When you trust a doctor with your life and that trust is broken, the harm is hard to put into words. Segal Law Firm holds hospitals, surgeons and providers accountable when negligence causes real harm.
Medical malpractice cases are some of the most complex in personal injury law. They demand expert reviewers, exhaustive records analysis, and a firm willing to take on hospital legal teams. That's what we do.
What counts as medical malpractice
Not every bad outcome is malpractice. The legal standard is whether your provider deviated from the accepted standard of care, what a reasonably competent provider would have done in the same circumstances, and whether that deviation caused real harm.
Proving it requires expert medical testimony. We retain board-certified physicians in the same specialty to review your records before we file. If a case has merit, we pursue it relentlessly. If it doesn't, we tell you honestly.
What you may recover
Additional medical care
Lost wages & future earnings
Pain and suffering
Permanent disability
Loss of enjoyment of life
Wrongful death damages
What to do if you suspect malpractice
Acting early preserves both evidence and your legal rights.
Request your full records
You have a right to every record, chart notes, imaging, lab work, surgical reports. Get a complete copy in writing.
Get a second opinion
Another provider can confirm what went wrong and what care you need now. It also documents the harm.
Don't accept 'apologies' that come with paperwork
Hospitals sometimes offer settlements or waivers framed as goodwill. Never sign without a malpractice attorney.
Call us quickly
Medical malpractice statutes are short, and expert review takes time. Earlier calls mean stronger cases.
Why malpractice victims trust Segal
Specialist physician reviewers
Every case is screened by a board-certified expert in the relevant specialty, not a general doctor giving an opinion.
We take on hospital defense teams
Hospital insurers retain elite firms. We've fought them for decades and know how to beat their playbook.
We front the cost
Med mal cases routinely cost six figures to prepare. We advance every dollar, you pay nothing unless we recover.
Compassionate handling
These cases are emotional. You'll work directly with attorneys who treat you as a person, not a file number.
Related situations
Injuries like these sometimes overlap with other areas of law. These pages may be helpful background, whether any of them applies to your situation is something an attorney would need to review with you.
New York generally gives 2.5 years from the malpractice, sometimes less for public hospitals. Foreign objects and discovery rules can extend or shorten it. Don't wait to call.
Wrong drug, wrong dose, dangerous interactions, allergy oversights. Pharmacies and hospitals can both be liable.
Anesthesia errors
Overdose, awareness during surgery, intubation injuries, monitoring failures. Anesthesiology errors are often catastrophic.
Hospital & nursing negligence
Bed sores, falls, infections, monitoring failures. Hospital systems and staffing are often at fault, not just one provider.
Emergency room errors
Triage mistakes, missed cardiac events, premature discharge. ER cases require specific expertise, we have it.
Wrongful death
When negligence costs a life, surviving family can recover for medical costs, lost support, and the loss of the loved one.
A deeper look
How a New York medical malpractice case is proven, priced, and won
Medical malpractice is the most expensive and most technical area of personal injury law. Fewer than one in five inquiries becomes a filed case, because New York requires expert proof before a complaint is even served. Here is exactly what that process looks like.
The four elements, and where cases actually fail
Every claim must establish duty (a provider-patient relationship), breach (a departure from accepted standards of medical practice), causation (that the departure caused the injury), and damages. Duty and damages are usually straightforward. Cases fail on breach and, far more often, on causation.
Causation is the hardest element in missed-diagnosis cases. If a cancer was missed for 14 months, the defense will argue the outcome would have been the same anyway. We answer that with staging evidence, tumor doubling-time analysis, and survival statistics, framed in New York as a 'loss of chance' of a better outcome.
The certificate of merit requirement (CPLR § 3012-a)
New York does not let a malpractice complaint proceed on suspicion. Counsel must file a certificate confirming that a licensed physician has reviewed the records and concluded there is a reasonable basis for the action. That means the expert review has to happen before filing, and full hospital charts often take 30 to 60 days to obtain.
This is why 'call early' is not a marketing line in med mal. A case that arrives with six weeks left on the statute frequently cannot be worked up in time, no matter how strong it is.
The statute of limitations, and Lavern's Law
The general rule is 2 years and 6 months from the act of malpractice, or from the end of continuous treatment for the same condition. Foreign-object cases run 1 year from discovery. Lavern's Law gives missed cancer diagnoses 2 years and 6 months from the date the patient knew or reasonably should have known of the misdiagnosis, capped at 7 years from the act.
Public hospitals, including NYC Health + Hospitals facilities such as Bellevue, Elmhurst, Kings County, and Jacobi, require a notice of claim within 90 days and suit within 1 year and 90 days. Infants generally receive a toll until age 18, capped at 10 years, and birth injury claims are commonly brought years later for this reason.
2 years 6 months, general rule
Continuous treatment doctrine can extend it
1 year from discovery for retained foreign objects
Lavern's Law for missed cancer diagnoses
90-day notice for public hospitals
Infancy toll for children, up to 10 years
Birth injury cases are their own discipline
Cerebral palsy, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, brachial plexus and Erb's palsy, and delayed emergency C-section claims turn on the fetal monitoring strips. We retain maternal-fetal medicine specialists, neonatologists, and pediatric neurologists to read the tracings minute by minute and establish when a reasonable provider would have delivered.
Damages in these cases are dominated by a life-care plan: attendant care, therapies, adaptive equipment, home modification, and lost earning capacity projected over a full life expectancy. Properly documented, that figure is frequently in the eight-figure range, which is why the hospital's defense is so aggressive.
What these cases are worth in New York
New York is one of the few states with no cap on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice. Value is driven by the permanence of the harm, the future care required, the lost earnings, and, in death cases, the pecuniary loss to the survivors, since New York's wrongful death statute compensates economic loss rather than the family's grief.
Recoverable damages include past and future medical expenses, past and future lost earnings, loss of household services, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of consortium for a spouse. Liens from Medicare, Medicaid, and private health plans must be resolved out of the recovery, and negotiating them down is a meaningful part of what the client actually takes home.
What the defense will do
Hospital carriers defend these cases with elite firms, and their playbook is consistent: attack causation, argue the outcome was a known complication disclosed on the consent form, blame the patient's comorbidities or non-compliance, and point at other providers to diffuse fault.
A signed informed-consent form is not a defense to negligence. Consent covers known risks of a properly performed procedure. It does not authorize a departure from the standard of care, and we make that distinction clear to a jury.
How long it takes
Expect 2 to 4 years, sometimes longer in complex birth injury litigation. Records collection and expert review typically take 2 to 6 months, filing and pleadings another few months, discovery and depositions 12 to 18 months, then expert exchange, mediation, and the trial calendar.
Med mal cases settle later than other injury cases. Carriers often do not make a serious offer until after the plaintiff's expert is disclosed and depositions establish that the case will be tried.
Hospitals and areas we handle claims against
We bring medical malpractice claims throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Long Island, and Staten Island, against private hospitals and physician groups as well as public facilities that require a 90-day notice of claim. Venue and the nature of the institution both shape strategy from the first week.
Manhattan
Brooklyn
Queens
The Bronx
Staten Island
Long Island
Nassau County
Suffolk County
Westchester County
Public hospital claims
Private hospital & physician groups
Nursing home & rehab facilities
Frequently asked
Answers before you call
How do I know if I have a malpractice case?+
You generally need three things: a doctor-patient relationship, a deviation from the standard of care, and real harm caused by that deviation. We review the records with a specialist physician before telling you if a case exists.
How long do I have to file in New York?+
Generally 2 years and 6 months from the act of malpractice (or the end of continuous treatment). Public hospitals require a 90-day notice. Foreign-object cases and some discovery situations can extend the time, but never assume. Call early.
What is 'standard of care'?+
What a reasonably competent provider in the same specialty would have done in the same circumstances. We prove it with testimony from a board-certified expert in that same field.
Are malpractice damages capped in New York?+
New York is one of the few states without a cap on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice. Recovery is based on the actual harm proven.
How long does a med mal case take?+
Most resolve within 2 to 4 years. Expert review, depositions, and motion practice take time, but the result is what matters.
What does it cost?+
Nothing upfront. We advance all expert fees and case costs, and we don't get paid unless you do.
Do I need an expert before filing a malpractice lawsuit in New York?+
Yes. CPLR 3012-a requires a certificate of merit confirming that a licensed physician reviewed the records and found a reasonable basis for the claim. That review has to happen before filing, which is why obtaining complete hospital records early matters so much.
What is Lavern's Law?+
It gives patients whose cancer was misdiagnosed or missed 2 years and 6 months from the date they knew or reasonably should have known of the misdiagnosis, rather than from the date of the error, subject to a 7-year outer limit.
Can I sue a public hospital like Bellevue or Elmhurst?+
Yes, but the rules are stricter: a notice of claim within 90 days, a possible statutory hearing, and suit within 1 year and 90 days. Missing the notice deadline usually ends the claim, so call as soon as you suspect something went wrong.
How much is a medical malpractice case worth in New York?+
There is no cap on pain and suffering here. Value depends on the permanence of the harm, future medical and attendant care, lost earnings, and, in death cases, the survivors' economic loss. Birth injury and severe neurological cases regularly reach seven and eight figures because lifetime care is the largest component.
I signed a consent form. Does that end my case?+
No. Informed consent covers the known risks of a properly performed procedure. It does not authorize negligence, and a signed form is not a defense to a departure from the standard of care.
How long does a birth injury case take?+
Often 3 to 5 years. These cases require fetal monitoring analysis, multiple specialists, and a full life-care plan. Because of the infancy toll, families frequently still have the right to file years after the delivery.
Contact
Harmed by healthcare? Let's review your records.
Free, confidential consultation. Expert physician review at no cost to you.
