It may not come with a warning label, but the candid truth is that Pokémon Go, the new mobile reality game for iOS and Android devices, can be harmful to your health. The game swiftly rose to the top of the charts for Apple’s free apps and has been downloaded more than 100,000 times from Google Play. Unexpectedly and unfortunately, the game has also been linked to a number of reported injuries.

Players – with their eyes glued to their screens – are walking into trees, buildings, and traffic, falling off bridges, tumbling into holes, pits, and ditches, and trespassing onto properties where dangerous conditions may put them at serious physical risk. It’s an international phenomenon. The Japanese government has even printed a flier urging Pokémon Go players to take safety measures and avoid “dangerous areas.”

Pokémon Go was released in July by the San Francisco-based software development company Niantic. The “augmented reality” game, where players search for and “catch” digital monsters in the real world, has players wandering onto private properties and locations that have included the Arlington National Cemetery, the National Holocaust Museum, and Peace Park in Hiroshima, Japan.

While some players have trespassed and otherwise behaved inappropriately, others have sustained serious injuries. Predictably, people are posting to social media sites photos of themselves chasing fake dangerous creatures in actually dangerous situations and locations. Sometimes the creatures “appear” on top of moving cars or in the middle of busy intersections. The police department in Darwin, Australia, has asked players not to chase the creatures into their police station.

WHAT KINDS OF INJURIES HAVE POKÉMON GO PLAYERS SUFFERED?

Pokémon Go players have reported a number of injuries. A 22-year-old freelance web designer, Kyrie Tompkins, fell on the sidewalk and twisted her ankle while chasing virtual monsters in downtown Waterville, Maine. Two men playing the game had to be rescued after falling off a 90-foot ocean bluff in Encinitas, California, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. They were taken to a trauma center.

A 28-year old man playing Pokémon Go while driving swerved off the road in Auburn, New York, and crashed into a tree, according to the Auburn Police Department. In Israel, a 35-year-old man was hospitalized with a broken leg and deep gash wounds after crashing through a glass door, and a 15-year-old Israeli girl suffered a cracked skull and intracranial hemorrhage after she fell off her bike while playing the game.

Another 15-year-old girl was playing the game about twenty miles outside of Pittsburgh when she was hit by a vehicle. Autumn Deiseroth says she was directed to cross a four-lane road to catch a Pokémon monster. “Kids don’t just cross the highway for no reason,” Autumn’s mom, Tracy Nolan, told reporters. All of these incidents raise an important legal question: can game-makers be held liable for injuries sustained by players who are being distracted by the game?

ARE THE GAME’S CREATORS RESPONSIBLE FOR INJURIES?

If, let’s say, a consumer injured while playing a virtual reality game wanted to sue the manufacturer of the game, it would most likely be in a product liability lawsuit, and a plaintiff would have to prove that the game was defectively designed or manufactured or that the manufacturer and distributors had a duty to warn users about possible hazards – and failed to. Thus, the legal question is this: Do app makers have a duty to warn consumers that a game may be distracting and that the distractions may be dangerous?

Some would say the answer is no, because the dangers associated with Pokémon Go, for example, are not dangers that arise from the product itself or even from the proper use of the product. Walking into traffic, for example, is dangerous whether or not you’re playing a game. So is trespassing on unfamiliar private property, especially without adequate lighting. In any event, the creators of Pokémon Go seem to have anticipated that the game might lead players into danger.

Pokémon Go’s gaming interface starts with a warning for players to pay attention to their surroundings, and the Pokémon Go Terms of Service includes a disclaimer which says in part: “During game play, please be aware of your surroundings and play safely. You agree that your use of the App and play of the game is at your own risk, and it is your responsibility to maintain such health, liability, hazard, personal injury, medical, life, and other insurance policies as you deem reasonably necessary for any injuries that you may incur while using the Services.”

HOW CAN YOU STAY SAFE PLAYING POKÉMON GO?

In spite of the disclaimer, a number of law enforcement agencies have issued their own warnings to the public regarding Pokémon Go. Some of their recommendations are:

• Do not trespass on private property just to catch a Pokémon creature.
• Do not play Pokémon Go while driving a car or while riding a bicycle.
• Avoid staring down at your phone while walking.
• Be aware of waterways, roadways, and drop-offs.
• Be cautious about sharing your location with strangers.
• Do not play Pokémon Go alone at night.

In perhaps the most tragic incident linked to Pokémon Go, 15-year-old Arthur Digsby of Mariondale, North Carolina, was shot and killed after trespassing onto private property while attempting to “catch” a Pokémon. According to a friend who accompanied him, the teen walked into an enclosed back porch of a residence to find a Pokémon creature, and when it did not appear, he started checking windows on the house and attempted to open them.

In 2013, approximately 6,100 pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles in the U.S., and about 160,000 pedestrian injuries required medical attention, according to the National Safety Council. Pokémon Go isn’t the only thing that glues people’s eyes to the screens on their phones. The fact is that we’re all pedestrians at some time, so we’re all at risk. If you are injured as a pedestrian by a negligent driver in New York City, a Bronx personal injury attorney can review your case, explain your legal options, and advocate on your behalf if you have grounds to file a personal injury claim.

However, if you were injured while playing Pokémon Go because you were trespassing on private property or because of your own negligence, you probably have no legal recourse, and there may be little that a Bronx personal injury attorney or anyone else can do to help. The best advice is something we’ve all heard many times – watch where you’re going. Personal injuries are almost always preventable, and staying alert on the sidewalks of New York is always an imperative.

Our car accidents attorneys know that when a traffic accident happens in the state of New York, the key legal issue is determining which driver was at fault. In most cases, if one driver is legally negligent – that is, if one driver did not exercise reasonable care and caution while operating a motor vehicle – that driver will be at fault. But in other cases, the law can assign liability to someone who was not driving or even present at the accident. Is it possible that you could be held responsible for a complete stranger’s injuries in an accident that didn’t even involve you?

1. COMPANY VEHICLES

Startling as it seems, there are actually a variety of scenarios where a third person can be held legally accountable for personal injuries sustained in a traffic collision. For example, the law holds employers accountable for wrongful acts, including driving negligently, when the wrongful act is committed by an employee while performing job duties. An employer whose employee crashes into another vehicle while driving a company vehicle during working hours is usually held legally accountable for any damages caused by the employee.

2. LETTING YOUR CHILD DRIVE

In most states, when parents allow a minor to borrow the car, the parents become liable for any negligent driving by their child. In some states, courts apply the “family purpose” doctrine. It’s a legal doctrine which holds that when a family member buys and maintains a vehicle for the entire family’s use, the owner becomes liable for any negligent driving by any member of the family using the car.

3. LETTING A FRIEND OR ACQUAINTANCE DRIVE

In many states, if you give a friend or an acquaintance your keys and permission to use your vehicle, you become legally responsible if that person drives recklessly or negligently. There is no legal requirement necessitating any special relationship. In many states, simply giving someone your keys can make you legally responsible for that person’s behavior behind the wheel.

4. INCOMPETENT AND UNFIT DRIVERS

If someone gives keys and permission to drive to a reckless, incompetent, or unfit driver, and if that driver causes an accident by driving negligently, the vehicle’s owner can be liable for damages and injuries under the legal doctrine known as “negligent entrustment.” In a personal injury claim based on negligent entrustment, an injury victim must prove that the vehicle’s owner knew – or should have known – that the driver was incapable or otherwise unfit to drive when the permission was granted.

WHICH DRIVERS ARE DEEMED UNFIT?

Whether you are an employer, a parent, or just loaning a vehicle to a friend or acquaintance, the types of drivers identified here can get you into legal trouble if you hand them a vehicle’s keys and give them permission to drive. Under the doctrine of negligent entrustment, a vehicle’s owner could be held legally accountable for any damages and injuries caused by these kinds of drivers:

• Underage and unlicensed: Loaning a vehicle to a minor who is too young even to obtain a driver’s license legally will almost certainly be considered negligent entrustment by the courts.
• Inexperienced: A minor who has only a learner’s permit may not drive a vehicle without adult supervision.
• Impaired by drugs or alcohol: Never allow someone who is drunk or high on drugs – or likely to be in the near future – to drive any vehicle you own. Anyone with a recent drug-related or alcohol-related conviction should be scrutinized carefully.
• Ill or injured: Never give permission to drive a vehicle you own to anyone with an injury or illness that might impair that person’s driving ability. Consider not only the illness or injury but also the effects of any medications the individual might be using.
• Elderly: Just as minors are too young to drive, the effects of advanced aging – fading eyesight and hearing, slower reaction times, and/or the effects of medications – can make some individuals too elderly to drive.
• Known to be irresponsible: If your employee – or your teenager or best friend – has a record of driving violations and/or accidents, and especially more than one in just the last several years, think twice. If you know someone is a reckless driver, and you give that person your vehicle, you’ll probably be liable for any damages and/or injuries.

HOW CAN EMPLOYERS PROMOTE SAFE DRIVING?

Companies that hire drivers – for local business or for coast-to-coast driving – are smart to implement comprehensive driver training, monitoring, and evaluation programs. Such programs not only keep New York’s highways and streets safer, but they also make good business sense. Traffic accidents cost U.S. employers $60 billion annually when legal and medical costs, property damages, and productivity losses are added up.

Every work-related traffic collision in the U.S. costs an employer an average of $16,500, but when work-related traffic accidents cause injuries, an employer’s average cost jumps to $74,000. Businesses, non-profits, and government agencies that operate fleets of buses, taxicabs, trucks, passenger vans, or delivery vans can never under any circumstances tolerate negligent driving or drivers.

If you are a parent, have a talk with your teenagers about distracted and intoxicated driving. Make sure they understand that no beer, pot, horseplay, or cell phones are allowed. Especially when they have passengers, many teen drivers seem easily distracted, and they have little experience at making the split-second decisions that consistently safe driving requires. Of course, a teenager’s lack of driving experience is never an excuse.

After traffic accidents with injuries in the New York City area, a Bronx personal injury attorney will examine all of the potential sources of compensation on a client’s behalf. If you are not an employer, and if you are not a parent, you can avoid all of the legal headaches discussed here simply by not allowing anyone to drive any car or truck you own. If a close friend desperately wants to borrow your car or truck, suggest an alternative – rides-for-hire are everywhere in New York City – or offer to do the driving yourself.

In the New York City area, if someone other than the driver who causes an injury or injuries has any legal responsibility for that injury or injuries, an experienced Bronx personal injury attorney can hold that person accountable. If you are an employer who hires drivers – or if you share your car with one or more teenagers – make certain that everyone who drives your vehicle or vehicles is adequately insured, and do not hesitate to take the keys if there’s even a hint of negligent driving.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. The Brain Injury Association of America reports that more than three million people in the U.S. live with a permanent disability resulting from a traumatic cerebrum wound (TBI). Each year in our nation, more than two million people sustain a traumatic brain injury. A traumatic brain injury can have wide-ranging, long-term physical and psychological effects. If a brain injury in the New York City area is the result of another person’s negligence, a victim should also consult with an experienced Bronx personal injury attorney after first receiving medical treatment.

A brain injury or a potential brain injury must not be ignored. A brain injury can be caused by a jolt, a blow, or sometimes just a bump to the head. Even a brain injury that does not lead to a loss of consciousness can impair a person’s physical, cognitive, and emotional behaviors for days, weeks, or sometimes much longer. Some signs or symptoms may – or may not – appear immediately after the traumatic event, while others may appear weeks or even months later. Recent studies are raising new concerns about the long-term effects of concussions and other undetected brain injuries that may remain latent and undiscovered for months or even years.

The general public tends to take concussions less seriously because these injuries happen so frequently in sports like hockey and football, where an athlete who sustains a concussion may be back in action in the very next game. However, research recently published in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, shows that even if a person sustains only a mild concussion, the damage is still visible months later on brain scans.

WHAT ARE THE SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF BRAIN INJURIES?

According to Dr. Raina Gupta, a neurologist at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, we know a great deal about the short-term effects of brain injuries. The effects include headaches, depression, irritability, seizures, dizziness, insomnia, double vision, and memory loss. These effects normally emerge in the first days after a mild brain injury, and the effects usually fade in a few weeks or months. However, Dr. Gupta says, “If you sustained a head injury years ago and are having persistent issues with your cognitive function, such as feeling foggy or slowed down, difficulty concentrating, memory loss or confusion, you should definitely talk to your doctor.”

“Also be sure to discuss any changes in mood or sleep, and difficulties with language, attention and processing information,” Dr. Gupta says. “Long-term effects of head injury may lead to partial or total disability that may prevent a person’s functional and psychosocial recovery.” She also says, “Anyone experiencing any or all of these cognitive symptoms, even years after a blow to the head or concussion, should seek medical attention and, if appropriate, further evaluation,”

Though it may be impossible to connect such symptoms to a head injury from many years earlier with any certainty, physicians are now certain that head injuries can damage the brain in ways that may not be evident until years later. Still, the best way to avoid long-term damage from a head injury is to be evaluated by a physician immediately after any blow to the head. And after any head damage, a patient must take the necessary time to recover, slowly increasing physical activity and exercise, as symptoms allow, under a doctor’s supervision. During the recovery period, treatment for mood shifts or for sleep disorders also may be helpful.

WHAT CAN THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF BRAIN INJURIES BE?

Any brain injury can be catastrophic and life-changing. Some symptoms of a traumatic brain injury may not manifest for months or even years after a brain injury occurs. At that time, a damage victim may exhibit difficulty concentrating, processing information, remembering, speaking, or understanding. Behavioral changes may include depression, irritability, rapid mood swings, and/or verbal outbursts. A cerebrum wound victim may also experience fatigue, headaches, nausea, seizures, sleep disorders, or tinnitus. Many other symptoms are possible as well.

Researchers also warn that the risk for epilepsy is particularly high immediately after a brain injury and can last more than a decade — even for mild head trauma. In 2009, a team of Danish researchers studied 78,500 cerebrum wound victims and published their findings in The Lancet, the U.K.’s leading medical journal. More than 14,000 of the brain injury victims they surveyed suffered from epilepsy. The researchers found an increase in the risk for epilepsy after mild and particularly severe cerebrum wound and after skull fractures as well, with the risk of epilepsy continuing more than a decade after the damage.

Other disorders that have been associated with brain injuries that happened in the past include perceptual-motor disorders, secondary psychiatric disorders such as depression, and conditions such as early-onset Alzheimer’s or early-onset Parkinson’s disease. Many findings are now also demonstrating that there can be a variety of long-term and sometimes permanent problems associated with brain injuries. However, diagnosis and TBI treatment is rapidly advancing, and there’s plenty of hope for cerebrum wound victims that the long-term damage linked to a brain injury can be comprehensively and successfully treated.

WHAT HELP IS AVAILABLE FOR BRAIN INJURY PATIENTS?

To say that high-quality, long-term treatment for brain injury victims is costly – especially in New York – would be an understatement, but when someone’s cerebrum wound has been caused by another person’s negligence, a good Bronx personal injury attorney can help victims fight for the maximum available compensation. While a price can’t be placed on the emotional and physical costs, the financial cost for a mild head injury is about $85,000. A moderate brain injury can cost $900,000 or more, and a severe traumatic cerebrum wound can cost $3 million in today’s economy.

Growing public awareness of brain injuries and their long-term impact has led more victims to seek help and to file personal damage claims. As a general rule, the more severe a brain injury is, the easier it is to arrive at a settlement. But when a traumatic cerebrum wound is mild rather than severe, and when the symptoms are disputed, and the prognosis is uncertain, it can be much more difficult for a personal injury claim to prevail, and cerebrum wound victims will need a personal injury attorney’s advice and services.

After nearly fifteen years, the wait for government compensation is finally over for hundreds of the first responders who are now suffering from 9/11-related illnesses. In March, officials announced that compensation payments amounting to more than $233 million were being distributed to more than one thousand police officers, firefighters, and emergency personnel. “We have shifted more staff to focus on payments and I am proud we exceeded our first interim target,” said Sheila Birnbaum, the Special Master of the Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), in a statement on the fund’s website.

Originally, the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund was created by an act of Congress shortly after the 9/11 attacks to compensate the victims of the attacks (or their families) and anyone who became ill after exposure to the toxic fumes at Ground Zero. Prior to the announcement in March, most of the victims had previously received only about ten percent of their full awards. The remainder had been set aside until VCF administrators knew what the total payout amount would be.

The payments were made available through the December reauthorization by Congress of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Although parts of the Zadroga Act expired on September 30, 2015, the renewal of the act was nevertheless stalled in Congress for months. Despite strong support from figures including U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, more than one hundred congressional representatives, in the end, remained opposed to the reauthorization of the Zadroga Act.

Nevertheless, the renewal of the Zadroga Act, which provides health services and compensation for 9/11 survivors and first responders, finally passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 316 to 113. The rollout of the full payments drew immediate praise from victims’ advocates. “The progress announced today is good news for injured and ill 9/11 responders and survivors who are starting to get the full help that they need and deserve,” said Benjamin Chevat, the executive director of the 9/11 Health Watch advocacy group.

HOW MANY 9/11 VICTIMS QUALIFY FOR BENEFITS?

The renewal extends the Zadroga Act for another 75 years, and the VCF received a five-year extension. That’s important because, according to the New York Daily News, about 33,000 survivors and first responders have already been diagnosed with 9/11-related illnesses. More than fifty types of cancer have been linked to exposure to toxins at the site of the World Trade Center. Many victims also struggle with chronic ailments like asthma, pulmonary disease, and gastric reflux. New York City Police Detective James Zadroga, for example, died in 2009 at the age of 34 shortly after being diagnosed with Black Lung Disease.

As of 2014, 92 New York City first responders had died from medical conditions sustained during their exposure to toxins at Ground Zero. According to the Fire Department of the City of New York, 99 percent of the firefighters who participated in the cleanup efforts at the World Trade Center site reported respiratory problems. However, some people still may not even be aware of 9/11-related medical problems, especially if they have a form of cancer with a long latency period. Many of these victims are still eligible to receive compensation through the VCF.

The original Zadroga Act became law on January 2, 2011. That legislation reopened the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001, and it expanded the scope of the VCF to enable more victims to receive compensation. The Zadroga Act requires those who accept compensation through the VCF to waive their rights to pursue any further legal action for damages resulting from the September 11th attacks.

IS THERE STILL TIME TO FILE A 9/11-RELATED CLAIM?

The Zadroga Act permits claims from workers and from others who were at one of the three 9/11 sites between September 11, 2001, and May 30, 2002, if those persons suffered demonstrable physical harm or the wrongful death of a loved one as a result of the 9/11 incidents or the removal of debris. However, a victim must submit a claim for compensation within two years of becoming aware of the physical injury (or the wrongful death).

Anyone who believes that he or she may qualify for VCF compensation should obtain a complete medical exam and also contact a New York City personal injury attorney for legal assistance to ensure that there are no mistakes, misunderstandings, or additional delays when submitting a claim for compensation to the Victim Compensation Fund. Surely, the victims of the 9/11 attacks have endured enough delays.

The VCF compensates first responders, clean-up workers, and survivors of the 9/11 attacks. Those who worked in rescue and recovery at any of the sites – the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania site – may be covered as well as those who lived, worked, or studied where the attacks occurred. However, the VCF requires claimants to provide extensive documentary proof that they were at a 9/11 site during the period from September 11, 2001, through May 30, 2002.

WHO WAS JAMES ZADROGA?

When Congress originally considered the Zadroga Bill to extend benefits to those injured as a result of the 9/11 attacks, thousands of Ground Zero workers were experiencing severe respiratory ailments. New York City Police Detective James Zadroga served more than 450 hours at the ruins of the World Trade Center during the rescue and cleanup operations, inhaling a lethal mix of asbestos, pulverized powdered cement, and assorted hazardous chemicals.

Detective Zadroga quickly developed a chronic cough, breathing trouble, acid reflux, and frequent headaches. He reported his condition to the NYPD, but his claim was rejected. Zadroga continued working, but he soon required oxygen just to breathe. When Detective Zadroga was finally approved for disability benefits, it was too late, but his courage and character inspired the law now named for him.

The list of illnesses and injuries covered by the VCF is long, so anyone struggling with a latent medical condition that may be linked to 9/11 should first obtain a comprehensive medical examination and then consult with a New York City personal injury attorney who already has experience with the Victim Compensation Fund. When considering both the suffering and the service of the 9/11 victims and responders, it’s clear that they must be fully and properly compensated.

Almost eleven years ago in Tucson, Arizona, Carl Koch stood near the back of his tanker truck as it was filled with molten tar. A hose connection broke, and Koch, 36, suffered first- and second-degree burns on the right side of his face, his right ear, and his right arm. His burns healed, but more than a year later, Koch said that he still felt pain in his right arm and was unable to work or even help around the house.

Koch sued his employer, Western Emulsions, claiming that the nerves in his right arm never fully healed and that he now suffered chronic neuropathic pain and Western Emulsions charged that Koch was faking the injury. Koch’s attorney had to prove that his client was genuinely in pain, but the pain is subjective. When it comes to pain, how can you know if a person is lying or telling the truth?

 

Koch’s chronic pain manager suggested functional magnetic resonance imaging – fMRI brain scanning – which measures activity in the brain by detecting blood flow. When some parts of the brain become active, the blood flow to those brain areas is detectable because the scanner’s powerful magnet tracks blood oxygen levels. Scientists have been trying to pinpoint sites in the brain that become active when pain is experienced.

HOW CAN YOU PROVE YOU’RE IN PAIN?

Chronic pain can linger for months or even years after some injuries, and it’s often debilitating. Five years ago, the Institute of Medicine reported that about 100 million people in the United States are dealing with chronic pain. Juries that believe a personal injury plaintiff is in pain will often grant the entire amount of compensation that the plaintiff seeks. However, with no widely accepted diagnostic tools to measure pain with precision or objectivity, defendants’ attorneys can easily counter-claim that a plaintiff’s alleged pain is phony or exaggerated.

Koch’s attorney contacted Joy Hirsch, who at the time was the director of Columbia University’s fMRI research center, and he arranged for Koch to undergo fMRI brain scanning. Almost two years after being injured, Carl Koch met with Hirsch to have his brain scanned with an fMRI machine while performing simple motor tasks such as squeezing a rubber ball with his right hand – the injured, painful side – and then with his left hand.

Koch said that at rest, the pain he felt in his right arm rated between 3 and 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. When Koch squeezed the ball with his right hand, his pain rose to a 9.5, and he reported no pain in his left arm. From the brain scan images, Hirsch’s readings were consistent with Koch’s rating of pain intensity when he squeezed the ball with his right hand. The movement of Koch’s right arm caused pain, which resulted in measurable brain activity while the left arm did not generate similar brain activity.

HOW MUCH IS PAIN WORTH?

In personal injury cases, Billions of dollars are at stake – and in some cases, justice itself – every year in the United States. Pain and suffering awards amount to about fifty percent of all personal injury damage awards. Justice demands that all parties involved should do everything possible to make certain that compensation reaches those who deserve it and is denied to those who would abuse the system by feigning or exaggerating the symptoms of pain. Honest plaintiffs may find it difficult to articulate the nature of their pain, and that’s where brain scanning may become genuinely helpful to the victims of personal injury.

Lawyers for Koch’s employer filed a motion to keep Joy Hirsch from testifying and introducing the fMRI brain scanning results. After Judge Javier Chon-Lopez of the Arizona Superior Court in Pima County denied the motion and allowed Hirsch’s testimony, she actually never had to testify, and Western Emulsions quickly settled the case for $800,000. Hirsch, now a professor at Yale, began receiving requests from personal injury lawyers across the country to perform similar scans on their clients.

Private companies are now quickly becoming involved to offer professional fMRI brain scanning services for legal purposes. Millennium Magnetic Technologies (MMT) is one company that advertises fMRI brain scanning to confirm the presence of pain. Dr. Steven Levy, the firm’s CEO, says that fMRI brain scanning “can also be used to quantify the amount of pain, and this can be helpful in determining what is just compensation based on something objective.”

Still, some insist that fMRI brain scanning is not necessarily conclusive evidence of pain. Neuroscientist Tor Wager at the University of Colorado at Boulder believes that companies providing brain scans for verifying pain should be held to reliability and accuracy standards, similar to how DNA labs are held accountable. Wager says more studies are needed to test large groups against control groups rather than basing claims on single cases.

WHERE CAN THE INJURED GET LEGAL HELP?

In the state of New York, damages for pain and suffering can be awarded for any past, present, or verifiable future physical pain that results from a personal injury caused by negligence. Damage awards can vary greatly from case to case, and New York is one of the few states that doesn’t impose a cap or limit on the pain and suffering damages a plaintiff may seek. If you’ve been injured – anywhere in or near New York City – because another person was negligent in a traffic accident or in any other situation, discuss your legal rights and options at once with an experienced Bronx personal injury attorney.

When you are injured, seek medical treatment immediately. Don’t make any statement and don’t sign any admission of fault. Don’t even speak to an insurance company. Let an experienced personal injury attorney do all of the talking and negotiating on your behalf. A good personal injury lawyer will work for an acceptable out-of-court settlement before going to trial, but if you do end up in court, you’ll need the right personal injury lawyer to fight aggressively for every cent of compensation you need and for the justice you deserve.

If you’ve been injured by another person’s negligence in or near New York City, or if you need to discuss your own lingering chronic pain condition with a personal injury lawyer, contact an experienced Bronx personal injury attorney as quickly as possible. Victims of negligence are entitled to compensation and justice in the state of New York, but you must take the first step and make the call.