More details to this question:
Upon leaving a friends house I tripped over an upheaval on the sidewalk. Fell down half in the street half on the sidewalk, blacked out, injured elbow, required stitches, injured right knee, It's been four days out and I still don't have range of motion in my right arm, knee still hurts as in the x-ray showed a piece of the patella had broken off and is floating around the knee area. Do I have a personal injury case?
1 ANSWER
Hello,
What a terrible thing to happen. I am sorry to hear. In MA, there is a statute on the books that says any injury that occurs from a defect in a public way (sidewalk) has a cap recovery of only $5000. That is the most you can receive from a city or town, regardless of the circumstances or how severe the injury is. That certainly will not compensate you for what you have experienced. In order to receive that, you typically have to sue in Superior Court to get it. Unfortunately, dealing with a city or state is not like dealing with a private insurance company. Unfortunately, it does not make sense to hire an attorney for this, as an attorney will take 1/3 of the $5000, and the rest has to go to pay your medical bills (or pay back your health insurance company). There usually is nothing left for the injured party. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I wish you a speedy recovery.
Steven A. Schwartz
Attorney/Partner
Answered on Mar 06th, 2017 at 9:00 AM