Queens Personal Injury Lawyer

Queens is one of the most densely traveled boroughs in the country. The Van Wyck Expressway backs up daily, the Long Island Expressway cuts through neighborhoods at highway speeds, and the streets around Jamaica, Flushing, and Astoria handle thousands of vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians every hour. When serious accidents happen here, the injuries are real, the medical bills accumulate fast, and insurance companies move quickly to minimize what they pay out. A Queens personal injury lawyer from Mark David Shirian P.C. represents people who have been hurt through someone else’s negligence and who need assertive legal advocacy to recover what they are owed.

Injury claims in Queens move through the New York court system with specific procedural requirements, strict filing deadlines, and insurance defense tactics that are common across the borough. The difference between a settlement that covers your actual losses and one that leaves you short often comes down to preparation, documentation, and whether your attorney treats your case as an individual matter or as a file to close. At Mark David Shirian P.C., the approach is personal and strategic from the beginning.

Attorneys Mark D. Shirian and Shawn D. Shirian represent individuals across Queens and New York City who have suffered serious harm in accidents and catastrophic events. If you are dealing with mounting medical costs, lost income, and physical pain while an insurer delays or disputes your claim, this firm can step in and fight for a real outcome.

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Queens

• Motor Vehicle Accidents: Queens roads including the Belt Parkway, Queens Boulevard, Northern Boulevard, and Hillside Avenue see significant accident volume. Collisions involving cars, trucks, rideshare vehicles, and commercial delivery vans are among the most common sources of serious injury in the borough, and fault must be established against the correct parties through evidence gathered early in the process.
• Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents: With major transit hubs at Jamaica and Flushing and dense residential areas throughout Astoria, Jackson Heights, and Forest Hills, pedestrian and cyclist injuries occur with troubling frequency. Crosswalk strikes, dooring incidents, and failure-to-yield collisions can cause catastrophic harm, and New York’s comparative fault rules affect how damages are calculated.
• Slip and Fall and Premises Liability: Property owners in Queens, including commercial landlords, retail businesses, and municipal entities, have a duty to maintain safe conditions. Broken sidewalks, wet floors, inadequate lighting, and defective staircases all give rise to premises liability claims. Cases involving city property require a Notice of Claim filed within a strict 90-day window under New York law.
• Construction Accidents: Queens is in the middle of ongoing construction activity in Long Island City, Jamaica, and across the borough. Workers injured on job sites may have claims under New York Labor Law, which imposes specific duties on property owners and general contractors. These cases involve both workers’ compensation considerations and potential third-party liability.
• Medical Malpractice: Hospitals and medical facilities across Queens, including major institutions in Jamaica and Forest Hills, provide care to a large patient population. When negligent treatment, misdiagnosis, or surgical error causes injury, a medical malpractice claim requires expert support and careful handling from the outset.
• Wrongful Death: When a family member dies as a result of another party’s negligence, surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim under New York law. These cases address both economic losses and the profound personal toll of losing a loved one.
• Dog Bites and Animal Attacks: New York holds owners liable for injuries caused by animals with known dangerous propensities. Attacks that cause serious physical injury, particularly to children, often warrant significant compensation for medical care, scarring, and psychological harm.

What You Should Do After a Serious Accident in Queens

The days immediately following a serious accident are critical for your potential claim. Medical documentation is the foundation of any personal injury case, so getting evaluated and treated promptly serves both your health and your legal interests. Emergency care at a Queens-area hospital creates records that tie your injuries directly to the incident. Follow-up care with specialists and documentation of every treatment, prescription, and procedure builds the medical picture that your attorney uses to quantify your damages.

Report the accident appropriately. If you were in a vehicle collision, a police report filed with the NYPD should be obtained as soon as possible, as it captures initial observations, witness information, and any citations issued at the scene. If you were injured on someone else’s property, notify the property owner or manager in writing. If the accident involved a city-owned sidewalk, bus, or municipal vehicle, the 90-day Notice of Claim deadline under New York General Municipal Law applies, and missing it can bar your claim entirely regardless of how strong the liability case is.

Gather and preserve everything you can. Photographs of the scene, your injuries, any defective conditions, vehicle damage, and the surrounding environment are valuable. Contact information for witnesses who saw the accident happen is equally important. Avoid speaking with the opposing insurance company without legal representation. Adjusters are trained to gather statements that minimize the payout, and what you say early in the process can be used to reduce or deny your claim later.

Queens personal injury cases are typically filed in Queens County Supreme Court, located at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica. The general statute of limitations for personal injury claims in New York is three years from the date of injury, though exceptions apply for claims involving government entities, medical malpractice, and wrongful death. Because the specific deadline affecting your case depends on who the defendant is and what happened, contacting an attorney early gives you the clearest picture of where you stand.

How New York’s No-Fault System Affects Queens Injury Claims

New York operates under a no-fault insurance system for motor vehicle accidents. After a collision, your own personal injury protection coverage pays for medical expenses and a portion of lost earnings, regardless of who caused the crash. This system is designed to provide fast access to benefits without requiring a fault determination first.

The no-fault system does not eliminate the right to sue. New York allows injured people to pursue a personal injury claim against the at-fault driver when the injury meets the serious injury threshold defined by state law. This threshold includes fractures, significant disfigurement, permanent limitation of a body organ or member, significant limitation of use of a body function, and a medically determined injury preventing normal activities for at least 90 of the 180 days following the accident. Many significant injuries qualify, and an attorney evaluates whether your specific harm clears this threshold before moving forward with a claim against the at-fault party.

For accidents that do not involve motor vehicles, such as premises liability cases, construction accidents, and medical malpractice claims, the no-fault system does not apply. These claims proceed directly against the responsible party and their insurer. New York’s comparative negligence rule allows recovery even if you were partially at fault, but your compensation is reduced by your percentage of responsibility. This is one of the reasons insurance companies focus heavily on disputing what the injured person did or did not do, making clear documentation of the actual cause of the accident essential.

Choosing the Right Queens Personal Injury Attorney

Mark David Shirian P.C. was founded in 2016 with a focus on fighting for people who have been wronged. The firm has recovered millions on behalf of clients across personal injury, employment law, and civil rights matters. Attorneys Mark D. Shirian and Shawn D. Shirian bring both the tactical depth of a litigation-ready practice and the direct, attentive communication that clients going through difficult circumstances deserve.

Clients have described the firm’s attorneys as compassionate and hard-working, noting that they fight to secure results while keeping clients genuinely informed throughout the process. For someone dealing with physical recovery, financial pressure, and uncertainty about the legal process, that kind of attentiveness matters. The firm treats every client situation with the individual attention it requires, not as a file to be processed.

For anyone searching for a personal injury attorney in Queens, the firm’s combination of litigation experience, a track record of meaningful recoveries, and a direct approach to client relationships sets it apart from firms where cases get handed off to junior staff or resolved for convenience rather than value. If your injuries are serious and the stakes for your family are real, working with attorneys who are genuinely invested in the outcome makes a measurable difference.

Questions Clients Ask About Queens Personal Injury Cases

How long does a personal injury case in Queens typically take to resolve?

It depends heavily on the complexity of the case, the severity of the injuries, and whether the case settles or proceeds to trial. Straightforward cases with clear liability and documented injuries may resolve in several months. Cases involving disputed fault, significant damages, or defendants who contest liability can take a year or more. Cases that go to trial in Queens County Supreme Court add additional time. Rushing a resolution before the full extent of your injuries is known often produces inadequate settlements.

What does it cost to hire a Queens personal injury lawyer?

Personal injury cases at Mark David Shirian P.C. are handled on a contingency fee basis. You do not pay attorney fees upfront. The fee comes out of the recovery at the conclusion of the case, meaning you do not owe fees if there is no recovery. Out-of-pocket costs for things like obtaining records and expert consultation may apply and should be discussed with your attorney early in the process.

What if the at-fault driver did not have insurance?

New York requires drivers to carry automobile liability insurance, but uninsured drivers do cause accidents. If you are hit by an uninsured driver, your own uninsured motorist coverage may apply. There is also a New York Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation program that provides a path to recovery in certain situations involving uninsured vehicles. An attorney can identify which avenues apply to your specific circumstances.

Can I still recover if I was partially at fault for the accident?

Yes. New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule, which means you can recover damages even if you were partly responsible for the accident. Your total compensation is reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to you. For example, if you are found 20 percent at fault, you recover 80 percent of your total damages. Insurance companies frequently try to inflate the injured person’s percentage of fault to reduce their payout, which is one reason having legal representation matters.

My slip and fall happened on a city sidewalk in Queens. Is the city responsible?

Potentially, but city sidewalk cases in New York require careful analysis. In many cases, responsibility for sidewalk maintenance falls on the adjacent property owner rather than the city, depending on the location and the type of property. Where the city is a proper defendant, the 90-day Notice of Claim deadline is mandatory and strictly enforced. Missing that window typically ends the claim. Contact an attorney as soon as possible after a sidewalk injury to preserve your options.

What if I was hurt as a passenger in a vehicle in Queens?

Passengers injured in vehicle accidents generally have strong claims because they are rarely at fault for the collision. You may have claims against the driver of the vehicle you were in, the driver of another vehicle involved, or both, depending on what caused the crash. Your own no-fault coverage applies for medical expenses regardless of which vehicle you were in, and you retain the right to pursue a claim against at-fault parties if your injuries meet the serious injury threshold.

Can I bring a personal injury claim if I was hurt on a construction site in Queens?

Workers injured on construction sites may have claims beyond workers’ compensation. New York Labor Law creates direct liability against property owners and general contractors for certain scaffold and elevation-related injuries, falling object injuries, and general site safety violations. These third-party claims can be pursued separately from a workers’ compensation claim and may result in significantly larger recoveries. An attorney familiar with construction accident cases can assess which claims apply to your situation.

What types of damages can I recover in a Queens personal injury case?

Recoverable damages typically include past and future medical expenses, lost wages and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and in some cases damages for loss of enjoyment of life. In wrongful death cases, recoverable damages include funeral expenses, lost financial support, and the conscious pain and suffering experienced by the deceased before death. The specific damages available in your case depend on the nature of your injuries and how they have affected your life and finances.

Will my case go to trial?

Most personal injury cases resolve through settlement before trial. However, the willingness and preparation to take a case to trial is what drives meaningful settlement offers. Insurance companies evaluate the risk that a jury will award a larger amount and factor that into their decisions. Attorneys who are known to litigate and try cases carry more leverage in settlement negotiations than those who routinely accept early offers.

How soon should I contact an attorney after an accident in Queens?

As early as possible. Evidence disappears quickly, witnesses become harder to locate, and certain deadlines are non-negotiable. The 90-day Notice of Claim rule for government defendants alone is reason to act fast. Even in cases without government defendants, early legal involvement helps shape how evidence is gathered, how medical treatment is documented, and how communications with insurers are handled. Waiting allows the other side time to build its defense while your evidence gets harder to gather.

Representing Injury Clients Across Queens and the Surrounding Boroughs

Mark David Shirian P.C. represents personal injury clients throughout Queens, including in Jamaica, Flushing, Astoria, Long Island City, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Rego Park, Woodside, Sunnyside, Bayside, Douglaston, Fresh Meadows, Springfield Gardens, Hollis, South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village, Howard Beach, Ozone Park, College Point, and Whitestone. The firm also handles cases arising in nearby Nassau County communities such as Valley Stream, Elmont, and Rosedale, as well as across the broader New York City metro area, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Wherever the accident occurred within New York State, the attorneys at Mark David Shirian P.C. are equipped to handle the case.

Contact a Queens Personal Injury Attorney at Mark David Shirian P.C.

Serious injuries change everything quickly. Medical costs grow, income stops, and the pressure to settle early becomes intense. A Queens personal injury attorney at Mark David Shirian P.C. will evaluate your situation honestly, tell you what your case is worth based on real evidence, and pursue that outcome through every available legal channel. Attorneys Mark D. Shirian and Shawn D. Shirian handle personal injury matters with the directness and determination that consequential cases demand. Call or contact the firm today to schedule a confidential case evaluation and find out where you stand.