In most personal injury cases in New York, you have three years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit under CPLR § 214. However, there are important exceptions to this rule. Medical malpractice claims must be filed within two and a half years from the date of malpractice or from the end of continuous treatment with the healthcare provider. If you’re filing a claim against a municipal entity like New York City or a city agency, you must file a notice of claim within 90 days of the incident—missing this short deadline can permanently bar your case. Product liability claims may have different timelines depending on when the defect was discovered. Given these varying deadlines, it’s crucial to consult with an attorney immediately after an accident to ensure you don’t lose your right to compensation.

New York operates under a no-fault insurance system, which means that after most car accidents, you must first seek compensation through your own insurance policy for economic losses up to $50,000, regardless of who caused the accident. However, if your injuries meet the “serious injury threshold” defined in Insurance Law § 5102(d), you can step outside the no-fault system and file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver for pain and suffering damages. A serious injury includes: permanent loss of use of a body organ or function, significant disfigurement, bone fractures, permanent limitation of use of a body system, a medically determined injury that prevents you from performing substantially all daily activities for at least 90 of the first 180 days after the accident, or death. Meeting this threshold requires strong medical documentation and expert testimony, making legal representation essential for maximizing your recovery.

Yes, you can still recover damages even if you were partially responsible for your accident. New York follows a “pure comparative negligence” rule under CPLR § 1411, which allows injured parties to recover damages proportionate to the other party’s share of fault. For example, if you were injured in a slip and fall accident and the jury determines that the property owner was 70% at fault and you were 30% at fault (perhaps for not watching where you were walking), and awards $100,000 in total damages, you would receive $70,000 (70% of the award). This differs from some states that bar recovery entirely if you’re more than 50% at fault. The key is that your attorney must effectively argue to minimize your percentage of fault while maximizing the defendant’s responsibility, as even small percentage differences can significantly impact your final recovery.

New York law allows personal injury victims to recover both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages include quantifiable financial losses such as past and future medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, rehabilitation costs, property damage, and other out-of-pocket expenses directly related to your injury. Non-economic damages compensate for intangible losses including pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent disability or disfigurement, and loss of consortium (for family members affected by your injury). Unlike many other states, New York does not impose caps on damages in most personal injury cases, allowing juries to award compensation that truly reflects the severity of your injuries. However, medical malpractice cases involving public hospitals may face statutory limitations. In cases of extreme negligence or intentional misconduct, punitive damages may also be available, though these are rare and designed to punish the defendant rather than compensate the victim.

New York Labor Law § 240, commonly known as the “Scaffold Law,” provides extraordinary protection for construction workers by imposing absolute liability on property owners and general contractors for gravity-related injuries. This means that if you’re injured in a fall from a height or struck by a falling object on a construction site, the property owner and general contractor can be held liable even if you were partially negligent, as long as you weren’t the sole proximate cause of your injury and the accident resulted from a violation of the statute. This law covers injuries related to the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning, or pointing of buildings or structures, and requires proper safety devices such as scaffolds, hoists, ladders, ropes, and other protective equipment. New York is one of the few states with such strong strict liability protections for construction workers, eliminating the need to prove negligence in many cases. This makes § 240 claims particularly valuable, often resulting in significant settlements or verdicts because defendants cannot use comparative negligence as a defense (though they may seek contribution from other parties). An experienced attorney can identify whether your construction accident falls under this powerful statute.