St. Lawrence County

St. Lawrence is a county named for the Saint Lawrence River. It has a total area of 2,821 square miles and 17 school districts. Some of the county extends into the Adirondack Park. Despite the scenic surroundings, serious accidents sometimes happen there. After an accident that results in injuries, you may face significant bills and an inability to work just when you most need an income. You may be able to hold the party responsible for your injuries accountable through a civil lawsuit. You should be aware that the party's insurer may contact you, asking for a recorded statement and hoping to get information that will show that you were partially or fully to blame. If you were injured in an avoidable accident, such as a car crash, you should consult an experienced St. Lawrence County personal injury lawyer before talking to the other party's insurer about what happened.

The circumstances under which you were injured must be considered in determining whether to sue and from whom damages can be obtained. If you are injured in a car accident, for example, the parties that may be responsible include other drivers, the road owner, or the car manufacturer. If you were injured in a truck accident, you may have cause to sue the truck driver, the trucking company, a third-party loader or repair shop, or the manufacturer of the truck’s parts.

In most cases, you will need to establish another party's negligence to recover damages from them for a vehicle accident. You will need to show that the defendant owed you a duty, the defendant breached this duty, and the defendant’s negligence led to the accident. For example, you could establish another driver's negligence by showing that they ran a red light and therefore T-boned your car, causing you to suffer organ damage, a traumatic brain injury, and broken bones.

There are situations in which the elements that a personal injury attorney in St. Lawrence County must prove are different. For example, if you are trying to hold a property owner liable for a dangerous condition in a store, you will need to establish actual or constructive notice to the owner of the dangerous condition. In a medical malpractice lawsuit, you will need to establish what the professional standard of care was, show that the defendant deviated from it, and show that the deviation caused your injuries.

Your damages may be reduced if the other party is able to show your comparative negligence. For example, if you were speeding and weaving through traffic to get somewhere faster, and then another car that was doing the same thing collided with you, you may both bear responsibility for the accident. The jury would evaluate the evidence and arguments, determine the damages, and assign percentages of fault. Your damages will be reduced by your percentage of fault.

The damages that a St. Lawrence County personal injury attorney is able to recover for you depend in part on your injuries. Injuries for which you can recover damages range from the relatively mild to the catastrophic, including lacerations, crushing injuries, head trauma, broken bones, burns, and spinal cord damage or paralysis. You can also recover, under certain circumstances, for a family member's wrongful death. In most cases, you will recover compensatory damages, the economic and noneconomic losses that flow from the kinds of injuries that you suffered.

Economic damages are concrete and tangible damages. Often, they are documented. They can include medical bills, lost wages, out-of-pocket costs, and replacement services for household services or childcare services. Noneconomic damages are intangible losses, and often they vary dramatically depending on what your lawyer is able to illuminate through testimony on what you lost as a result of your injuries. They can include pain and suffering, mental anguish, lost enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium.

If you have been involved in a serious accident, our law firm may be able to help you recover damages from the responsible parties. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano represents victims in many areas of Upstate New York. Call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form for an appointment to discuss your case with an attorney.