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Your Ogdensburg Personal Injury Attorney
If you or someone in your family was injured in Ogdensburg, you are probably looking for plain answers about time limits, fault, and what a claim involves. New York sets several of those by statute, so many answers can be checked. Keep reading for the time limits, the comparative fault rule, the serious injury threshold, government notice rules, the court structure for St. Lawrence County, and straight answers on car accidents, falls, workplace injuries, and wrongful death. The facts of your injury decide which rule controls, and an attorney who practices in New York courts can sort that out quickly.
Deadlines and Fault Rules: The Short Version
- 3 years is the general limit to file a lawsuit for a personal injury (CPLR 214(5)), with different rules for minors and government defendants.
- Claims against the State of New York must be filed and served on the Attorney General within 90 days, unless a notice of intention is served in that time (Court of Claims Act 10(3)).
- If you are partly at fault, you can often still recover. Under CPLR 1411(a) the award is reduced by your percentage, except in a motor vehicle case where CPLR 1411(b) bars a claimant found more at fault than the defendant.
- New York is a no-fault state for crash injuries. Basic economic loss is covered up to $50,000 per person (Insurance Law 5102(a)), and non-economic loss requires a serious injury (Insurance Law 5104(a)).
- Families have rights after a fatal accident: a wrongful death action under EPTL 5-4.1, generally within two years, and a surviving injury claim under EPTL 11-3.2(b).
Time Limits: When an Injury Claim Must Be Filed
The main deadline is set by CPLR 214(5): an action to recover damages for a personal injury must be commenced within three years. The exceptions listed in that subdivision, in CPLR 214-b, 214-c, 214-i and 215, carry their own periods.
Minors are treated differently. If the person entitled to sue is under a disability because of infancy when the claim accrues, the time to sue is extended to three years after the disability ceases (CPLR 208(a)). The ten-year outer limit in that section does not apply to infancy outside medical, dental, or podiatric malpractice.
A death caused by another’s negligence can lead to a wrongful death action, which EPTL 5-4.1 limits to two years after the death (longer, in a stated case, when a criminal action is pending), together with the surviving injury claim under EPTL 11-3.2(b).
Ninety days is the number to remember for local public defendants. A notice of claim must be served within ninety days after the claim arises (General Municipal Law 50-e(1)(a)), and suit must follow within one year and ninety days, or two years for a death (General Municipal Law 50-i(1)).
There is some room for late notice: on application, a court may extend the time to serve a notice of claim, but not beyond the time limited for the injured person to commence an action against the public body (General Municipal Law 50-e(5)). The complaint must also allege the thirty-day wait (General Municipal Law 50-i(1)).
If a state agency or state employee may be responsible, the Court of Claims Act sets the timing: file and serve the claim on the Attorney General within ninety days after accrual, or serve a notice of intention within that time and then file within two years (Court of Claims Act 10(3)).
If the ninety days are missed, the court has discretion to allow a late claim before the ordinary limitation period under CPLR article 2 would bar a like action (Court of Claims Act 10(6)).
If the injury came from medical care, CPLR 214-a applies instead of the general rule: two years and six months, continuous treatment for the same condition extends the period, and a foreign object discovered in the body may be sued on within one year of discovery.
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What Happens When You Are Partly to Blame
The general rule is in CPLR 1411(a): damages are diminished in proportion to the claimant’s share of the culpable conduct that caused them. A claimant who is partly at fault still recovers in most injury cases, reduced by that share.
The numbers work like this in a fall or premises case: at 30% fault, an award of $100,000 becomes $70,000, and at 60% fault it becomes $40,000. Because every percentage point moves the number, how fault is proven matters as much as how much was lost.
If your case is a car, truck, or motorcycle case under the no-fault law, and the lawsuit is commenced on or after May 26, 2026, CPLR 1411(b) bars recovery when your share of the fault is greater than the defendant’s or the defendants’ combined share. Exactly equal shares are not covered by the words of the statute, which say greater than.
Multiple defendants change the math. Under CPLR 1601(1), a defendant whose liability is 50 percent or less of the total is responsible for non-economic loss only for its equitable share, subject to the exceptions in CPLR 1602.
The New York No-Fault System After a Crash
No-fault benefits are available without proving fault, up to the limit of fifty thousand dollars per person in Insurance Law 5102(a). The definition includes medical and related expenses, lost earnings, and other reasonable and necessary expenses.
Those benefits have caps: earnings up to two thousand dollars a month for as long as three years, and other expenses up to twenty-five dollars a day for one year (Insurance Law 5102(a)). Optional additional coverage of twenty-five thousand dollars exists for lost earnings or therapy after the first fifty thousand dollars.
Whether an injury is a serious injury is often disputed. The statute lists categories, among them death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, a fracture, permanent loss of use, permanent consequential limitation, and significant limitation of use of a body function or system (Insurance Law 5102(d)), and Insurance Law 5104(a) ties non-economic damages to it.
Two short no-fault deadlines sit alongside the lawsuit deadline: written notice of the accident to the insurer as soon as reasonably practicable and never more than 30 days after it, and proof of claim no later than 45 days after services (11 NYCRR 65-1.1).
Older articles about New York no-fault may be out of date. Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 deleted the 90/180-day category from Insurance Law 5102(d) and changed the order of proof in Insurance Law 5104(a) for actions commenced on or after May 26, 2026, as the Department of Financial Services explained in Circular Letter No. 3 (2026).
When a Government Body Is Responsible for the Injury
Whether a city, town, village, or county can be sued turns first on the notice of claim (General Municipal Law 50-e) and then on the deadlines in General Municipal Law 50-i(1): thirty days after notice before suit, and one year and ninety days from the event to commence the action.
Prior written notice can decide a sidewalk or street case. Town Law 65-a(2) bars an action against a town for a sidewalk defect or a snow and ice condition unless written notice naming the place was given to the town clerk or superintendent of highways and the problem was not fixed in a reasonable time, and Village Law 6-628 contains a comparable rule for villages.
Claims against the State of New York are handled differently: they are brought in the Court of Claims, which hears actions for money damages against the State, and the claim must be filed and served on the Attorney General within ninety days after accrual unless a notice of intention is served within that time (Court of Claims Act 10(3)).
Any injury on public property, or involving a public vehicle, deserves prompt review because of the notice periods that begin at the injury.
From Local Courts to the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is the trial court of general jurisdiction in New York and hears civil cases for damages above the local courts’ limits. In New York City, the Civil Court has jurisdiction of money actions up to $50,000 (New York City Civil Court Act 202), and the Court of Claims is the forum for actions against the State.
The judicial districts are set by Judiciary Law 140, and an Ogdensburg injury lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court is heard in the Supreme Court in St. Lawrence County, part of the Fourth Judicial District. The county seat of St. Lawrence County is Canton.
The Injuries Behind Most Claims From Ogdensburg
Auto Accident Injuries
After a collision, the questions are fault, injuries, and insurance. No-fault pays basic economic loss first (Insurance Law 5102(a)), non-economic damages depend on a serious injury (Insurance Law 5104(a)), and your share of the fault can reduce or bar the award (CPLR 1411).
If a defendant’s liability is 50 percent or less, its share of non-economic loss is limited to its equitable share (CPLR 1601(1)).
Falls and Unsafe Property Conditions
Premises injuries, such as a fall on a wet floor, an unlit stairway, or a broken step, turn on whether the owner or occupier was negligent. The injured person’s own share of the fault is weighed under CPLR 1411, and the three-year deadline in CPLR 214(5) runs from the fall.
Claims involving government-owned property carry a ninety-day notice requirement (General Municipal Law 50-e(1)(a)), and snow and ice on a town sidewalk brings in Town Law 65-a(2).
Fatal Accident Claims
A wrongful death action is brought by the personal representative of the person who died, and it must be commenced within two years after the death (EPTL 5-4.1). If a criminal action is pending for the death, the statute allows at least one year from the termination of the criminal action.
If a government body may be responsible, a notice of claim within ninety days is still required (General Municipal Law 50-e(1)(a)).
On-the-Job Injuries
If a third party such as a property owner, contractor, or equipment maker contributed to a workplace injury, the employee need not choose between compensation and a claim against that party (Workers’ Compensation Law 29(1)).
On construction and repair work, Labor Law 240(1) requires owners and contractors to furnish or erect scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, and similar devices for the performance of the work.
Not sure which deadline applies to your injury? Get matched with an attorney.
Injury Claims in Ogdensburg and St. Lawrence County
Deadlines and fault rules are the same across New York, and the courthouse is not. An injury in Ogdensburg is handled in St. Lawrence County, and getting the timeline for that court from an attorney who practices there is a sound first step.
If your injury happened in a different city, start from our statewide New York personal injury directory. We connect people in Massena, Carthage, and Watertown with local attorneys as well. If your issue is a patent, trademark, or copyright matter instead of an injury, see our Ogdensburg intellectual property page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit in New York?
Three years is the general rule. An action to recover damages for a personal injury must be commenced within three years (CPLR 214(5)), with different periods for the exceptions listed there and for other kinds of claims.
Is there a shorter deadline for claims against the government?
Yes: ninety days for the notice of claim (General Municipal Law 50-e(1)(a)) and one year and ninety days to commence the action, or two years for wrongful death (General Municipal Law 50-i(1)), compared with three years in an ordinary injury case.
Does being partly at fault end my injury claim?
Usually not, outside the motor vehicle rule: culpable conduct does not bar recovery under CPLR 1411(a). For crashes covered by Insurance Law article 51 in actions commenced on or after May 26, 2026, a claimant more at fault than the defendant is barred (CPLR 1411(b)).
What is CPLR 1411(b)?
It is a subdivision added in 2026 that bars recovery in personal injury actions subject to Insurance Law article 51 when the claimant’s culpable conduct is greater than the culpable conduct of the person sued or of the persons sued combined.
How much no-fault coverage do I get?
Basic economic loss is covered up to fifty thousand dollars per person (Insurance Law 5102(a)), with optional additional coverage of twenty-five thousand dollars available for lost earnings or therapy after that amount is used.
Why do insurers dispute the serious injury threshold?
Because the definition in Insurance Law 5102(d) controls whether pain and suffering can be recovered (Insurance Law 5104(a)), a lot can turn on it, and medical records and expert opinions carry most of the weight.
Is the wrongful death deadline shorter than the injury deadline?
Yes. A wrongful death action must be commenced within two years after the death (EPTL 5-4.1), while an ordinary personal injury action has three years (CPLR 214(5)).
Where do I file a claim against the State of New York?
Claims against the State are brought in the Court of Claims, and the claim must be filed and served on the Attorney General within ninety days after accrual unless a notice of intention is served in that time (Court of Claims Act 10(3)).
What if someone other than my employer caused my work injury?
Then you may have a third-party claim against that party, separate from workers’ compensation against the employer (Workers’ Compensation Law 29(1)).
Is the injury deadline different for a person under a disability?
Yes. CPLR 208(a) extends the time for a person under a disability because of infancy or insanity to three years after the disability ceases, subject to the limits stated in that section.
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