Personal Injury

If you or a loved one has suffered serious injury or death because of another’s negligence, it may be possible to recover damages to compensate you for your losses. Compensatory damages may include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and out-of-pocket costs. There are certain situations in which it may be possible to recover punitive damages as well. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, we are seasoned Syracuse personal injury attorneys, and we may be able to pursue damages on your behalf.

Personal injury lawsuits we handle include those arising from motor vehicle accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, birth injuries, wrongful death, chronic pain syndrome, brain and spinal cord injuries, premises liability, and defective products.

You may be able to recover damages if you are injured in a motor vehicle accident. Motor vehicle accidents may involve cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles or pedestrians. Often you’ll need to establish another driver’s negligence to recover for serious injuries arising out of a car accident. In order to secure damages for harm you have suffered due to a driver’s careless conduct, you’ll need to show: (1) the other driver owed you a duty of care, (2) breach of the duty of care, (3) causation, and (4) damages. Examples of conduct that could fulfill these elements are when a drunk, distracted, or speeding driver’s reckless driving causes an accident and your injuries.

Thousands of workers are injured or killed on construction sites every year. Construction companies are supposed to adequately inspect their worksites for dangers, put in place a number of safety measures, and provide safety equipment. Unfortunately, construction accidents do occur in spite of these rules. New York has special labor laws, including sections 200, 240, and 241(6) of the New York State Labor Law to protect construction workers from worksite injuries. Under section 200 of the New York State Labor Law, there is a common law obligation to use reasonable care to maintain the worksite. Labor Law section 240 creates special protections for workers related to injuries involving the use of scaffolds, ladders, hoists, slings, and similar devices at heights. Section 241(6) requires the general contractor or owner to comply with the New York State Industrial Code. A personal injury lawyer serving Syracuse can help you seek damages under the appropriate statutes.

Not every mistake made by a doctor counts as medical malpractice, but some acts and omissions do. To establish medical malpractice, you will need to show: (1) the defendant health care provider owed you a professional duty of care, (2) breach of the professional standard of care, (3) causation, and (4) actual damages. Breaches of the professional standard of care could involve failure to diagnose, misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, surgical errors, failure to treat, improper treatment, or dosage errors. An expert opinion will likely be needed regarding what the professional standard of care was, how it was breached, and causation. Often medical malpractice lawsuits turn into battles between the experts.

The birth of a baby should be a joyous occasion. Unfortunately, sometimes newborns suffer serious birth injuries resulting in conditions like cerebral palsy, Erb’s palsy, developmental delays, and more. It may be possible to recover damages if your baby was born with birth injuries caused by obstetric errors or other negligence by health care providers. For example, if a reasonable obstetrician would have ordered a C-section in response to fetal distress and your doctor didn’t, such that the baby wound up suffering oxygen loss and developed cerebral palsy, you may be able to recover damages.

Wrongful death lawsuits permit the estate and loved ones of a decedent to file a lawsuit against someone who is legally responsible for the death. Under the New York Estates, Powers, and Trusts Code Part 4, it may be possible to recover wrongful death damages if you can show: (1) a death, (2) caused by the defendant’s wrongful conduct, (3) giving rise to a cause of action that could have been pursued in court if there had been no death, (4) survival by one or more people who have been harmed due to the death, and (5) damages. Generally, a personal representative of the decedent’s estate needs to bring the wrongful death claim.

Chronic pain syndrome can be difficult to address. It is complex and poorly defined, and doesn’t respond well to therapy. Sometimes it is the result of a traumatic accident. If that accident was caused by someone else you may be able to recover damages. However, you’ll need an experienced Syracuse personal injury attorney to show the causal relationship between your chronic pain syndrome and the accident you suffered, as well as the other elements of negligence or other applicable theories of recovery.

Your central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord. The spinal cord is a column of nerve tissue running from the brain all the way down the spine. Sometimes those who suffer a brain injury also suffer a spinal cord injury, and they may need substantial care as a result. Your brain or spinal cord may be injured due to the fault of another. In that situation, you may be able to recover a broad spectrum of damages associated with brain and spinal cord injuries. Most people do not have enough saved in case they suffer brain or spinal cord injuries, which can require long-term care, multiple expensive medical procedures, alterations to the home, replacement services, rehabilitation and therapy. An injury lawsuit against the responsible party can help victims to cover those significant costs.

Property owners and occupiers have an obligation to keep their property reasonably safe for visitors. Unfortunately, not all property owners take reasonable care to make repairs or issue warnings. If you are injured as a result of dangerous property conditions, you may be able to recover damages by bringing a premises liability lawsuit. Premises liability lawsuits may be the result of slip and falls, dog bites, burn injuries, toxic exposure, negligent security, or failure to warn of potential dangers. In order to recover damages after an accident on someone else’s property, you will generally need to show that the property owner had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition that caused your injuries.

When a consumer buys a product, he or she doesn’t expect to be catastrophically injured or killed. If you are injured as a result of a defective product, you may be able to recover damages by bringing a product liability lawsuit. Products can be defective in three ways: through their design, manufacturing, or marketing. In order to prevail in a product liability case, you will need to be able to show the product at issue was already dangerous when it left the manufacturer, and that it had no warning to show that there was a risk of unreasonable danger.

DeFrancisco & Falgiatano represents people who have suffered injuries due to the fault of others in Syracuse, Rochester, and throughout Upstate New York, including in Ithaca, Cooperstown, Binghamton, Auburn, Canandaigua, Lyons, Herkimer, Elmira, Oswego, Wampsville, Utica, Lowville, Oneida, and Watertown. Call our firm at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form to learn more about your rights.