Name: Albany Personal Injury Lawyers
Brand: Powers & Santola, LLP
Rating: 5 (161 reviews)

★★★★★

We absolutely can’t thank you enough.

Powers & Santola was so knowledgeable and caring. I was so very fortunate to find such a great law firm.

- John

Serious injuries change lives – not only the life of the injured person but his or her family members as well. At Powers & Santola, LLP, we know that the recovery from a personal injury can be slow, painful, and costly. If you were harmed by another’s negligence, you need a personal injury lawyer that will be able to help you get through this challenging period and recover the compensation you are due.

Since 1987, our attorneys have provided skillful legal guidance and aggressive representation to personal injury victims and their families in Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and communities throughout Upstate and Western New York.

Our injury law firm’s mission is to pursue full and fair compensation for the injuries our clients have suffered due to the actions of negligent doctors, construction site owners, drivers and others.

What Is a
Personal Injury Claim?

Very few accidents are random, with no one to blame. Those would not qualify as personal injury claims. In most accident cases, someone and or their actions caused the accident. A valid personal injury claim must prove that another person or party acted carelessly and that their behavior directly harmed you or a loved one. The legal term for this is negligence.

Most personal injury claims involve negotiating with the at-fault party’s insurance company. You will be seeking compensation for the injuries and losses that you suffered as a result of the insured’s negligence. Legal problems typically arise when the insurance company disputes liability for the accident or the severity of your injuries.

They may also claim that you shared a portion of the fault. A personal injury law firm can take over all settlement negotiations and fight for fair compensation for your injuries. An attorney can also stand up for you so that you are not assigned an unfair proportion of the fault.

Why Do I Need a Personal Injury Lawyer?

When someone else’s negligence is responsible for your injuries, you should not be left to pay the consequences. Yet, few at-fault parties readily admit fault and pay for the damages they caused through their negligence. Insurance companies defend them, also trying to protect their own bottom line. All the while, you may be left with serious injuries, chronic pain, high medical bills, and an uncertain financial future. By hiring a personal injury lawyer, you ensure that someone is advocating for your legal rights and protecting you from unfounded accusations that you were at fault for the accident.

If you were injured due to someone else’s negligence, a personal injury lawyer can explain your legal rights and help build your personal injury claim by:

Connecting you with medical providers to receive exceptional medical care
Investigating the accident, identifying all at-fault parties, and determining all the factors that contributed to your injuries
Gathering evidence of fault, including witness statements, surveillance videos, photos, and accident reports
Compiling evidence to document how your injuries have adversely affected your life
Consulting with top experts as necessary to further strengthen your claim
Handling communications and negotiations with insurance companies
Preparing your claim paperwork and filing legal claims in a timely manner

Our goal is to get you the compensation you deserve. We know how someone else’s careless actions can upend a victim’s life, and we fight tirelessly to make things right.

Why Hire Powers & Santola, LLP to Handle Your Personal Injury Claim

The personal injury lawyers at Powers & Santola, LLP are uniquely qualified to handle various types of personal injury cases. Since 1987, we have made it our life’s mission to help injured individuals obtain the fair compensation they need to rebuild their lives after they were injured by someone else’s negligence. We fight for justice on behalf of people who were seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice incidents, and other devastating accidents.

Backed by over three decades of legal experience, our lawyers strategically build personal injury claims that seek to prove the defendant breached a legal duty and caused our clients’ injuries. Our relentless efforts have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation won for our deserving clients and their families.

The legal community has taken note of our success. Six of our personal injury lawyers have been recognized as “Best Lawyers in America” and “Super Lawyers,” based on factors including peer review and professional achievement. Our firm has been named one of the Best Law Firms in the country by U.S. News & World Report. Our lawyers have also held leadership positions in local, state, and national bar organizations over the years.

At Powers & Santola, LLP we prepare every case as though it were going to trial. We consult with medical experts who can testify about the extent of our clients’ injuries, as well as nationally-recognized expert consultants in various fields, including economics, engineering, and social science. Preparing our cases in this manner means that we are well-versed in their intricacies, allowing us to make strong arguments for compensation in or out of the courtroom.

We fight for justice and uphold our clients’ rights. We never treat a client as a case number. Instead, you’re treated as a member of our family. Call us today to learn more about how we can help you during this challenging time.

Statute of Limitations

New York sets deadlines for how long you have to file different types of injury claims:

Personal injury: 3 years from the date of the accident or injury
Medical malpractice: 2 years and 6 months from the date of the malpractice or end of continuous treatment of a condition, illness, or injury
Wrongful death: 2 years from the date of death

In certain cases against government agencies, you must provide notice of a potential claim within 90 days after the accident. Talk to a lawyer at Powers & Santola, LLP, before the statute of limitations for your claim expires so that your claim isn’t barred in court.

One important note

New York handles car accident claims differently from other personal injury claims. New York is a no-fault state. That means that if you are in a crash, you will first ask your own insurance company to pay for your medical costs and other economic losses, even if you did not cause the accident.

Compensation from the other party’s insurance carrier may be available only if you sustained serious injuries such as disfigurement or substantial loss of a body function. Examples of this include herniated discs, vision loss, internal injuries, psychological damage, and permanent scarring. A Powers & Santola, LLP, lawyer can talk to you about other possible avenues for compensation if you’ve been in a car accident.

What Is a Personal Injury Claim?

What Is a Personal Injury Claim?

Very few accidents are random, with no one to blame. Those would not qualify as personal injury claims. In most accident cases, someone did something to cause it. A valid personal injury claim must prove that another person or party acted carelessly and that their behavior directly harmed you or a loved one. This behavior is legally called negligence.

New York sets deadlines for how long you have to file different types of injury claims.

Personal injury: 3 years from the date of the accident or injury
Medical malpractice: 2 years and 6 months from the date of the malpractice or end of continuous treatment of a condition, illness, or injury
Wrongful death: 2 years from the date of death

In certain cases against government agencies, you must provide notice of a potential claim within 90 days after the accident.
Talk to a lawyer at Powers & Santola, LLP, before the statute of limitations for your claim expires so that your claim isn’t barred in court.

How Do I Know If I Have a Personal Injury Case?

When we provide a consultation about your case, we will answer all of your questions and learn more about what happened to you or your family member. In particular, we will focus on whether your case contains the four basic elements of a personal injury claim:

Duty
To be liable to you, a person, company, or government agency owes a duty of care to you. For instance, New York’s “Scaffold Law” places a duty on construction site owners, contractors, and their agents to ensure the safety of workers who operate in a location, or in a manner, where they could fall from one level to another.
Breach
You must show that a party failed to fulfill the duty of care owed to you. For example, a doctor may have breached a duty of care owed to you as a patient if the doctor failed to order proper tests based on your symptoms (causing your cancer to go undiagnosed).
Causation
You must also establish that a party’s negligence – whether actions or failure to act – caused harm to you. For example, if a driver had not been recklessly texting while driving, the driver would not have crossed the center line and struck your vehicle
Damages
Finally, you must show that you suffered actual harm as a result of the party’s conduct such as severe bodily injuries that required you to stay in a hospital for a prolonged period and to miss time at your job.

What Types of Injuries Do Personal Injury Victims Suffer?

Albany personal injury victims can suffer various types of injuries. The type and severity of these injuries depend on various factors, such as the type of accident, the force involved, the victim’s age and health, and their position at the time of the accident. Our personal injury lawyers help accident victims who have sustained serious injuries, such as:

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) – These injuries are often a result of hitting your head on a hard surface or suffering a blow to the head. These serious injuries can result in long-term complications, loss of consciousness, and altered personalities.
Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) – Damage to the spinal cord can cause paralysis, the loss of mobility, and dependence on loved ones for activities of daily living.
Amputations – Serious accidents can sever a body part or require medical professionals to sever the body part to prevent further harm to the victim. These injuries can result in disfigurement and the need for prosthetics.
Internal organ damage – Not all injuries following an accident present with obvious symptoms. Internal bleeding or damage to the heart, lungs, spleen, liver, or other organs can be life-threatening.
Degloving injuries – A degloving injury occurs when skin is torn away from tissue, such as if a worker’s hand gets caught in a machine.
Fractures – Bones can break when more force is applied to them than they can withstand.
Electrical injuries – Contact with live wires or an electrical shock can result in painful electrical injuries.
Crush injuries – If a body is squeezed between two heavy objects or surfaces or is crushed by a vehicle, serious injuries can result.
Whiplash – Whiplash is a severe soft tissue injury caused when the head whips violently back and forth, such as in a rear-end car accident.
Soft tissue injuries – Other soft tissue injuries can occur when the muscles, tendons, or ligaments are damaged.
Burns – Burn injuries can occur when skin and underlying tissue come in contact with heat, certain chemicals, radiation, or electricity.
Nerve damage – Personal injury accidents sometimes cause nerve injuries, which can lead to numbness, loss of function, and chronic pain.
Eye and dental injuries – Some accidents, like motorcycle accidents, can cause facial trauma, leading to eye injuries, blindness, vision problems, dental trauma, and broken teeth.
Psychological injuries – In addition to physical injuries, accidents can cause psychological trauma, leading to mental health conditions such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, and depression.

If you suffered any of these injuries because someone else acted negligently, consulting with a qualified personal injury lawyer is essential to protect your legal rights.

Contact An Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer

At Powers & Santola, LLP, a personal injury lawyer will provide a frank assessment of your case. We limit the number of personal injury claims we handle. Doing so allows us to work closely with each client and thoroughly prepare each case.

To learn more about the steps that are involved in pursuing a personal injury lawsuit in New York, please see our Timeline.

What Can We Recover in Albany?

What Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Recover in Albany?

Our goal at Powers & Santola, LLP, is to make a fundamental difference in each client’s life. We know how difficult it can be to suffer from traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage or severe burns due to the careless or reckless acts of another.

We also know that money cannot replace all that is lost when someone is catastrophically injured or killed in an accident. But we can analyze your case and advise you of your legal options. Should you move forward with your claim, we always push for the maximum amount of compensation possible.

New York law divides personal injury damages into categories. There are economic damages, which compensate victims for financial losses resulting from an accident. Economic damages are easily quantified with documents such as bills and receipts.

Victims may also be awarded non-economic damages. This is money for injuries that aren’t as easy to add up with a calculator, such as pain and suffering or humiliation. It can be challenging for a judge or jury to place a dollar amount on losses that can’t be backed by solid numbers. Powers & Santola, LLP, regularly employs experts to support claims for non-economic damages. Their testimony can be a key part of you getting the money you deserve. We work tirelessly to pursue the compensation that our clients deserve, including:

Medical expenses
Medical expenses – We can review your medical records and consult with experts to determine and pursue your past and future medical costs, including emergency care, operations, hospitalization, medication, assistive devices, and rehabilitation.
Lost income
Lost income – We will seek a recovery that reflects the wages you have lost to date and will lose in the future due to your diminished ability to earn a living as a result of your injuries.
Pain and suffering
Pain and suffering – We will strive to recover compensation for your physical pain, disfigurement, and emotional suffering, including the loss of your enjoyment of life.
Loss of consortium
Loss of consortium – We can also seek to hold the at-fault party responsible for the harm done to your relationship with your spouse
Punitive damages
Punitive damages – In addition to compensatory damages, a party who injured you by engaging in intentionally harmful or willfully or wantonly negligent or reckless actions can be held liable for punitive damages as well.

New York follows a doctrine of pure comparative fault. This means that your recovery in a personal injury claim can be reduced according to the percentage of fault assigned to you. If the other party in your case claims that you were at fault for your injuries, we will be ready to answer.

If you have lost a loved one due to the negligence of another, please see our Wrongful Death section to learn more about your rights and the damages that can be pursued in those cases.

Cases We Handle in Albany

Cases Our Personal Injury Lawyers Handle in Albany

The attorneys at Powers & Santola, LLP, focus primarily on three areas of law:

Medical Malpractice

Three of our attorneys have been recognized as The Best Lawyers in America in the area of Plaintiff’s Medical Malpractice. We can help clients who have suffered injuries due to surgical errors, medication mistakes, missed or delayed diagnoses, hospital-acquired infections, or those impacted by birth injuries.

Construction Site Accidents
Partner Daniel R. Santola is the author of Litigating Construction Accident Claims in New York and a leading authority on construction accident claims that are brought through New York’s Labor Laws.

Motor Vehicle Accidents
Partner Daniel R. Santola is the author of Litigating Construction Accident Claims in New York and a leading authority on construction accident claims that are brought through New York’s Labor Laws.

Due to our legal skill, experience and resources, we can handle personal injury cases in a wide range of other areas, including:

Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
We assist families who have suffered due to the physical, sexual, or emotional abuse of an elderly loved one in a New York nursing home.

Premises Liability
We can represent those who have suffered serious injuries due to slip-and-fall accidents on private, commercial, or government property or who have been injured in other incidents due to hazardous property conditions.

Defective Products
Defective products – We stand up for the rights of consumers who have been harmed by defectively designed or manufactured products or by manufacturers’ failure to provide sufficient warnings about risks associated with their products.

Is it a Affordable Option?

Is a Personal Injury Attorney an Affordable Option?

Some people may worry about the cost of hiring an attorney. Let us put those fears to rest. You have nothing to lose by working with an attorney at our firm. We charge nothing upfront. Powers & Santola, LLP, handles all of its claims on a contingency basis. That means we only get paid if we recover a verdict or settlement on your behalf.

How does that work? Powers & Santola, LLP, will pay for all of the court costs and any other services needed to investigate your case in depth. If we win, we will accept payment as a percentage of your award, as well as reimbursement for any services that we paid in order to prevail on your claim. An alternative fee arrangement may be negotiated depending on the attorney or law firm. There are also special rules on fee arrangements in New York medical malpractice cases. However, they are still contingent fees, meaning there is no financial outlay from you at the start.

Why would we risk our own money with no promise of reward? It’s because Powers & Santola, LLP, only accepts cases that we believe have merit. We don’t represent whoever walks in our door.

When we take your case, you can be assured that our interests are aligned with yours. We want to help you secure the maximum amount of compensation on your claim. The more we recover for you, the more we get paid as well. No one else has your best interests in mind after an accident – this includes insurance companies, the police, and the courts.

The attorneys at Powers & Santola, LLP, strongly advise against representing yourself. Research shows that non-lawyers rarely prevail in court. It’s also possible to make mistakes at the beginning of the process that can be challenging for an attorney to fix later. Studies also show that claimants with attorneys actually end up with more money than those who try to negotiate a settlement on their own.

The beauty of a contingency fee arrangement is that there is nothing to lose. In fact, you never have to pay our attorney’s fees out of your pocket. If we win compensation for you, we deduct our fees from the total award and pass all the rest along to you. If we are unable to recover compensation for you, we don’t get paid. It’s as simple as that.

It all starts with a free consultation that comes with no strings attached.

Steps Involved in a Personal Injury Claim

If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligent actions, you may feel overwhelmed and intimidated by the legal process. However, our skilled personal injury attorneys can guide you through the process with compassion and confidence. Personal injury claims typically follow this series of steps:

Legal Consultation

Our personal injury attorneys offer free consultations to prospective clients, which gives us a chance to get to know you and explain your legal rights. We can discuss your accident and determine if you may have a viable personal injury case against a third party. You are not obligated to go any further with your personal injury claim if you decide not to.

Accident Investigation

If we move forward with your case, our investigative team will conduct a thorough review of the circumstances to determine:

How the accident happened
The factors that contributed to it
Who is legally responsible for your injuries

Each personal injury is different, so the investigation may involve different facets. Some of the ways that we gather evidence for your case might include:

Revisiting the accident scene to photograph conditions that could have contributed to it
Reviewing accident reports
Interviewing witnesses
Obtaining video footage from traffic cameras or surveillance cameras
Evaluating physical evidence
Reviewing medical records
Hiring accident reconstruction experts who use scientific data to recreate the events that caused the accident
Extracting data from black boxes in vehicles

Claim Development

Our personal injury lawyers further develop your claim by identifying the legal theories that justify your demand for compensation. We continue to gather evidence to support your claim and assess the full extent of your damages. We file a claim with the insurance company, handle communication with the insurance company, and document your losses.

Demand for Compensation

We prepare a comprehensive demand for financial compensation that clearly articulates the following information:

How the accident happened
Why the defendant is legally responsible for it
The damages you have sustained
The amount of money you demand to resolve your claim

We typically submit this demand to the insurance company that covers the defendant, whether that is their auto, homeowner, or commercial liability insurance.

Negotiations

The insurance company may respond to our demand by offering a settlement. We may then respond to that settlement offer by demanding a higher figure. Engaging in several rounds of negotiations may be necessary before a fair settlement can be reached. Most personal injury claims end at this point, with the accident victim accepting a certain amount of money in exchange for agreeing not to sue the defendant.

Litigation

If the insurance company outright denies your claim or refuses to offer a fair settlement, your lawyer can prepare a complaint and file a lawsuit on your behalf. The litigation process involves several additional steps, including pre-trial motions, conferences, discovery, and trial.

Will I Have to Go to Court?

Many accident victims are understandably scared at the prospect of going to court. They may feel intimidated by the legal process or the thought of being cross-examined. They don’t want to talk about their health and other private matters in a public forum. For many people, the concern about going to court is unwarranted because only a small percentage of personal injury cases end at trial.

As you can see from the process outlined above, going to court is the last step, and one that many people don’t have to go through. At Powers & Santola, LLP, we are often able to resolve cases pre-trial. However, we will never sacrifice what is best for our client simply to settle a claim. If the insurance company fails to offer fair compensation, we can sue to seek maximum compensation in court. Either way, you will be in trusted hands.

What Should I Do After an Accident?

If you’ve been injured in a personal injury accident, take these steps to protect your health and legal claim:

Seek Medical Attention

If you’ve been injured, call 911 and request emergency medical services. If a paramedic asks to take you to the hospital, agree. If you did not receive medical attention immediately after the accident, seek it as soon as possible. Your medical records can help establish your legal claim, and prompt medical attention may help you avoid health complications.

Report the Accident

Contact the authorities to report the accident and your injuries. If you were injured in a car accident, call the local police. If you were injured on someone else’s property, notify the property owner or business manager. Taking this step can help ensure that an official accident report is completed, which can help with your insurance claim.

Get the At-Fault Party’s Information

Whether you’re injured in a car accident or slip and fall at a store, try to get the at-fault party’s information, including their name, contact information, and insurance information. If you were injured in a car accident, get the at-fault driver’s license number, vehicle registration number, and a description of the vehicle.

Document the Accident Scene

Regardless of how you were injured, the accident scene will not remain the same for long. Preserve what information you can by:

Taking pictures of the accident scene from different angles
Asking any witnesses to write down their names and contact information
Keeping the clothing you were wearing at the time of the accident
Waiting to complete any vehicle repairs until you have spoken to a personal injury lawyer

Watch What You Say (and Post)

When interacting with police or the at-fault party, avoid discussing fault or saying anything that implies you were at fault for the accident as these statements could be used against you to diminish your claim’s value. Don’t agree to give the insurance company a recorded statement, as this is typically a tactic insurance companies use to try to get information to use against you. Avoid posting anything about your case online.

Keep Detailed Records

As your claim develops, you may start accumulating various records related to your claim, such as communications with the insurance company, your personal notes, lost income records, and medical records. Keep all of these records in an organized folder.

Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer

Contact our experienced personal injury lawyers for help with your claim.

Get Help Today from Our
Personal Injury Attorneys in Albany

When we accept a personal injury case at Powers & Santola, LLP, our attorneys look at the big picture. We consider your current medical needs, your anticipated rehabilitation and vocational retraining, and your physical and medical needs far into the future.

We understand the effects that serious injuries can have on victims and families as well as the long-term costs associated with treating the injuries. We don’t settle for less than our clients need and deserve.

This dedication to our clients’ interests has allowed us to recover millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for people who have suffered injuries in Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and throughout New York.

Other Practice Areas

Delayed Cancer
Diagnosis

Surgical
Malpractice

Wrongful
Death

Auto
Accidents

Medical
Malpractice

Traumatic
Brain Injury

Changing Lives for the Better

When someone injures you, your life gets turned upside down. Suddenly, you may face a ton of medical bills. You may be unable to work or help out around the home. Others may need to care for you around the clock. Nothing is the same.

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Personal Injury Attorney in Albany, NY