Spinal injuries come in many forms, but all of them change your life. Some, like whiplash, may merely leave you inconvenienced and uncomfortable. Others may result in paralysis. No matter what your condition looks like, you can often attribute your spinal cord injury to someone else’s negligence.
When it comes to caring for a spinal cord injury, you need to turn to the medical professionals in your area. More than that, though, you can challenge your accident’s circumstances with the help of our team. Our Long Island spinal cord injury attorneys can help you fight for financial support.
Financial Support After a Spinal Cord Injury
In spinal cord accidents involving negligence or reckless behavior, you may have the right to request financial assistance based on your losses. You can work with a spinal cord injury lawyer in Long Island to determine what this support might specifically look like. During your case consultations, you can include both economic and non-economic damages in your calculation.
Most injured parties facing long-term expenses due to a spinal cord injury can request financial support for their:
- Medical expenses
- Upcoming surgeries or health assessments
- Physical therapy or rehabilitation
- Lost wage or capacity to work
- Property damage related to the accident
You may also request compensation for emotional distress, loss of companionship, or new disabilities. Our team can always help you increase your personal injury settlement.
Spinal Cord Injury Settlements
Settlement offers can come before you have time to discuss your losses with an attorney. Larger corporations prefer to avoid court time if possible.
Settlement offers can cover the full extent of your losses, but that doesn’t mean that they’re always offered in good faith. Some companies make settlement offers because they know they’ll lose more if they go to court.
With that in mind, don’t accept a settlement offer without consulting our legal team first. We’ll help you build an estimate of your case’s compensation. You can bring this number to a settlement negotiation and fight for more comprehensive coverage, if necessary.
Your Three-Year Deadline to File a Spinal Cord Injury Claim in NY
There is a deadline by which the state of New York expects you to file your spinal cord injury complaint. According to New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Section 214, you have three years to act on your losses. If you don’t file a complaint within this timeline, you risk forfeiting the financial support you might otherwise secure.
Do note, though, that submitting a complaint doesn’t mean that you’ve committed to a trial. Complaints only begin the legal process for you.
If a court accepts the complaint that you submit, you can summon the party liable for your losses with legal backing. You can then negotiate for financial support. You’ll have the option to pursue a trial if negotiations fall through.
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Gathering Information for a Spinal Cord Injury Claim
If you want to fight for spinal cord injury compensation, you need to file a complaint with your local county clerk. Your complaint should detail the extent of your accident as well as the party you want to hold liable for your losses.
A comprehensive complaint also needs to include a compensation estimate. You can base this estimation off of previous New York cases as well as bills you have related to your accident.
Don’t think you have to take on all this work alone, though. Our personal injury attorneys take on the bulk of a complaint’s stress for you. We’ll gather the information you need to file your complaint. More so, we’ll manage communications between you and the liable party, allowing you to focus on your recovery.
Understanding Duty of Care and Accident Liability
Liability may not always be straightforward in a spinal accident case. That said, it always involves a duty of care and the alleged violation thereof.
A duty of care describes the responsibility that one party owes to another. Violating that duty of care opens a party up to suits. That said, to file a suit against a specific party, you and a personal injury attorney need to assert that:
- You were owed protection by a duty of care
- The party you’ve named violated that duty of care, either through negligence or deliberate action
- The aforementioned breach resulted in your injury
- You suffered and continue to suffer losses as a result of your injury
Professional witnesses can submit statements along with evidence of the above to help you assert these points. While you may have to build on those points at a later date, establishing these initial complaint staples can help you bring your case to court.
Other Spinal Cord Injury Cases
The nature of your case depends on the conditions that contributed to your injury. Slip and fall accidents and car accidents can be classified as personal injury cases. Comparatively, incidents involving faulty products or negligent healthcare professionals do not.
If you’re not sure how to classify your case, turn to the Long Island spinal cord injury lawyers at Morelli Law Firm. We can help you determine whether you have a medical malpractice, product liability, or personal injury case on your hands.
Note that your statute of limitations will change depending on what kind of case you have. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Section 214-A gives you 30 months to file a medical malpractice suit. Comparatively, you have three years to submit both a personal injury and product liability case.
Let Morelli Law Firm Address Your Spinal Cord Injury Losses
If you have questions about your rights after a spinal cord injury, don’t let time get the best of you. Get in touch with our team before your statute of limitations passes. Our spinal cord injury attorneys in Long Island will help you assess your accident-related losses and fight for financial support.
Morelli Law Firm offers free case consultations to anyone with questions about their legal standing. To request a free case evaluation, call or use our online form to contact us today.