Slip and fall accidents in New York and New Jersey.
A fall on someone else’s property gets treated as clumsiness until someone shows otherwise. The real question is whether the owner knew about the hazard, or should have, and did nothing about it. We handle these cases across New York and New Jersey, including the sidewalk rules specific to New York City.
The hazard will be gone tomorrow. Photograph it today.
Ice melts, spills get mopped, broken steps get fixed. Property owners repair hazards quickly after someone falls, and once it is fixed it is very hard to show what it looked like. If you can, photograph the exact spot before you leave.
You won’t get all of this right, and you don’t have to. Do what you can, and we’ll work with what you have.
Get treated and report the fall
See a doctor, and tell the property — the store manager, the landlord, the building super. Ask for a copy of the incident report. If they won’t give you one, write down who you spoke to and when.
Photograph the hazard and find a witness
The spot where you fell, from a few angles and far enough back to show where it is. Whatever caused it: the ice, the liquid, the broken tread, the raised slab. Anyone who saw it, with a phone number. Keep your shoes too — insurers often blame footwear.
Don’t assume every property claim works the same way
A fall in a shop, on a New York City sidewalk, in an apartment building, and on government property are four different claims with different rules and, for government property, far shorter deadlines. Find out which one you have before the time runs out.
Most New Jersey injury claims have to be filed within two years, and most New York claims within three. If a city, a state agency or a public authority is involved, formal notice can be due within 90 days. Miss the deadline and the claim is usually gone, however strong it was.
How long you have to bring a claimThis page is general information. It is not medical or legal advice for your situation.
Where you fell changes the question.
New York City sidewalks
In most of New York City, responsibility for maintaining the sidewalk sits with the owner of the adjoining property rather than the City, with exceptions for certain small owner-occupied homes. Working out who is responsible for the exact slab you fell on is the first thing we do.
Shops, apartment buildings and private property
A business has to keep the areas customers use reasonably safe, and a landlord has duties in the common areas. The argument is usually whether they knew about the hazard, or whether it had been there long enough that they should have.
What a serious fall actually costs
A broken hip, a fractured wrist, a head injury. These injuries take people out of work for months and some never fully come back. An insurer will offer a figure based on your medical bills. That is rarely the whole loss.
We look at the property, not at a template.
Jim Hunt trained at one of the largest law firms in the world. Our attorneys came from the other side of claims like yours — corporate defense and insurance defense in New York City — and they know where a defense lawyer looks to cut a claim down.
We take on fewer cases than most firms, on purpose. That means you deal with an attorney rather than a case handler, your calls get returned, and the person answering knows your file. We’ll handle the insurer so you don’t have to, and we’ll work on getting your medical bills sorted out while the claim runs. You pay nothing unless we recover money for you.
What happens when you call.
Questions people ask after an injury.
Every situation is different. If yours isn’t here, ask us. There’s no cost to ask.
Who is responsible for a New York City sidewalk?
Usually the owner of the property next to it rather than the City, under the City’s administrative code. There are exceptions, including some owner-occupied one, two and three-family homes, which remain the City’s responsibility. Claims against the City also carry much shorter deadlines, which is why these are worth looking at early.
What if I fell on government property?
The rules are different and the clock is much shorter. A claim against a city, a state or a public authority usually requires formal notice within a short period, sometimes as little as 90 days. If you think a public body is involved, call sooner rather than later.
Nobody saw me fall. Does that end it?
No. Plenty of cases have no witness. What matters is evidence of the hazard and how long it had been there — photographs, maintenance records, earlier complaints, security footage. Those things exist more often than people expect, but they have to be asked for quickly.
If someone else was responsible, these are the losses a claim is meant to put right.
Medical treatment
The care you have already had, and the care the evidence says you are still going to need.
Lost income
Time off work now, and the earnings you lose if you cannot go back to what you did before.
The effect on your life
Pain, the things you can no longer do, and how long that is expected to last. This is the part with no invoice attached, and the part an insurer values lowest.
What any individual claim is worth depends on its own facts, and no one can tell you that from a web page.
Not only did Jim always make sure he answered me in a timely manner, but he also kept in touch with me on a very regular basis and even handled appointments for me. He kept me in the loop for everything, for every decision, and was able to get me quick results and an even quicker resolution.
— Ziomara L., Google review
Read more client reviewsPrior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstance. Testimonials are reviews left by actual clients on the firm’s public Google profile, in the client’s own words and shortened in places; clients are not compensated for reviews. A testimonial is not a guarantee or prediction about your case. Read our full disclaimer.
Not a slip and fall?
If yours is closer to one of these, start there instead.