A Long Beach personal injury lawyer from Friedman & Simon, L.L.P. will fight for your rights after you are in a car accident. Our team is here for you during this difficult time to fight to get you appropriate compensation. Our goal is to secure a financial recovery for your property damage costs, lost wages, healthcare expenses, and pain and suffering.
We will handle your case on a contingency fee basis. This means that you could secure our help at no financial burden to you or your family as we only get paid if and when we actually win monetary compensation for you
- How We Help Victims After a Long Beach Car Accident
- Potential Forms of Compensation
- What You Should Know About Fault and Liability
- We Must Prove the Cause of Your Accident to Determine Fault and Liability
- What You Should Know About Insurance Coverage in New York
- What You Need to Know About New York’s Serious Injury Threshold
- There Is a Statute of Limitations that Limits How Long You Have to File a Lawsuit
- Read About Our History of Car Accident Settlement and Verdicts
- Get in Touch With Our Law Firm Today
How We Help Victims After a Long Beach Car Accident
If you were injured in a car accident, you could be compensated for the damage you received. Our team is here to help you every step of the way. Our Long Beach car accident lawyer will fight for the compensation you deserve. Friedman & Simon, L.L.P. will help you by:
- Keeping you updated on your case
- Identifying liable parties
- Communicating with all parties for you
- Gather evidence
- Determining a value for your case
- Working tirelessly to win the best possible case result for you
For a free legal consultation with a Car Accident lawyer serving Long Beach, call 516-932-0400
Potential Forms of Compensation
Being in a car accident is costly in many different ways. If someone else was responsible for your car accident, you could be entitled to compensation for the damages and injuries you sustained. Possible compensation includes:
Medical Expenses
Depending on your injuries, the cost of medical expenses could be life-changing. You could get compensation to cover medical expenses such as the emergency room visit, any doctor’s appointments, follow-up treatments, and any other medical attention you need.
Property Damages
You could be compensated for the damage done to your vehicle and any other property that was damaged during your car accident.
Loss of Income
Car accidents often result in time missed from work. If you missed time from work due to your car accident, you could be compensated for the wages you lost as a result. This time also includes time you missed as a result of medical treatment.
Pain and Suffering
The stress of an accident could affect you physically and emotionally. Pain and suffering is any physical or emotional stress and pain you went through as a result of the car accident. You could be compensated for any physical or emotional pain you suffer as a result of the accident.
Decrease in Salary
If you suffered a long-term or permanent injury as a result of your accident, you might have to switch careers. This could cause a decrease in your income. You could be compensated for this difference in income.
Future Medical Expenses
You could be compensated in advance if there is any future medical treatment you need. This could include anything from future surgeries to physical therapy to any other follow-up treatment you require.
Diminished Quality of Life
An accident causes more issues than just physical damage and injuries. It could have an effect on many different aspects of your life. You could be compensated for diminished quality of life.
A Long Beach car accident lawyer from our team could provide more insight into the types of compensation you could recover. It is our privilege to provide you with a no-fee, no-obligation case review and consultation. We have represented many car accident victims and we understand that you are going through a difficult time. We will be patient, compassionate, and comprehensive as we answer all your questions and address all your concerns.
Long Beach Car Accident Lawyer Near Me 516-932-0400
What You Should Know About Fault and Liability
The liability claim against the at-fault driver (or other at-fault party, such as a municipality that designed and built the road in a dangerous way such that the road defect caused the accident,) is based on showing the accident was that at-fault driver’s fault. Even if you are partially liable for the accident, you could still be eligible for compensation. The following four elements determine fault:
- Duty of care: Every driver on the road has a duty to drive safely as to not put themselves and others around them in danger.
- Breach of duty of care: If a driver drove recklessly or irresponsibly, they breached their duty of care by putting themselves and those around them in danger.
- Causation: If the driver’s actions caused an accident, they could be held responsible for their actions.
- Damages: If the driver’s actions resulted in an accident and caused damages, they could be held responsible for the damages they caused.
Click to contact our Long Beach Personal Injury Lawyers today
We Must Prove the Cause of Your Accident to Determine Fault and Liability
Our team will work to prove the fault and liability of the other party after your accident. There are many different causes of accidents in Long Beach. We will help determine and prove who was at fault in your accident.
Some causes of accidents include:
- Distracted driving
- Speeding
- Drunk driving
- Aggressive driving
- Driver fatigue
- Weather and road conditions
- Vehicle failure
Our team at Friedman & Simon, L.L.P. will help determine the cause of the accident to prove fault and liability. If someone else caused your car accident, they should be held responsible.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form now
What You Should Know About Insurance Coverage in New York
In New York, vehicle owners are required to have three types of insurance: personal injury protection (PIP), liability, and uninsured motorist (UM) protection. Each of these will come into play in the aftermath of an accident.
PIP Insurance
PIP insurance kicks in immediately in almost all car accident cases in the State of New York, regardless of who is at fault for causing the accident. It will pay your medical bills, income loss, in-home support, and treatment-related travel expenses for you or anyone in your car who was injured in the accident.
Liability Insurance
Liability insurance covers the costs of injuries or property damage for the at-fault driver. It covers your car and any car you drive. This third-party insurance coverage kicks in if the state’s serious injury threshold is met.
UM Insurance
Uninsured motorist coverage covers your accident-related expenses if you are struck by a driver who does not have insurance at all. It also protects you from the financial aftermath of a hit-and-run driver.
When we represent you, our car accident lawyer will explain how and when each type of insurance compensates you.
What You Need to Know About New York’s Serious Injury Threshold
Because New York is a no-fault state, your own insurance will cover your basic financial expenses and losses regardless of whose negligence caused the accident. Fault only becomes an issue if damages exceed $50,000 or the injured party suffered ‘serious’ injuries.
According to Consolidated Laws of New York § 5102, serious injuries are defined as follows:
- Death
- Dismemberment
- Disfigurement
- Fracture
- Loss of pregnancy
- Loss or limitation of the use of an organ or member
- Loss or limitation of the use of a bodily function or system
- A medically determined temporary injury or impairment that prevents the person from performing their usual daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the accident.
When this threshold is met, we will help you file a third-party insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit that allows you to seek compensation from the at-fault party and their insurance company.
There Is a Statute of Limitations that Limits How Long You Have to File a Lawsuit
As stated in NY CPLR § 214, you have up to three years from the date of your accident to file a lawsuit. In order to make sure you are still within the statute of limitations, you should consider acting as quickly as possible.
There are certain instances when the statute of limitations might be shorter. The statute of limitations is shorter if you lost a loved one in the accident. According to NY EPT § 5-4.1, you have up to two years after the accident to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Certain factors can shorten the applicable statute of limitations further. For example, if the at-fault driver was a government employee in the course of his/her duties, there is a potential claim against the government agency and in most cases, the statute of limitations would be one year and ninety days from the date of the accident. In addition to the various statutes of limitations, there are other time deadlines that govern a car accident claim or lawsuit.
For example, an injured person has only thirty (30) days to file an application for No-Fault Benefits so that medical expenses and a portion of lost wages are paid. Staying with the example of the potential government claim above, in most cases, a Notice of Claim must be filed within ninety (90) days of the accident.
Beyond the time-concerns of statutes of limitations and other controlling time-deadline rules, practical consideration pertaining to gathering evidence also supports taking swift action after a car accident as the most prudent course of action. Evidence such as witness statements and dash-cam and surveillance video should be obtained as soon as possible, as they may become unavailable for a wide variety of reasons if there is a delay.
For all these reasons, the sooner you contact us, the greater our opportunity to build the strongest case possible for you.
Consider working with a lawyer from our firm today. You do not want to wait until the statute of limitations runs out, you are penalized for missing some other deadline or you are too late to obtain evidence that would have helped you.
Act now and call our team at Friedman & Simon, L.L.P. to fight for the compensation you deserve. We want to do everything in our power to help resolve your case.
Read About Our History of Car Accident Settlement and Verdicts
“Friedman & Simon, L.L.P. helped my wife and I when we were in a car accident…They kept us up to date on the status of our case and helped us get compensation for our medical bills and time lost from work. Thank you so much for your help!” — Donny
Satisfied clients leave reviews like the one above because our law firm never stops fighting for the compensation they deserve. Our many successful case results have included winning recoveries for car accident injury victims, such as:
- $4,100,000 for a passenger who suffered a severe spinal cord injury
- $1,000,000 for a driver who was struck in an intersection
- $850,000 for a 64-year-old who suffered a back injury in a rear-end collision
- $669,000 for a passenger who suffered femur and knee injuries
See additional client awards on our case results page. You can also read reviews and recommendations on our client testimonials page and learn more about why previous clients refer our law firm to others.
Get in Touch With Our Law Firm Today
Do not wait any longer. Our team at Friedman & Simon, L.L.P. wants to get to work on your case as soon as possible. Call now for your free consultation. We do not get paid for our services until you get paid compensation after your accident.
Call or text 516-932-0400 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form