If you or a loved one suffered an injury in Mineola, NY, you may be entitled to receive compensation if your injury can be traced back to another party’s negligence. Our experienced and dedicated legal team is ready to offer you resources and support, build the strongest and most compelling case for you, and hold the appropriate party or parties accountable for your injury.
Since 1991, Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., has served as advocates for injured people in New York. We believe that when a person suffers physical or emotional harm as the result of someone else’s negligence, that person deserves to receive compensation for their damages. A personal injury lawyer from our team will work tirelessly to help you by fighting for the compensation you need.
In This Article
- What Types of Damages Are Recoverable in a Personal Injury Claim or Lawsuit?
- What Are the Benefits of Working with a Personal Injury Lawyer?
- How Car Accident Cases Differ in New York
- We Will Investigate Your Accident and Gather Evidence
- We Will Communicate with All Parties on Your Behalf
- We Will Fight for You
- Does Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., Handle Wrongful Death Cases Due to Negligence?
- Do Personal Injury Cases Have to Be Filed Within a Certain Period of Time?
- Other Benefits to Pursuing Your Personal Injury Claim Early
- What You Can Expect at Your Free Consultation
- Our Team Also Works on a Contingency Fee Basis
- Our Personal Injury Lawyers Serve People in Other Areas in Nassau County
- Get a Free Case Evaluation When You Call Friedman & Simon, L.L.P.
What Types of Damages Are Recoverable in a Personal Injury Claim or Lawsuit?
Many people who file personal injury claims or lawsuits focus primarily on recovering their medical expenses, which may include costs for:
- Ambulance transport
- Hospitalization
- Physician appointments
- Surgical procedures
- Rehabilitation
- Home modifications
- Prescription medications
- Medical support devices, such as wheelchairs or crutches
However, you may be eligible to pursue compensation for other types of damages if your injuries affected other aspects of your life, including damages that are non-economic.
Common Economic Damages
Almost all of our clients experience other types of financial damages besides their medical expenses. With a personal injury claim or lawsuit, our team will help you account for each economic loss you suffered or might expect to suffer. These vary from case to case but could include:
- The current loss of income and benefits due to having to heal from your injuries
- Property damage expenses, such as repairing or replacing a damaged vehicle
- Domestic services, such as for home care or childcare, if your injuries prevent you from doing these tasks
- Mileage costs to travel to medical appointments
- Other related expenses with receipts
If your injury requires future or ongoing treatment, this might bring on long-term financial stress and setbacks. It might even prevent you from resuming your job. In this case, we will assess the potential financial damage you may experience in the future and estimate their value. We often call in experts such as economists, doctors, and industry leaders to reinforce the arguments we build in support of our clients. Future economic damages may include:
- Estimated costs of future and ongoing medical treatment
- Lost future income and benefits
- Diminished earning capacity
Common Non-Economic Damages
We will also pursue non-economic damages, which include physical and emotional damages. These types of damages require us to assign a monetary value to them based on how they’ve affected you personally, such as your lifestyle or your interpersonal relationships.
Estimating an accurate value for these intangible losses requires experience with similar cases and knowledge of the insurance industry and civil courts. This is typically quite difficult and frequently impossible for individuals to manage on their own without a lawyer. Be aware that you might be leaving a lot of money on the negotiating table if you agree to an offer from the insurance company without discussing it with an attorney. In some cases, communications with an adversarial insurance carrier prior to retaining an attorney can result in a personal injury victim significantly and irreparably damaging their case, to a degree that a subsequently hired attorney cannot undo. Bottom Line: We urge accident victims not to speak with an adverse insurance carrier until after they’ve consulted with an experienced, dedicated personal injury lawyer.
Non-economic losses may include the following types of damages:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional trauma
- Diminished enjoyment of life
- Permanent disability or physical disfigurement
Damages recoverable in a personal injury claim vary from case to case, depending on several variables, from details of the victim’s injury to the type of case and the laws applicable to that particular type of case. We will discuss this in more detail in a free initial consultation and as we manage your case.
For a free legal consultation with a Personal Injury lawyer serving Mineola, call 516-932-0400
What Are the Benefits of Working with a Personal Injury Lawyer?
If your accident has left you in pain, incapacitated, and unable to work for an indefinite period of time, we understand that this is an extremely challenging time for you. It is likely that you are stressed about your financial circumstances, especially if you are facing steep medical bills and income loss. Finally, the trauma of your accident may have inflicted you with physical and emotional pain, which will take an unknown amount of time to heal.
The burden of addressing these post-accident injury issues can be overwhelming. The legal service we provide our injury clients in Mineola extends far beyond filing legal documents. Our personal injury lawyers support and nurture our clients with top-to-bottom legal and client service so that they can focus their energy on restoring their health and their lives.
We Will Keep You Updated on Your Case
We know the outcome of your injury case could affect your life in many ways. You want to know how the case is progressing, whether there are major obstacles, and how to clear those obstacles. Our multilingual staff and legal team will keep you informed about every aspect of your case with timely communications.
We communicate with you, answering your questions and addressing your concerns. We also talk to the opposition’s lawyers and insurance company, shielding you from their frequent, “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” approach to undermining your efforts to recover compensation as they feign concern and compassion, as well as any other entity relevant to bringing you the justice you deserve.
Prefer to speak in a language other than English? Our staff will be able to assist you in the following languages:
- English
- Spanish
- Greek
- Kannada
- Tamil
- Bengali
- If you are more comfortable communicating in another language, we can accommodate you accordingly.
We Will Identify Liable Parties
One of our main objectives will be to identify the at-fault or liable party in your case, as this will be the party named in our demand for compensation. In some cases, there can be multiple liable parties for a victim’s injury. For example, if an employee caused you an injury while working, their employer may be held liable for your injuries. This is common, as just one of the numerous potential examples, in cases involving tractor-trailer trucks and other commercial drivers.
If we discover multiple liable parties in your case, you may be eligible to file personal injury claims or a lawsuit that seeks to hold each such party financially responsible. We will advise you accordingly and take appropriate action to support your best interests.
We Will Pursue a Settlement With the Insurance Company
In most personal injury cases, compensation comes from the at-fault party’s insurance company. The insurance company we recover damages from varies depending on the type of accident that led to your injuries.
Possible insurance companies we negotiate with on your behalf include:
- Homeowners’ insurance
- Retail business/store liability insurance (Typically involved for injuries in a store)
- Commercial liability insurance (Typically involved when a business employee causes an injury other than in an automobile accident)
- Auto insurance
- Excess (“Umbrella”) insurance carriers (Typically involved when the value of a claim exceeds the limits of the available auto or homeowner’s policy)
No matter which insurance company represents the at-fault party, we work hard to prove the cause of your accident and hold the at-fault party and their insurance provider financially responsible for your recoverable damages. We understand how this process works and navigate it on behalf of our clients. You can focus on healing and getting back to your previous activities while we take care of the rest.
Mineola Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me 516-932-0400
How Car Accident Cases Differ in New York
Personal injury cases based on car accidents are somewhat different from other types of accident injury cases under New York law. They may present a level of complexity that other types of cases do not because your mandatory PIP (personal injury insurance) will cover many of your basic expenses up to the policy maximum.
To seek compensation from a third-party insurer, your injuries have to meet the state’s serious injury threshold. This means we must show you suffered serious injuries to recover compensation from the at-fault driver. Consolidated Laws of New York § 5102 defines serious car accident injuries as:
- Death
- Dismemberment
- Disfigurement
- Loss of fetus
- Loss of an organ
- Loss of a bodily function
Injuries that do not allow you to function as usual after the accident may also meet the serious injury threshold. One of our personal injury lawyers will explain the other circumstances that meet the serious injury threshold and allow you to pursue damages from the at-fault driver.
Many crash victims qualify to pursue fault-based damages when they do not believe they will, due to a misunderstanding of the applicable law. For this reason, you should consider a free case assessment with our team as soon as your injuries allow. We will determine your options based on this discussion about your accident and injuries.
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We Will Investigate Your Accident and Gather Evidence
To identify all liable parties and build the strongest case possible, we gather all accident-related evidence, including:
- Police reports
- Photographs
- Surveillance videos
- Witness statements
- Expert witness testimonies
- Medical records
- Other data records, such as driving logs, cellphone records, or black box reports
As mentioned, depending upon the specific details of your case, your legal team will consult with experts in the fields of medicine, economics, vocational rehabilitation, and life care planning to collect testimonies for your case. We will pair their opinions with our research of your quantifiable losses to calculate certain recoverable damages we aim to seek from the liable party.
We will support your case with as much relevant evidence as possible, including any other source that tells the story of your accident.
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We Will Communicate with All Parties on Your Behalf
When you hire Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., we take care of communicating with every party involved in your case, including:
- Eyewitnesses
- Expert witnesses
- Insurance companies
- Doctors and other medical treatment providers
- The liable party’s lawyer(s)
- Court officials
In addition, you can count on our legal team to keep the lines of communication open with you. We will discuss any changes in your case, provide regular case updates, and be available to answer your questions and address concerns when they arise.
We Will Fight for You
We will endeavor to negotiate the terms of a potential settlement for you. When indicated, if the insurer refuses to settle, depending upon the unique circumstances of your case, we will file a personal injury lawsuit. If a lawsuit is commenced on your behalf, we will prepare your case thoroughly, so that a compelling argument can be presented to a judge and jury in court. Our goal, whether negotiating the best possible settlement or seeking an excellent verdict, is to win the maximum dollar amount of compensation for you.
We will represent you, presenting to the court every element of your case that showcases the damages you have suffered and the amount you deserve to receive as compensation. You can rest assured we are on your side, fighting for the largest payout available in your case.
Does Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., Handle Wrongful Death Cases Due to Negligence?
There are times when another party’s negligence causes a death. If you suffered the death of a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, we send our condolences for your loss. We consider it a special privilege to represent the surviving family members of wrongful death victims.
Our personal injury lawyers serving Mineola want you to know that you are entitled to pursue a wrongful death action against the at-fault party. We are dedicated to winning the compensation you need and the justice your departed loved one deserves.
With a wrongful death case, you may be entitled to receive compensation for the following types of damages:
- Costs to arrange your loved one’s funeral service
- Costs to cover your loved one’s final medical expenses
- Current and future income loss that you would have received to support your family had your loved one remained alive
- Emotional damages, such as loss of companionship or parental guidance
- Loss of consortium (These are the special damages, recognized by law, that a person suffers when their spouse is a wrongful death victim.)
Our legal team will represent you in this effort, and we will do so with compassion and vigor.
Do Personal Injury Cases Have to Be Filed Within a Certain Period of Time?
Yes. New York’s statute of limitations for personal injury cases, New York Civil Practice Laws & Rules § 214, gives you a limited time from the date of your accident to commence a lawsuit against the at-fault party. Different case circumstances may trigger different statutes of limitations. For example, cases where a government agency is the at-fault party often have shorter timelines. Other time limits apply to claims and litigation, too.
To avoid having your window of opportunity close, you should start the process of taking legal action as soon as possible. The earlier you hire a personal injury attorney from our team, the more time we will have to build your case.
Other Benefits to Pursuing Your Personal Injury Claim Early
Complying with the statute of limitations is critically important. An additional, tremendously important benefit of initiating your compensation effort early relates to evidence. Persuasive evidence is required to build your case. Of course, the more compelling evidence that is obtained, the better.
Starting to work as soon as possible after your personal injury accident may allow you to have greater access to fresh evidence, such as:
- Video surveillance footage: Certain businesses do not keep security footage after a set period of time, such as 30 days. If we begin preparing your case earlier, we may be able to preserve this footage before it gets erased.
- Witness statements: Witnesses will have clearer recollections of the events that led to your accident the sooner you contact them. Testimonies of even the most well-meaning witnesses may suffer if their memories fade over time. Another consideration is that delay in contacting eyewitnesses can result in being unable to locate them if they have moved out of the area.
Unfortunately, sometimes when too much time lapses between an accident that caused an injury and appropriate medical treatment for that injury, -very often because a well-intended but otherwise busy-with-life injury victim hopes and believes that the injury symptoms will, “just go away”- it can be difficult to prove the direct correlation between the accident and your injuries. You do not want to give the defense leeway to find weaknesses in your case argument, so we urge you to start building your case as soon as possible. A convenient yet powerful way to do this is to simply call us for a free no-obligation case review and consultation.
How We Will Identify the Liable Parties in Your Personal Injury Claim
Personal injury law requires that we establish liability in order to recover damages. Our legal team will meet the required criteria by proving the following arguments:
- Duty of care: The defendant (at-fault party) owed you a duty to take reasonable care to protect you from harm or injury.
- Breach of duty: The at-fault party violated this duty of care.
- Causation: The defendant’s breach of duty caused the accident that resulted in your injury.
- Damages: The accident caused you to suffer physical injury and has resulted in physical, emotional, and financial damages which you should be compensated for.
Our personal injury lawyers are committed to delivering results in your personal injury case. We will put our years of serving clients to help recover fair compensation for you. Every step of the way, you can count on our compassion, drive, and professionalism.
Our Personal Injury Team Handles Various Types of Cases in Mineola, NY
We champion the rights of people who have suffered injuries in Mineola. We proudly stand up for the rights of personal injury victims in a diverse spectrum of cases. We handle personal injury cases involving the following types of accidents:
- Car accidents
- Bus accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Dog bites
- Bicycle accidents
- Construction accidents
- Uber and Lyft accidents
- Nursing home abuse and neglect cases
- Truck accidents
- Birth injuries
- Medical malpractice
- Slips, trips, and falls
If your injury occurred in an accident not listed here, our team will still review your case. Our mission is to help people who have been injured unjustly get the compensation they need, so we will let you know how our legal team can help you after assessing your case.
What You Can Expect at Your Free Consultation
Your initial consultation is always free. Its purpose is to understand the basics of what caused your accident and injuries and to explain the parameters of personal injury law that could entitle you to recover damages.
We will patiently and compassionately listen to your version of the events that led to the accident and ask probing questions to draw out important details we use to determine the validity of your case. We will also ask about:
- The date your accident occurred to understand the statute of limitations
- Any reports that were made or other evidence you may have on hand
- Any information you exchanged with the at-fault party at the accident scene
There is absolutely no harm in speaking confidentially with one of our team representatives, and there is no obligation to work with our team. We offer free case evaluations to allow prospective clients to better understand their legal options, and should you decide to work with us, we will make winning the best possible outcome for you our mission.
Our Team Also Works on a Contingency Fee Basis
Our legal team at Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., works on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay us no attorney’s fees unless and until you receive compensation for your injury. This also means:
- You won’t be charged any upfront fees.
- All fees are paid out of your compensation award at the end of your case.
- We discuss our fees before working on your case so that you don’t have any surprises.
One of our team members will discuss our fee agreement system with you during your free initial consultation. Should you have any questions about how our legal services are paid, they will answer you.
Our Personal Injury Lawyers Serve People in Other Areas in Nassau County
Did you or a loved one suffer injuries in an accident elsewhere in Nassau County, New York? A personal injury lawyer serving Nassau County at Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., will fight to recover the compensation you need.
We Will Accommodate Your Needs
Depending on the nature of your injuries, you might be limited in your mobility, meaning you might not be able to leave your home to visit our law firm. We want to give you comfort, as our team is able to meet clients on Long Island or elsewhere in the greater New York metropolitan area.
Once you become a client at Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., we aim to provide accessible contact with our team. We can discuss your case with you by phone, email, or other communication means if necessary.
We Work Hard to Provide a 360-Degree Outstanding Client Experience
When they talk about their experience working with our responsive, supportive law firm and staff, clients we represented in the past say the following:
- Christina: By the end of my whole experience, I felt as if they all are old friends … Handled my case with compassion, care, and understanding. Eddie went above and beyond. From the bottom of my heart, I couldn’t be more happy with all of their advice and guidance. Thank you, F&S.
- Devin DuBois: This law firm should change its name to Law FAMILY … I’ve never met a lawyer who takes an hour or more of his personal time to talk to you … I am very happy with my settlement, and I feel an obligation to spread the word about this law firm.
Our legal team will ensure you receive the same compassionate care and concern each of these clients received. You can read more about working with our law firm on our client testimonials page.
Get a Free Case Evaluation When You Call Friedman & Simon, L.L.P.
Call our legal team for a free consultation. You will find that we offer effective, personalized, and compassionate legal services, and we have been doing so for over 30 years. Call us or complete our free case evaluation form today. Our team members can help you in English, Kannada, Greek, Bengali, Spanish,Tamil or make arrangements to accommodate you in whatever language you are most comfortable communicating in.
Call or text 516-932-0400 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form