New York Slip and Fall Attorney
A slip and fall accident can change any New Yorker’s life in an instant, virtually always for the worse. One moment, a person can be walking around, unaware of any danger. The next, they can find themselves flat on the ground and experiencing severe pain, through absolutely no fault of their own.
New York slip and fall victims deserve financial compensation for their preventable injuries. An experienced New York slip and fall attorney from Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, can help them get it. We represent New Yorkers who have suffered severe injuries in preventable incidents caused by someone else’s wrongful actions. Contact us today for a free evaluation of your case after you get hurt in a slip and fall.
Jacoby & Meyers, LLP’s Slip and Fall Case Results
At Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, we have represented numerous clients who suffered severe injuries in preventable slip and fall incidents. We have achieved favorable results for many of them. For example, we obtained a $2 million damages award for a recent client who sustained injuries sustained in a slip and fall at a train station. Another recent client received a $650,000 settlement in compensation for injuries suffered when she fell while walking outside a building. A security guard who slipped and fell in water left by the maintenance staff at another building received $600,000 in compensation for his injuries thanks to our efforts.
We cannot guarantee the results of any person’s New York slip and fall claim. We can, however, commit to bringing our considerable experience and skill to every representation we take on. Our mission is to give every client the best possible shot at receiving the maximum compensation available under the law.
New York Slip and Fall Accidents: Common Injuries
Slip and fall accidents can leave the victim with severe injuries. Older New Yorkers, in particular, risk suffering severe injuries in a fall that can cause lasting harm to their lives and wellbeing. Some common, catastrophic injuries New York slip and fall victims can suffer include:
Traumatic Brain Injury
New Yorkers who slip and fall often suffer a blow or jolt to their heads that causes damage to the brain within the skull.
This traumatic brain injury (TBI) often leaves the victim with physical, mental, and emotional impairments, including:
- Memory problems, including both short-term and long-term memory concerns;
- Changes in sensory perception, including tunnel vision;
- Difficulty with comprehension and decision-making;
- Trouble maintaining attention and focus;
- Emotional regulation challenges; and
- Physical symptoms including headaches, dizziness, light sensitivity, and fatigue.
People living with the aftereffects of a traumatic brain injury may take a substantial amount of time to recover. Even victims who suffer a so-called “mild” TBI (or concussion) can experience debilitating systems that last a year or more. Victims of severe traumatic brain injury can suffer permanent physical, emotional, and cognitive impairment.
Spinal Cord Injury
New Yorkers who damage their spinal cords in a slip and fall face a host of potentially devastating consequences. Some may suffer paralysis and lack of feeling below the site of the injury. Others may experience decreased mobility and sensation. Victims with complete spinal cord damage, when the spinal cord severs completely as a result of the fall, can end up needing a wheelchair for the remainder of their lives.
Even incomplete spinal cord damage can leave a victim in need of an assistive device like a cane, walker, or wheelchair, to get around. Spinal cord injuries can cost millions of dollars to treat, and often inflict severe secondary health complications.
Broken Hips
The risk of hip fracture rises with a New Yorker’s age. Even young people who take a nasty fall, however, can end up with a broken hip. These are debilitating injuries. Hip fractures severely limit a fall victim’s mobility and often cause extreme pain. Broken hips can also lead to a variety of secondary health complications.
According to the famed Mayo Clinic, half of the people who sustain a broken hip in a fall never regain enough mobility to live independently. On a related note, broken hips have been shown to increase the risk of mortality in senior patients; that is, even if they heal from the hip break, the trauma of the injury can lead to a cascade of other health complications that end the person’s life.
Broken Bones
New Yorkers who slip and fall often try to catch themselves by extending their arms. Unfortunately, this reflexive action often results in broken hands, wrists, and arms. Other fall-related breaks commonly include broken ankles, tailbones, collarbones, and ribs, to name just a few. Some bone breaks will heal, but others can require surgery and the insertion of pins or other hardware to mend bones together. Bone breaks can lead to chronic pain and disability, which often limits a victim’s ability to work, pursue hobbies, and otherwise enjoy life.
Seeking Compensation For a New York Slip and Fall Injury
New Yorkers who suffer harm in preventable slip and falls deserve financial compensation from anyone whose careless, reckless, or intentionally harmful actions led to their injuries. At Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, we work day-in, day-out to obtain compensation for New York slip and fall victims.
Types of Compensation We Generally Seek
New York slip and fall injury victims typically have the right to obtain three broad categories of damages from anyone whose wrongful decisions or actions led to their fall: medical and other expenses, lost current and future wages, and pain and suffering. Of course, every New York slip and fall case we handle at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP has its own unique aspects, so the amount and details of compensation can vary widely for client-to-client.
Let’s take a look at what each broad category often includes.
- Compensation for medical and other expenses. Any New York slip and fall injury can lead to substantial medical expenses, regardless of the victim’s health insurance coverage. In fact, many victims find that their medical expenses grow more than anticipated throughout their recovery. As a general matter, New Yorkers who slip and fall because of someone else’s dangerous decisions or actions can seek to recover all current and expected future medical expenses related to the injury, including emergency transport and treatment, hospitalization, surgeries and procedures, therapies, stays at long-term care facilities, medications, assistive devices, and the costs of home modifications and in-home services. Victims also have the right to obtain compensation for other, non-medical expenses that arise because of their injuries. For example, many New Yorkers need assistance with day-to-day chores and activities, such as transportation or childcare, while recovering from a slip and fall-related injury. Lawyers can typically seek compensation from parties with liability to help a victim pay for the cost of hiring someone to assist with those tasks.
- Compensation for lost current and future wages. Severe injuries from a slip and fall can leave New Yorkers out of work for months or more while they recover. Some slip and fall victims can never return to work at all, or can only return in a modified capacity. Traumatic brain injury, for example, can impact people in any line of work, preventing them from completing essential job tasks. Likewise, injuries that impair a New Yorker’s mobility can interfere with performing job functions that require any sort of physical activity. In a legal claim for damages, a New York slip and fall victim can usually seek to recover compensation for any wages and benefits they lost, and time-off they consumed, because of the injury. Victims of slip and fall injuries that cause permanent impairments that limit or destroy the ability to work in the future can also typically seek to recover compensation for the expected value of income the injury will prevent them from earning in the future. Lawyers often work with accountants and financial planning experts to determine the value of these lost future wages.
- Compensation for pain and suffering. A New York slip and fall injury causes suffering unique to each fall victim. Some victims’ lives see a much greater impact than others, but all must live through some physical and emotional pain, and disruption to their enjoyment of life. They deserve compensation for those harmful and upsetting effects of a slip and fall injury no less than they deserve compensation for their out-of-pocket expenses and lost wages. Attorneys with experience putting a dollar value on suffering of this nature help a client determine the appropriate amount of money to seek as compensation.
Within these three broad categories of compensation lies a significant amount of complexity. The experienced slip and fall lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP have the resources and know-how to calculate the maximum value of a client’s claim and ensure that the client has the greatest possible opportunity to obtain the compensation they need today, and in the future.
Who We Pursue for Payment of Damages
Someone else’s wrongful decisions or actions lead to most New York slip and fall injuries. That someone else will typically have a legal liability to the injured fall victim for money damages. In the typical case we handle at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, the liable party’s insurance coverage pays a portion of those damages.
Who has liability for a New York slip and fall injury? It all depends on the facts and circumstances of the fall in question. Generally speaking, however, the owner of the property where the fall occurred often bears at least some liability. That is because in New York, property owners have obligations to keep their premises safe for visitors.
What they must do to keep a property safe from fall dangers depends on the property, but often includes fixing warped or cracked flooring and tiles, clearing ice from building entrances, maintaining safe, well-lighted stairs, keeping elevators and escalators in good working order, and replacing burned-out or broken lightbulbs. Failing to perform these simple actions can result in the property owner owing financial compensation to a slip and fall victim.
The experienced slip and fall attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP know, however, that some New York slip and fall injuries result from the careless, reckless, or intentionally harmful actions of someone other than a property owner. That can include, as just a few examples, property tenants, manufacturers of cleaning products that make areas slippery, and contractors who fail to install flooring properly.
Our team knows to look closely at every New York slip and fall injury, to make sure we have identified every individual and entity who has a legal liability to our client. After all, the more parties with liability, the better our client’s chances of recovering maximum compensation.
What to Do After a New York Slip and Fall
New Yorkers who slip and fall can take some simple actions to help protect their legal rights and financial wellbeing.
Seek medical care immediately.
Always seek immediate and appropriate medical care after taking a fall, even if you do not think you sustained a serious injury. Let a doctor check you over for injuries that you may not notice, but which could get worse if you do not begin treating them right away, such as TBI or internal bleeding. Visiting the doctor ensures medical records show the connection between your fall and the injury, which can help a later legal claim.
Contact an experienced New York slip and fall attorney at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, immediately.
Many New Yorkers worry about the cost of a slip and fall lawyer. They need not. Experienced slip and fall attorneys like the team at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, offer free case evaluations and represent their clients on contingency, meaning they do not get paid unless their clients get paid.
The sooner you contact a slip and fall lawyer in New York after suffering an injury, the better your chances of recovering the maximum compensation you deserve.
Seasoned Slip and Fall Lawyers for New Yorkers
If you suffered injuries in a New York slip and fall, our experienced New York slip and fall attorney can help. Contact Jacoby & Meyers, LLP today online or at (877) 565-2993 for a free consultation.
Client Testimonials
“If it were not for the integral legal team of experts at Jacoby & Meyers I would not be where I am today with my recovery. I highly recommend hiring Jacoby & Meyers should you ever find yourself injured in an accident, and an individual or company needs to be held accountable for their negligence.” -C.J.
★★★★★
Check out some of our other reviews.
Jacoby & Meyers, LLP
39 Broadway Suite 1910,
New York, NY 10006
(212)-445-7000