Best Personal Injury Lawyers in New York (2026)

In New York, the deadline to file a standard personal injury lawsuit is 3 years from date of injury.

Governing statute: CPLR § 214(5).

Medical malpractice claims in New York have their own deadline: 2 years and 6 months from act or last continuous treatment; exceptions apply for foreign objects discovery and Lavern’s Law for cancer misdiagnosis.

CPLR § 214‑a. Lavern’s Law discovery rule for cancer; foreign‑object rule; continuous‑treatment tolling

Wrongful death claims in New York: 2 years from date of death.

EPTL § 5‑4.1.

If a covered municipal entity or public corporation is involved, a much shorter deadline usually applies in New York: Notice of Claim generally within 90 days after the claim arises—for wrongful death, within 90 days after appointment of the estate representative—and lawsuit within 1 year and 90 days after the event (or 2 years after death for wrongful death).

GML § 50‑e (notice); GML § 50‑i (suit). Requirements may differ for other government entities or claim types.

New York generally follows: Pure comparative negligence: fault does not bar recovery, and damages are reduced proportionally. Exception: in personal-injury actions subject to Insurance Law article 51, recovery is barred if the claimant’s fault exceeds the fault of the defendant or combined defendants against whom recovery is sought (CPLR § 1411).

The exception applies to actions commenced on or after May 26, 2026.

Contingency fees are regulated; personal-injury and wrongful-death fees must follow the rule for the applicable Appellate Division department—22 NYCRR §§ 603.25, 691.20, 806.27, or 1015.15—while medical-malpractice fees follow Judiciary Law § 474‑a; fees above an applicable schedule require court authorization where the governing rule permits it