Personal Injury

In the State of New York, whenever you are involved in an automobile/car accident, the “serious injury threshold” law applies.

Many individuals right after a car accident want to know the simple question, “Do I have a case”? Frequently, the answer is “it depends.” Clients look startled and/or stunned after I explain that even though the person that caused the car accident might be 100% responsible, they “may” have a case depending on their injuries, time out of work, and treatment. With other accidents such as trip and falls, slip and falls, elevator accidents or many other accident, the serious injury threshold does NOT apply. It only applies to automobile accidents.

Ruling on an issue that has divided New York judges and “perplexed courts for some time,” a split Court of Appeals ruled that plaintiffs in comparative negligence cases need not bear the “double burden” of disproving their own negligence to win on summary judgment.

The high court’s 4-3 ruling clears up an issue that has bedeviled New York courts for decades, which has resulting in inconsistent case law on the issue of whether plaintiffs have to show that they are free of negligence to succeed on a summary judgment motion when determining a defendant’s liability.