New Hartford Office

The town of New Hartford consists of 25.5 square miles in Oneida County. Nearly 25,000 people live in the area. Whether you are driving to the doctor's office or walking around a shopping mall, you do not expect to suffer catastrophic injuries. Unfortunately, accidents do happen. When an accident is the fault of another person or business, the law allows you to hold them accountable through a personal injury lawsuit. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our experienced New Hartford personal injury lawyers strive to obtain the highest possible damages for our clients. We have offices in New Hartford at 23 Oxford Road, where we are available by appointment. 

Many personal injury lawsuits arise out of negligence. Negligence exists when someone owes a duty to another person, which is violated, such that the other person is injured or killed. Property owners owe a legal duty to use reasonable care to keep their property safe. This means that they are expected to inspect the property to determine whether there are any dangerous conditions and repair them or provide warnings about them to any visitors.

If you are injured on somebody else's property, you may be able to bring a premises liability lawsuit. These include accidents involving slip and falls, uncovered swimming pools, fires, explosions, dog bites, and inadequate security. Critical to most premises liability lawsuits is actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition. Constructive notice exists when a property owner using reasonable care would have known about the dangerous condition and repaired it or issued warnings. In most cases, it is established by showing that the condition existed for a long time. A personal injury attorney in the New Hartford area can advise you on whether it was likely present in your case.

Construction accidents are handled a bit differently and may contain distinctive elements. If you are a visitor to a construction site and suffer injuries, the case may proceed as a normal premises liability lawsuit. However, if you are a worker on the construction site who is injured, different rules apply. For most workers, their only remedy against their employer is a workers' compensation claim. However, workers may be able to recover damages against negligent third parties.

Moreover, New York has special laws for certain situations that require safety equipment or contain gravity-related risks. New York Labor Law Section 240 provides special protection for workers who are working at heights on most buildings. This law permits a construction worker who is injured in a scaffolding accident or another fall accident to sue the property owner and contractor for damages. Unlike most other personal injury actions, the defendant in this type of lawsuit cannot try to reduce your liability by showing that you were partially to blame. Unless you were entirely to blame, a New Hartford personal injury attorney can help you recover your full damages from the owner or contractor.

What if you are injured and go to the doctor, but through a breach of the professional standard of care, the doctor makes your injury worse? For example, what if a doctor amputates the wrong foot or fails to notice signs of internal injuries on your imaging? You may be able to hold a medical professional liable for medical malpractice if the health care provider owed you a professional duty of care, which they violated, thereby causing your injuries. The professional duty of care is usually established by an expert who is from the same specialty as the defendant and can testify as to the accepted standards and practices within that specific medical community. For example, your attorney likely would retain an expert surgeon to testify on whether surgical errors caused your injuries.

If you are injured or a loved one is killed as a result of negligent conduct in New Hartford, the capable attorneys at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano are available to help. Call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form to set up a free appointment to discuss your case. We can explain your legal options and ensure that your rights are protected.