Serious Injury Lawyer NYC

When an insurer questions whether your back, neck or knee injury counts as serious, the answer decides whether pain and suffering is part of your case. Our New York serious injury lawyers start with the evidence. We check whether your imaging, treatment records and accident facts show a lasting limit.

If a car, truck or other motor vehicle caused your injury, New York requires a serious injury under Insurance Law § 5102(d) before you can claim pain and suffering from the at-fault driver. A fall, a construction accident or another injury that didn't involve a motor vehicle isn't held to that list. Those cases turn on who was at fault and what your records prove.

The first conversation starts with your accident and the care you've had since. Tell us what's changed, and we'll explain where your case stands and what we'd want to see next.

Our New York serious injury lawyers represent people hurt in car crashes, falls, construction accidents and accidents at work, anywhere in the state. We investigate each accident and document exactly what your injury changed.

• Back injuries: For herniated discs and vertebral fractures, we gather the imaging and treatment records.
• Knee injuries: For torn ligaments and meniscus damage, we document the surgery and treatment.
• Neck injuries: For cervical disc injuries, we review your imaging and the accident report.
• Fractures and broken bones: For compound fractures and broken feet, ankles or legs, we gather treatment records.
• Shoulder injuries: For rotator cuff tears, labral tears and dislocations, we document your treatment.
• Hand, wrist and finger injuries: For crush injuries, tendon damage and fractures, we investigate the equipment and worksite involved.
• Eye injuries and vision loss: We gather eye exam records, with a focus on work-related cases.
• Hearing loss: For hearing damage on the job, we review your hearing test records.
• PTSD: For post-traumatic stress after a frightening accident, we review your mental health treatment records.
• Child injuries: When your child is hurt, a parent or guardian brings the case with us.

Brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and severe burns also meet New York's serious injury rules. Our catastrophic injury lawyers handle those cases.

A serious injury is often part of a bigger claim. We also handle wrongful death, premises liability, construction accident, workplace injury, product liability and medical malpractice cases.

We represent only injured people, never insurance companies, so every case we take is built around you: your medical record and the facts of your accident. Our New York serious injury law firm has represented injured New Yorkers for 34 years. Partners Howard Raphaelson and Andrew Levine lead it, and the attorneys on your file work with them.

For an injured cyclist, we found an excess policy, extra coverage above the driver's small primary policy, and pursued all of it. When a lift crushed a worker's hand on a shared worksite, our investigation found no lockout/tagout procedure, the steps that keep equipment from moving while a worker is exposed.

When an insurer called a driver's surgeries excessive, we presented the full medical timeline showing less invasive treatment came first. If an injury's future cost is disputed, we work with medical experts, life care planners and economists.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

“December of 2017, three days before Christmas, I was struck by a van while riding my bicycle to work and suffered multiple fractures.” — Madison T.

“I'm so grateful to Julia and the team at Raphaelson & Levine for representing me after I suffered a back injury in a car accident caused by a careless driver.” — Mateo

Results vary depending on the facts and circumstances of each case.

In short: after a car or other motor vehicle accident, you need a serious injury to claim pain and suffering, and in lawsuits started since May 26, 2026, fault is decided first. Falls, construction and other accidents aren't held to that rule, but every case runs on deadlines, some as short as 30 days.

We check which rules apply to your accident and when a lawsuit would begin.

Where the serious injury threshold applies

For an injury lawsuit between people covered by New York's no-fault law over negligence in the use or operation of a motor vehicle in New York, a serious injury is required to recover pain and suffering (Insurance Law § 5104). A fall or worksite accident that didn't involve the use or operation of a motor vehicle is outside that rule.

Fault is decided first in newer vehicle lawsuits

In motor vehicle lawsuits started on or after May 26, 2026, the judge or jury decides who was at fault before deciding whether your injury is serious (Insurance Law § 5104).

In those lawsuits, an injured person who was at fault, but can still recover under CPLR § 1411, is limited to $100,000 for pain and suffering if they were:

• Driving an uninsured vehicle they were responsible for insuring, unless the coverage lapse was shorter than 30 days
• Driving while impaired at the time of the accident, and convicted of it
• Driving while committing a felony, or fleeing from one, at the time of the accident, and convicted of that felony

That cap doesn't apply when the injuries resulted in death.

Meeting the threshold doesn't prove fault, so we prepare proof of both.

If you were partly at fault

New York generally follows a comparative negligence rule: being partly at fault for an accident does not automatically prevent you from recovering compensation, but your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault (NY CPLR § 1411).

For injury lawsuits covered by New York's no-fault law and started on or after May 26, 2026, you generally cannot recover if your fault is greater than the fault of the people you sue.

For other injury claims, such as falls and construction accidents, pure comparative negligence still applies: partial fault reduces, but does not bar, recovery.

If you were riding a motorcycle

New York's no-fault system doesn't cover motorcyclists, so no-fault won't pay your first medical bills (Insurance Law § 5102(f)). The flip side is that the serious injury threshold doesn't limit your claim against a driver who caused the crash. Our motorcycle accident lawyers can walk you through both.

Deadlines that apply to your claim

A missed deadline can end a strong case, so we confirm yours on the first call. These are the ones injured New Yorkers run into most.

On the first call, we learn how you were hurt and what treatment you've had, and you learn what records we need and who may be responsible.

Unsure whether your injury counts? Start with a short call.

A free consultation with Raphaelson & Levine tells you where your injury stands, who may be responsible and what to do next. You leave the call with a clear plan for your back, neck, knee, shoulder, hand or eye injury, your fracture, your PTSD or your child's injury.

Bring what you have, even a name and a date.

We're available 24/7. Our New York serious injury lawyers represent injured people throughout New York State, from the five boroughs to Long Island, Westchester, Rockland and upstate New York.