Question 1

How soon after I am injured do I have to file a lawsuit?

Accepted Answer

In New York the general rule for a personal injury case is three years from the date of the accident. Do not stop reading there, because the exceptions are the part that ends cases. If anyone you might sue is a city, a county, the State, the MTA, the New York City Housing Authority, a school district, a public hospital or any other public body, you have 90 days to serve a notice of claim, and one year and 90 days to start the lawsuit. Ninety days runs out fast. A medical malpractice case is generally two years and six months. A wrongful death case is generally two years from the date of death, and it has its own notice requirements when a public body is involved. A cruise ship ticket can cut you down to six months’ notice and one year to sue. A claim to the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation after a hit-and-run has a 90-day notice of its own. You cannot tell which of these applies to you by looking at your injury. It depends on who is responsible, and that is often not obvious — the pothole that hurt you may belong to the City, the bus may be the MTA’s, the stairwell may be NYCHA’s. That is the single best reason to have someone look at your case early rather than at the end of year three.

Question 2

What is the statute of limitations for a Staten Island car accident?

Accepted Answer

Three years from the date of the accident to bring a lawsuit against the other driver. Two shorter clocks usually matter more in practice. Your No-Fault application must be filed with the insurance carrier within 30 days of the accident, and treatment bills have their own 45-day deadline. Miss the 30 days and the carrier can deny your medical benefits even though your injury case is perfectly good. Second, if the other vehicle was a city bus, an MTA bus, a Sanitation truck, a police car or any other government vehicle, the three years is replaced by a 90-day notice of claim and a one-year-and-90-day deadline to sue. Also report the accident to the DMV on form MV-104 within 10 days if anyone was injured or property damage was over $1,000.

Question 3

How long do I have to file a lawsuit that involves negligence?

Accepted Answer

Three years is the general rule in New York for negligence causing personal injury — a motor vehicle accident, a slip and fall, a trip and fall, a dog bite. The same warning applies: if a public body may be responsible, the real deadline is a notice of claim within 90 days, not three years. A sidewalk case is the one people misjudge most often. Sidewalk liability in New York City depends on who owns the abutting property and how big the building is, so the same fall can be a case against a private owner with three years or a case against the City with 90 days.

Question 4

I was hurt by a city bus, in a city building, or on city property. Is it still three years?

Accepted Answer

No, and this is the most common way a good case is lost in New York City. Before you can sue a public corporation — the City of New York, the MTA and New York City Transit, NYCHA, a school district, a public hospital, a county, a village — you must serve a written notice of claim within 90 days after the claim arises, under Section 50-e of the General Municipal Law. The lawsuit itself must then be started within one year and 90 days, under Section 50-i, not three years. The public body also has the right to examine you under oath and to have you examined by its own doctor before suit. If the 90 days has already passed, do not assume it is over. A court can allow a late notice of claim in some circumstances, but it takes a motion, it is discretionary, and it gets harder the longer you wait. Call immediately.

Question 5

I was hurt on a cruise ship. What should I do?

Accepted Answer

Read your ticket, and do it quickly. To most passengers’ surprise, the ticket package that gets you aboard also signs away some important rights. Federal law lets a cruise line shorten your time limits to as little as six months to give written notice of your claim and one year to file suit (46 U.S.C. § 30508). The major lines use both. The notice requirement is the one people miss, because nothing about it feels like a deadline — it is not a lawsuit, just a letter, and if it does not go out the lawsuit may be worthless a year later. Cruise tickets also contain a forum clause requiring you to sue in one particular court no matter where you live, and the courts enforce these clauses. Most of our clients sail on the ships that leave from Cape Liberty in Bayonne or the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, which generally means Royal Caribbean or Norwegian. Both currently require suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami — not New York — and their notice periods are close but not identical: Royal Caribbean requires written notice within six months of the injury and suit within one year. Norwegian requires written notice within 185 days of the incident, delivered to the address or claims email named in the contract, and suit within one year. Those are the terms as the current ticket contracts read. Cruise lines revise them, other lines set their own, and a voyage that never calls at a United States port can be pushed into arbitration instead of court — so treat the figures above as a warning to move quickly, not as your deadline. Your own ticket governs. Report the injury to the ship’s medical staff before you disembark and get a copy of the incident report. Photograph whatever caused the fall, get names and contact details for witnesses before everyone scatters at the pier, and call a lawyer as soon as you are home. Keep the ticket and the booking confirmation — the terms are in there, and we will need to read them.

Question 6

How much do you charge for your legal services?

Accepted Answer

Our fee is contingent on the outcome of your case. If a recovery is obtained for you, our fee is a percentage of the amount collected — usually one-third. If there is no recovery, no attorney fee is paid. Medical, dental and podiatric malpractice cases are different, and by law rather than by choice. Section 474-a of the Judiciary Law sets a sliding scale for those cases: 30 percent of the first $250,000 recovered, 25 percent of the next $250,000, 20 percent of the next $500,000, 15 percent of the next $250,000, and 10 percent of anything over $1,250,000. Separately from the fee, the law makes a client ultimately responsible for the costs of the case. In most cases our office advances those costs, so you pay nothing up front, and they are repaid out of the recovery at the end. All of this is set out in a written retainer agreement that you read and sign before we start.

Question 7

What is a contingency fee?

Accepted Answer

A legal fee is generally either hourly or contingent. A contingency fee is one that is “contingent” on your obtaining a recovery: the lawyer is paid a percentage of the settlement or judgment, and is paid nothing if there is none. It is the usual arrangement in accident and injury cases, for the obvious reason that most injured people cannot pay a lawyer by the hour while they are out of work.

Question 8

How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?

Accepted Answer

In an ordinary injury case, one-third of the recovery, paid at the end and only if there is a recovery. Medical malpractice follows the statutory sliding scale described above. Case costs are separate from the fee — medical records, expert witnesses, filing fees, deposition transcripts. Our office advances them and is repaid out of the recovery. Not every firm does this, and the difference matters to you, so ask about it directly before you sign anything: does the firm advance costs, and what happens to the costs if there is no recovery? Read the retainer agreement. Any lawyer who will not explain their fee and costs in plain language before you sign is telling you something.

Question 9

I do not have enough money to pay a personal injury lawyer but I was injured by someone else’s negligence. What should I do?

Accepted Answer

Call one anyway. Injury cases are almost always handled on contingency, which means the question “can I afford a lawyer” usually has nothing to do with whether you can bring the case. Nothing comes out of your pocket to start, and the fee comes out of the recovery at the end. The consultation is free.

Question 10

How much money will it cost me to start an injury lawsuit in New York?

Accepted Answer

In an ordinary injury case, nothing up front. The fee is one-third of what is recovered, subject to the statutory sliding scale in medical malpractice, and the costs of the case are advanced by our office and repaid from the recovery.

Question 11

Do I have a lawsuit? Do I really have a personal injury claim?

Accepted Answer

That is hard to answer without the facts, but the basic shape of it is this. First, you must have been injured, in your person or your property. Second, someone else must have been at fault. Generally, if you can show that the party responsible owed you a duty of care and breached it — by causing a car accident, by letting a dangerous condition sit on their property, by putting out a defective product — and that the breach caused your injury, you likely have a claim worth looking at. Two New York rules shape the answer more than people expect. In a motor vehicle case you generally cannot recover for pain and suffering unless your injury meets the statutory serious injury threshold. And New York is a pure comparative fault state: being partly at fault does not bar your case, it reduces your recovery by your percentage. People talk themselves out of good cases because they think being partly to blame ends it. It does not.

Question 12

Do I really need a lawyer to represent me in my accident case?

Accepted Answer

You do not. There is no law requiring it. What you should understand is who is on the other side: the insurance adjuster handling your claim does this for a living, every day, and is measured on what claims cost the company. Accident cases also have procedural traps that have nothing to do with how badly you were hurt — the 30-day No-Fault application, the 90-day notice of claim against a public body, the serious injury threshold, the MVAIC deadlines, a cruise ticket’s six-month notice. Missing one of them can end a case that was otherwise worth pursuing. At a minimum, talk to a lawyer before you sign anything or let a deadline pass. The consultation costs nothing.

Question 13

Can I handle my accident case and settlement without the help of a lawyer?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can. There is no law that says you cannot. Settlements are about information — knowing what your medical records actually establish, what the treatment gaps look like to an adjuster, what comparable injuries have resolved for, and when in the process to put that information in front of the carrier. Lawyers who handle accident cases deal with injuries and insurance companies every day, and that familiarity is most of what you are hiring. Before you negotiate your own settlement, make sure you know what information you have, what it is worth, and when to use it.

Question 14

The insurance adjuster wants me to sign off on my medical claims. Should I sign the papers and accept their offer?

Accepted Answer

No. Insurance companies know that people are dazed and disorganized in the days right after a crash, and an early release is cheap for them precisely because you do not yet know what is wrong with you. Do not sign anything until your vehicle is repaired, your injuries have resolved or stabilized, and you have spoken with a lawyer. Be careful with what looks like paperwork rather than a release — a broad medical authorization, or a recorded statement. Once you sign a general release the claim is over, even if you find out next month that the shoulder needs surgery.

Question 15

Should I accept the amount the insurance company is offering for my injuries from a car accident?

Accepted Answer

Not before you know what the offer is being measured against. An offer made before your treatment has stabilized is an offer made before anyone knows what your injury is — including you. Settling then usually means settling for the sprain and not the tear. Have the offer reviewed against your medical records, your out-of-pocket losses, your lost earnings, and whether your injury meets the serious injury threshold. A lawyer who handles accident cases can tell you what the offer is missing. Remember that a settlement is final: there is no going back to the carrier a year later because the injury turned out to be worse than it looked.

Question 16

I have been trying to collect from the insurance company for years and feel like I am getting nowhere. What should I do?

Accepted Answer

Find out immediately where you stand on the statute of limitations. “Years now” is close enough to three that this is the first question, and if a public body is involved the deadline may already have passed — in which case there may still be a motion worth making, but not for long. After that: a carrier that is slow, has denied the claim, or is offering far less than you think it is worth is not obliged to change its mind for you. What changes the conversation is a lawsuit, or the credible prospect of one. Bring your file — the police report, your medical records and bills, your correspondence with the carrier, your claim number — to a consultation and get a straight answer about whether the case is worth pursuing and what is left of your time.

Question 17

How much is my Staten Island accident case worth?

Accepted Answer

There is no formula. Anyone who gives you a number at the first meeting is guessing, and usually guessing high. What we can do, once your medical treatment stabilizes and the injury becomes clear, is identify a realistic range. The largest part of most awards is for pain and suffering, which is genuinely difficult to quantify because only you experience it. In arriving at a range we look at the injury itself, the effect it has had on your life, whether it is permanent, what future treatment will be needed, the extent and duration of the treatment you have had, what you paid out of pocket, what you lost in earnings, and what juries and arbitrators have awarded in comparable cases. In a motor vehicle case we also look hard at whether the injury meets the serious injury threshold, because that question governs whether pain and suffering is recoverable at all.

Question 18

How much should I receive for a back injury from a car accident in New York?

Accepted Answer

It depends on which part of the back was injured and how severe it is — a lumbar strain and a herniation requiring fusion are not the same case. Those same facts drive whether the injury meets the serious injury threshold. Before accepting any offer for a back injury, have it reviewed against your records by a lawyer who handles accident cases. More on back and neck injuries from accidents.

Question 19

How much compensation should I receive for a neck injury from a car accident in New York?

Accepted Answer

Neck injury values vary with what part of the neck was injured and how severe the injury is, and it is decided case by case. Soft tissue injuries in particular are where carriers and injured people disagree most, because the same MRI can be read very differently by a treating physician and by the insurer’s examiner. Have any offer reviewed before you accept it. More on neck injuries from accidents.

Question 20

How much compensation should I receive for a head injury from a car accident in New York?

Accepted Answer

It varies with the severity of the injury and what part of the head was injured. Head injuries deserve particular care because the serious ones are not always the dramatic ones — a mild traumatic brain injury can be missed at the emergency room and show up weeks later as headaches, memory trouble, irritability or difficulty concentrating. If any of that sounds familiar, tell your doctor and get it documented. More on head injuries from accidents.

Question 21

How much should I receive for a knee injury from a car accident in New York?

Accepted Answer

It depends on what part of the knee was injured and how badly it was affected — a meniscus tear treated arthroscopically and a knee that needs replacement are very different cases. As with any offer, have it reviewed against your medical records before you accept.

Question 22

I am confused about the coverage on my auto policy. What are BI, UM and PIP (No-Fault)?

Accepted Answer

BI is bodily injury liability. It pays claims for injuries you negligently cause to someone else. New York requires every driver to carry at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, $50,000 and $100,000 where the accident causes death, and $10,000 for property damage. These are minimums, and they are low — they have not changed since 1995. A serious injury can exhaust a $25,000 policy before anyone has finished treating. UM is uninsured motorist coverage. If you are hurt by a driver with no liability insurance, you make the claim against your own carrier. SUM — supplementary underinsured motorist coverage — is the related product for a driver who has insurance but not enough. SUM is not automatic in New York; it is an endorsement you have to buy, and it is one of the few things on a policy genuinely worth paying more for. PIP is personal injury protection, known in New York as No-Fault. It pays your reasonable and necessary medical expenses and a portion of your lost earnings regardless of who caused the collision, and it is included by law in every New York auto policy. Basic No-Fault is $50,000 per person. Lost earnings are paid at 80 percent of your wages, capped at $2,000 a month for up to three years. Remember the deadline: the No-Fault application must reach the carrier within 30 days of the accident.

Question 23

The other driver had no insurance. Will using my own insurance raise my rates?

Accepted Answer

In New York, an insurer may not surcharge your premium for an accident in which you were not at fault. Fault is the trigger — under the Department of Financial Services regulation governing merit rating, a surcharge requires that the insured was at fault. Using your own No-Fault, uninsured motorist or collision coverage after someone else causes a crash is not a basis to raise your rates. New York law also restricts when a carrier may cancel or refuse to renew a policy. If your carrier does surcharge you after a not-at-fault accident, that is worth challenging, and you can complain to the Department of Financial Services. Note separately that a collision claim will still cost you your deductible, which your carrier can pursue from the at-fault driver.

Question 24

What happens if I was injured in a collision caused by an uninsured driver?

Accepted Answer

You likely have a claim for uninsured motorist (UM) benefits under your own policy, or under the policy of a relative you live with. If you have no access to any policy at all, a claim can be made to the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC), described below. Understand what a UM claim actually is. Your own carrier steps into the shoes of the driver who hit you and is entitled to raise every defense that driver could have raised — that you were partly at fault, that you failed to yield, that the injury is not as serious as you say. People assume their own company will treat them better. It is an adversarial claim, and it is usually resolved in arbitration rather than in court. Get advice before you assert one.

Question 25

My daughter was injured by a hit-and-run driver and the police never caught the driver. Can we sue anyone? How will we pay her medical bills?

Accepted Answer

Yes, there is a path. If you or a relative she lives with owns a car, she is entitled to No-Fault benefits through that policy, and she can make an uninsured motorist claim against that same carrier for her injuries. If there is no household policy, the claim goes to MVAIC, and she can recover both No-Fault benefits and compensation for her injuries. The deadlines here are short and they are unforgiving — see the next answer. Call as soon as you can.

Question 26

I was the victim of a hit-and-run and I have no insurance. Who will pay my medical bills?

Accepted Answer

The Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation — MVAIC — was created by the Legislature to protect people injured by financially irresponsible or unidentified drivers. It pays medical treatment and lost wages under the No-Fault rules and compensates you for your injuries, up to $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. MVAIC has its own deadlines, and they are the shortest in this whole area: Report the accident to the police within 24 hours, unless it was physically impossible to do so. File a Notice of Intention to Make Claim within 90 days of the accident where the vehicle was a hit-and-run or is otherwise unidentified. Within 180 days where the vehicle is identified but uninsured. File the No-Fault application within 30 days, as with any other carrier. Miss the 24-hour report or the Notice of Intention and you can lose benefits you were otherwise entitled to, no matter how badly you were hurt. If a hit-and-run driver injured you, treat this as urgent.

Question 27

My insurance company is offering less than I owe the bank on my new car. Am I responsible for the difference?

Accepted Answer

Yes, unless something covers it. The difference between the actual cash value your insurer pays and the amount still owed on the loan or lease is the “gap.” A new car can be worth thousands less than the balance within weeks of purchase. New York does not require that gap insurance or a gap waiver be offered to you. It is commonly included in new car leases and commonly not included in financing, but that varies by lender and by contract — do not assume either way. Check your lease or financing agreement, and if a dealer is making you liable for the gap, the dealer must disclose that to you in a separate document. The time to buy the coverage is when you sign. If you had no gap coverage and someone else caused the accident, the remedy is a property damage claim against the driver who is responsible — and if that does not resolve it, a lawsuit against that driver. You do not sue the other driver’s insurance company directly; in New York an injured person can only proceed against the insurer after obtaining a judgment against the driver that goes unsatisfied for 30 days.

Question 28

The other driver’s insurance company is not admitting fault. What can I do?

Accepted Answer

A carrier denying liability is not the last word on it. Have a lawyer review the police report, the photographs, any dashcam or surveillance footage, the vehicle damage, and the statements of any witnesses. In New York, fault is rarely all-or-nothing: under pure comparative fault your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame rather than eliminated, so a case where the other side blames you is still very often a case. If the claim cannot be resolved, the lawsuit is brought against the driver and owner of the other vehicle — not against their insurance company, which cannot be sued directly until there is an unsatisfied judgment. Their carrier will defend them and will pay any settlement or verdict within the policy limits.

Question 29

I was in an accident with a police car. Can I bring a claim?

Accepted Answer

You can, but the standard is higher and the deadline is much shorter. Section 1104 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law lets the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle engaged in an emergency operation disregard rules that bind everyone else — speed limits, red lights, stop signs, direction of travel. What it does not do is relieve that driver from “the consequences of his reckless disregard for the safety of others.” So ordinary negligence is not enough in these cases; the conduct has to rise to reckless disregard. More urgently: a police car means a municipal defendant, which means a notice of claim within 90 days and suit within one year and 90 days. Not three years. This is the case people most often bring to a lawyer too late.

Question 30

What is Leandra’s Law?

Accepted Answer

Leandra’s Law is New York’s Child Passenger Protection Act, enacted in 2009. It is named for Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old girl who was killed on October 11, 2009, when the car she was riding in on the Henry Hudson Parkway overturned. Six other children were injured. The driver, the mother of one of Leandra’s friends, pleaded guilty in 2010 and was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison. The law has two main provisions: Driving while intoxicated or drug-impaired with a child aged 15 or younger in the vehicle is an automatic class E felony, even for a first offense. Anyone convicted of misdemeanor or felony drunk driving must install and maintain an ignition interlock device, for at least 12 months, on any vehicle they own or operate. This requirement took effect August 15, 2010 and applies to all DWI convictions, not only those involving children. One point of confusion worth clearing up: Leandra’s Law did not set New York’s legal limit at a .08 blood alcohol content. That threshold has been in place since 2003. What Leandra’s Law did was attach a felony to driving over that limit with a child in the car, and require interlocks across the board.

Question 31

What should I do if I am in a car accident while I am pregnant?

Accepted Answer

Contact your health care provider immediately or go to the nearest hospital, no matter how far along you are and whether or not you have any visible injury. Do this even if you feel fine. Get it documented.

Question 32

What are the most common injuries caused by a car accident?

Accepted Answer

Injuries from a car accident range from minor to life threatening. The most commonly reported are whiplash, followed by back injuries, head and brain trauma, spinal cord injuries and knee injuries. More on common accident injuries. One thing worth knowing: some of these do not hurt on day one. Adrenaline masks a great deal, and soft tissue injuries in particular often announce themselves a day or two later. Get examined even if you feel fine at the scene, both for your health and because a gap between the accident and your first treatment is the first thing an insurance carrier will point to.

Question 33

What is the most common injury in motorcycle accidents?

Accepted Answer

Leg injuries are the most common. Brain injuries and spinal cord injuries are also frequent and are far more likely to be catastrophic.

Question 34

What is considered “trauma” in an accident?

Accepted Answer

Trauma, more commonly called injury, refers to damage to the body caused by physical force or impact. It ranges from mild to limb threatening or life threatening.

Question 35

What is a traumatic brain injury?

Accepted Answer

A traumatic brain injury is a form of acquired brain injury caused by sudden trauma — a violent blow to the head, or an object piercing the skull and entering brain tissue. It is classified as mild, moderate or severe. Most brain injuries from car accidents are mild, which is a clinical classification and not a description of how much they affect a person’s life. A mild TBI — a concussion — may involve no loss of consciousness at all and may not show on routine imaging, and it is regularly missed in the emergency room. It can still produce headaches, memory and concentration problems, sensitivity to light and noise, sleep disruption, irritability and depression for months. These are also precisely the symptoms an insurance carrier will dispute, which makes early documentation important. Time matters medically as well: how quickly someone with a serious head injury receives care can affect the outcome. Treatment varies with severity. More on head injuries from accidents.

Question 36

Am I experiencing PTSD, or is it a normal response to the accident?

Accepted Answer

It can be difficult to tell, and the difference is largely about how long it lasts. Feeling that your safety or trust has been broken, feeling disconnected, numb or angry, or being unable to stop thinking about what happened are normal reactions to an abnormal event. They usually last from a few days to a few weeks and then ease. What is not typical is those feelings continuing without improvement well beyond that. If that is where you are, speak to your doctor or a mental health professional — both because it is treatable and because psychological injury is a real element of a personal injury claim that goes unrecorded if nobody documents it.

Question 37

I fell and was told I broke my coccyx. What is the coccyx?

Accepted Answer

The coccyx, or tailbone, is the triangular bony structure at the bottom of the spinal column, made up of three to five small segments held together by joints and ligaments. An injury to it can mean a bruise, a dislocation or a fracture, and the resulting pain is called coccydynia. Coccyx injuries are often extremely painful and can be slow to heal. They occur more often in women, because the female pelvis is broader and the coccyx more exposed. Sitting is usually the worst of it, which is why these injuries interfere with work and daily life out of proportion to how minor they sound. How to treat it is a question for your doctor, not for us. What we would say is this: get it examined and keep going to your appointments. An injury that is real but undertreated is the hardest kind to prove.

Question 38

My doctor wants to “burn” a nerve to stop my neck pain. What does that mean?

Accepted Answer

The procedure is radiofrequency ablation, or RFA. The nerve believed to be carrying your pain signal is cauterized using heat generated by a radio wave. In general terms: you are given a local anesthetic, a needle is placed in the affected area using imaging for guidance, and an electrode is used to stimulate the area first to confirm the right nerve has been identified. A radiofrequency current then heats the tissue. The effect is not permanent — nerves regenerate, commonly within six to twelve months, and the procedure is often repeated. A useful secondary benefit is diagnostic: if a specific nerve can be identified as the source of the pain, future treatment can be aimed at it. Your doctor is the person to ask about whether it is right for you, what it will involve and what the risks are. From a claim standpoint, make sure the recommendation, the procedure and the result are all in your records.

Question 39

How can I prevent my child from being bitten by a dog?

Accepted Answer

Nothing guarantees it, but there are habits worth teaching. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends: Do not approach an unfamiliar dog. Do not run from a dog or scream. Remain motionless if a strange dog approaches. If knocked down, roll into a ball and stay still with your hands over your ears. Never let a child play with a dog unsupervised. Report stray dogs or dogs behaving unusually. Avoid direct eye contact with unfamiliar dogs. Do not disturb a dog that is sleeping, eating or caring for puppies. Let a dog sniff you before petting it. Tell a child to report any bite to an adult immediately, so it can be treated. If your child has been bitten, get medical attention first, then report the bite to the Department of Health, and keep photographs of the injury as it heals.

Question 40

What should I do if I think a dog may attack me?

Accepted Answer

Do not scream. Do not run. Avoid eye contact with the dog. Once the dog loses interest, back away slowly.

Question 41

What should I do if I am attacked by a dog?

Accepted Answer

Put something between you and the dog if you can — a jacket, a bag, anything to hand. If you are knocked to the ground, curl into a ball, cover your ears with your hands and stay as still as possible.

Question 42

My child was bitten by a dog and the doctors say she may need reconstructive surgery.

Accepted Answer

Reconstructive surgery repairs the area injured in the attack, whether that is a laceration to the face, forehead, eyelid or lip, or to a hand, foot or anywhere else. The surgeon works to reattach or rebuild the damaged tissue. Depending on the severity of the bite, visible scarring can remain even after surgery, and further options may be available later. For a child, scarring is frequently the most significant lasting part of a dog bite case, and it should be documented carefully over time with photographs. Keep every record, and do not settle a child’s case before the long-term appearance of the scar is known — a settlement for an injured child also requires court approval, so there is a process to it.

Question 43

What are Stage 1 bed sores?

Accepted Answer

A persistent area of red skin that may itch or hurt and feel warm and spongy or firm to the touch. Stage 1 sores are superficial and usually resolve shortly after the pressure is relieved and proper care is given.

Question 44

What are Stage 2 bed sores?

Accepted Answer

Some skin loss has occurred. The wound is an open sore resembling a blister or an abrasion, and the surrounding tissue may show red or purple discoloration.

Question 45

What are Stage 3 bed sores?

Accepted Answer

The damage has extended into the tissue below the skin, creating a deep, crater-like wound.

Question 46

What are Stage 4 bed sores?

Accepted Answer

The most serious and advanced stage. There is large-scale loss of skin along with damage to underlying muscle and bone, and to supporting structures such as tendons and joints. Without immediate treatment, serious infection follows. A Stage 4 pressure ulcer in a nursing home resident is rarely something that simply happened.

Question 47

What are the most common playground injuries?

Accepted Answer

Playground injuries are most common in children between the ages of 5 and 9, who are the most likely to end up in an emergency room. The injuries seen there are most often severe fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations and amputations. Deaths on playgrounds usually result from strangulation or from falls from equipment. Research on New York City playgrounds has found more injuries related to poor maintenance — broken and rusted equipment, and debris — in lower income neighborhoods than in wealthier ones. That distinction matters legally as well as practically: an injury caused by equipment that was broken and left broken is a different case from an ordinary fall. If the playground is a city park or a school playground, the 90-day notice of claim deadline applies. Photograph the equipment before it is repaired.

Question 48

A lawyer called me a few days after my accident. Is that allowed?

Accepted Answer

Generally, no. New York’s rules prohibit in-person or telephone solicitation of someone the lawyer does not already know, unless the person is a close friend, a relative, or a former or current client. The rules also prohibit any solicitation relating to a specific personal injury or wrongful death incident sent before the 30th day after the incident — unless a filing is required within 30 days, in which case nothing may be sent before the 15th day. These rules exist to protect people at the moment they are least able to make a considered decision. If a lawyer contacts you out of the blue after an accident, you do not have to engage with them, and you can report them to the grievance committee for the Appellate Division department covering the county where they practice.