If you’ve been injured due to someone’s negligence, you are likely to accumulate medical bills and potentially lost wages. You deserve to be compensated for your losses. The decision to hire an attorney to help you with your negligence claim is a personal one, and there are important reasons why you should consider doing so. If you do decide to hire an attorney, it is important that you act quickly for a number of reasons.
Preserving Evidence
An attorney will likely want to conduct an investigation into your claim. If that is the case, they will want to collect evidence that substantiates your claim. Evidence such as surveillance video and incident reports can go missing, and it’s important to preserve that evidence as soon as possible. In addition, talking to witnesses soon after an incident is more helpful as their memories will be fresher.
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations is a time limit on when you can file a lawsuit associated with your claim. The statute is triggered by when an accident or incident occurs. Once the statute begins to run, there is a period of time, usually years, within which a civil lawsuit must be filed. Once the statute of limitations has expired, you cannot bring a lawsuit against any defendant involved in the incident. Some examples of statutes of limitations include:
- Car accident—3 years from the date of the accident.
- Medical malpractice—2 years and 6 months from the date of the malpractice or from the end of continuous treatment by the party you intend to sue (cancer patients have 2 years 6 months from the discovery of the act of malpractice).
- Product liability—3 years from the date of the accident
- Slip and fall—3 years from the date of the accident
- Wrongful death—2 years from the date of the death
It is also important to note that if you plan to bring a claim against the City of New York or another governmental entity, you must provide them with a Notice of Claim within 90 days of the date of the accident. This is a very short timeline, so it is even more important to act quickly.
Contact a Personal Injury Attorney
If you’ve been injured due to someone’s negligence, you should act quickly and set up a consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney. At Bonina & Bonina, we have been helping negligence victims for over 50 years. Contact us online or call us at 1-888-MEDLAW1 to schedule your free consultation. Home and hospital visits are available. Se habla español.