer in the accident. You may have the right to the following types of compensation:
- Emergency room expenses
- Cost of the ambulance ride
- Urgent care
- Follow-up physician visits
- Mobility aids like a walker or wheelchair
- Changes to your home in order to help you live with injuries
- Physical therapy expenses
- Occupational expenses
- Diagnostic testing like blood tests, x-rays and scans
- Lost pay from a short-term inability to work
- Lost income capacity for long-term career changes
- Expenses for hiring help for household tasks
- Expenses for hiring help to care for dependent family members
- Cost to travel to medical appointments
- Compensation for mental injuries like post-traumatic stress, guilt and depression
- Payment for the fact that you can no longer participate in activities that you used to enjoy
- Fair compensation for the physical pain that you endure because of your injuries
- Payment for emotional anguish
The right to compensation that you have when you’re hurt in a slip and fall in New York City may be much greater than you expect. The purpose of the law is to help you place a value on your claim. Your losses are tangible like financial losses from medical bills and lost work. Your losses are also intangible like mental injuries and the emotional anguish of having to live with injuries. The purpose of New York slip and fall laws is to fairly value all of your damages in all categories. You may include all of the types of losses that you sustain in your claim.
You may receive compensation even if you’re partially to blame
When you’re hurt in a slip and fall in New York City, you have the right to compensation even if you may have done something to contribute to the accident. New York law follows the principle of pure comparative negligence. The standard of pure comparative negligence means that your compensation may be reduced some if you contribute to the accident, but you still have the right to claim compensation if you’re hurt in a slip and fall.
For example, you walk into a sandwich store. There’s a water spill on the floor. The spill has been there for three hours with customers walking past. A store employee is supposed to perform a check each hour to make sure the area is clean, but they failed to do their routine checks on this day. You’re texting on your phone as you walk into the store. You don’t notice the water spill, and you slip.
You break your wrist and suffer a concussion. In this example, you may still recover for a portion of your damages. The jury decides how much fault you have for the accident. They reduce your compensation by the amount that you’re to blame.
The jury might conclude that the store is 80 percent responsible for the slip and fall and you’re 20 percent responsible for the accident. If your damages are $10,000, the store must pay you only $8,000. Your damages are reduced by 20 percent because you’re 20 percent to blame.
It’s up to the jury to decide if you share fault for the accident. If you are to blame in some way for the events of the slip and fall, you may still be able to recover a significant amount for your losses. A Manhattan injury lawyer can help you examine your case in order to determine how comparative negligence may impact your claim.
Time limits to bring your claim
While you have the right to bring a claim for compensation after a slip and fall in New York City, your rights have time limits. You must assert your claim by the deadline in order to receive compensation. The time limit for most slip and fall cases in New York City is three years. That means you have three years from the date of your injury to file your claim. The limit is called the statute of limitations.
If you don’t formally file your claim within three years, the other side can ask the court to dismiss the case on the grounds that the statute of limitations has expired. If the other side makes promises to pay or their insurance company strings you along, it’s important to recognize that they may be waiting for the statute of limitations to expire. No matter what the other side says, it’s important to formally file your claim before the deadline in the appropriate court. If you beat the deadline by even one day, your claim proceeds normally. If you miss the deadline by even one day, the other side can ask the court to throw out the case. Paying careful attention to the statute of limitations in your slip and fall claim with the help of a slip and fall lawyer New York can make your case successful.
Your rights when you slip and fall on government property
If you’re hurt by a slip and fall on government property, your rights may be different than cases involving private property. Your time limit to file your claim may be as short as 90 days. You may also need to file your claim administratively with the appropriate government agency before you file a formal claim in court. Your personal injury lawyer NYC can help you work quickly to assert your rights if your slip and fall occurs on government property.
You have a right to a jury trial
When you’re hurt in a slip and fall case, you have a right to access the New York justice system in order to pursue your claim. You have the right to build your case using legal procedures. Discovery procedures may include depositions, inspection of the scene, written interrogatories and requests for admission to the other party. You may also bring preliminary court motions. You have the right to try your claim according to the rules of evidence. You have the right to an attorney to represent you in court and speak on your behalf.
Your rights after a slip and fall accident in New York City
Slip and fall victims have rights under New York law. You have the right to compensation for all of your types of losses. You have the right to harness New York’s legal system in order to build your claim and demand justice. However, you must assert your claim. You must file a legal claim by the deadline in order to assert your right to compensation. Call the Legal Team At Pulvers Thompson Today & Let Us Evaluate Your Case For Free!
