Blog – Page 13 – Daniella Levi & Associates P.C.

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A Ceiling Falls on Me: What Are My Legal Rights?

Written on February 1, 2021. Posted in Blog, Premises Liability.

What Are My Legal Rights if a Ceiling Falls on Me in NYC?

Signs of a ceiling about to collapse should never be taken lightly. If you notice brown spots, cracks, or missing pieces of plaster on your ceiling, you should notify your landlord immediately, as a ceiling collapse can lead to devastating injuries and should be avoided at all costs.

Here’s the deal. If you’re renting your property, your landlord is responsible for its integrity. As a tenant, you have the right to a well-maintained property and safe living conditions. Therefore,, your landlord has to keep your property in a secure condition.

Yet, as unthinkable as they may seem, ceiling collapses happen. The good news is that legal rights protect you for when it does. Read on to find out about your legal alternatives and what to do right after the incident.

What Causes a Ceiling Collapse?

Several factors can lead to a ceiling collapse, but the most common causing factor seems to be negligence. A significant amount of carelessness in conjunction with one or more of the following reasons is the recipe for disaster:

Neglecting leaky pipes.
Ignoring the possible signs of structural damage (cracks, brown spots, etc.).
Failure to execute regular inspections and repairs.
Hiring unqualified labor for building construction and maintenance.
Structural damage caused by unprofessional work or inadequate materials.
Failing to address rat or insect infestations that compromise the ceiling’s structural integrity.

Who is Liable?

Ceiling collapse lawsuits can often become complicated. This is why it is essential to contact a specialized attorney as soon as it happens to you. Your attorney will help you determine whether you have a valid claim, and who is responsible.

Further, depending on the situation leading up to the structural damage, anyone from your landlord and property manager to the construction company may be liable. Your attorney will investigate your incident and determine who’s at fault.

What To Do Right After a Ceiling Collapse?

Taking the correct steps right after you suffered a ceiling collapse is essential for your case. Provided that you are able, this is what you should do:

Take clear pictures of the collapsed ceiling immediately.
Seek out a medical consultation, even if your injuries don’t seem severe.
Make a list of all the times you’ve previously complained to your building manager about ceiling cracks, leaks, brown spots, or other related concerns.
Contact Daniella Levi & Associates for a free consultation.

While every ceiling collapse incident is unique, these steps will leave you with the most legal alternatives in each individual case. Even if your injuries are minor, calling a specialized attorney is detrimental.

Your attorney will be able to inspect your ceiling collapse’s circumstances, determine whether you have a valid claim, and fight for your rights in court afterward.

You might not have sustained severe injuries if you were lucky, but you might not be so lucky the next time. Your attorney will make sure that there’s no next time, and that the property will be repaired to a secure condition.

Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney for a Free Consultation

If you suffered injuries resulting from a ceiling collapse, you might be eligible to obtain financial support for your lost wages, and medical expenses. But, you need a lawyer to assess your case and help you navigate the legal process.

Our attorneys at Daniella Levi & Associates are equipped with the expertise to help you through these difficult proceedings. Call us today and book a free consultation with our attorneys who specialize in ceiling collapse cases.

Remember, that the consultation is free, but our advice is priceless.

About Daniella Levi & Associates P.C.

After a serious accident, many people desperately need the financial support that comes from a successful result of their injury claim. To ensure you have the best chance at obtaining the compensation you deserve, your lawyer should be just as invested in your case as you are.

We strongly believe in upholding accident victims’ rights at Daniella Levi & Associates, P.C., headquartered in New York City. We are dedicated advocates for our clients, fighting, and using every available resource, to obtain the compensation they deserve.

Most accident attorneys know the law, and many have a fair amount of experience. While both of these characteristics are important in a lawyer, they constitute only a part of what it takes to ensure a good experience.

At our law firm, we provide personal attention from a team of dedicated professionals, aggressive advocacy, open communication and caring guidance. We know how stressful it can be to seek legal advice while facing severe physical and financial challenges. We do what it takes to carry the burden for you.

Daniella Levi & Associates P.C. has 3 Locations in NYC: Levi Law Queens | Levi Law The Bronx | Levi Law Mineola

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Falling at Apartment Complexes: Why You Must Call an Attorney

Written on January 15, 2021. Posted in Blog, Slip and Fall.

Why Do I Need to Call an Attorney After Falling at My Apartment Complex?

Did You Slip or Fall at Your Apartment Complex?

Accidents happen to all of us. Sometimes we’re the victims of circumstances while at others they’re caused by someone else’s negligence

After a slip or fall, your most important priority should be determining whether it was caused by your someone else’s negligence. Do you have a valid trip or fall claim? What’s the best way to find out?

Learn about what to do right after you slipped, tripped, or fell, below.

What To Do Immediately After a Slip, Trip or Fall?

If you find yourself to be the unfortunate victim of a slip, trip, or fall, then reporting the incident is the first step. If your injuries don’t prevent you from getting up, then urgently find your apartment complex’s manager or building supervisor. Notifying them immediately about the incident is crucial.

If your injuries are too severe, or you can’t find anyone, call 911 and report your injury to them. Also, make sure to take pictures of the scene and your injuries. This is your assurance in case the building manager decides to quickly make repairs after your accident. Photos can be a significant asset for your case if management attempts to hide their negligence after your fall.

Do You Have a Valid Slip or Fall Claim?

Generally, you’ll have a valid claim if your slip, trip, or fall was caused by the property management team’s negligence. You most likely have a successful personal injury case if any of the following reasons were involved:

Broken stairs.
Failure to clean ice and snow from the property’s premises.
No mopping signs in the freshly cleaned area.
Slippery floors
Missing handrails

However, slip and fall cases are not easy to win. You also have to prove that your landlord knew or should have known about these dangerous conditions and had an opportunity to fix them.. Juries often tend to think that people should watch their step. They can easily rule the case in your landlord’s favor, saying you should have been more careful.

Why Do I Need to Call an Attorney After a Slip and Fall?

If you want your personal injury claim to stand a chance, call an attorney right away. An attorney will tip the odds in your favor, and help you seek out compensation for your injuries.

Slip and fall injuries are subjective and highly sensible. You’ll want a professional attorney right after you fell, to present you with your legal alternatives. You might have a valid claim, or you might have a case that isn’t worth bringing into court. This is all speculation until you get the opinion of an expert personal injury attorney.

Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney Today for a Free Consultation

Remember that the first thing to do after a slip, trip or fall, is reporting the incident and getting medical attention. And then call your attorney. Slip and falls can cause serious injuries, especially if they happened due to your apartment complex’s poor maintenance.

The best way to ensure you get your compensation, and avoid your landlord’s negligence from creating more victims, is with the help of an attorney.

At Daniella Levi & Associates we have dedicated injury attorneys, seasoned in slip and fall claims. Call us today and request your free consultation in-office, via phone, or video call.

Remember, that the consultation is free, but our advice is priceless.

discussing vehicle accident case and client injuries

Injured While Riding in an MTA Bus: Accident Attorneys

Written on January 1, 2021. Posted in Blog, Motor Vehicle Accidents.

Riding in a bus is generally a safe and easy way to get around NYC. We see them on the streets all the time. The New York Transit Authority reports that 8 million people make a trip on their buses every day.

The National Transportation Safety Board did a study on fatalities while riding in a car or bus vehicle and found that the passenger car occupant fatality rate was five times the rate of deaths while riding in a bus.

Even though riding in a bus is pretty safe, it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll never get hurt. In some cases, you may get more severe injuries because buses are not equipped with the same safety features you see in a car such as seat belts and airbags. Buses also have a higher risk of a rollover, which means you will likely get ejected from your seat in the event of a serious accident.

What Causes a Bus Accident?

While not an exhaustive list, here are some of the reasons a bus may get into an accident.

The driver falls asleep at the wheel or is otherwise driving impaired.
Defective bus equipment.
Failure to observe traffic laws.
Road conditions and construction problems.
Vehicle handling problems and/or defects.
Weight distribution problems affect stability.

Aside from a bus getting into an accident, you may also be injured if you are walking to or from your seat, and the bus driver makes a sudden stop or hard acceleration. They are supposed to wait until all passengers are seated in order to move away. If an elderly or infirm person needs more time to get to their seat, but the bus pulls away, that’s a recipe for disaster.

Liability

Bus accident lawsuits can be complicated because your lawyer needs to be well-versed in NY traffic laws, as well as regulations that govern bus operators like the NYTA. The MTA may have a separate set of rules and regulations.

There may be multiple parties responsible for your injuries, including:

Other vehicle drivers.
City and state government entities.
The bus driver.
The management company (who manages and maintains the buses).

What to do

It can be difficult to determine which party is at fault, so it’s always a good idea no matter what kind of accident you get into to take a lot of pictures with your phone to help us with your investigation. Get statements from witnesses and write down as much information about what happened as possible.

If you are injured in a vehicle owned or operated by the New York City Transit Authority you will need to file a notice of claim within 90 days of the accident or your claim will be denied. It is very important that you or a member of your family secure immediate and competent legal counsel as soon possible.

Taking the right legal action after a bus accident in NYC with an experienced law firm such as Daniella Levi and Associates, P.C. can provide you with the compensation that you deserve. When you call our New York bus accident lawyers and come in for your free consultation, we’ll be able to get the process started without delay.

Lawyer working on a client construction injury case

What Records I Need If I’m In a Vehicle Accident?

Written on December 13, 2020. Posted in Blog, Motor Vehicle Accidents.

What Records Will I Need If I Have Been In a Motor Vehicle Accident?

Almost every car accident results in some type of damage to your vehicle and/or injuries. Sometimes, simple accidents with little damage

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Buckle Up NY, It’s the Law! Car Accident Lawyers

Written on November 25, 2020. Posted in Blog, Motor Vehicle Accidents.

Not wearing your seat belt in the state of New York became a primary offense as of November 1st, 2020. The law requires that all drivers, all front seat passengers, and all back seat passengers 16 years of age or older wear a seat belt or use a child restraint device, including passengers of ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft. Prior to this legislation, passengers aged 16 and older were only required to wear a seat belt in the front passenger seat next to the driver.

The legislation that was signed into law is S.4336/A.6163.

Drivers and passengers 18 or older will be charged with a seat belt violation, ticketed and fined $50 if they – or any passenger in the car – are not properly strapped in.

The law was sponsored by Senator David Carlucci, who recently went on record saying “The simple fact is that seat belts save lives and prevent tragedies. It does not matter your age or where you sit in the vehicle. We want to raise awareness about the new law, and make sure people buckle up”.

This NY law requires the use of safety belts for all drivers and passengers 16 and over in all motorized vehicles, except for bus passengers and those in emergency vehicles.

The Importance of Wearing a Seat Belt

Seat belts save lives, but only if worn correctly every time you are in a motor vehicle. In a crash, your seat belt keeps you:

From being ejected from the vehicle.
From being thrown against the window, windshield, other passengers or the steering wheel.

Many adults have a misconception that not wearing a set belt in the back seat is safer than wearing one. In studies of injuries sustained in car crashes, AAA Northeast found that a rear seat passenger who is not wearing a seat belt is:

Twice as likely to be killed.
Eight times more likely to be seriously injured.
Two times more likely to kill a front seat occupant by becoming a human projectile.

Wear your lap belt around your hips and wear your shoulder belt across your chest. Remember that the seat belt will not work if it is tucked behind you, and airbags aren’t a substitute for seat belts.

Deaths from Car Accidents on the Streets of NY

According to the NY Governor’s office, about 30 percent of highway deaths in New York are occupants who are not wearing a seat belt. In 2018, the state reported 1,033 fatalities caused by motor vehicle accidents. That means hundreds of people who died on New York roads had the option to wear a seat belt but didn’t. Men were more than twice as likely to be killed in a crash not wearing a seat belt than females.

From his office in Albany, NY the NY Governor had this to say about the new law: “We’ve known for decades that seat belts save lives and with this measure we are further strengthening our laws and helping to prevent needless tragedies. It was under my father’s leadership that New York became the first state in the country to pass a seat belt law, and the nation followed his lead. Now we are building upon this legacy and helping to create a safer and stronger Empire State for all.”

Every time you get in a vehicle, no matter where you are sitting, buckle up. It reduces your risk of being injured or killed in a crash by almost 50 percent.

The NYPD and law enforcement across the state participate in the national enforcement campaign, “Click it or Ticket,” to encourage safety belt use.

Next time you’re in a car, make sure everyone is buckled up.

Need a Car Accident Lawyer?

Should you have the misfortune of being involved in a car accident on the streets of New York, you have a right to claim for your pain and suffering, including medical bills because of the negligence of another driver. Hiring a lawyer for your car accident case is a must. Contact the New York car accident law firm of Daniella Levi & Associates now for a free consultation to discuss your matter and get started with your recovery.

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When to Hire a Lawyer in a Car Accident

Written on November 13, 2020. Posted in Blog, Motor Vehicle Accidents.

Potential clients often ask us whether they should hire a lawyer for their car accident case. They have concerns such as:

They feel as though they were hurt, but not too badly.
Their car was damaged, but not too badly.
They have insurance, but they don’t want to use it because of fear their premiums will go up.
They are scared to go into a courtroom and go to trial because of some type of stage fear and missing time at work.
Lawyers seem expensive.

How can someone decide whether to hire a lawyer with all of these factors hanging over their head in the thought process?

Obviously we are lawyers, so our answer is going to be that you should always hire a lawyer if you were in a car accident, no matter how minor. However, this answer will be geared more towards minor car accidents where an injury did occur.

How Much Does a Lawyer Cost?

Let’s start with the “expense” of hiring a lawyer. In fact, it costs you nothing to hire a lawyer in New York to take on your car accident case. We work on all of our accident cases on a contingency basis. That means that our clients don’t ever pay us a dime. We only get paid if and when we recover for our clients. If we do not recover for our clients, we never get paid. The money that we spend on prosecuting the case is only reimbursed to us if we recover for our clients.

My Injuries Are Minor

Regarding injuries, if you are injured in a car accident case, initially you probably have no idea as to the extent of your injury. Sometimes, the most minor fender benders can cause catastrophic injuries where the symptoms do not show for days or weeks after the accident. By hiring a lawyer, we’ll make sure that you are properly checked-out for all of your injuries to ensure that your medical needs will be met.

Repairs to my Vehicle

Your car should be repaired and you should be made whole. If the accident wasn’t your fault, why should you incur the expense of repairing it? When car accidents happen, someone has to foot the bill for the repairs to your vehicle. By hiring a qualified lawyer, your bills will get paid on your case and your car will be repaired. If you go at it alone, you will foot the bill for the car accident, or at least the deductible, and you may have to take your car to your insurance company’s mechanic.

Increase in Car Insurance Premiums

If you are not at fault in the car accident, your premiums will not go up. I often hear people complain that they are scared to have a case regarding a car accident because they are worried their premiums will go up. Not only is this position a complete myth, it’s illegal and in bad faith for an insurance company to raise your rates if you are not at fault in a car accident.

Taking a Case to Trial

Lastly, going to trial. At the New York car accident law firm of Daniella Levi & Associates, we have lawyers that often go to trial. However, most minor car accident cases settle because the lawyers on the defense side understand that we will go to trial on our clients’ cases no matter how big or small. Accordingly, in a small car accident case, the chance of going to trial is less than 5%–not much of a risk. Even if your case does go to trial, our seasoned team of trial lawyers will prepare you for court and dissipate all of your fears.

In conclusion, hiring a lawyer in your car accident case is a must. Contact us now for a free consultation to discuss your matter and get started with your recovery.

Category: Blog