New York Personal Injury Lawyer Secures $497,500 for Victim Injured by Defective Pavement

 The New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm recently obtained $497,500 on behalf of a client who was injured in a sidewalk accident in January 2014. According to court documents, the incident occurred at a sidewalk abutting a building on Staten Island. The defective condition ran along the sidewalk near the vicinity of a driveway entrance to the property, the complaint stated.
The lawsuit filed against the property manager and owner in the Richmond County Supreme Court alleged that the trip-and-fall accident and resulting injuries occurred due to the property owner’s negligence in failing to fix the defective sidewalk in a timely manner. The lawsuit stated that the location where the accident occurred had a condition where the sidewalk flags were broken, uneven, and not level and that the property owner allowed this defective condition to exist in spite of having notice of it. The suit claimed pain and suffering and medical expenses among other damages. The woman suffered leg injuries as a result of the trip-and-fall accident.
Sidewalk Dangers
Poorly constructed or maintained sidewalks can lead to slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accidents that often result in severe injury. Any number of injuries may occur in these types of falls including, but not limited to, hip fractures and other broken bone injuries, tissue tears, head or brain trauma, leg injuries, neck or back injuries, etc. Such injuries may even result in a victim’s death. Some of the common hazards involving sidewalks in New York City include:
• Uneven surfaces or surfaces that are not level
• Faulty construction that results in an unsafe walking surface
• Potholes or cracks in the pavement
• Snow or ice that has collected on the sidewalk
• Debris on the sidewalk that poses a tripping hazard
• Loose or unstable sidewalk material
• Trip hazards posed by sidewalk vaults that are improperly placed etc.
Who is Responsible?
While municipalities maintain some city sidewalks, property owners and/or property managers in New York City also have a duty to maintain sidewalks. Under Section 7-210 of the city’s Administrative Code, it is the duty of the property owner of buildings abutting any sidewalk including (but not limited to) the intersection quadrant for corner property, to maintain the sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition. The property owner and/or property manager in such cases, under this law, shall be liable for any personal injury to pedestrians that occurs as a result of the owner’s or managing agent’s failure to maintain or repair the sidewalk. The law also specifically mentions the building owner’s responsibility to “install, construct, reconstruct, repave, repair or replace defective sidewalk flags.”
Seeking Damages
Injured victims in such cases often suffer severe injuries that leave them temporarily or permanently disabled. Some are unable to perform their everyday work and others are disabled to such an extent that they are unable to return to work or earn a livelihood. The value or worth of a victim’s claim will often depend on the nature and extent of their injuries and losses and the liability of the responsible partie(s). Injured victims in such cases can seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost income and benefits, hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc.
Compensation here is sought by filing what is known as a premises liability claim against a property owner and/or property manager who failed to properly maintain or repair the defective sidewalk. If you have been injured, you can take a number of steps to protect your rights including filing an incident report, taking photos of the defective condition and your injuries, getting contact information for eyewitnesses and getting prompt medical attention and treatment for your injuries. It is also important that you contact an experienced New York premises liability lawyer who will fight hard to protect your rights every step of the way.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
For over 49 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recovered $1,700,000 for a woman who slipped and fell and received no hospital or medical treatment for one month after the accident.
Please call our offices TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496) to discuss your slip-and-fall case or trip-and-fall injury or accident case. WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com