Personal Injury Lawyer New York City NYC Accident Attorney —NYC Accident Attorney Serving Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan & All Five Boroughs
Someone’s negligence put you in a hospital. Now their insurance company is working to make sure they pay you as little as possible.
We fight back. Adam Shapiro and his team have represented injury victims across New York City since 1994. Before that, Adam spent years defending the insurance companies and corporations on the other side. He knows their playbook. Every page of it. Free consultation. English and Spanish. No fee unless we win.
Free consultation. English and Spanish. No fee unless we win
What Personal Injury Law Actually Means in New York
Personal injury law covers every situation where someone else’s carelessness, recklessness, or negligence causes you physical harm. Car crashes. Falls on dangerous property. Medical errors. Defective products. Workplace accidents. Construction site collapses.
New York law gives injured victims the right to pursue full compensation from the party responsible. But that right has deadlines. It has rules. And it requires proof that most people do not know how to build on their own.
That is where we come in.
How We Build Your Case
To win a personal injury claim in New York, four things must be established. The defendant owed you a duty of care. They breached that duty. The breach caused your injuries. And your injuries caused real, measurable harm.
Simple in theory. Brutal in practice when a well-funded insurance company is fighting every single element.
We secure police reports, medical records, surveillance footage, and witness statements from day one. We retain medical and economic experts who can speak to the full cost of your injury, not just the immediate bills. We build cases that hold up at trial, not just cases that look good enough to settle cheaply. When the insurer’s first offer arrives, we know exactly how far below your case’s value it sits.
That gap is what we fight for.
Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle
We fight for injury victims across every major category of personal injury law in New York:
- Car, truck, motorcycle, rideshare, and bus accidents
- Construction accidents and Labor Law §240 and §241 claims
- Slip, trip, and fall on commercial, residential, or public property
- Medical malpractice and surgical errors
- Wrongful death
- Workers’ compensation and third-party workplace injury claims
- E-bike and electric scooter accidents
- Pedestrian knockdowns
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord and catastrophic injury claims
Each of these has its own legal rules, its own deadlines, and its own strategy. We know all of them.
What You Can Recover
New York personal injury law allows victims to pursue compensation across two broad categories.
Economic damages cover the financial losses you can measure: past and future medical bills, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, rehabilitation costs, and property damage.
Non-economic damages cover what cannot be assigned a receipt: pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent disability, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life.
The insurance company’s job is to minimize both. Adjusters are trained specifically to do this. They underprice the long-term medical costs, they dispute your lost wage calculations, and they push back hard on pain and suffering.
We counter every move. Adam has sat in the rooms where those decisions get made. He knows exactly how the argument goes and how to beat it.
New York Comparative Fault — You Can Still Win Even If You Were Partly at Fault
New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule. Even if you were more at fault than the defendant, you can still recover damages. Your compensation is reduced proportionally by your percentage of fault but it is not eliminated.
Insurance companies exploit this rule aggressively. They inflate your fault percentage to shrink the payout. We keep that number as close to the actual facts as possible.
Deadlines You Cannot Miss
For most personal injury claims in New York, you have three years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit. Here is how it breaks down by case type:
Car accidents, slip and fall, construction accidents
Three years from the date of injury.
Medical malpractice
Two and a half years from the date of the alleged malpractice, or from the end of continuous treatment.
Wrongful death
Two years from the date of death, not from the date of the accident.
Claims against the city or a government entity
A Notice of Claim must be filed within 90 days of the accident. Miss that window and the right to sue is gone entirely.
The clock starts the day you are injured. The earlier you call us, the more evidence we can protect and the stronger your position becomes.
Why Adam's BackgroundChanges Everything
Most personal injury attorneys have only ever represented plaintiffs. Adam spent years on the defense side first, defending Lloyd’s of London, Harley Davidson, Ford Motor Credit, and major insurance carriers in civil litigation.
He knows how insurance companies evaluate claims internally. He knows which arguments they use to minimize payouts and at what point in the process they use them. He knows when a low offer means they are scared of your case and when it means they think you will fold.
That knowledge does not come from a textbook. It comes from being inside the room. And now it works for you.
The First Offer Is Almost Never the Right Number
This is the most important thing to understand about your claim. Insurance adjusters are measured on how little they pay out. The first settlement offer is a starting position, not a fair assessment. It is designed to close your case before you understand what it is actually worth.
We do not let that happen. We evaluate every factor, build the full picture of your damages, and fight for maximum recovery whether that means negotiating a strong settlement or taking the case to trial.
We go to trial. A lot of firms will not. We will.
We Serve All Five Boroughs and Beyond
Queens including Forest Hills, Flushing, Jamaica, and Astoria. Brooklyn. The Bronx. Manhattan. Staten Island. Long Island and Nassau County. Wherever you were hurt in New York, we are ready to fight.
How do I know if I have a personal injury case?
If someone else’s negligence caused your injury and you suffered real harm because of it, you likely have a case. The best way to know for certain is a free call with Adam. No obligation, no pressure.
What does it cost to hire a personal injury lawyer?
Nothing upfront. We work on contingency. You pay nothing unless we win. No hourly fees. No out-of-pocket costs during the case.
Should I talk to the insurance company before calling you?
No. Do not give a recorded statement, accept any offer, or sign anything before speaking with us. A single recorded statement can seriously damage your claim. Call us first.
What if my injury does not seem that serious right now?
Some injuries worsen days or weeks after the accident. A gap in medical treatment is one of the first things insurers use to reduce your claim. See a doctor immediately after any accident, even if you feel fine.
What if the accident was partly my fault?
You can still recover under New York’s comparative negligence law. Your compensation is reduced by your share of fault but not eliminated. Call us and we will tell you exactly where you stand.
How long will my case take?
Straightforward cases can settle in months. Complex cases involving serious injuries or disputed liability can take longer. We keep you informed at every stage and we do not push you toward a fast settlement that undervalues your case.
Do you handle cases in Spanish?
Yes. Full legal services in English and Spanish. Hablamos Español.
Call Adam Before You Talk to Anyone Else
The other side already has a team on your case. Before you say anything to an insurance adjuster, sign a release, or accept a settlement offer, call us.
The consultation is free. There is no fee unless we win. Adam is reachable from the first call.