Erie County Personal Injury

Erie County is located on the shores of Lake Erie in New York. With a population of about 954,236 as of 2020, the county has had one of the highest growth rates of any county in the state in recent years. Highways in the county include Interstate 90, Interstate 190, Interstate 290, United States Route 20, and United States Route 62. After being injured in an accident, you may not know where to turn. You may be overwhelmed by medical bills and lost income, not to mention pain. If you were injured through the fault of another, you should call the experienced Erie County personal injury lawyers of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys. We are experienced advocates for those who have been injured, seeking best results both in negotiations with insurers and in the courtroom, when a fair settlement cannot be reached.

If you were injured or a loved one was killed in Erie County because someone else was careless, you may have grounds to sue for damages. Most personal injury lawsuits are pursued under a theory of negligence. In order to establish that person or entity’s liability, our seasoned lawyers will need to prove it is more likely than not: (1) you were owed a duty to use reasonable care, (2) breach of the duty to use reasonable care, (3) causation, and (4) damages. The context will dictate what the standard of care is. A driver, for example, may breach the standard of care by speeding, weaving, tailgating, driving under the influence, texting, calling, or driving while distracted by something else.

In complex truck accident lawsuits, in particular, it may be appropriate to hire an accident reconstruction expert to make sure to hold all potentially responsible parties accountable. For instance, we may be able to hold the trucking company responsible under a theory of negligent hiring if it hired a truck driver that wasn’t reasonably competent to do the job and you were hurt as a result.

What must be shown is slightly different in a premises liability lawsuit. If you were injured on someone else’s property in Erie County, our attorneys may need to show that the owner of the property knew or had reason to know the condition of the property that injured you existed. For example, if you were staying at a bed and breakfast in Erie County and fell on a broken step that the owner should have fixed or provided warnings about, thereby breaking your legs, you may have grounds to recover damages.

If our lawyers can establish liability for a personal injury lawsuit, we may be able to win or negotiate compensatory damages on your behalf. These can include both economic and noneconomic losses such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, medical bills, lost income, replacement services, and out-of-pocket costs. These damages can be reduced if the defendant’s attorney is able to show your own negligence contributed to your injuries; the jury will reduce your damages by an amount proportionate to your fault. For example, if a defendant is able to prove your own speeding contributed to your car accident, and the jury decided the damages were $100,000 but you were 50% at fault for the accident, you may only be able to recover $50,000 from the responsible driver.

If you were injured or a loved one was killed an accident, you should talk with our seasoned Erie County personal injury lawyers. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Attorneys has more than 30 years of experience seeking best results for accident victims in Albany, Oneida, Canandaigua, Lowville, Auburn, Buffalo, Utica, Rochester, Wampsville, Watertown, Herkimer, Oswego, Lyons, Ithaca, Cooperstown, Elmira, Binghamton, and all of Upstate New York. For a free consultation, complete our online form or call us at 833-200-2000.