The most common reason that you would file a third-party injury claim against someone is because they were negligent and that negligence directly caused your injury.
All negligence cases have four main components:
1. The defendant had a duty of care to you, the plaintiff
2. The defendant breached their duty of care, such as by failing to follow safety regulations
3. The breach directly caused an injury
4. The injury had damages, which include real costs like medical bills as well as a psychological toll like pain and suffering
When reviewing your case with a workplace injury lawyer in New York, you can determine which parties may be able to satisfy the above four criteria. Or, you may determine that a third party could be liable based on a different cause of action, such as because of a defective product or a violation of New York’s “scaffolding law”. Both can involve strict liability proving that are easier to establish than the four components of negligence.
Once you identify appropriate parties to pursue compensation from, your legal action will likely take the form of an injury claim filed against their business’s bodily injury liability (BIL) policy. Usually, a lawsuit is only filed if negotiations for an insurance claim do not result in a satisfactory settlement offer. However, a lawsuit will be used as a first action if your attorney feels that it gives you access to better leverage for settlement negotiations.