My office has represented a number of clients who were involved in accidents in New York State. They either live in another state outside of New York or in another country altogether. At first blush, they don’t think they have the basis for a lawsuit, or they can’t bring a lawsuit because they don’t live in New York. However, that’s not the case. If you’re injured in New York, and if a New York party (someone who is responsible for what happened to you) resides or does business in New York, you have access to the courts in New York and can proceed with the claim.
Sometimes it’s expensive to come back-and-forth to New York. While it’s best for me to have face-to-face meetings with my clients, we can do a lot of this today, thanks to Skype, with the Internet, email, all types of things that make it much easier than it used to be. The only time the client would need to come back to New York would be for the deposition in the lawsuit and for what’s called an independent medical examination. Defendants are usually good about trying to schedule those close in time for an out-of-state or out-of-country person so they only have to come back once for that. Then, they will come back for trial if the case goes to trial.
The only other reason, typically, that I would ask a client to come back during this time period is if the doctors that my client is treating with are in another state. It’s going to be too hard for them to come to New York to testify, if necessary, at trial. If I need medical expert information with respect to a motion that may come up, in that case, I’ll ask the client to come back to New York to be examined by a board certified physician in the area specialty that my client’s injuries are. Then we will rely upon that expert, in conjunction with the records and testing done elsewhere, necessary for motions or for trial.
If you are in need of legal counsel in regards to a personal injury in New York, please contact The Law Offices of Jonathan D. Sands and we would be happy to assist you.