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If you are going to bring a lawsuit in Suffolk County you should know the following information:

If your have a claim that is being brought in Suffolk County it is by no means the choice of your lawyer. First , some backround information on where a case must be brought. A personal injury lawsuit can be heard in any jurisdiction in the State of New York. So, if you had an accident in Rochester New York a court in Brooklyn has the ability to hear the case. However, if there is no connection to Brooklyn,such as, either the plaintiff or the defendant living there then your case will not be heard there. So lawyers will generally start a lawsuit in the county where the plaintiff or defendant resides or if the defendant is a corporation then the county in which thier principal place of business is located. A lawyer will have choices to make. What if your lawyer has started the lawsuit in Suffolk County?

As of 2006 the racial makeup of Suffolk County was 83.6% White, African Americans were 7.4% , Latinos were 13% and Asians were 5.4%. This does not account for a large number of undocumented workers who will obviously will not show up for jury duty. Forbes Magazine listed Suffolk County in top 40 richest counties in America. These are the residents that would be sitting on the jury when a personal injury case is brought to trial,assuming there is no settlement. Since a majority of the residents are from the middle to upper middle class and a significant amount from the upper class of the socioeconomic areas of the county thier ideas and values will have an effect on cases that they will be contemplationg on as jurrors. This even more so when it comes to personal injury cases. You must remember while Suffolk County has a large number of blue collar workers they also have a large number of very wealthy people living on the North Shore and in the East End.

Any regular practioner of personal injury law in the metropolitan area knows that Suffolk County returns some of the lowest verdicts. This maybe for a variety of reasons but we can assume that most Suffolk County residents do not like being hauled into court to sit on a jury to hear about a car accident case in which the plaintiff hurt his neck or back.Unfortunately that conservative thinking spills over into cases with even more serious injuries. We can also presume that since many jurrors in the county are homeowners there is an internal bias to homeowners and a conciosus recognition(right or wrong)of higher taxes with lawsuits. Furthermore, since Suffolk County residents tend to be a bit consevative so a broken leg will have less value to than in another county,say Kings or Brooklyn. It is for these reasons that many personal injury lawyers try to stay away from having thier client's case heard in Suffolk County.

Of course, we have had many cases in Suffolk County where we have won hundreds of thousands of dollars. A good case with significant injuries will always do well in any county. You may not get the same value but a client will always be compensated for injuries from a clear cut case. It's the more difficult cases that always present a challenge in the conservative conties. Its the less clear cut injuries that present more difficulties. Finaly, its the client that has more difficulties(ex con, ex drug addict, unemloyed)that will experience a more difficult time in the county.

If you live in Suffolk County and would like to consult an accident lawyer on Long Island contact us. If you would like information on hiring a Long Island Accident Lawyer get our FREE reports.

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