Bronx Injury Lawyer Blog

In August of 2009 our law firm successfully represented a 16 year old girl who was a passenger involved in a 2 car collision. She had sustained severe back injuries and required back surgery.

In the course of representing thousands of Bronx accident victims over our many years of practice we advise as follows:

1. Get immediate medical attention.
2. AVOID strangers who may show up at the scene or the hospital claiming to be "investigators" or claim to work for some unidentified law firm. These are ambulance chasers and apart from engaging in illegal activity they will hurt your case. Their promises are false and they do not have your best interest in mind.
3. In all motor vehicle accidents insist that the police come to the scene and file an accident report.
4. Take pictures of the accident scene such as car damage and position in the street, broken sidewalks, defective steps, icy conditions, etc. as soon as possible. Use your cell phone or buy a disposable camera if necessary. One picture is worth a thousand words and you can never take too many pictures.
5. Write down the names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses who can support your case. Insurance companies will try to claim you were not even at the scene.

The best action to take is to call either Michael Huguenot or Frank Vozza directly at 718-654-3330.

If you are in a car accident, quick action is required to complete a full investigation and put the insurance carrier on notice of your claim. The insurance industry has lobbied in Albany, NY to make it more difficult than it used to be to get your lawful compensation for your injuries. As a Bronx resident you may be entitled to two types of benefits.

No Fault Benefits
Once involved in a car accident your medical bills and a scheduled amount of wage loss should be paid by the insurance company. These benefits will be paid to anyone injured as a result of the car accident. This is true regardless of fault. But there are strict time limits under New York law concerning motor vehicle accidents. If your No Fault application is not filed within 30 days the insurance company will be relieved of paying for any of your medical bills.

Compensation for Pain and Suffering:
Unlike the No Fault benefits described above. This type of compensation comes when you can prove that you were injured due to someone's fault. For example if you are stopped and hit in the rear then that car's insurance company would be liable to you for your pain and suffering. There are certain restrictions on the types of injuries that you must have suffered to be able to collect for this kind of injury.

When the insurance coverage is insufficient:
Most victims of a car accident don't realize that there are many various insurance coverages available to them such as uninsured or under-insured motorist claims. Under certain circumstances this could radically increase the amount of your settlement. We assume the burden of dealing with the insurance companies, handling the often confusing and overwhelming paperwork and protecting your interests.

At our Bronx injury law firm we are often contacted by prospective clients who tell us about an awful accident that they just had in a supermarket or store here in the Bronx. Often times its a spill of liquid soap or some thing else that just gets stepped on and tracked over a long period of time. Very shortly after we start our conversation we learn that they have made some statements that are very damaging to their case. For any accident victims we make the following suggestions as to what you should do if you get a call from somebody from an insurance company:

1. Don't talk to them. They are interested in only getting their insured out of trouble so as to not have to pay on the claim. If you don't have an attorney yet, tell them you don't wish to talk about your accident at this time.
2. Don't be mislead by their initial claim that they want to pay your medical bills or settle your claim but just need some information from you.
3. Insurance adjusters know how to ask trick questions that will hurt your case later on. Unless you are trained to identify these questions you could easily defeat your own case.
4. Don't trust the insurance company to help you, they are in business to collect premiums and minimize payment on claims. The more they collect and the less they pay, the more profits for the insurance company.

This advise applies primarily to premises liability cases, in car accident cases, you are required to cooperate with your own insurance company to a certain extent. Nevertheless it is still wise to consult an attorney to insure that you are not prejudicing your own rights.

Continue reading "Accident Statements to Insurance Companies" »

We represented Lisa, a 28 year old Bronx waitress who tripped and fell due to a broken curb at a shopping mall. The sidewalk connected to a parking lot and to reach the parking lot she would have to step off the defective curb.

During the trial of this matter we established that the defect, although not very large in size was particularly dangerous since is was painted over with yellow curb paint and therefore not easy to see. We argued that the configuration of the sidewalk and parking lot funneled people to the area where she fell and that she did not look down because she was paying attention to traffic and looking for her car. A store manager at the mall testified that he had walked by the area every day for several years and had not noticed the defective curb.

As a result of this fall she sustained a fractured femur (thigh bone) which required surgery wherein a rod was inserted into the bone.

The jury agreed that this was a dangerous condition that the owners of the mall should have been aware of and corrected. The awarded the sum of $450,000 for past pain and suffering and $700,000 for future pain and suffering.