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Not all accidents entitle injured victims to compensation. To recover compensation for your accident-related losses, your accident must have been the result of someone else’s negligence. Negligence occurs when a person fails to use the degree of care that would ordinarily be used by a reasonable person in the same or similar circumstances.

In addition, under a legal doctrine known as negligence per se, a person can be deemed negligent as a matter of law when they violate a safety regulation and cause the type of harm the regulation was intended to prevent. For example, if a person is violating the speed limit and causes an accident, the law may deem that person negligent.

Every personal injury case is different, and there is no way to advise you on the value of your case without evaluating your specific injuries and losses. Claims stemming from relatively minor injuries will be worth significantly less than cases involving catastrophic injuries. That being said, if someone else’s actions led you to incur any losses at all, you deserve to receive compensation.

The best way to know the potential worth of your claim is to consult with a Bronx personal injury attorney at the Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond.

However, the following are some common damages that we can add up to determine the value of a claim:

• Medical bills for emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, physical therapy, medication, and more
• The estimated costs of medical treatment that doctors recommend for the future
• Lost income if your injury or treatment prevented you from working
• Lost future earnings if you can’t return to your previous job
• Physical and mental pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Permanent disfigurement or disabilities

Less serious cases will focus mostly on financial losses like medical bills and lost wages. Severe and long-term injuries can lead to many intangible losses, as well. Furthermore, if the at-fault party’s conduct was particularly egregious, you might even be entitled to punitive damages, which can increase the value of your case substantially.

Yes.

After an accident, you may wonder if you really need to retain an attorney to represent you, especially if the insurance company has indicated that it wants to settle your case. The fact is that insurance companies are highly incentivized to pay out as little as possible, and often take advantage of accident victims who try to represent themselves.

Some of the ways they may try to settle your case for less than it is actually worth include:

• Making an unreasonably low initial offer
• Making an offer before you have had a chance to speak with an attorney
• Misrepresenting your legal rights (for example, telling you you cannot recover for pain and suffering through an insurance claim)
• Waiting until your medical and other bills are piling up before making an offer
• Requesting overboard medical record authorizations to find a pre-existing condition

Call us. We can protect you from those tactics.

SUM insurance is Supplemental Uninsured Motorist insurance. Your auto insurance carrier is required to offer it in amounts up to $400,000. You may purchase it to provide additional coverage for hit and run accidents or an accident where the other driver is uninsured or underinsured. You should know, however, that it will increase your insurance premiums.

The workers’ comp system guarantees that you will receive medical care and weekly cash benefits when you can prove you were injured at work. The cash benefits and medical care coverage come from your employer’s insurance carrier, under the supervision of the Workers’ Compensation Board.

Yes, you can if the facts and circumstances are right. Your employer will require you to go through worker’s compensation (if he carries it), and that will cover your medical expenses and lost wages. However, there may be third parties involved in the case whose conduct is also responsible for the damages. For example, if you sustained injuries due to industrial equipment, then the manufacturer or maintenance company responsible for the equipment may also be liable. Similarly, if you fell on a sidewalk or had an accident at a road construction site, those involved in the construction and maintenance of the roads and sidewalks may also be responsible. Because of the subtle and complex nature of the process of defining the potentially liable parties, a lawyer experienced in accidents can help you navigate this maze of liable parties.

Many people think that by calling a lawyer, it means that they are on the way into court. In reality, a very small percentage of personal injury claims make it to the trial stage. In fact, many claims do not even require filing a lawsuit in civil court. Instead, a personal injury attorney can often resolve the matter directly with the insurance company.

If an insurance company is willing to offer a settlement that covers your damages, you can accept the offer and move forward with your life. If you cannot resolve your case with the insurance company, your attorney might file a lawsuit, though this still does not mean you are heading to court. Instead, lawyers will negotiate through every stage of the litigation process.

Many defendants and their insurers want to avoid the uncertainty of trial. In a trial, the jury will decide who wins and what to award the injured plaintiff if they prevail. However, in settlement negotiations, the defendant and their insurer have greater control over what damages they agree to. For this reason, many cases settle out of court and with a favorable amount that covers your losses.

Whether you should accept an insurance settlement depends on whether the insurance company is making an offer that adequately compensates you for all of your losses, as well as other factors. Victims of accidental injuries are entitled to compensation for their economic and non-economic losses, including their medical expenses, lost income, property damage, physical and emotional pain and suffering, and lost quality of life.

You only get one chance to settle your case, so any settlement you accept should compensate you for your current losses and any losses you expect to experience in the future. That’s why you need to call us. We know how to handle personal injury claims and accurately value a case.

If you do not settle your case with the insurance company, your only recourse for recovering compensation will be going to trial. For this reason, another factor to consider when determining whether you should settle includes the relative strength of your case. In addition, keep in mind that what happens in court is a matter of public record, so if there’s anything about your injuries or medical history you would like to keep private, settling is probably your best option.

Following an injury, it is natural that you are first focused on your diagnosis and treatment. Recovering from an injury can be an arduous process, and you likely do not want to add anything else to your plate. However, the sooner you can consult a Bronx personal injury attorney, the better.

New York law puts a three-year time limit on most personal injury cases. This might seem long, but the insurance process can take a long time, as can preparing a lawsuit. Additionally, evidence and witness recollections can disappear or fade, which can make it more difficult to prove your claim the longer you wait. Instead, speak with a Bronx personal injury lawyer at the Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond today.

The process begins with negotiations between the at-fault driver’s insurance company’s claims adjusters and lawyers. They will speak with you or your attorney (the better option) about your accident claim. You or your attorney will have submitted an initial demand letter, and in response, the insurance company staff will contact you or your attorney. They will likely make an initial offer to settle your claim. Since insurance companies are in the business of making profits, the offer will likely be as low as the insurance company thinks you will accept. This will begin a negotiation process between you or your attorney and the insurance company, essentially a bargaining process seeking to reach a number acceptable to both sides. An attorney used to working with motor vehicle accidents will be extremely valuable in this process because the lawyer will be familiar with the process and even possibly with the insurance company and its lawyers.

Some law firms offer a wide variety of legal services spanning across all types of practice areas. Other attorneys decide to concentrate their practices in specific areas. Lawyers may, for example, work in criminal law. Others may do civil litigation (lawsuits) and can focus on either representing defendants or plaintiffs. In addition to which side they concentrate on, attorneys might focus on one area of civil litigation, such as personal injury law. Finally, some lawyers don’t engage in litigation at all but instead do wills and trusts, estate planning, transactional law, or regulatory law. Any time you look for a lawyer, you should make sure that the lawyer you hire is experienced and knowledgeable in the law that governs your particular case, such as personal injury.