Watertown Office

Watertown is named after the waterfalls on the nearby Black River. Formerly a manufacturing center, it is now a commercial and financial center for the rural area around it. Our firm has offices in Watertown at 119 Sherman Street, from which we can counsel injured individuals and their families on their legal options after an accident. Failures to use proper care can result in devastating injuries to a victim in many different situations. A nurse's failure to sterilize a surgical site and tools can result in sepsis. A truck driver's aggressive failure to yield the right of way to a motorcyclist can result in a needless death. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our Watertown personal injury lawyers provide experienced and knowledgeable legal counsel in a wide range of claims.

Many personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits arise under a theory of ordinary negligence. To show that a defendant was negligent, you will usually need to prove that it is more likely than not that the defendant owed you a duty of care, breached this duty, and caused your injuries and actual damages.

However, in some situations, you also need to prove another element. For example, in a slip and fall case, you will need to prove actual or constructive notice of the hazard that caused your injuries. Constructive notice means that the owner should have known about the hazard had they reasonably inspected their property. A property owner cannot be held liable if there was no way that they could have known about the hazard by using reasonable care.

In the context of medical malpractice, a personal injury attorney in the Watertown area will need to establish a breach of the professional standard of care, causation, and actual damages. The professional standard of care is made up of the accepted standards and practices of the medical community when faced with a medical problem similar to yours and a patient with traits similar to yours.

Birth injuries are a type of medical malpractice. Many different complications can arise during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Of course, not every problem that a baby experiences is a sign of medical malpractice. However, some complications that may be indicative of medical malpractice include forceps injuries, facial palsy, breech birth, low Apgar scores, postpartum hemorrhaging, brain damage, prolonged labor, or acidosis.

Usually, it is necessary to retain an expert even before filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. The expert will need to review the records and see whether a doctor or nurse deviated from the professional standard of care. In a case of acidosis, for example, the expert will look at the medical care provided during and before labor. Was there a breech birth? Did the cord become compromised? Was labor and delivery prolonged such that the baby got stuck in the birth canal?

A doctor's failure to conduct certain tests, use appropriate fetal monitoring equipment, calculate a baby's size, order a C-section when necessary, or administer oxygen to a newborn are all potentially negligent actions that can result in acidosis and the problems associated with it. Our Watertown personal injury attorneys have connections to a network of persuasive experts in the area of medical malpractice, and we know how to use their testimony to build a strong claim.

The damages that you can recover for your injuries or your loved one’s loss depend on what the specific injuries or losses are. When there are catastrophic injuries and disabilities, it may be possible to recover economic and noneconomic damages, including emergency services, medical costs, physical therapy, counseling, rehabilitation, household services, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of consortium, the costs of medical devices, and loss of quality of life. A parent who has a child with a birth injury may find it difficult to cope psychologically with the ongoing condition, and they may be able to recover emotional distress damages in connection with the child's birth injuries.

If you are injured as a result of negligence in Watertown, the dedicated attorneys at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano are ready to help you assert your legal rights. Call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us online to set up a free appointment. We can advise you on the full scope of your options and guide you through each step of the legal process.