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Personal Injury Attorney Hudson Valley
Personal Injury Accident Hudson Valley occurs when you suffer physical or mental injury or your property is damaged by someone’s reckless, negligent, or intentional behavior. Personal injury accidents have a broad range of accidents included in them like car accidents, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents but the pain and suffering, and in tragic cases, the loss of a loved one remains just as devastating, no matter the type of accident.
We at Fakhoury Law bring 25 years of experience in representing 1000+ cases, getting 10.0 avvo ratings for our client-focused personal injury services, and have established ourselves as a go-to expert for any personal injury case.
What to Do After a Personal Injury Accident Hudson Valley?
We can only imagine the pain when you are in a personal injury accident and how this can freeze your mind for some moments, you may not know what to do after a personal injury accident or able to think about your rights or personal injury claim but taking some smart steps can help you make your personal injury case stronger.
Call 911
Your first call should be to the emergency operator. Take medical help, and request an ambulance. Get all the tests done. You should rule out the possibility of internal injuries and get detailed medical reports to determine how severe your injuries are
Get the Police Report
Get a detailed accident report and ensure that all physical injuries you suffered and damage to your property are recorded. If your personal injury claim goes to trial, you can call the officer who made the accident report to testify and use the report as evidence.
Document the Accident Site and Future Events
Documenting ensures that you have a timeline of the event that took place. Try to click as many photos of the accident site as possible, time stamp them, note weather conditions, and maintain a diary of your doctor visits, symptoms, etc.
Talk to Eyewitnesses
Your statements alone won’t be enough to prove your claim. In such cases, the words of the eyewitnesses hold more persuasive power. So, ensure you take their statements and contact information.
Don’t Talk to Insurance Agents
Insurance agents will try to get you to settle for less than you deserve. Don’t sign any documents or give any statements to agents of the insurance company.
Don’t Talk to Insurance Agents
We strongly advise that you consult with a local expert personal injury lawyer. From the pain of deciding the settlement amount to finding the right compensation for you to negotiation and trial, things can escalate quickly in personal injury cases.
What Are the Most Common Personal Injury
Cases in HudsonValley?
Car Accidents
As per NHTSA, 18,720 people have died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the first half of 2024. If specifically talk about New York, 183 people, and over 2338 people are seriously injured in the first nine months of 2024. Car accidents often cause severe injuries, including back injuries and soft tissue damage, leading to long-term pain and complications.
Slip and Fall Accidents
In 2022, there were 450,540 injuries and 865 work-related deaths from slip, fall and trip accidents. As per the CDC, falls are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injuries. Most of these accidents happen in the workplace, and residential properties, sidewalks, staircases, and parking lots.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice personal injuries include instances where medical professionals fall short of their standard of care resulting in patients getting injured. This happens in ways like giving the wrong medication, misdiagnosis, anesthesia errors, infections, birth injuries, and retained surgical items.
Product Liability
Manufacturers or any parties involved in the supply chain should provide safe products and warn the consumer in case of any risk. Product liability cases are filed against manufacturers, distributors, designers, marketers, wholesalers, or even the retail store owners of a product because of the product being defective or dangerous due to manufacturing, design, or marketing.
Workplace Accidents
The last thing that employees have to worry about is their safety and welfare, as it is something that should be ensured by the employers. Workplace accidents are spanned from construction accidents to office environments involving exposure to noxious substances, falls, violence, strain injuries, nerve damage, etc.
Wrongful Death
This comes as the most horrific personal injury accident that ends up in loss of life. This includes car accidents, pedestrian and bicycle accidents, construction, and workplace accidents, product liability, etc. Unlike the above where the personal injury claim is for compensatory damages, wrongful death cases are more centered towards punitive damages.
Dog Bites
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 4.5 million people in the United States suffer dog bites each year. These bites can lead to severe physical injuries, including infections, rabies, puncture wounds, and nerve damage. Additionally, they can have lasting psychological effects, such as a fear of dogs or extreme paranoia.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents
2024 saw an 18% surge in pedestrian deaths, making it the deadliest year for pedestrians. With minimal protection compared to motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians remain the most vulnerable road users. Factors such as reckless driving, road debris, and potholes contribute to severe injuries, including fractures, spinal cord damage, head trauma, and deep abrasions.
Personal Injury Attorney Hudson Valley
Personal Injury Accident Hudson Valley occurs when you suffer physical or mental injury or your property is damaged by someone’s reckless, negligent, or intentional behavior. Personal injury accidents have a broad range of accidents included in them like car accidents, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents but the pain and suffering, and in tragic cases, the loss of a loved one remains just as devastating, no matter the type of accident.
We at Fakhoury Law bring 25 years of experience in representing 1000+ cases, getting 10.0 avvo ratings for our client-focused personal injury services, and have established ourselves as a go-to expert for any personal injury case.
What to Do After a Personal Injury Accident Hudson Valley?
We can only imagine the pain when you are in a personal injury accident and how this can freeze your mind for some moments, you may not know what to do after a personal injury accident or able to think about your rights or personal injury claim but taking some smart steps can help you make your personal injury case stronger.
Call 911
Your first call should be to the emergency operator. Take medical help, and request an ambulance. Get all the tests done. You should rule out the possibility of internal injuries and get detailed medical reports to determine how severe your injuries are
Get the Police Report
Get a detailed accident report and ensure that all physical injuries you suffered and damage to your property are recorded. If your personal injury claim goes to trial, you can call the officer who made the accident report to testify and use the report as evidence.
Document the Accident Site and Future Events
Documenting ensures that you have a timeline of the event that took place. Try to click as many photos of the accident site as possible, time stamp them, note weather conditions, and maintain a diary of your doctor visits, symptoms, etc.
Talk to Eyewitnesses
Your statements alone won’t be enough to prove your claim. In such cases, the words of the eyewitnesses hold more persuasive power. So, ensure you take their statements and contact information.
Don’t Talk to Insurance Agents
Insurance agents will try to get you to settle for less than you deserve. Don’t sign any documents or give any statements to agents of the insurance company.
Don’t Talk to Insurance Agents
We strongly advise that you consult with a local expert personal injury lawyer. From the pain of deciding the settlement amount to finding the right compensation for you to negotiation and trial, things can escalate quickly in personal injury cases.
What Are the Most Common Personal Injury
Cases in HudsonValley?
Car Accidents
As per NHTSA, 18,720 people have died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the first half of 2024. If specifically talk about New York, 183 people, and over 2338 people are seriously injured in the first nine months of 2024. Car accidents often cause severe injuries, including back injuries and soft tissue damage, leading to long-term pain and complications.
Slip and Fall Accidents
In 2022, there were 450,540 injuries and 865 work-related deaths from slip, fall and trip accidents. As per the CDC, falls are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injuries. Most of these accidents happen in the workplace, and residential properties, sidewalks, staircases, and parking lots.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice personal injuries include instances where medical professionals fall short of their standard of care resulting in patients getting injured. This happens in ways like giving the wrong medication, misdiagnosis, anesthesia errors, infections, birth injuries, and retained surgical items.
Product Liability
Manufacturers or any parties involved in the supply chain should provide safe products and warn the consumer in case of any risk. Product liability cases are filed against manufacturers, distributors, designers, marketers, wholesalers, or even the retail store owners of a product because of the product being defective or dangerous due to manufacturing, design, or marketing.
Workplace Accidents
The last thing that employees have to worry about is their safety and welfare, as it is something that should be ensured by the employers. Workplace accidents are spanned from construction accidents to office environments involving exposure to noxious substances, falls, violence, strain injuries, nerve damage, etc.
Wrongful Death
This comes as the most horrific personal injury accident that ends up in loss of life. This includes car accidents, pedestrian and bicycle accidents, construction, and workplace accidents, product liability, etc. Unlike the above where the personal injury claim is for compensatory damages, wrongful death cases are more centered towards punitive damages.
Dog Bites
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 4.5 million people in the United States suffer dog bites each year. These bites can lead to severe physical injuries, including infections, rabies, puncture wounds, and nerve damage. Additionally, they can have lasting psychological effects, such as a fear of dogs or extreme paranoia.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents
2024 saw an 18% surge in pedestrian deaths, making it the deadliest year for pedestrians. With minimal protection compared to motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians remain the most vulnerable road users. Factors such as reckless driving, road debris, and potholes contribute to severe injuries, including fractures, spinal cord damage, head trauma, and deep abrasions.
What Are the Factors That Affect the Value of Your
Personal Injury Claim?
2024 saw an 18% surge in pedestrian deaths, making it the deadliest year for pedestrians. With minimal protection compared to motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians remain the most vulnerable road users. Factors such as reckless driving, road debris, and potholes contribute to severe injuries, including fractures, spinal cord damage, head trauma, and deep abrasions.
Severity of Injuries and Long-Term Health Impact
The more the severe injuries are, the higher the compensation value. The higher the severity means that emotional distress, pain, and suffering have long-lasting impacts, that will affect your day-to- day life.
Medical Expenses and Future Treatment Costs
Following up on the above point, medical expenses can highly affect your claim, as they will include surgeries, medication, hospital stays, doctor visits, rehabilitation, and even ongoing care.
Employment Disruptions and Financial Losses
A personal injury claim not only compensates for what you have lost but also for the ongoing impact of the injury during your recovery. If you were employed at the time of the accident, your claim can cover lost income, bonuses, and missed opportunities. The extent of compensation depends on whether the injury leads to temporary or permanent disfigurement.
Property Damage
Incidents like car accidents, premises liability, and product liability can cause property damage, like a car being completely totaled, theft, damaged clothing items, or other personal belongings. In all the cases the cost of restoration, replacement, and change in the market value of the property can affect your personal injury claim.
Legal Representation
The value of your personal injury claim depends a lot on how well it is handled. Strong negotiation, solid evidence, and smart legal action can make a big difference. A skilled personal injury lawyer who has dealt with similar cases knows how to fight for you and get the best possible outcome.
Liability and Fault
This one is the deal breaker to establishing a personal injury claim, you can calculate all the rightful physical, and mental pain and suffering you have gone through and incurred, but how you establish the liability of the at-fault can largely affect your case.
How to Prove Liability in a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
We know you have been hurt and you have the truth, but in the end, it comes down to how you prove it. Proving liability is one of the deciding factors of why and how the other party is at fault and if you have the legal right to ask for the personal injury claim.
Proving liability in a personal injury lawsuit means showing that the other person’s negligence directly or indirectly caused the accident, making them fully or partially responsible for it.
To prove the same, you need to prove the negligence with the four following elements:
Duty of care
It refers to the legal duty that the person has to act reasonably and avoid causing any harm to others. This duty applies to everyone, however, it depends on the circumstances of what would be a duty of care in that particular circumstance. For example, a duty of care from a doctor is to give competent medical treatment.
Breach of duty of care
Once the duty of care is established, the next step is to show that the at-fault party has failed to comply with the duty. The concept of reasonable standard is used here which says what would have a person of reasonable prudence would have done in that situation.
Causation
The claimant has to show that the breach has led to the injuries that you are claiming. This requires proving the “cause in fact” and the “proximate cause” of the accident and the injuries. Cause in fact means the injuries sustained are because of the negligent act of the other party, while proximate cause means the injury was the foreseeable consequence of the accident.
Damages
The final step is to prove that the personal injury accident has resulted in actual damages including lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.
How Much Is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
What you have lost is beyond money, and we know the last thing you want to do is put a price tag on that. But the only way to heal and hold the at-fault party responsible is to get the compensation and for that, we must calculate how much your personal injury case is worth.
Every personal injury case comes with its unique situations and questions like:
And the list can go on. The calculation will be fixed on these factors, however, certain damages are typically included in your personal injury claim which are discussed below.
What Are the Damages That You Can Recover as
Your Personal Injury Claim?
The types of damages you can recover in a personal injury claim can be broken down into two categories:
Compensatory Damages
These damages are provided by the court to compensate you in a personal injury claim for the losses and injuries that you suffered. This is further divided into two types:
Economic Damages
They are the direct damages caused to you and include any monetary losses you faced due to the accident such as medical bills, physical therapy, lost wages, property damage, loss of future earning capacity, funeral expenses, cost of home assistance, etc.
Non-economic Damages
These are the special losses that are used to compensate you for non-monetary damages, something which can’t be added up, these purely depend on circumstances like pain and suffering, emotional trauma, loss of enjoyment and consortium, scarring or disfigurement, etc.
Punitive Damages
These are special damages that are awarded to punish the defendant, in cases of extreme negligence by the at-fault party and to ensure that other people learn from the incident and refrain from repeating similar behavior.
What are Two Common Methods to Calculate Pain and Suffering Damages in Hudson Valley?
In personal injury claims, usually, the insurance companies in Hudson Valley use two methods to calculate the damages.
Multiplier Method
The first is the multiplier method in which all your economic damages such as medical bills, property damage, lost wages, etc. are added up. Then, this amount is multiplied by a multiplier between 1 and 5, depending on the severity of your injuries. The more severe your injury, the higher the multiplier.
Per Diem Method
The per diem method assigns a daily amount for your pain and suffering. This amount is then multiplied by the number of days till your maximum recovery. So if the per day amount of your pain and suffering is $500 and it will take you 3 months to recover then the value of the damages that your pain and suffering caused is around $45,000.
Remember, your claim for pain and suffering will be determined on a case-by-case basis. No straightjacket formula is applied in every case.
In a personal injury claim, you cannot just use a calculator on a website and claim compensation.
As there is no limit on pain and suffering damages you can get in Hudson Valley, we suggest that you consult with an experienced personal injury attorney to help in calculating the damages for your pain and suffering so that you can get the maximum compensation.
Can You Still Recover Damages If You Were Partially at Fault in
Hudson Valley?
You can still recover damages even if you were partially at fault. However, the amount of damages you can recover is reduced as per your share of fault in the accident.
New York is a no-fault state and follows a pure comparative negligence rule, so as long as you are not completely at fault, you can recover damages. But before you can file a claim with the insurance company of the other party or file a personal injury claim, you have to first use the coverage of your insurance for the basic damages.
The pure comparative negligence rule reduces your amount of compensation in proportion to the percentage of fault that was yours, meaning that if you have more fault, you will get less compensation.
And the list can go on. The calculation will be fixed on these factors, however, certain damages are typically included in your personal injury claim which are discussed below.
Can You Still Recover Damages If You Were Partially at Fault in Hudson Valley?
With our personal injury legal services in Hudson Valley, we handle your case in 5 stages:
Conducting a case assessment
At Michael A. Fakhoury Law Firm, we offer a free consultation. During this time, we evaluate your case and advise you on the best course of action.
Evidence Collection and Investigation
We collect all the necessary evidence to support your personal injury claim. Further, we work with accident reconstruction experts who do forensic analysis to understand how the accident happened, the sequence of events that might have taken place and what factors have contributed to the accidents.
Assisting in Accessing Medical Care
We ensure that you get the best medical treatment and all tests are done to determine the severity of your injuries
Calculating Damages and Negotiating Settlements
Our team of professionals calculates the value of your financial, emotional, and physical injuries/damages and negotiates with the insurance companies to get you the maximum compensation.
Litigation Support
If the settlement talks fail and you are not offered an adequate settlement amount, then we prepare for a trial and file a claim in the civil court for damages.
Frequently Asked Questions
If the settlement talks fail and you are not offered an adequate settlement amount, then we prepare for a trial and file a claim in the civil court for damages.
What to Do If the At-Fault Party Has No Insurance?
Even if the at-fault party has no insurance, you can still get compensation for your injuries and damages. You have to first seek compensation from your insurance provider. If the damages are more than the personal injury protection coverage, then you can file a claim under uninsured motorist coverage or bring a personal injury claim against the at-fault party.
How Long After a Settlement Do I Get Paid?
In personal injury cases of Hudson Valley, you will receive your final settlement cheque within 4-6 weeks of signing the final settlement agreement, though in more complex cases it can take longer for you to get paid.
Can You Sue for Negligence Without Injury?
No, you cannot sue for negligence if you have not suffered an injury, however, injury is not limited to physical injuries and you are eligible to file a suit for negligence even if you have suffered any other damages such as emotional distress, pain, and suffering or economic damages.
Frequently Asked Questions
If the settlement talks fail and you are not offered an adequate settlement amount, then we prepare for a trial and file a claim in the civil court for damages.
What to Do If the At-Fault Party Has No Insurance?
Even if the at-fault party has no insurance, you can still get compensation for your injuries and damages. You have to first seek compensation from your insurance provider. If the damages are more than the personal injury protection coverage, then you can file a claim under uninsured motorist coverage or bring a personal injury claim against the at-fault party.
How Long After a Settlement Do I Get Paid?
In personal injury cases of Hudson Valley, you will receive your final settlement cheque within 4-6 weeks of signing the final settlement agreement, though in more complex cases it can take longer for you to get paid.
Can You Sue for Negligence Without Injury?
No, you cannot sue for negligence if you have not suffered an injury, however, injury is not limited to physical injuries and you are eligible to file a suit for negligence even if you have suffered any other damages such as emotional distress, pain, and suffering or economic damages.
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