St. Lawrence County Personal Injury

St. Lawrence County, with a county seat of Canton, is located in the state of New York. As of 2010, its population was 111,944. It is the state's largest county by area, and popular local destinations include Thousand Islands and the Adirondack Mountains. If you suffered serious injuries in an accident in St. Lawrence County, you may be concerned about how you'll pay your medical expenses and whether you'll regain full function to be able to work again. Most people do not have enough saved up in case of an emergency or catastrophic injuries. A skilled St. Lawrence County personal injury attorney can assess whether you have a claim against the party responsible for your harm.

Personal injury lawsuits may be filed in connection with injuries related to car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, construction accidents, scaffolding accidents, slip and falls, dangerous property conditions, and medical malpractice.

There are many situations in which it is extremely difficult to figure out who was at fault for an accident, and there are still other situations in which there are multiple people at fault for an accident. It can be important to retain an accident reconstruction expert in the context of complex car accidents, truck accidents, and dangerous property condition accidents. For example, after a car accident involving multiple cars and a truck, an accident reconstruction expert may come out to the scene of the accident and examine skid marks, debris, and information from the black box of the truck to figure out who is to blame for the accident. A personal injury lawyer serving St. Lawrence County can help you find an expert in this field.

To establish a defendant's negligence, you will need to prove: (1) the defendant owed you a duty of care, (2) breach of the duty of care, (3) causation, and (4) actual damages. The circumstances will determine the duty of care and whether the duty was breached. For example, if the defendant truck driver rear-ended you, the court will look at whether the truck driver was abiding by the duty to use reasonable care while driving. If it turns out the truck driver was speeding, it is likely the jury would find he was not using reasonable care. Similarly, if the driver of a car ran a red light and T-boned your motorcycle, leaving you paralyzed, it is likely a jury would find he had not used reasonable care.

Your damages can be reduced if you are found comparatively negligent for the accident. Any culpable conduct attributable to you (or a loved one in a wrongful death action), won't bar you from recovery, but the damages you could have otherwise recovered will be diminished by an amount equal to the percent by which your own culpable conduct contributed to the damages. The jury will first look at whether the defendant was negligent and will then decide if you are also partially or fully to blame. The defendant will have the burden of showing you were at least partly to blame. The jury then apportions fault between you and the defendant, such that the percentages of fault together equal 100 percent. A St. Lawrence County personal injury attorney can help you navigate these issues if they arise in your case.

Damages you may be able to recover after establishing liability include all economic and noneconomic losses arising from the accident. These may include medical expenses incurred in obtaining treatment for the injuries, lost income from taking time off work to recover, costs of medical equipment and prescription drugs, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.

After a serious accident, you may feel at a loss as to how you will pay for medical care and time off work. When the injuries are catastrophic, you may need to make other adjustments to your life as well. For example, if you are paralyzed, you may need to alter your home so that you can get around it with a disability. The party or parties responsible for your injuries should be held financially accountable for their negligence or misconduct in a personal injury lawsuit. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano represents people injured in accidents in St. Lawrence County. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.