New York's burn-injury treatment network is anchored by the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell in Manhattan, together with the Westchester Medical Center Burn Center, the Stony Brook University Hospital Suffolk County Volunteer Firefighters Burn Center, and the Erie County Medical Center Regional Burn Treatment Center in Buffalo. Severe-burn survivors typically face long inpatient stays, multi-stage skin grafting, rehabilitation, and reconstructive procedures over many years.
Severe burns in New York arise from high-rise and multifamily residential fires, motor-vehicle collisions involving fuel ignition along the I-87, I-90, and Cross-Bronx corridors, industrial and utility incidents in the Hudson Valley and Buffalo manufacturing sector, scalding and chemical burns in restaurant and hospitality workplaces, and electrical arc-flash exposures on construction sites under the state's Labor Law § 240/241 framework. New York's civil statutes, not editorial commentary, govern how long an injured party has to file.
New York's three-year statute of limitations
New York Civil Practice Law and Rules § 214(5) states that "an action to recover damages for a personal injury except as provided in sections 214-b, 214-c, 214-i and 215" must be commenced within three years. Source: New York State Legislature, CPLR § 214.
We compile this for reference. New York is unusual in giving personal-injury claimants three years rather than the two-year limit common in most states. Accrual rules, the discovery rule under CPLR § 214-c for latent toxic exposures, special notice provisions for claims against municipalities and the State of New York (Court of Claims Act § 10), and tolling for infancy or insanity can change the practical deadline. For advice on your specific case, consult a licensed New York attorney.
Comparative fault in New York
New York follows a pure comparative-fault rule under CPLR § 1411, allowing a partially-at-fault claimant to recover damages reduced by that party's percentage of fault, regardless of how high that percentage is. Allocation of fault in any specific matter is a question for the trier of fact. For advice on your specific case, consult a licensed New York attorney.
Where New York burn cases are typically filed
Civil personal-injury actions in New York are generally filed in Supreme Court (which, despite the name, is New York's general-jurisdiction trial court) for the county where the injury occurred or where a party resides. Claims against the State of New York proceed in the Court of Claims. New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn), Queens, Bronx, Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk handle the majority of the state's higher-value personal-injury caseload by volume.
This page lists New York attorneys whose website disclosures indicate burn-injury or catastrophic-injury practice. Listing facts come from firm websites or from the firms themselves; nothing on this page should be read as legal advice or as an endorsement of any individual attorney. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed New York attorney directly.
