Over the past few decades, Buffalo personal injury attorneys have seen great changes in the way modern medicine diagnoses and treats injuries. These changes have included radiologic imaging advances such as CT and MRI scans that allow doctors to more clearly see the underlying cause a patient’s symptoms. In addition to showing injuries, these scans may reveal so-called degenerative changes – which occur slowly over a period of time as the body changes.
Many people have degenerative changes to various parts of their bodies, and such changes may be particularly pronounced in the elderly. The problem for victims of personal injury accidents is that if degenerative changes are noted in the same area as the complained of injury, the defense will often attempt to pin all of the injured person’s symptoms on the degeneration that occurred as the person aged.
While the presence of a degenerative condition can complicate a personal injury lawsuit, an injured person is still entitled to recover damages if an accident exacerbated a pre-existing condition or caused additional injury to the same area. If you were pain free prior to the accident or experienced greatly increased symptoms afterwards, it is still possible to obtain compensation for your injury. It is just more difficult.
If you have suffered a personal injury, we can answer your questions at 716-542-5444. Please give us a call.
How long it takes to officially file a Buffalo personal injury lawsuit depends upon the specific facts of each case. Under some circumstances, your personal injury attorney even may be able to completely avoid ever having to file a lawsuit.
In most cases, prior to initiating a lawsuit, your attorney will primarily be dealing with a representative of a defendant’s insurance company, not with other attorneys. The attorneys for the insurance company typically do not become involved until a lawsuit has been officially commenced by the filing of a complaint with a court.
There are situations where it may be beneficial for the personal injury attorney to deal with the insurance company representative in an effort to reach a satisfactory settlement instead of rushing into a lawsuit. Under the right circumstances the insurer may wish to resolve the case without incurring additional expenses.
Even if your matter cannot be resolved by dealing directly with an insurer, there are circumstances where a delay in filing may be beneficial. For example, your personal injury attorney may wish to wait until you have received additional treatment so that he or she has a fuller understanding of your medical condition and prospects for recovery before initiating a lawsuit. It all depends on the specific facts of each case.
If you have suffered a personal injury, we can answer your questions at 716-542-5444.
When a Buffalo resident is injured in a fall caused by failure to maintain a parking lot, there are several legal issues that must be addressed. These issues include who is the correct party to hold responsible for the faulty maintenance.
Often, a personal injury attorney will, at least initially, proceed against both the owner of the parking lot and any contractor who was hired by the owner to maintain the parking lot. Generally, under New York State law, a landowner has a duty to maintain the property in a reasonably safe manner and may be held liable if he or she does not, even if a third party was hired to perform the maintenance.
The liability of a contractor, on the other hand, is usually determined based on the terms of the contract. Unless the contractor did something in the course of his duties that actually increased the risk of injury, he often may be found not directly liable to the plaintiff because his duty under the contract is to the landowner, not the injured person. As a result, he cannot be directly sued by the plaintiff. For a contractor’s duty to fully displace that of the landowner, the contract must give the contractor such broad authority to act that it essentially displaces the duty of the landowner.
If you have been injured as a result of falling in a poorly maintained parking lot, please feel free to call us at 716-542-5444.
Buffalo personal injury lawsuits involving more than one defendant are governed by very specific rules enacted by New York State. While an injured person will want to pursue all of the parties responsible for an injury, sometimes one of the defendants just cannot be located.
Because of concerns that an injured person would not receive full compensation because the remaining defendants would point to the missing defendant’s actions as a factor in setting damages, New York State law specifically states in the Civil Practice Law and Rules section 1601 that “the culpable conduct of any person not a party to the action shall not be considered in determining any equitable share herein if the claimant proves that with due diligence he or she was unable to obtain jurisdiction over such person in said action.”
As a result, if a plaintiff makes a good faith effort to locate a defendant but they cannot be found or brought to court, the total damages cannot be reduced based on that fact.
If you have suffered a personal injury and have any questions regarding this topic, please feel free to call us at 716-542-5444. We would be happy to help you.
Obviously, Buffalo personal injury attorneys need access to their client’s medical records. These records are needed to assist the personal injury attorney in evaluating his or her client’s claim, preparing documentation regarding the nature of the injuries that must be provided to the opposing party, and determining which medical providers may need to testify if the matter is brought to trial.
Because medical records and their content are protected by both federal and New York State law, your personal injury attorney is likely to ask you to sign an authorization for each of your medical providers waiving your privacy rights with respect to the medical records and authorizing their release to the attorney. While your personal injury attorney will need a complete understanding of your medical condition, such authorizations often will have limitations placed on them that will prevent your attorney from obtaining information after the completion of your lawsuit.
Some medical providers will require an attorney to pay a fee for obtaining your medical records. The amount than can charge, however, is regulated by the government based on the number of pages of records provided. Any amounts paid for medical records may be charged to the total amount of any damages you are ultimately paid depending upon the terms of your agreement with your personal injury attorney.
If you have suffered a personal injury and have any questions, please feel free to call us at 716-542-5444.
When a personal injury lawsuit is being pursued against a municipality such as the City of Buffalo, the injured party is required to serve a document entitled a Notice of Claim upon the municipality before the lawsuit may be initiated. A Notice of Claim informs the municipality of the general circumstances surrounding the injury and that compensation for damages is being requested. Under most circumstances, it must be filed within 90 days of the injury.
Under New York State General Municipal Law § 50-e, a Notice of Claim is required to include the following information: (1) the name and post-office address of each claimant, and of his or her attorney, if any; (2) the nature of the claim; (3) the time when, the place where and the manner in which the claim arose; and (4) the items of damage or injuries claimed to have been sustained so far as then practicable.
Once the Notice of Claim is served, the municipality has thirty days in which to either make payment on the claim or reject it. Only if the municipality has declined to pay or has not responded within the thirty days may the injured person commence a personal injury lawsuit.
While there are a number of factors that may impact the timing of payment in a Buffalo personal injury lawsuit, the general rules regarding how long a party has to pay are set forth in the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules.
Generally, following a settlement, the defendant has twenty-one days within which to provide payment to the injured party. If the defendant is a municipality or a subdivision thereof, this time is extended out to ninety days. If the defendant is New York State or a state officer or employee, this time is extended further out to ninety days from the date the comptroller receives the paperwork necessary to proceed with the payment.
If a defendant fails to pay a settlement in a prompt fashion, the injured party may seek a judgment from the court requiring payment of the settlement with additional payment of the costs associated with it and interest.
If you have suffered a personal injury and have any questions, we would be happy to help you. Please call us at 716-542-5444.
Buffalo personal injury lawsuits arising from automobile accidents are governed under New York State Law. Because New York State is a “no fault” automobile insurance state, this often means that different insurance companies will be handling different aspects of the injury and accident.
Under “no fault” law, an injured person’s own insurance company is required to pay at least the first $50,000 in medical bills and lost wages related to an automobile accident. This amount may be increased if the insured purchases additional coverage. The injured person’s collision coverage also may pay for damage to his or her automobile.
If the injuries are serious enough that a lawsuit may be filed, however, that lawsuit is in almost all cases defended by the insurer for the other automobile. This will in many cases be a different company than the injured person’s own insurer.
This situation can occasionally be frustrating or confusing to the injured person because the insurers have different interests and will act separately. They may, for example, reach different conclusions regarding whether a particular injury is related to the accident. This may result in one insurer willingly paying medical bills or damages while the other refuses to pay anything. While this may be difficult to accept, the opinion of one insurer is not binding upon the other.
When in injury occurs in a construction zone in Buffalo, there are several factors that must be considered when determining who may be liable. These include what the work zone involved, how it was set up, and the cause of the accident.
Obviously not every accident that occurs is a work zone is the result of any negligent design of the work zone. If, for example, a motor vehicle accident is caused by a negligent driver and would have happened regardless of the set up of the work zone, your personal injury attorney may advise you that the only viable claim you have is against the driver.
On the other hand, when an injury is caused, at least in part, by the set up of the construction zone, there are several parties that may be liable. These include the municipality owning the road, which is under a nondelegable duty to maintain it, and any private contractors or subcontractors hired to perform the work, who have a responsibility to do so in a manner safe to the public. What specific parties may be liable will generally hinge on the specific facts of the case.
If you have been injured in an accident and need help, please call us at 716-542-5444, and we will gladly assist you.
Most Buffalo personal injury lawsuits are officially initiated by the filing a Complaint against the responsible party. Often, the process of the parties exchanging information that begins after the filing of the Complaint leads to new information being revealed. This may include evidence that an additional party was negligent or that the manner in which a party caused the injury was substantially different than that alleged in the Complaint.
Under such circumstances, it may be necessary to amend the Complaint to reflect the newly obtained information. Fortunately, New York State law allows an injured person to supplement or amend the original Complaint. If such a change is necessary within twenty days of the service of the Complaint, the injured person may simply submit an amended Complaint.
If more than twenty days has passed, a Complaint may be amended through agreement of the parties or by leave of the Court. When Court leave is requested, the law generally provides that leave is to be “freely given upon such terms as may be just.” As a result, Court’s generally will permit amendment absent some showing of undue prejudice to another party in the personal injury lawsuit.
