What is a Personal Injury Claim?
"Personal Injury Claims" include a broad variety of "Tort" claims. A Tort is the legal term for a private (i.e., civil) claim or injury which gives rise to a legal remedy or relief. Torts are broken down into two broad categories: (1) Intentional Torts and (2) Negligence.

What is an Intentional Tort?
Intentional Torts include assault (i.e., the threat of offensive or harmful contact) and battery (i.e., actual offensive or harmful contact) claims. Other Intentional Torts include intentional infliction of emotional distress, conversion (i.e., unlawful taking of property), and false imprisonment (i.e., wrongful detention). Actual damages suffered as a result of Intentional Torts are sometimes relatively minor, however, due to the intentional nature of the act, a victim may be able to recover punitive damages. Punitive damages are unrelated to the actual damage or harm to the victim, because they are designed to punish the wrongdoer not compensate the victim.

What is Negligence?
In almost every situation a person or business has a duty to act in a reasonable manner when dealing with the people around them. When one fails to act in a reasonable manner and harm results to another as a result, this is often Negligence. For example, one owes a duty to maintain a lookout while driving and stop for red lights. If someone does not stop at a red light and hits another car, resulting in an injury to the driver with a green light, this is Negligence. Unlike Intentional Torts, Negligence does not involve knowingly acting in an unlawful manner. Therefore, many "accidents" are actually Negligence for which the wrongdoer may be liable.

How long do I have to file a lawsuit?
The law in New York limits the amount of time a victim has to file a lawsuit. These time limits are called the Statute of Limitations. The time for filing a claim varies from state-to-state and according to the type of case. For example, a medical malpractice claim involving wrongful death must be filed within two years after the injury. In almost all cases the failure to initiate a suit within the time limit may bar a claim forever. Therefore, it is very important to contact an attorney quickly if you feel you have a case.

Do I need a lawyer to help me with my personal injury claim?
After an accident, insurance adjusters will often contact a victim and seek to reach a quick settlement. One should think very hard before signing such a settlement. The insurance company representative is not your friend and their job is to settle claims for as little money as possible. These insurance adjusters are not bad people, and are just doing their job. Their job, however is not to help you understand your rights. It is, however, the job of the attorneys at Nitkewicz & McMahon, LLP to help injured people recover everything to which they are entitled.