Rear-ended. T-boned at an intersection. Hit head-on by a wrong-way driver. Pedestrian hit by an impaired driver. NY NY drunk-driving law prohibits DWI/DWAI — a violation is negligence per se, vastly strengthening your civil case. New York also has one of the broadest Dram Shop Acts in the country: NY's Dram Shop Act lets victims sue the bar, restaurant, or social host that overserved the driver. Punitive damages are often available.
Madison Law Firm PLLC · 579 5th Ave, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10017
BAC test results, police DWI report, body-cam / dashcam footage, breathalyzer logs, field sobriety test video. Receipts and security footage from the last bar or restaurant served. We move fast — bar surveillance is often overwritten within 30 days.
Drunk-driving cases often involve multiple defendants: the driver, the bar/restaurant (Dram Shop), the vehicle owner (if different from driver), and any social host. Each may have separate policies that stack. We map all available coverage — primary auto, commercial liability, host liquor — before negotiating.
Drunk driving is among the few NY personal-injury fact patterns that supports punitive damages. We plead and try them where the facts support it (high BAC, prior DWI history, gross indifference to safety). Punitive damages can multiply recovery several-fold beyond compensatory damages.
Every case is different. The recoverable damages depend on your injuries, the insurance available, and the facts of your case.
A criminal DWI/DWAI conviction under NY drunk-driving law establishes the civil defendant's negligence as a matter of law. The civil jury does not get to decide whether the driver was negligent — only damages. This is one of the strongest evidentiary positions a plaintiff can be in. We coordinate with the DA's office to track the criminal case timeline and preserve the conviction record for the civil trial.
Before filing, NY requires a New York civil procedure rule 3012-a certificate of merit signed by your attorney attesting that a qualified physician has reviewed the case and finds it meritorious. We arrange the expert review during intake.
Claims against NYC Health + Hospitals (HHC) facilities — Bellevue, Elmhurst, Kings County, Lincoln, etc. — require a 90-day notice of claim. Same deadline applies to SUNY hospitals. Call us before that deadline runs.
We answer 24/7. Free consultation. No fee unless we win.