Most people will be involved in a car accident at some point in their lives. In fact, car accidents make up the majority of personal injury accidents on Long Island. The roads from Nassau to Suffolk county are filled with traffic at all hours. Think of how many tourists come to Long Island, then add daily commuters, and you can see why accidents are so common. The best-case scenario you’re looking at is minimal damage, and the worst-case scenario is serious injuries or even death. As a Long Island car accident lawyer, we see these scenarios daily.
You can prepare for these car accidents, but you’ll never really know how to handle a car accident until it happens to you. If you’re involved in a car accident you should seek medical attention immediately. Then, you need to find someone to represent you. It can be difficult to file all the proper paperwork, talk to the insurance companies, and keep everything straight. When you consider that a large portion of car accidents involve tourists, this further complicates situations. With our help, you can rely on our staff to build a strong case to get the compensation that you need.
We handle every type of car accident in Long Island
Motorists forget those car accidents can involve issues with the road as well as other cars. Once you are involved in a car accident, you will also have different degrees of injuries. We represent clients that have suffered from mild to catastrophic injuries. Many of our clients have suffered from injuries that include burn injuries, traumatic brain injuries, loss of limb, and many more. We also represent the families of those who have lost loved ones in fatal car accidents. If a negligent driver has hit you head-on, rear-ended your vehicle, or caused another type of accident, we can help. Our team can build the strongest lawsuit possible and file it on your behalf. It’s time to hire someone to have in your corner while you are going through this process.
Don’t trust the insurance company – seek help from a Long Island Car Accident Lawyer
You might think that your insurance company has your best interest at heart, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, most insurance companies want to settle with you for the least amount possible. Just because your insurance company holds your policy, doesn’t mean that they want to give you enough compensation. When involved in a car accident with a negligent party, you are entitled to receive fair compensation for your injuries, emotional suffering, and other financial hardships. Some of the time, victims suffering from injuries will lose their jobs due to the time needed for recovery. Your insurance company might try to point the finger at you when you weren’t at fault, just so they can save some money.
You need to talk with an experienced Long Island car accident lawyer to guarantee your insurance company doesn’t try to take advantage of you. Gary Falkowitz has decades of experience in personal injury, that makes him an expert. He will personally review all the details of your case, as well as talking to witnesses. Gary is hands-on throughout the entire process, so he’ll know your case inside and out. It is this dedication to his clients that has led to him recovering large judgments for his clients.
Make your legal rights a priority
You only have a set amount of time that you can file a personal injury lawsuit, known as a Statute of Limitations. If you miss this deadline, you will have no right to recover any damages from your case. Even if you have proof and grounds for your claim, you will be denied. Is it worth the chance for you to file a lawsuit on your own behalf? Are you willing to take this risk on your compensation?
Eliminate this risk by contacting an attorney within 24 hours of your accident. Once you have seen a doctor for any injuries, a Long Island car accident lawyer should be your next stop. By finding legal counsel as soon as possible, you are giving yourself an advantage over the other parties involved. Your Long Island car accident lawyer can gather information and start an investigation into the details of your accident. The more time that your Long Island car accident lawyer has to prepare, the stronger that your case will be. You need to have a well-researched case to receive the best judgment.
What should you do after a car accident? (Besides contacting a Long Island Car Accident Lawyer)
When you’re involved in a car accident, worry and confusion are going to be the first things that run through your mind. Nobody knows how he or she will really react until it happens. Below we provide a checklist for you to keep in your car, to avoid this situation. If you’re in an accident in Long Island, use the tips below to navigate the situation:
Make sure that everyone involved is safe. If you can safely leave your car, do so to check on the other driver. Once it has been determined that there are no life-threatening injuries, move your cars off the road. In some situations, it isn’t possible to move your car or check on others, so just stay in your car.
Do not leave. Leaving the scene of an accident is a criminal offense. You should stay at the scene until the police show up to write their statement.
Call the cops. Don’t wait for the other person to do it, go ahead and call the police yourself. Sometimes people will try to talk you out of calling the police, but you shouldn’t listen to them. Make sure that you have a police officer show up before you leave the scene of a crime.
Trade information. You need to get the name, number, and tag number of the other person. Your police report should include this information, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Take pictures. Now that we have smartphones in our pockets, we have a built-in camera with us at all times. Take pictures of the damage to your vehicle, their vehicle, and the area where the accident occurred.
Get medical help. After the paperwork has been taken care of, you need to seek out medical attention. Go to the doctor as soon as you can to see what injuries you’ve sustained. If you don’t go to the doctor right away, it can appear to a jury that you weren’t that injured. So, make sure that seeing a doctor is the first thing you do.
File a report with the DMV. In the state of New York, you must file a form with the New York DMV within 10 days of an accident if the crash was over 1,000 dollars in damages. If you don’t file this paperwork your license could be suspended.
Seek out an attorney. Now that you know how involved personal lawsuits can be, you should find a Long Island Car Accident Lawyer to represent you. We would love to meet with you to discuss the details of your case. Contact Gary Falkowitz to schedule your appointment today.
I’m from out of town, can you help me?
If you’ve suffered from a car accident on vacation, we understand how stressful this can be. You’re in a new place, and you aren’t familiar with our laws or protocol. Thankfully, we’re here to help. You shouldn’t have to face any step of the process on your own. We can ensure that your paperwork gets filed in a timely manner and that you make it back for any depositions. We want you to get the settlement that you deserve to cover all of your damages and injuries.
If you’re going to hire a Long Island car accident lawyer, we recommend that you hire someone locally. We are the ones that are familiar with our laws and statutes of limitations. We can give you insights into our legal system that someone in your home state can’t. Choose expert Long Island personal injury lawyers in Long Island to handle your car accident case.
How can a personal injury lawyer help you after your car accident?
Once you go to the doctor, you’ll notice that your bills start to pile up. You have lower income coming in from missed days at work, your car has major damage, and you need money. This is the perfect time to turn to a Long Island personal injury lawyer like Gary Falkowitz. You should be focusing on getting better, instead of worrying about filing the proper paperwork. An expert in your corner is the most important ally you can have after your car accident. We promise to fight hard for you every step of the way. Don’t worry about the insurance company settling for less than you deserve when you have Gary watching your back.
Involved in a Car Accident? Find the Best Lawyer in Long Island
You look down at your phone, or someone else does. You were being a responsible driver, but there was water on the road and someone else turned too fast.
Car accidents can happen to anyone and to all of us, at some point. To recover and put your life back together, you need to find the best Long Island personal injury lawyer.
Learn how to do that and which questions to ask below.
Find Someone with a Specialty
When you get in a car accident, there are more factors than there are for other personal injury cases. You have the other cards on the road, the other driver, and whatever environmental factors there were.
Getting a regular personal injury lawyer who doesn’t specialize in car crash injuries could lead to them not getting the full picture of what happened. Not on purpose, but out of lack of experience.
If you want to get a full settlement, go for someone that has a car crash specialty or does them exclusively. You’ll be in better hands because of it.
Find Someone with References
If you were the hiring manager at a job, you would call someone’s references before you hired them, right? Right.
Well when you choose a personal injury lawyer, you’re hiring them. You’re not hiring them for your business, you’re hiring them just for you. That’s to say you should be even pickier than if you were hiring someone for a job.
There’s a difference between testimonials and references. Testimonials are a nice thing to have on a website, but they’re all going to be positive. No one is perfect, even the best lawyers.
Plus, you don’t know how recent those testimonials are – or that their cases were similar to yours.
When you ask for references, you get to talk to a real person. You can find out details about their case (as many as they’re willing) and ask personalized questions.
It’s appropriate to ask someone if they had any issues with the lawyer, like what the best and the worst part of working with them.
Ask Who You’ll Be Working with Most – and How
Some lawyers have paralegals or assistants that do the bulk of the client contact work. If that’s something you’re comfortable with, great.
But you need to know that beforehand. If you think you found the perfect lawyer and then you never see them after your consult, that’s a problem.
Ask your lawyer how they prefer to communicate case updates. Do they do phone calls more or emails? With technology being what it is, both are acceptable if they’re done in a professional format.
The speed of the case and the amount of updates depends on the details of your case – and of the willingness of the other party to cooperate.
Ask About Their Current Caseload
In life, timing is everything. It may be why you go into a car accident or why you have the job you have. Even if you find the perfect lawyer, it could be a bad time for them to take on your case.
Lawyers operate under caseloads, they’re not official – but they’re determined by the size of the firm and the amount of help they have.
You want your lawyer to have a decent caseload, but not too much. If they’re spreading themselves too thin, they could drop details of your case and lose you money on your settlement.
But not having an existing caseload is a red flag too. Just like a restaurant that no one’s in – you want to know why no one’s using their services. Is there something wrong?
If a lawyer agrees to take you on, then you can assume they can balance your case.
Find Someone Who Does a Free Evaluation
Most personal injury and auto accident lawyers do a free case evaluation. They’ll hear the details of your case and help you find out if you have a case to seek damages on, and let you know if they’re the right person to work on it.
After hearing your case, some lawyers may refer you to another professional in their firm – that has more experience with a case of your type.
The willingness to make sure you have the right lawyer is a green flag when you’re looking into a firm.
Ask About Trial Preference/Performance
Some lawyers don’t like to go to trial. It’s more expensive for the client and it’s a high-stress situation. In most legal cases, things can be settled in mediation or talks between both lawyers.
But that doesn’t mean your case can’t – or won’t go to trial. Ask your lawyer how often they go to trial and how often they settle out of court.
Which outcome do they think your case will have? Though they can’t predict anything – like how the other party’s counsel will act – they can give you an idea of what to expect.
Ask About their Fees
Another trend in working with personal injury lawyers is that they don’t take any money until they win your case. Once they do, and you get a reasonable agreed upon outcome, you pay them with an amount of your settlement.
The amount (usually a percentage) depends on where you live and the lawyer you choose. The standard is 1/3 of the settlement or 33%.
Contact us today if you have suffered from a car accident in Long Island
Whether you experienced your accident because of the negligence of another driver, or as a result of a defect in the road, we can help. Even if you were partially at fault, we can still fight for your settlement. We won’t know how to proceed with your case until you make an appointment. So, contact us today to get a head start on building your case. We look forward to getting you a nice settlement to compensate you for your time and injuries.
