Catastrophic Injuries

Seeking Compensation For The Long Haul

Seriously injured persons and their families face daunting challenges. They face a long recovery period, punctuated by physical and emotional pain. Medical bills keep piling up, with no let up in sight. If the injured person contributed to the support of the household, the family must cope with the effects of a sharply reduced income. To overcome these problems, victims of catastrophic personal injury and their families need help.

At Caesar & Napoli, our catastrophic injury accident lawyers lend strong advocacy and compassionate support to accident victims and their families in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. We are committed to helping them rebuild their lives, by compensation for their financial losses and suffering. When our law firm represents you, our lawyers will work tirelessly to obtain the best possible result for you.

Representation For A Range Of Injuries

Caesar & Napoli, provides results-oriented representation in all types of catastrophic injury cases, including:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Paralysis
• Spinal cord injuries
• Burns
• Other life-changing injuries

Seeking Compensation For Present And Future Needs

Our catastrophic injury attorneys, have a record of success helping seriously injured people obtain compensation for their losses and suffering. In your case, we will act quickly to begin building your case.

We will place a priority on helping you obtain the financial resources that can pay for needed medical care, rehabilitation therapy and other services that can lessen the burdens you face. Working with your doctor or other medical specialists, our Brooklyn catastrophic injury attorneys will identify the accident victim’s current and future medical needs. This will include the development of a life care plan, a document that will spell out in detail all of the medical care and other services the victim will need for the rest of his or her life. Caesar & Napoli, will then seek full compensation for those needs as well as for all other losses.

What Makes an Injury Catastrophic

New York law does not set out a single definition of a catastrophic injury. In practice the term describes an injury that permanently changes what a person can do, what they can earn, and what care they will need for the rest of their life. A broken arm heals. A spinal cord injury, a severe traumatic brain injury, an amputation or paralysis does not. The difference matters because a case built for a temporary injury will not cover a lifetime of need.

These injuries come out of the same events that cause lesser ones. They follow a motor vehicle collision, a fall from height on a construction site, a machine that failed or lacked a guard, or an error during treatment that becomes a medical malpractice claim. What separates them is the outcome, not the cause.

What a Catastrophic Injury Claim Has to Account For

A claim of this kind is valued across two categories. Economic losses are the ones that can be counted. Non-economic losses are the ones that cannot, and they are no less real.

• Medical treatment already received, and the treatment still to come
• Rehabilitation, therapy and assistive equipment over a lifetime
• Attendant care in the home, and home or vehicle modifications
• Earnings lost so far, and the earning capacity that has been taken away
• Pain, suffering and the loss of the things the person used to be able to do

The future half of that list is where most of the value sits, and it is the half that is easiest to undervalue. A life care plan prepared with treating doctors and life care planners puts a number on decades of need, and an economist reduces that number to present value. Our page on assessing lifetime costs goes through how that work is done.

Deadlines That Apply in New York

Several different clocks can run on the same set of facts.

• Most injury claims. Three years from the date of the accident, under CPLR 214.
• Medical malpractice. Two years and six months, under CPLR 214-a, usually measured from the act complained of or from the end of continuous treatment.
• Wrongful death. Two years from the date of death, brought by the personal representative of the estate.
• A city, a transit authority or a school district. A notice of claim within 90 days of the incident, and in most cases one year and 90 days to start the lawsuit itself.
• The State of New York. Claims against the State run through the Court of Claims under separate rules, with their own filing requirements and their own short deadlines.

The 90 day notice requirement is the one people are most likely to miss, because it can expire long before anyone has thought about a lawyer. Missing it does not automatically end the claim. A court can allow a late notice of claim in some circumstances, and that relief is more often available where the injured person is a child. It is discretionary, so it is not something to rely on, but it does mean that a date already passed is a question to ask rather than an answer.

Shared Fault Does Not End a Claim in New York

New York applies pure comparative fault. If an injured person is found partly responsible for what happened, the recovery is reduced by that percentage. It is not barred. Someone found twenty percent at fault can still recover eighty percent. This is worth knowing, because the belief that partial fault ends a case stops people from asking the question at all.

Common Questions

What counts as a catastrophic injury?

There is no statutory checklist. The working test is whether the injury permanently changes the person’s independence, their capacity to work, or their need for care. Brain and spinal injuries, amputations, severe burns and paralysis usually meet it.

How long does a catastrophic injury case take?

Longer than a routine injury case, and for a medical reason rather than a procedural one. Future costs cannot be projected until the clinical picture is stable enough to predict. Cases of this size commonly run well beyond a year.

How is the value of a claim worked out?

From evidence, not from a formula. Medical records, expert opinion on future care, a life care plan, an economic analysis of lost earning capacity, and the available insurance coverage all feed into it. No two claims of the same injury are worth the same amount.

Who pays for treatment while the case is open?

It depends on how the injury happened. Motor vehicle injuries in New York go through no-fault coverage first. A workplace injury normally goes through workers’ compensation, which can run alongside a separate claim against a third party. Health insurance may also be involved, and it may later assert a lien against any recovery.

How is a recovery held once the case ends?

Not always as a single payment. Where someone will need care for decades, part of a settlement is often structured, meaning it is paid out on a schedule rather than in one sum. Where means tested benefits are in the picture, a special needs trust may be used to hold the funds. Both are decided as the case resolves, not afterwards.

Can a family member act if the injured person cannot?

Yes. Where an injured person lacks the capacity to bring a claim, a court can appoint a guardian to act for them, and a family member can start that process. Where the person did not survive, the personal representative of the estate brings a wrongful death claim.

What does it cost to start?

The first conversation costs nothing. Cases of this kind are normally handled on a contingency fee basis, which means the fee is a percentage of a recovery rather than a bill along the way. Case expenses are handled separately, and the written retainer agreement sets out both before any work starts.

Contact Our Firm

For a free consultation with an experienced catastrophic personal injury lawyer in New York, contact Caesar & Napoli