Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Personal Injury Lawyer in NYC
Law Offices of Nicholas Rose, PLLC Forest Hills, Queens · By appointment only · Serving all five boroughs Call (718) 261-0546 | Free Consultation | Hablamos español
Nicholas Rose. Twenty-two years representing injured New Yorkers. Forest Hills office, cases across all five boroughs and New York State. Contingency fee, no recovery, no fee.
Speak with Nick directly, See our case results, Llame en español
When you need a personal injury lawyer in NYC
If you were hurt in a car accident on Queens Boulevard, the BQE, or the Cross-Bronx; fell on a Manhattan sidewalk or a Brooklyn store floor; were struck by a wind-blown construction fence; or were injured at a job site anywhere in New York City, you may have a personal injury claim. A personal injury lawyer represents people harmed by someone else's negligence and pursues compensation from the at-fault party's insurance, the at-fault party directly, or both. The standard cases include motor vehicle collisions, premises liability such as slip-and-fall, construction injuries under New York Labor Law §240(1), and wrongful death claims under EPTL §5-4.1. New York gives you three years from the date of injury to file most personal injury claims under CPLR §214(5). Cases against the City of New York, NYCHA, MTA, NYC DOE, or the State require a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e. Our firm handles every case on contingency. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.
Personal injury cases across the five boroughs
We file cases where the injury happened. Forest Hills is the office. The work happens borough by borough.
Queens, Office home base. Queens Boulevard, the LIE, Northern Boulevard, the Grand Central. Queens County Supreme Court at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard.
Brooklyn, Kings County juries, Atlantic Avenue, the BQE, Eastern Parkway. Brooklyn is where Nick filed the $2 million Labor Law §240 case for a construction worker hit by stacked window guards. Kings County Supreme Court at 360 Adams Street.
Manhattan, New York County. Sophisticated juries, dense commercial liability, Manhattan Sidewalk Utility Grate cases, hotel and storefront premises. The $145,000 Upper East Side the utility grate case is on our Manhattan page. New York County Supreme Court at 60 Centre Street.
The Bronx, The highest-verdict plaintiff venue in NYC. Cross Bronx Expressway, Major Deegan, Grand Concourse, East 138th Street. Insurance carriers settle Bronx cases at a 25-35% premium per their own data. CPLR §503(a) lets the case be filed in Bronx County if the accident happened there.
Staten Island, Richmond County. The $1.5 million sanitation worker case settled there. Conservative jury pool, but the cases come when they come, and we work them.
We file in the borough where the case sits. We appear in court where the case sits. The drive to any NYC courthouse from Forest Hills is under an hour off-rush.
Why injured New Yorkers call Nicholas Rose
Twenty-two years on contingency, not retainer
Personal injury cases in our firm are taken on contingency. Clients pay no retainer, no hourly fee, and no money up front. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery, taken from the settlement or verdict at the end of the case. If we don't recover, you owe nothing.
That structure matters because it dictates how we handle a case. We aren't paid for hours billed. We're paid if we win. Every motion we file, every expert we retain, every deposition we take is on our dime until the case resolves. The interests line up: your recovery is our compensation.
The bigger structural difference is access. Clients reach Nick directly. Not a case manager. Not a paralegal you've never met. We handle a smaller caseload than the factory firms because we want to know each case. When Nick says "you're not a case number that goes on a shelf," that's the operational difference, not a slogan.
A quarter century in New York courts
Nicholas Rose was admitted to the New York bar in 2003. Twenty-two years of practice. Cases tried and settled in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, and across New York State. Our firm is based in Forest Hills, Queens, and meets clients by appointment. We belong to the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the New York State Bar Association. Membership status with additional credentialing organizations is currently being reconfirmed; we'll display only what we can verify.
Bilingual concierge who comes to you
Most clients never come to the office. Our bilingual concierge goes to the client, at home, at the hospital, at work, anywhere convenient, to take statements, photograph the injury and the scene, and gather paperwork. He's been with the firm twenty years. He speaks English and Spanish. If you're recovering from a serious injury, the last thing you should be doing is arranging a marble-lobby meeting. We come to you.
Practice areas
Personal injury law in New York covers a wide range of accidents and injuries. The deeper pages below explain each area in detail.
Car accidents
Rear-end collisions on the LIE, T-bones at Queens Boulevard intersections, hit-and-run claims in Manhattan, sanitation-vehicle and city-truck cases in any borough, no-fault first-party benefits under New York Insurance Law, uninsured-motorist and underinsured-motorist claims. New York is a no-fault state for the medical-bill portion of a car accident, but serious-injury cases under Insurance Law §5102(d) move out of no-fault and into the personal injury system. We handle the full spectrum. Read more about NYC car accident cases
Slip-and-fall and premises liability
Sidewalk falls, dangerous business premises, raised utility covers (the utility company grates and similar), defective stairs and floors, government-property cases that require a 90-day Notice of Claim. Our firm has handled premises cases against private property owners, the City of New York, and repeat-defendant utilities. Notice of the dangerous condition, actual or constructive, is the central issue in most premises cases. We build it through written reports, prior-incident records, and expert testimony. Read more about slip-and-fall cases | Premises liability
Construction accidents and Labor Law §240
New York Labor Law §240(1), often called the "scaffold law," and §241(6) give construction workers special protection in falls and falling-object cases. We've handled scaffold collapses, ladder falls, falling-object injuries, and accidents involving improperly secured loads. One representative case: a worker unloading window guards at a Brooklyn Department of Education school construction site was struck when an unsecured stack of guards weighing several hundred pounds each fell and pushed him off the truck. We moved for summary judgment on liability, defended a defense cross-motion, and settled at private mediation for $2,000,000. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Read more about construction accident cases under Labor Law §240
Wrongful death
Wrongful death claims in New York are governed by EPTL §5-4.1 and §5-4.3 and must be filed within two years of the death. Recovery includes pecuniary loss to surviving family members, the financial support, services, and parental guidance the deceased would have provided. New York does not recognize damages for the family's grief. We handle wrongful death cases arising from motor vehicle accidents, construction site fatalities, and medical events. Read more about wrongful death cases
Medical malpractice (referral)
Medical malpractice cases require specialist representation. The science is dense, the experts are expensive, and the procedural requirements under CPLR §214-a (the 2.5-year statute of limitations and the certificate of merit) are unforgiving. When a potential client comes to us with a medical malpractice claim, we evaluate the case and refer it to a vetted med-mal practice. We stay involved through the resolution. How our medical malpractice referral works
Other matters
Motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian accidents. Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare cases. MTA bus and subway injuries. Dog bite claims under the New York "vicious propensity" rule. If you're not sure where your case fits, call. Twenty minutes on the phone is enough to tell you whether there's a case worth pursuing.
How a New York personal injury case works
Personal injury cases in New York follow a predictable procedural sequence, though every case has its own complications. The six steps below are how a typical serious case moves from the day of the accident through final resolution.
Step 1, Free consultation and case evaluation
The first step is a phone call or video meeting, twenty to thirty minutes, free of charge. We hear what happened, ask the facts that matter, and give an honest read on whether there's a case worth pursuing. If there isn't, we say so. Information that helps the call: the date and location of the accident, the medical treatment so far, any police report or incident report, the names of any insurance companies that have been in contact, any photos or video. For clients without legal status, the consultation is fully privileged. Immigration status is not a barrier to a personal injury case in New York and is shared only with the people who absolutely need it for the file. (Read more about undocumented worker rights in personal injury cases.)
Step 2, Investigation and evidence preservation
Our bilingual concierge gathers the facts. Photo and video preservation. Witness statements, recorded while memory is fresh. Police-report retrieval. Return visits to the accident scene if needed. Sidewalk-camera footage on private buildings is overwritten on a 7-to-30 day cycle in most cases, a written preservation letter goes out the day we open a file. Witnesses move and lose phone numbers. Defendants change names and addresses. The first thirty days of an investigation drive case value more than any later strategy.
Step 3, Medical treatment and damages development
Settlement timing tracks medical timing. Until your treatment is complete or stabilized, the full extent of the injury isn't known, and a settlement number can't be calculated honestly. While you treat, we build the damages case. For serious injuries, that means a life care plan from a credentialed physician and an economist's report on lost earnings and future earning capacity. Special damages, medical bills, life care plan numbers, economist-prepared earnings calculations, survive appeal. Pain and suffering gets reduced. Build the case on what survives.
Step 4, Filing, discovery, and motion practice
We file the lawsuit and serve the defendants. Standard discovery follows: written demands, document exchange, depositions, expert disclosures. When liability is clear, we move for summary judgment under CPLR §3212, asking the judge to rule the defendant was negligent as a matter of law. The defense often files a cross-motion. If we win, the only question left at trial is how much. If both motions are denied, the case usually moves to in-court mediation in front of the assigned judge. Most cases settle before trial.
Step 5, Mediation and settlement
Mediation is where most New York personal injury cases actually resolve. The mediator is almost always a former judge, a retired Supreme Court justice or appellate division alumnus. Each side opens, then the mediator goes back and forth between separate rooms for hours, sometimes a full day or two, pushing both sides toward a number that reflects the real risk of trial. A typical New York mediator costs $5,000 to $15,000 per day, split between the parties. We run mediation when the case is large enough to support that investment.
Step 6, Trial when it's necessary
If the defense's offer is unreasonable, if liability is clear and they're not paying enough, or if the client wants their day in court and we've discussed the risks together, we try the case. Trials in New York Supreme Court typically run three to six weeks for a serious personal injury matter. Verdicts get appealed; the Appellate Division can reduce the award (remittitur), order a new trial, or in rare cases reverse it entirely. A $2 million settlement in writing is paid. A $3 million verdict still has to survive appeal. We weigh both numbers before recommending a path.
What your New York personal injury case might be worth
Personal injury cases in New York range from a few thousand dollars for minor injuries to multi-million-dollar recoveries for catastrophic ones. The variables driving case value are the severity of the injury, the strength of the medical evidence, past and projected lost earnings, future medical needs, the at-fault party's insurance limits, and the venue where the case is filed. The NYC Comptroller's FY2023 report set the median personal injury settlement against the City of New York at roughly $15,000, a useful baseline for citywide cases against municipal defendants. Recoveries in serious cases are far higher: cases involving permanent injury, surgical intervention, or significant lost earnings regularly settle in six and seven figures. The five recovery components in any New York personal injury case are past medical expenses, future medical care, past lost wages, future lost earning capacity, and pain and suffering plus loss of enjoyment of life. Evaluating a case is free.
Venue matters. The Bronx is the highest-verdict NYC plaintiff venue, defense-side data published in the New York Law Journal puts the settlement premium at 25 to 35 percent over identical cases in Manhattan, Westchester, or upstate. Brooklyn juries also tend to favor plaintiffs. Manhattan juries are more sophisticated and parse damages closely. Queens is diversified and harder to predict. Staten Island is the most conservative venue and we generally avoid filing there when the law permits venue elsewhere. CPLR §503(a) lets a case be venued where the accident happened, so a Manhattan resident hit on the Cross Bronx Expressway has a Bronx-venued case.
Cost, How contingency fees work in New York
Personal injury lawyers in New York work on contingency. We are paid only if we win, typically 33⅓% of the recovery, taken from the settlement or judgment. There is no upfront cost, no hourly billing, and no fee if we don't recover. New York Judiciary Law §474-a sets the contingency-fee structure for medical malpractice cases on a sliding scale. The standard 33⅓% applies in most other personal injury cases. Case expenses, court filing fees, deposition transcripts, expert witness fees, medical records retrieval, investigator costs, are advanced by our firm and reimbursed from the recovery at the end. If the case loses, the client owes neither fees nor expenses. The retainer agreement spells out every term in writing before you sign. Read it carefully and ask questions before signing anything.
Time limits, Don't wait
New York's general personal injury statute of limitations is three years from the date of the injury under CPLR §214(5). Wrongful death actions must be filed within two years of the death under EPTL §5-4.1. Medical malpractice has a 2.5-year limit under CPLR §214-a. Cases against the City of New York, NYCHA, MTA, NYC DOE, or the State of New York require a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e. The 90-day deadline is the one that ends cases. Once it passes, no motion, no exception, and no judge can save the claim in the vast majority of circumstances. Even within the 3-year window, evidence decays, sidewalk cameras overwrite footage, witnesses move, medical records get harder to retrieve. Call before you assume you have time. The conversation is free.
Forest Hills office, NYC service area
Where we are
Forest Hills, Queens. By appointment only. Public transit: E and F trains at 71st-Continental, LIRR at the Forest Hills station, and the Q23, Q60, Q64, and Q72 buses on Queens Boulevard all serve the area. Most clients never come to the office at all, the concierge goes to them. When in-person meetings are needed, we book the time and confirm the location.
We come to you
Our concierge visits clients at home, in the hospital, at work, or wherever is convenient. Many of our clients are recovering from serious injuries, limited mobility, ongoing medical appointments, or simply too much pain to travel. The lawyer-client relationship doesn't require an office visit to be effective. It requires accurate facts, complete records, and a clear plan. We deliver that wherever the client is.
Service area, all five boroughs
The office sits in Forest Hills. The cases happen everywhere.
Queens, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Jamaica, Astoria, Long Island City, Flushing, Jackson Heights, Corona, Elmhurst, Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village, Sunnyside, Woodside, Bayside, and the rest of the borough.
Brooklyn (Kings County), Williamsburg, Park Slope, Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Sunset Park, DUMBO, Bay Ridge, Sheepshead Bay, and elsewhere.
Manhattan (New York County), Upper East Side, Harlem, Washington Heights, Lower East Side, Chelsea, Midtown, Downtown.
The Bronx (Bronx County), Riverdale, Fordham, Mott Haven, the Grand Concourse, Pelham Bay, Soundview, the South Bronx.
Staten Island (Richmond County), St. George, Tottenville, Stapleton, and the rest of the borough.
Statewide and out-of-state matters on a case-by-case basis, often with co-counsel where the venue requires it.
Our case results
Each result below links to the full case study, with the litigation arc, damages framework, and procedural detail. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
$2,000,000, Brooklyn school construction (Labor Law). Worker unloading window guards at a NYC Department of Education school construction site was struck when an unsecured stack of guards fell and pushed him off the truck. Severe knee damage; full knee replacement pending. Settled at private mediation after summary-judgment motion practice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Read the full case study
$1,500,000, NYC sanitation worker, Richmond County. Twenty-year sanitation employee fell on a known-hazard floor in his station house. Three surgeries (two shoulder, one back). Premises liability against the City of New York; line-of-duty benefits preserved. Summary judgment on liability granted. Settled at mediation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Read the full case study
$900,000, Queens construction fence. NYC paraprofessional walking on her lunch break was struck when a wind-blown construction fence panel collapsed onto her on a Queens sidewalk. Fractured pelvis and pubic ramus, extended hospitalization. Three-defendant settlement at $300,000 each. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Read the full case study
$145,000, Manhattan utility grate. Elderly pedestrian on the Upper East Side caught her foot on a raised the utility company utility grate. Fractured shoulder; surgery declined. Repeat-defendant pattern (prior similar case settled the year before for $190,000). Mediated settlement. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Read the full case study
Frequently asked questions
How much does a personal injury lawyer in New York cost?
Personal injury lawyers in New York work on contingency. You pay nothing upfront. The standard fee is one-third of the recovery, taken from the settlement or judgment. If we don't recover anything, you owe nothing. Case expenses are advanced by the firm and reimbursed from the recovery at the end.
New York Judiciary Law §474-a sets contingency-fee limits in medical malpractice cases on a sliding scale, starting at 30% of the first $250,000 and decreasing to 10% on amounts over $1.25 million. The standard 33⅓% applies in most other personal injury cases. Case expenses cover filing fees, deposition costs, expert witness fees, medical records retrieval, and investigator costs. These are advanced by the firm and reimbursed at the end. If the case loses, the client owes neither fees nor expenses. The retainer agreement spells out every term before signing. Read it. Ask questions before you sign.
How long do I have to file a personal injury case in New York?
In New York, you generally have three years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury claim under CPLR §214(5). Wrongful death claims have two years. Medical malpractice has 2.5 years. Claims against the City of New York or any city agency require a Notice of Claim within 90 days.
The shorter deadlines bite hard. If your case is against the City, NYCHA, MTA, NYC DOE, or the State of New York, the 90-day Notice of Claim requirement under GML §50-e is not extendable in most circumstances. Miss it and the case is over before it starts. Even within the 3-year window, evidence decays, sidewalk cameras overwrite footage, witnesses move, medical records get harder to retrieve. The earlier you call a lawyer, the more case you have to work with. Free consultations exist precisely so the time-limit conversation can happen before any commitment.
Which borough should my case be filed in?
CPLR §503(a) governs venue. Since the 2017 amendment, accident location is an independent basis for venue. If your accident happened in the Bronx, your case can be filed in Bronx County Supreme Court even if you live in Queens, Manhattan, or out of state. The same rule applies to every borough. We choose venue based on jury characteristics, court calendar speed, and how the law in that county handles your specific case type. Bronx County tends to be the highest-verdict plaintiff venue per defense-side data published in the New York Law Journal. Manhattan and Brooklyn are also plaintiff-friendly. Queens is diversified. Staten Island is conservative and we generally file elsewhere when the law allows. Defense lawyers sometimes try to move venue; we resist when the choice is sound.
How long does a personal injury case take?
Most New York personal injury cases settle in 12 to 24 months. Cases that go to trial can take 2 to 4 years. Settlements typically happen after medical treatment is complete, when damages can be calculated. Cases against city defendants tend to take longer.
Settlement timing tracks medical timing. Until treatment ends or stabilizes, the full extent of the injury isn't known, and a settlement number can't be calculated honestly. Pre-suit negotiations sometimes resolve clear-liability cases in 6 to 12 months. Cases that require litigation, motion practice, depositions, expert reports, and mediation typically run 18 to 36 months. Trial cases can run 3 to 5 years. The goal isn't fast, the goal is a number that reflects the full medical and economic loss, structured so it survives appeal. Faster is rarely better.
Do I have to come to your office?
No. Our bilingual concierge visits clients at home, in the hospital, or at any location convenient to them. Initial consultations can happen by phone, video, or in person at our Forest Hills office, your choice.
Many of our clients are recovering from serious injuries, with limited mobility or too much pain to travel. Our standard intake involves the concierge going to the client, recording statements, photographing injuries and the accident scene, and gathering documents. The lawyer-client relationship doesn't require a marble-lobby experience to be effective. It requires accurate facts, complete records, and a clear plan. We deliver that wherever the client is.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
You can still recover. New York is a "pure comparative negligence" state under CPLR §1411. If you are 30% at fault, your recovery is reduced by 30%, but you still recover. Even at 99% fault, you can still collect 1% of the damages. Comparative negligence is rarely an obstacle.
Insurance adjusters use the "you were at fault too" argument aggressively in early conversations to push down settlement values. The comparative-negligence framework is a courtroom argument, not a settlement-stage trump card. Whether and how much fault gets allocated to the plaintiff is decided by the trier of fact (the jury or judge), not the adjuster, and only after full evidence. Don't sign anything or accept any settlement based on an early adjuster claim that you were "at fault." Talk to a lawyer first.
Can I sue if I'm undocumented?
Yes. Under Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, 6 N.Y.3d 338 (2006), the New York Court of Appeals held that undocumented workers retain the right to recover damages, including lost wages, in personal injury cases. Immigration status does not bar a claim. Federal immigration law does not preempt New York Labor Law.
A narrower rule from Sanango v. 200 East 16th Street Hous. Corp. applies if the worker used fraudulent documents to obtain employment, in that situation, lost-wage recovery may be limited to wages earnable in the home country. Most undocumented-worker cases do not fall under this narrower rule. Privacy is taken seriously: status is shared only with the people who absolutely need it for the case. We have an active practice representing undocumented clients. Read more about undocumented worker injury claims
What should I do right after an accident in NYC?
Call 911 if anyone is injured. Get medical attention even if you feel okay, some injuries surface days later. Photograph everything: your injuries, the scene, the vehicles, the hazard. Get witness names and phone numbers. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company. Call a personal injury attorney before signing anything.
Insurance adjusters call quickly, often within hours, and they are trained to use early statements to limit your recovery. Polite refusal is the right response. Get the police-report number; the report itself takes a few days to be available through the NYPD or the precinct that responded. Preserve any clothing or shoes that were involved in the accident, they can become evidence. Save all medical records and bills. The first 30 days drive case value more than any later strategy. Call early, document everything, talk to no one but your lawyer.
See more frequently asked questions
Habla español
Hablamos español. Nuestra investigadora bilingüe lleva veinte años con la firma y se reúne con clientes en sus casas, hospitales o lugares de trabajo en español o inglés. La consulta inicial es gratuita. Si fue lesionado en Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, el Bronx o Staten Island, hable con un abogado en español hoy. Llame al (718) 261-0546 o visite nuestra página en español.
Visite nuestra página en español, Los resultados anteriores no garantizan un resultado similar.
Talk to Nick
If you were hurt anywhere in New York City, call (718) 261-0546, email nicholas@nroselaw.com, or fill out the form below. Nick returns calls personally during business hours, usually within an hour or two. After hours, our intake team takes your information and routes urgent calls to Nick directly. We confirm every form submission immediately and follow up the next business day.
The consultation is free. The clock on your case is already running. Whether your accident was last week or four months ago, calling early gives you more case to work with.
Schedule a free consultation | (718) 261-0546 | nicholas@nroselaw.com
Citations and references
New York statutes
- CPLR §214(5), three-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions
- CPLR §214-a, 2.5-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice
- CPLR §503(a), venue, including the 2017 accident-location amendment
- CPLR §1411, pure comparative negligence in New York
- CPLR §3212, summary judgment
- General Municipal Law §50-e, 90-day Notice of Claim against municipal defendants
- Judiciary Law §474-a, contingency-fee structure in medical malpractice cases
- EPTL §5-4.1 and §5-4.3, wrongful death actions and damages
- Labor Law §240(1) and §241(6), construction-site worker protections
- Insurance Law §5102(d), "serious injury" threshold for motor vehicle cases
Case law cited
- Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC, 6 N.Y.3d 338 (2006), undocumented workers' right to recover lost wages in personal injury cases
- Sanango v. 200 East 16th Street Hous. Corp., narrower rule for cases involving fraudulent employment documents
Public data
- NYC Comptroller, FY2023 Annual Claims Report, median personal injury settlement against the City of New York
- New York Law Journal / Kaufman Dolowich, October 2022, Bronx County settlement premium 25-35%
Firm memberships
- New York State Trial Lawyers Association
- New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers
- New York State Bar Association
By Nicholas Rose, Esq., last reviewed May 2026 Nicholas Rose, Esq. is admitted in New York. Past results discussed on this page reflect the unique facts and circumstances of those individual cases.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This page is informational and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. The information here reflects general principles of New York personal injury law as of the last review date and is not a substitute for legal advice on your specific situation.
Law Offices of Nicholas Rose, PLLC | 102-11 Metropolitan Avenue, Forest Hills, NY 11375 | (718) 261-0546 | nicholas@nroselaw.com
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