Queens Personal Injury Lawyer

Sullivan & Galleshaw, LLP handles these cases from its Crossbay Boulevard office and works on contingency, meaning no fee unless the case results in a recovery. Queens personal injury cases that go to trial are heard at Queens County Supreme Court, either at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica or the Long Island City Courthouse at 25-10 Court Square.

Sullivan & Galleshaw, LLP’s Queens office sits at 108-15 Crossbay Boulevard, and the firm’s attorneys have represented injured residents across Jamaica, Flushing, Astoria, and Long Island City for more than 30 years combined.

Call (718) 843-0300 for a free case review if an accident in Queens left you injured.

Why Local Experience in Queens Personal Injury Cases Matters

A personal injury claim in Queens moves differently than the same claim would in a suburban county, largely because of how crowded the borough’s court calendars and streets both are.

Sullivan & Galleshaw, LLP’s attorneys are admitted to practice in New York State Supreme Courts and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, which covers Queens federal matters as well as state claims.

Our firm holds a 10/10 Superb rating on Avvo, membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and recognition from Super Lawyers.

Representing Cases in Queens

Handling a Queens case well involves the following:

• Securing surveillance or traffic camera footage before it gets recorded over, which happens within 30 days.
• Identifying whether a claim involves a city agency, since those cases carry a 90-day notice deadline instead of the standard filing window.
• Working with local medical providers familiar with treating patients from Queens hospitals, including Elmhurst Hospital and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
• Preparing every case as though it may reach a Queens County jury, since insurers price settlement offers differently depending on a firm’s trial record.

What Types of Personal Injury Cases Does Sullivan & Galleshaw, LLC Handle in Queens?

Queens sees a wide range of accident types given its size and traffic volume, and each type raises different evidence and deadline questions.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Traffic on the Long Island Expressway, Grand Central Parkway, and Queens Boulevard produces a steady volume of collisions, from rear-end crashes to multi-vehicle pileups.

Claims involving a distracted, drowsy, or impaired driver depend on phone records, toxicology results, or black box data pulled early in the case.

Premises Liability and Slip and Falls

New York property owners owe visitors a duty to keep their property reasonably safe, covering broken staircases, poor lighting, and unaddressed spills or ice. Flushing’s older housing stock and uneven sidewalks produce a steady number of winter slip-and-fall claims tied to inadequate snow and ice removal.

Construction Accidents

Long Island City’s ongoing development means construction sites remain one of the more common sources of serious injury in the borough.

Workers’ compensation rarely covers the full value of a serious injury, which is why a third-party claim under New York’s Labor Law, including the Scaffold Law, runs alongside a workers’ comp claim.

Medical Malpractice

Surgical errors, delayed cancer diagnoses, and medication mistakes at local clinics and hospitals fall under a separate, shorter filing deadline than most other injury claims.

Transit and MTA Accidents

Injuries on subway platforms or MTA buses require a Notice of Claim filed within 90 days, well before the standard personal injury deadline would otherwise apply. Missing that window generally ends the claim regardless of its underlying merit.

What Compensation Can You Recover in a Queens Personal Injury Case?

New York law recognizes two categories of compensation in a personal injury case, and the available amount depends on the severity of the injury and the insurance coverage involved.

Economic damages cover quantifiable, out-of-pocket losses:

• Past and future medical bills, including hospital stays, surgery, and physical therapy.
• Lost wages for time missed from work during recovery.
• Loss of future earning capacity if the injury prevents a return to the same career.
• Costs for medical equipment or home modifications tied directly to the injury.

Non-economic damages cover losses that do not come with a receipt:

• Physical pain and suffering.
• Emotional distress and mental anguish.
• Loss of enjoyment of life for activities the injury now prevents.
• Loss of consortium, covering the impact on a spouse or immediate family relationship.

How Does Fault Affect a Queens Personal Injury Claim?

New York generally follows pure comparative negligence, meaning a person can recover damages even if partly at fault for an accident, with the award reduced by their percentage of fault. A driver found 20% at fault who wins a $100,000 award still recovers $80,000 under this rule.

Motor vehicle cases carry an exception since New York’s 2026 tort reforms took effect. A driver found more than 50% at fault in a car accident case is now barred from recovering non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, under the amended rule.

This exception applies specifically to motor vehicle claims and does not change the pure comparative negligence rule for slip and falls, premises liability, or medical malpractice claims.

How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Queens?

Filing deadlines in New York vary considerably depending on who caused the injury and what type of claim is involved.

What Should You Do After an Accident in Queens?

The steps taken in the first days after an accident affect how strong the claim looks later.

• Get medical treatment the same day, even if injuries seem minor at first.
• Photograph the scene, vehicle damage, or hazard before conditions change.
• Identify whether a government entity, such as the MTA or NYC Parks, was involved.
• Avoid giving a recorded statement to any insurer before speaking with an attorney.
• Bring medical records, photos, and any incident report to a free consultation.

Acting early preserves evidence that insurers and property owners are not required to keep indefinitely.

What If the Driver Who Hit You Has No Insurance?

New York requires every driver to carry uninsured motorist coverage, so a claim generally does not end just because the at-fault driver had no policy. Your own auto insurance typically becomes the source of payment in that situation.

Uninsured motorist coverage in New York pays at the same minimums as standard liability coverage, and drivers can purchase Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage, called SUM, to raise that limit closer to their own policy’s bodily injury coverage.

If neither you nor anyone in your household owns an insured vehicle, and an uninsured or hit-and-run driver caused your injury, the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC) may step in to pay benefits at the same statutory minimums. MVAIC claims involving a hit-and-run driver carry a strict requirement to report the accident to police within 24 hours and file notice with MVAIC within 90 days.

Missing the MVAIC notice deadline generally closes that avenue permanently, which makes early legal review important in any hit-and-run case.

Does Immigration Status Affect Your Right to File a Claim in Queens?

Immigration status does not bar a person from filing a personal injury claim in New York. The New York Court of Appeals confirmed this directly in Balbuena v. IDR Realty LLC (2006), holding that federal immigration law does not preempt an injured worker’s claim under New York Labor Law regardless of work authorization status.

The court’s reasoning centered on New York’s Labor Law protecting all workers on a job site, not just those authorized to work in the United States. Some categories of lost wage damages can still be limited depending on the specific facts, which is one of several reasons an early case review matters in claims involving an undocumented worker.

Queens has one of the largest immigrant populations of any county in the country, and this issue comes up often in construction accident and workplace injury claims specifically. Sullivan & Galleshaw, LLP offers free consultations in Spanish for clients who prefer it.

FAQ for Queens Personal Injury Lawyer

Q: Is there a personal injury lawyer near me in Queens?
A: Sullivan & Galleshaw’s Queens office is located at 108-15 Crossbay Boulevard, and the firm offers free consultations by phone or in person for residents across the borough.

Q: Do I have a case if the accident happened on MTA property?
A: Possibly, though claims against the MTA require a Notice of Claim filed within 90 days of the accident, which is far shorter than the standard three-year deadline for most injury claims.

Q: What if my accident happened at a construction site in Long Island City?
A: Construction injuries involve both a workers’ compensation claim and a separate third-party claim under New York’s Labor Law, depending on who controlled the site and what caused the injury.

Q: How much does hiring a personal injury lawyer cost upfront?
A: Sullivan & Galleshaw works on contingency for personal injury cases, meaning no upfront fee and no payment unless the case results in a settlement or verdict.

Does it cost anything to talk to a lawyer about my case?
No, the initial consultation is free, and personal injury cases are handled on a contingency basis with no fee unless the case results in a recovery.

Can I still recover compensation if I was partly at fault?
Yes, for most injury claims, since New York follows pure comparative negligence, though motor vehicle cases now carry a 50% fault bar on non-economic damages under the 2026 reform.

Will my case go to trial?
Most personal injury cases settle before trial, though preparing every case as though it will reach a jury tends to result in stronger settlement offers from insurers.

What if my accident happened outside Queens but I live here?
Sullivan & Galleshaw, LLP also maintains offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, so a case can generally be handled by the same firm regardless of which borough the accident occurred in.

Call a Queens Personal Injury Lawyer Before Evidence Disappears

Surveillance footage from a Queens intersection or a construction site often gets overwritten within weeks, and witnesses become harder to locate the longer a claim waits.

The deadline that applies to your case, whether three years or 90 days, starts running the day the injury happened, not the day you decide to call a lawyer.

Sullivan & Galleshaw represents injured clients from its Queens office at 108-15 Crossbay Boulevard. Call (718) 843-0300 for a free case review before evidence and testimony become harder to gather.