Albany New York Personal Injury Lawyers & Albany Personal Injury Attorneys

Personal Injury Law in Albany and New York

As the Capital of New York State and the county seat of Albany County, Albany is a center for government, politics, and regulatory bodies in New York. Albany is about a three-hour drive north of New York City, perched on the banks of the Hudson River. The population of Albany is slightly under 100,000 people, but the Albany Metropolitan area has over 850,000 residents, making it one of the largest urban areas in upstate New York.

Car accidents like this one happen daily in the Albany area. If you have been involved in an accident in the Albany, New York area, contact an Albany personal injury attorney today.

Many people commute into Albany daily. Its day-time population is nearly double the amount of actual residents. This means that there are many opportunities for Albany car accidents, bus crashes, and other vehicle accidents on the roads and New York Highways surrounding Albany. Some of the major roads in the Albany area include The Northway (I-87), Autoroute 15, and I-90. If you have been hurt in an Albany bus, car, or truck accident, fill out the form below and an Albany Car Crash Attorney will contact you immediately.

Albany is an excellent place to live and work. Working in Albany is relatively safe, because over a quarter of the population has a government or government-related job in places like Empire State Plaza. However, workplace, or on the job accidents still happen, and when they do, you need an Albany Workers' Compensation Lawyer. Accidents are more likely to occur in the city's growing hi-tech manufacturing sector, or in its large education or medical sectors. Schools in Albany include SUNY Albany and the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. If you have been hurt on the job, fill out the form below and an Albany Workman's Compensation Lawyer will contact you.

Albany became a major city because of its location at the northern end of the navigable part of the Hudson River. Albany played a central role in the development of the interior of the United States by shipping raw materials including lumber and metals through the Erie Canal. The port has been functioning for over 300 years. Albany continues to serve as a port city through the Port of Albany-Rensselaer. The Port of Albany serves tugboats, dredges, barges and ships from both the United States and other countries. If you have been hurt working on a vessel at the Port or Albany, fill out the form below and an Albany Maritime Lawyer will contact you.

Today Albany's New York State Barge Canal is used by tourists and private boats. Recreational boaters are often injured on pleasure boats, especially when alcohol is involved. Drunk boating causes many injuries and fatalities every year.

Albany residents also face many dangers common to everyone in the country. For example, Albany residents often are hurt on someone else's property. Whether you have been hurt in an Albany grocery store like Price Chopper or Walmart, or on the property of an Albany business or homeowner, you have rights. An Albany Slip and Fall Liability Attorney will help you get the justice you deserve.

When you visit an Albany Hospital such as Albany Medical Center Hospital or St. Peter's Hospital, you expect to be taken care of in a safe way by physicians who are experts in their fields. Unfortunately, sometimes a doctor or medical provider makes a mistake or does not live up to the standard of care that you expect from them. When you are hurt by an Albany Doctor or other Albany Healthcare professional's medical malpractice, an Albany Medical Malpractice Attorney will help you get your life back to normal, or as close as possible.

Albany residents are also at the mercy of large pharmaceutical companies who manufacture dangerous drugs and medical devices. If you have been hurt by a recalled drug or a medical device has caused unexpected side effects, contact an Albany Dangerous Drug Lawyer.

Other professionals, such as real estate brokers, accountants, lawyers or architects can often hurt Albany residents though malpractice or fraud. If you have been hurt by a professional negligence, an Albany Professional Negligence Attorney will help make it right. If you have been defrauded by a stock broker or a banker, an Albany Investment Fraud Attorney or Albany Real Estate Fraud Lawyer will help you get compensation and justice.

There are many other types of injuries that occur in the Albany area. Albany Personal Injury Attorneys can help you with anything from Dog Bites to Cruise Ship accidents. Albany Products Liability Attorneys can help you if you were hurt by a defective product. The various types of dangers that Albany residents face can cause death or many types of injuries including:

Back injuries;
Neck injuries;
Burn injuries;
Brain injuries;
Lost wages;
Loss of income;
Mental anguish;
Pain and suffering; and
Disfigurement.

If you have been hurt by someone else's gross negligence, or if a family member has suffered an Albany Wrongful Death, you need an Albany Personal Injury Attorney to help you deal with insurance companies, in the settlement process, or even in a jury trial. In order to get the best verdict, you need an experienced Albany Lawyer to help you recover all types of damages, including punitive damages when they are available.

Most Albany Personal Injury Lawsuits must be filed within three (3) years. Albany Medical Malpractice suits have a shorter time limit of two and a half (2.5) years. Albany Wrongful Death Lawsuits have an even shorter limit of only two (2) years. To make sure you get the justice you deserve, contact an Albany Personal Injury Attorney as soon as possible.

What Kind of Cases do Albany Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers Handle?

Albany personal injury attorneys often have an undeserved reputation for being "ambulance chasers." Some people believe Albany PI Lawyers only want to take slip and fall cases. This is simply not the case. Albany County personal injury lawyers' practices are far broader than just Albany accidents. More importantly, Albany area accident lawyers and other Albany personal injury attorneys play an important role in protecting the financial and legal rights of injured people and their family members, even against large corporations with in-house lawyers. Just some of the types of cases which an Albany Personal Injury lawyer can handle throughout the State of New York are:

There are endless types of injuries and ways to become injured in the Albany area. Many of them have lasting effects on the victim's life including their ability to work, their family life, and recreation. An Albany personal injury lawyer can advise a victim or their family of their legal rights. Albany Area Personal Injury Attorneys can also help you locate the best medical care. Although no one can truly fix the emotional or physical damages caused by a personal injury, an Albany personal injury lawyer will often be able to get you financial compensation to provide for you, take care of your family if you cannot work, and cover past and future medical expenses.

Why do you need an Albany Personal Injury Lawyer?

Nearly every New York personal injury case involves insurance companies, and as you surely know, insurance companies can be frustrating and difficult to work with. They profit by paying out the least money possible while collecting premiums from as many customers as possible. A trained Albany personal injury lawyer has experience working and dealing with insurance companies. An Albany personal injury attorney can help you negotiate a settlement or, if necessary, take your case to court so can you get the compensation you are entitled to by New York law.

Winning a personal injury lawsuit in court can be an extremely complicated task, especially for an untrained person who might not understand the legal concepts involved. There are many deadlines and formal requirements that can be extremely confusing. Even trained attorneys who are experienced in personal injury law need to use medical and scientific experts to prove that an injury occurred and that the person being sued was at fault. An Albany personal injury lawyer will explain to you the various legal doctrines that could allow you to recover money, such as negligence, strict liability, or intentional tort.

In a negligence-based case in New York, you must prove:

(1) The person or party that caused your injury owed you a duty to protect you from unreasonable risk;
(2) The person breached this duty;
(3) There was sufficient causation, or connection, between that person's action and your injury to constitute a breach of their duty to you; and
(4) You suffered compensable damages as a result.

Albany residents often suffer personal injuries resembling this man's neck and leg injuries, and may need legal advice. Contact an Albany personal injury attorney today.

The analysis only becomes more complicated in a strict liability case, such as New York Products Liability, where you seek to hold the defendant responsible for your injuries regardless of fault, or negligence.

In products liability cases, your Albany personal injury attorney must help you prove these following elements:

(1) The defendant manufactured the product which injured you;
(2) A defect which made the product unreasonably dangerous existed in the product when it was sold; and
(3) The defect caused the injury.

Often, a variety of medical and scientific experts might be involved in proving these facts and an experienced Albany personal injury attorney can arrange experts as well as properly make use of them at trial. Your Albany personal injury lawyer can also help you understand which claims may be brought on behalf of your family members for negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress, or for loss of consortium.

Sometimes there is more than one person at fault. In these situations, an Albany personal injury attorney can, and in some instances, must join all necessary parties to make a claim against multiple parties. Take the following example:

If you were hurt by a defective consumer product, the manufacturer could be responsible under the law of strict products liability. Other defendants in the chain of distribution, including the seller or distributor could also be liable for your damages. A New York personal injury lawyer will also explain comparative fault or contributory negligence--that is, the idea that your own negligence might, sometimes, reduce your recovery. This often occurs in a vehicle accident, where you are 25% at fault but the other person is mostly responsible for the crash.

This analysis changes depending upon the specifics of your situation, and proving all of these elements to a jury becomes quite complicated. A licensed Albany personal injury attorney or Albany, New York personal injury lawyer will help make these difficult legal concepts clearer and guide you through New York's justice system.

Finally, an Albany personal injury attorney or other Albany Area personal injury attorney can help you determine what your claim is worth and which damages you can likely recover. Under New York law, a defendant found legally responsible for your injury is liable for:

   •    Past, current, and future estimated medical expenses
   •   Time off from work due to injury, including lost wages and lost earning capacity
   •   Property damage, such as damage to your car during an automobile accident
   •   The cost of hiring help to perform household chores you couldn't perform because of your injury
   •   Damages for permanent disfigurement or disability
   •   Emotional distress, including anxiety, depression, interference with family relationships, loss of consortium and loss of enjoyment of life
   •    Other expenses that are a direct result of your injury

For more information on which damages you may be entitled to, including punitive damages and damages for specific types of injuries and wrongful death, please refer to the page on Damages.

Albany personal injury lawyers represent not only accident victims but also their families and spouses in cases throughout the Greater Albany area. If you or a family member has been injured, you may be able to recover for medical expenses as well as other types of damages. Contact one of the experienced Albany personal injury attorneys listed in the top left corner of this page to represent you and protect your rights.

How much does it cost to hire an Albany Personal Injury Attorney?

Other types of lawyers often charge an hourly rate in addition to a retainer fee. These lawyers use billable hours and keep records of how much they work on your case, and make you pay accordingly. Albany personal injury attorneys, however, charge in a completely different, and much more convenient, way. New York law allows personal injury attorneys, or "PI lawyers" for short, to enter into "contingency fee" contracts with their clients. This means that your Albany personal injury lawyer usually accepts a percentage of any money recovered as payment if they win the case for you. The availability of a contingency fee agreement for an injured victim is extremely important because it can be quite expensive for an injured person, who might already be out of work because of an injury, to pay a lawyer up-front. The details of a contingency fee agreement can change between attorneys and in different states; but, a contingency fee agreement means that if the injured person does not get money, then they do not have to pay the lawyer anything for representing them. You can see how this makes lawsuits easier for injury victims: they only pay for a lawyer if they win or settle their case. Since the lawyer makes more money if he gets you more money, he has an extra reason to try to win the case. In New York, there are maximum amounts that an attorney can charge depending on the facts of your case. The laws explaining these amounts can be found on our New York Contingency Contract Page. Please contact an Albany, New York personal injury lawyer to discuss your case.

Qualified Albany trial attorneys are capable of investigating, preparing, presenting, and filing your lawsuit at all levels of the state and federal courts.

If you have been injured, seek immediate medical care at an Albany Hospital like the ones below, and then contact an Albany Personal Injury Attorney.

Hospitals in the greater Albany area:

St. Peter's Health Care Services
315 South Manning Boulevard
Albany, NY 12208
(518) 525-1550
stpetershealthcare.org

Albany Med Center
43 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208-3478
(518) 262-3125
amc.edu

St Marys Hospital
1300 Massachusetts Avenue
Troy, NY 12180-1695
(518) 268-5542
setonhealth.org

Bellevue Woman's Care Center
2210 Troy Schenectady Road
Schenectady, NY 12309-4725
(518) 346-9400
ellishospital.org

Columbia-Greene Hospital Foundation
71 Prospect Avenue
Hudson, NY 12534-2907
(518) 828-7601
columbiamemorial.com

Saint Marys Hospital
427 Guy Park Avenue
Amsterdam, NY 12010-1060
(518) 842-1900
smha.org

Albany Emergency Services Contact Information

Albany Police Department
165 Henry Johnson Boulevard
Albany, NY 12210
(518) 462-801
www.albanyny.org/government/departments/police.aspx

Albany County Sheriff's Department
16 Eagle Street, Room 218
Albany, NY 12207
(518) 487-5440
www.albanycountysheriff.com

Albany Fire Department

26 Broad Street

Albany, NY 12202-1813

(518) 447-7879

Hire an Albany Personal Injury Lawyer Now!

Serving clients throughout Eastern New York, including Albany, Colonie, Delmar, East Greenbush, Glenmont, Green Island, Hampton Manor, Latham, Loudonville, Menands, Roessleville, Troy, Watervliet, West Sand Lake, Westmere, Wynantskill, areas in the vicinity of Albany International Airport, and other communities in Albany County.

Don't hesitate! Call one of the Albany Personal Injury Lawyers on this site today for a consultation!