Legal Question in Personal Injury in New York

Re: rights

If the parents have already retained counsel these issues should be addressed with those attorneys. If they have not, or are unhappy with those attorneys, they should contact me immediately for a free consultation. In any resolution of this claim judicial approval will be required because the child is a minor. Generally speaking any money recovered will be required to be placed in trust for the benefit of the child and cannot be withdrawn without judicial approval. Any medical expenses will need to be accounted for, and costs for future medical care can also be recovered.

Re: rights

I love to talk to you and the parents about this case. If they are unhappy with their lawyer and are looking to switch lawyers, please call me and I will answer all of your questions with a free in person consultation.

Re: rights

I am terribly sorry for your nephew's injuries and the ordeal your family must be going through. Once a settlement is reached the surrogates court has to approve the settlement through an infant compromise order if this is a New York case. With respect to the trust issue you want to consider consulting with a few financial professionals and talk to them about a structured settlement or conservative investments. Creating a trust would be one you should consider. Contact me, Pasquale Calcagno, Esq., for a free consultation at 1(800)WE-FIGHT and I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. You can also visit us on the web at www.1800wefight.com for useful resources regarding your case. We have convenient locations all over New York and can have an attorney come to you for a free consultation upon request.

Re: rights

Have the mother and step father of your nephew retained an attorney? If so, all of this questions should be addressed with their attorney. If not, it is important that they seek legal advice immediately. I would be happy to speak with them as soon as possible to answer all of their questions and guide them through the litigation process. Please note that any settlement involving an infant must be approved by a Judge, so even if the insurance company offered them money before a lawsuit was started, they still need to get the case into court in order to have a Judge review and sign off on the settlement.

Re: rights

I am sorry to hear about your nephew. It sounds like he has a very serious and important case. As far as the lawsuit, the most important thing to do right away is to make sure that you have a firm that has experience with cases for children with a brain injury. From handling numerous cases for children, brain injuries, and cases for children with brain injuries, I know it takes a lot of experience and a lot of skill to properly handle the case. New York State requires that any money received by the child is put into a trust account and held until the child reaches the age of 18 years. Depending on the extent of the brain injury he may need a guardian appointed now or in the near future to oversee his care, make decisions regarding the lawsuit, make decisions regarding settlement, and make decisions regarding how to use the money from the lawsuit in the best way for your nephew. The guardian is usually one of the child's parents. As far as the parents receiving money, they are entitled to recover for their loss of services of the child. Unfortunately New York law is very limited when it comes to the parent's recovery. In the event of a settlement the parents usually waive their claims and assign any money they would receive to the child to make sure that the child receives as much as possible from the lawsuit. Additionally and importantly, New York has very strict time limitations for filing certain paperwork related to the case. There is an application for medical benefits that must be filed with the insurance company within 30 days of the accident. If it is not filed he will not be able to receive No-Fault medical benefits from the insurance company. Also depending on who the owner of the vehicle is a Notice of Claim may need to be filed with the City or State promptly. There is some information that would be helpful for me in giving you further advice: When did the accident happen? Where did it happen? Were there any factors that contributed to the accident that would make persons or entities other than the car responsible,i.e: Was he at school when it happened, Was there a crossing guard present, Was the crosswalk blocked, Was someone supposed to be supervising him, Was there a problem with the traffic light or crosswalk sign? It is very important to identify everyone who is possibly responsible for the accident as soon as you can. Very often car owners have a limited amount of insurance. Usually policies are $100,000 or less, so it is often critical to identify other potential defendants as soon as possible in order to make sure that he can recover more than the $100,000 in insurance money. In my experience if the attorneys are experienced like those from our firm they can undertake a thorough and immeidate investigation and identify additional potential defendants. I hope I have answered your questions and look forward to your response so that I may address these other potential issues.