Westchester residents in and around Mount Kisco deserve fair, committed representation in injury cases. Our attorneys help injury victims get the damages they need, regardless of what individuals or companies they have to sue.
We are ready to stand up to trucking companies, stores, local businesses, multinational companies, and more to get you the damages you deserve. Whether you were injured in a work accident, a car crash, or a case of medical negligence, our lawyers have your back.
For a free case review, call our personal injury attorneys from The Martello Law Firm at (914) 685-6950.
Injuries Our Lawyers Can Help With
Our personal injury lawyers represent victims in many different types of accidents. Whether your injuries were serious or mild, the fact that they were someone else’s fault typically allows you to seek compensation for any of these:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Bike accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Slip and falls
- Falls from heights
- Other property injuries
- Workplace injuries
- Medical malpractice
Depending on the specific accident and what happened to cause your injuries, our lawyers can help you get compensation for a wide range of injuries. Many of these are acute injuries that will heal over time, while others result in ongoing disabilities that may affect you for years to come:
- Cuts, scrapes, and bruises
- Broken bones
- Back and neck injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Internal injuries
- Amputation
Our attorneys also represent the families of victims in wrongful death lawsuits, fighting to get them economic damages for their loss.
Getting Paid for Personal Injuries in Mount Kisco
Damages for personal injury cases usually come from three main sources:
Your Insurance
In some cases, you might have insurance that pays for your injuries. The most common example of this is in car accidents, where your no-fault insurance should pay for some damages.
For car accidents, no-fault coverage only pays for medical bills and lost wages. Medical bills should be covered in full, but lost wages are paid only partially – and both are subject to a total policy limit. Usually, this is $50,000, but you might have additional first-party benefits, too.
Most first-party benefits, whether in car crashes or other cases, will not cover pain and suffering damages. This often means a lawsuit or third-party insurance claim against the at-fault parties is needed.
Defendant’s Insurance
Whether you sue directly or file an insurance claim, the defendant’s liability insurance may cover their case. Insurance is not always available, but there often is a relevant policy to cover car crashes, accidents at the defendant’s home, injuries at a business, or injuries caused by business practices.
These damages should apply in many car accident cases (though you need serious injuries to go after the defendant’s insurance), slip and falls, or injuries caused by a business’ dangerous conditions or dangerous/defective products. Doctors also have insurance to cover medical malpractice.
Lawsuit and Settlement Damages
Sometimes, insurance does not cover damages or refuses to pay your case. Our lawyers can often sue, taking the defendant directly to court. If they do not have insurance, this will be the primary way to get them to pay out of pocket for your damages.
When suing directly, the jury determines the total value of damages. We will tell them what we think the case is worth, and the defense will try to argue that down as much as possible. However, the jury gets the final say.
However, cases do not always have to go to trial for the defendant to pay you. We can reach out-of-court settlements where defendants agree to pay a certain amount. Insurance settlements are technically settlements as well, but they can happen before or after a lawsuit is filed.
Determining Fault in Injury Claims
The jury will determine who is at fault if your case goes to court. In an insurance claim, the insurance company decides whether to accept fault or not, but they are biased, and their decision should not be trusted.
When juries decide fault, they can assign a percentage of fault to each at-fault party. This is the same percentage of the total damages they will pay.
If the jury decides you are partially at fault as the victim, you lose out on a percentage of the damages. For example, if you were 50% at fault in a case worth $50,000, you would only receive $25,000, and you would be left to cover the rest out of pocket.
For a party to have any degree of fault, they must be found to have breached a legal duty they owed you. This can stem from a legal violation or failing to act reasonably. For example, it is reasonable for homeowners to clear their walkways of snow and ice; leaving a half inch of snow is not reasonable and can cause a slip and fall. Similarly, store owners need to reasonably warn of dangers like puddles by putting up “Wet Floor” signs or perhaps making an announcement.
Some mistakes or issues are not violations. For example, doctors will often claim that they did not violate any duty of care in your case, and what happened was a reasonable complication.
Sometimes, the jury questions whether someone did help cause the injury. Some accidents will have happened regardless of what someone else did, which might narrow blame from multiple parties to one.
For example, picture a driver who is rear-ended and pushed into traffic. The driver who rear-ended them caused the accident, but a driver who hit them from the side might have made it worse if they were speeding or failed to brake because of distractions. This might change how damages are assigned.
Call Our Personal Injury Attorneys in Mount Kisco
Call The Martello Law Firm for a free case review with our personal injury lawyers by dialing (914) 685-6950.
