Punitive Damages After a Long Island Car Accident 

Following a car accident, your first priority should always be your health and well-being. Your second priority should always be contacting a lawyer. Holding the responsible party accountable is of the utmost importance especially because the accident is the result of the at-fault party’s negligence. There are punitive damages after a Long Island car accident that your attorney can help you pursue. The damages following an accident you recover can go towards any medical bills that are the result of the accident. If you have been in a car accident, get in touch with a Long Island lawyer who can help you begin your case.

Defining Punitive Damages

Punitive damages after a Long Island car accident which are rare, are not common for traditional personal injury accidents when the courts decide that they are going to allow a jury to punish the defendant because of some extremely bad behavior of, for instance, a defendant who intentionally decides they are going to take their car and run over another human being, that is considered punitive damages. A corporation that intentionally decides to make the coffee extra hot because it will save them money and somebody gets burned, that is considered punitive damages, but those are rare occasions.

How Economic and Non-Economic Damages are Involved in Awarding Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are awarded to punish the defendant and the way damages are awarded is based on what the defendant has. If punitive damages are going to be awarded against a major corporation, one of the ways that a jury determines punitive damages is to see how much that defendant is worth.

If it is a big corporation, it may be a larger punitive damage award, if it is a person who makes a modest income every year then the punitive damage award is going to be much less; it is not based on anything to do with the victim or the plaintiff. Keeping in mind, of course, that punitive damages in New York are rare, especially punitive damages after a Long Island car accident, so these are not issues that come up much in the jurisdiction.

Circumstances That Lead to Punitive Damages

If someone intentionally or maliciously sets out to harm somebody for a specific gain or purpose, the other person could have punitive damages awarded in that type of situation. In criminal cases where a person can still bring a lawsuit if somebody assaults another human being, they can probably get punitive damages against the person, against the assailant. Punitive damages are awarded when something very bad has occurred and/or someone has been grossly negligent.

Gross Negligence Defined

Gross negligence would be somebody who gets in a car and is drunk and they decide they are going to go down the wrong way on a one-way street. That is considered gross negligence. It is negligent to go through a red light, but there is a different level of negligence when somebody gets into a car and is drunk and decides they are going to go down the wrong way of a one-way street, that is gross negligence and would give an individual the right to pursue punitive damages after a Long Island car accident.

Role of an Attorney

A Long Island attorney plays a very important role when a potential client comes in, as they are immediately going to assess the value of the case. While they will not know the true value of the case until they see medical reports and hospital records, there are items that can be assessed immediately and when they speak to a potential client, they can assess the client’s credibility as well.

The credibility of the client is always an important factor in determining what the value of the case is, but in actually helping to recover punitive damages after a Long Island car accident, an attorney will always get insurance information. Insurance information is vital to understanding how much can be recovered, and your attorney can get as many medical records and hospital records necessary to help substantiate a damage award. If you have been injured in a Long Island car accident, contact an attorney who can do all of these things, and can build you a solid case.