Personal Injury Lawyers in Queens
Our office is in Fresh Meadows. Queens is where we work, where we live, and where most of our cases are filed — so this page is the practical detail: which courthouse handles your case, which deadlines apply, and how no-fault fits in.
Where a Queens injury case is filed
A personal injury case in Queens is generally brought in the Supreme Court, Queens County, Civil Term. That court sits in two buildings, which is worth knowing before you travel to the wrong one:
- Jamaica Courthouse — 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11435
- Long Island City Courthouse — 25-10 Court Square, Long Island City, NY 11101
It is part of the 11th Judicial District of the New York State Unified Court System. You do not need to live in Queens for your case to belong there — venue generally follows where the accident happened or where one of the parties resides.
What makes a Queens case a Queens case
Queens is the most transit-dependent borough after Manhattan, and an unusual share of what moves people here is publicly owned: the E, F, 7 and N lines, MTA bus routes, city roadways, and public hospitals. That matters for one reason above all — a claim against a public body runs on a far shorter clock than a claim against a private driver.
The borough is also cut through by high-volume arterials. Queens Boulevard, Northern Boulevard, the Van Wyck and the Grand Central Parkway generate a steady share of the serious collision work we see, alongside the slower-speed pedestrian and cyclist injuries on commercial strips like Roosevelt Avenue and Jamaica Avenue.
The deadlines that catch New York claims out
Most people assume they have three years. Often that is right — and sometimes it is badly wrong, because the deadline depends on who you are suing.
- A private driver, business or property owner: three years from the date of the injury, under CPLR § 214.
- The City of New York, the MTA, NYC Transit, a public hospital or a school: a written Notice of Claim within 90 days of the incident, under General Municipal Law § 50-e — and the lawsuit itself within one year and 90 days. Miss the 90-day notice and the claim can be gone before the first year is out.
- A wrongful death claim: two years from the date of death, under EPTL § 5-4.1, separate from any claim for the injuries themselves.
No-fault pays the first bills — it does not settle the case
New York is a no-fault state. After a motor vehicle crash your own insurer generally pays medical bills and a portion of lost earnings up to the basic $50,000 policy limit, regardless of who caused it. Two things about that surprise people:
- The no-fault application is due to the insurer within 30 days of the crash. It is a short, unforgiving window, and it is separate from every deadline above.
- No-fault does not pay for pain and suffering. To bring that claim you must meet the “serious injury” threshold defined in Insurance Law § 5102(d) — a category that includes fracture, significant disfigurement, and permanent or significant limitation of use, among others.
Whether an injury clears that threshold is a legal question decided on medical proof, not a judgment you should have to make on your own in the days after a crash.
Neighborhoods we serve in Queens
Astoria, Bayside, Bellerose, Briarwood, College Point, Corona, Douglaston, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Far Rockaway, Flushing, Forest Hills, Fresh Meadows, Glendale, Howard Beach, Jackson Heights, Jamaica, Kew Gardens, Little Neck, Long Island City, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ozone Park, Queens Village, Rego Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, Rockaway Beach, St. Albans, Sunnyside, Whitestone and Woodside.
We also take cases in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, and across the rest of New York State. See the full coverage map.
The cases we handle in Queens
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents
- Bus accidents, taxi accidents and Uber & Lyft accidents
- Construction and work injuries
- Slips, trips and falls and premises liability
- Truck accidents and wrongful death
The City publishes its street-safety data and redesign work through Vision Zero, a useful public record of the corridors that generate the most serious crashes.
Talk to us about a Queens case
The consultation is free and there is no fee unless we win. If you are not sure whether you have a case, that is exactly the call to make — particularly if a city agency or the MTA may be involved, because of the 90-day clock.
Deadlines and their exceptions turn on facts specific to each case, so treat the dates above as the shape of the rule rather than as advice about your own claim.