February 3, 2023

Why You Need a Personal Injury Lawyer in New York

By Jonathan Damashek

Posted in

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A personal injury is a physical injury inflicted on a person’s body caused by the negligence of a third party. You could get hurt by another citizen, a business, or even the government. Nearly 30 million Americans —or 1 out of 10 — will seek emergency treatment for an injury this year. Some 120,000 will be fatally injured due to an accident.

When you or a loved one is hurt by someone’s negligence, your next steps can be confusing. Getting all the medical treatment needed to recover, as well as full compensation for all damages, can be overwhelming.

A lawyer can be your best chance and help you get back to your life after an accident. Learn more about the benefits of finding the right personal injury attorney in New York.

1. You Need to Focus on Your Health

If you’ve been injured in an accident, a legal professional can be your best advocate. It can be confusing to navigate the claims process and intimidating to file a lawsuit. A lawyer has extensive knowledge of the law, and experience handling similar cases.

Your lawyer will take care of all the legal issues while you focus on recovering your health. There are many elements that go into every personal injury case, and handling the legal process alone could expend a lot of your energy and time that you could be using towards healing. You deserve to focus on your health while your attorney handles the rest.

2. You’re Stressed About Paying for Treatment

The types of treatments you receive and the quality of the medical care you get are critical to your recovery and your future health. Having the funds available to get the most advanced treatment and rehabilitation is essential. A skilled New York personal injury lawyer will help you to negotiate the highest possible amount in compensation so you can afford the costs of recovery.

The valuation of your damages is a critical point in the final settlement, and should be undertaken by a legal professional who knows the law and has access to medical experts and other resources to provide information to support your claim.

You also deserve a lawyer who understands your financial stress and won’t add to it. A contingency fee is when an attorney has no costs unless you win compensation.

3. You Wonder if You Even Have a Case

Was it really negligence that caused your accident? Could you share some of the blame for your damages? You might not have the necessary knowledge to evaluate your circumstances. For a successful personal injury case, you have to prove three things:

  1. The liable party was truly negligent.
  2. That negligence caused your injury.
  3. That injury caused significant harm.

An attorney can investigate your claim, identify the liable party, and determine how the injury affected your life. You can be assured that if a negligent action caused your injury, you have a claim to compensation for your damages.

4. You Want the Maximum Possible Compensation

Insurance companies are heavily interested in keeping settlements low. If you work with an insurance company directly after an accident, you put yourself at risk for an unfair outcome. In some cases, the value of the settlement can be three times or more than what insurance companies offer you. The amount they pay may not cover all your costs, and once you agree to their offer, you can’t go back.

Do you know the actual value of your claim and how this number is calculated? An experienced New York car accident attorney will carefully evaluate every loss of yours. They will use that number to aggressively fight for you to get full compensation.

What to Look for In a NY Personal Injury Lawyer

Once you decide to hire a New York personal injury attorney, make sure to examine your options and assess who is best for your case.

Bar Admission and Background

If someone is advertising as a lawyer, you can assume they have been admitted to the bar to practice. This information should be readily available on their website. But if you want to be 100% confident, you can look up an attorney’s admission to the bar and professional record with the New York State Unified Court System’s Attorney Search. Bar admission also matters if you have a case in federal court. A lawyer admitted in the state might not be admitted to practice at the federal level.

Reputation

Awards and accolades aren’t everything. But recognition listed on an attorney’s website, like a U.S. News’ Best Law Firm or Super Lawyers, can demonstrate they have a good reputation in the community. You also can review reviews on Google, Yelp, or various legal publications. Don’t hesitate to read some of our reviews.

Experience

One of the most basic factors in hiring a lawyer is looking for years of experience. Newer lawyers can work hard on your case, and often have more experienced partners to go to for advice. But it’s comforting to know your attorney has decades of experience handling personal injury claims. If you’re worried your case will be challenging, it’s particularly important to work with someone with a lot of experience behind them and their team. With experience comes a greater likelihood that the lawyer’s dealt with similar issues.

Practice Areas

Lawyers can have decades of experience, but is it in the area of law most relevant to your case? For example, if you were injured in a truck accident case, you should hire an attorney with experience in commercial vehicle cases. A personal injury lawyer who handles car accidents exclusively won’t be as experienced in the issues that typically arise in trucking accident cases.

Trial Experience

Not all lawyers take cases to trial regularly. When looking for the right personal injury lawyer for your case, it can help to search for someone with extensive litigation experience. Most cases settle out of court, but you should be prepared to go to trial from the beginning. You should prepare for a long, hard fight while hoping for a swift resolution.

Results

Years of experience don’t inherently make a successful attorney, which is why you should review a law firms’ results. You want to work with a law firm that routinely wins good outcomes for their clients. Better yet, you want a firm that gets great results in cases similar to yours. If you don’t find results for cases like yours on their website, don’t hesitate to ask for examples of other results during your consultation. At Hecht, Kleeger & Damashek, P.C., we are proud of our track record of success. We’ve recovered over $500 million for our clients.

Character

All the experience and results in the world won’t make a lawyer right for you if you don’t trust them. It’s important to have a one-on-one consultation to see if they make a good first impression. Do you get along and feel like this person has the knowledge, skills, and attitude you need to deal with this challenging situation? Do you feel like this attorney will fight hard for you and your family?

Call Hecht, Kleeger & Damashek, P.C. to Schedule a Free Consultation

Our legal team at HKD is made up of highly knowledgeable and experienced personal injury attorneys. There’s a reason U.S. News & World Report named us one of the best law firms in New York City. We believe in immediate and aggressive representation for our clients, which drives strong results.

We know it can be intimidating to hire an attorney, which is why we make it as easy as possible.

Call (212) 480-5700 or send us your information through our online form. All initial consultations are free, and there’s no obligation to hire us.