New York City is a beautiful destination for any traveler. Millions of people regularly visit the city to spend time with family, for business or to just see the sights. Unfortunately, a visit can become less enjoyable if an accident and an injury occur.

If an accident is due to someone else’s negligence, it may feel overwhelming to try to seek compensation if you do not live in New York but were just visiting. However, you should know that you have just as much of a right to seek compensation for your pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost wages and other costs, regardless of whether you’re a New York resident.

Here are three things New York City visitors should know about the process of seeking compensation for an injury.

Finding the right attorney

If you want to file a lawsuit against someone you must hire an attorney that can represent you in your case. Searching for the right attorney is an easy Google search, but there are a few key things you should look at to determine if the attorney is right for you:

• Does the firm have many positive reviews and testimonials from prior clients and how many of those reviews look like real clients actually wrote them?
• How many years has the firm practiced personal injury law?
• Who will be your point of contact if you hire this firm?
• Has the firm handled similar cases in the past and what were the results of those cases?
• What are the accolades the firm has received, or awards, indicating the firm’s level of experience and professionalism?

Required appearances

If you decide to file a lawsuit, your presence is required twice for the court proceedings. An attorney can handle everything else without your presence.

The two instances when you need to appear in person are for your deposition, where the other side will have the opportunity to question you about your injuries, as well as a physical examination by a doctor the other side will hire. That doctor will write a report describing your injuries and whether they are serious or not, and if the case proceeds to trial, may then testify against you to try to minimize the extent of your injuries.

With the prevalence of remote conferences since Covid and the almost universal use of Zoom most plaintiffs are now able to testify by using Zoom and no longer have to come to New York to provide testimony at their deposition.

Arranging accommodations

Not everyone can easily return to New York City, even if it is only for one or two appearances. However, an attorney can help make travel arrangements and help ensure that your financial costs are ultimately covered.

At Jaroslawicz & Jaros, we have had many clients who were injured while visiting New York and retained our firm to represent them to obtain compensation for their injury. The following are just some examples of cases we have handled for people injured while visiting New York City:

• A woman visiting from France who was staying as a guest at a hotel and was injured after being forced to walk down over 30 flights of stairs because a fire had started in a closet due to a lint buildup.
• A man visiting from a western state fell down a flight of stairs in a midtown bar because of a defective handrail.
• A flight attendant from Europe staying at a midtown hotel who was injured when he slipped and fell after taking a shower due to defects in the shower head and water on the floor.
• A woman who was visiting from Germany went to a salon to have her hair dyed and suffered burns to her scalp.
• A couple visiting from Switzerland who were injured in a train crash.
• A man visiting from Florida who was injured in a subway crash.
• A truck driver from the Midwest who was badly injured while making a delivery to a warehouse when a large unsecured crate fell on him.
• A ballet dancer visiting from Pennsylvania who was injured when she fell off of a dance stage at a discotheque as the edge was not properly marked to be visible.
• A young man visiting from Chicago who was badly injured when the driver of the car he was a passenger in lost control and hit a tree.
• A woman attending a United Nations meeting from an African country who was injured at an NYC hospital due to a defective chair that collapsed.
• A man from California who was injured while crossing the street when he fell over a beam placed there by a construction company.
• A woman from a western state who tripped and fell on a raised sidewalk slab.

The fact that you are from out of town should not stop you from bringing a lawsuit, if unfortunately, you were injured while visiting New York City.

The New York City Injury Law Firm of Jaroslawicz and Jaros can help you and your family get the just compensation you deserve. Since 1980, we have helped thousands of New Yorkers seek justice for injuries caused by other people’s negligence. As one of New York’s premier personal injury law firms, we have recovered over $2 billion collectively for our clients with hundreds of our clients having received $1 Million or more.