On May 27, 2026, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law significant amendments which impact the ability of parties injured in automobile accidents to recover money damages. Three major changes have gone into effect, including the elimination of an injury category to qualify for non-economic damages, a cap to a plaintiff’s recovery who is convicted of certain crimes out of the accident, and changes to a plaintiff’s right to recovery where plaintiff holds the majority at fault. These changes are being explained in a series of three blog posts. This third post will review the newly installed bar on recovery if the plaintiff is the party with a majority of the fault. Modified Comparative Negligence for Automobile Cases New York has historically followed a pure comparative negligence system, under which a plaintiff’s recovery is reduced by his or her percentage of fault but previously, the plaintiff was never completely barred from recovery if any percentage of the fault for the accident was placed on the defendant. One of the best ways to explain what the above means is an example. Let’s say Joe is speeding, going 50 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone. Joe is also talking on a cell phone while driving, actually videochatting with his friend. Joe comes to an intersection that has a traffic light at it and Joe has the green light. As Joe goes through the intersection, Harold is driving on a cross street and runs through a red light. Joe’s car and Harold’s car collide, and Joe breaks his arm in the accident. Joe brings a lawsuit against Harold. The jury finds that Joe was 60% at fault for the accident – going double the posted speed and, come on Joe, videochatting while driving(!), but finds Harold 40% at fault because he ran a red light. The jury finds Joe was damaged in an amount of $100,000. In this scenario, since Joe was awarded $100,000 in damages but Harold was found only 40% at fault, Joe would have received $40,000 from Harold’s insurance company. However, now, Joe would not recover anything from Harold, because Joe was more at fault than Harold. The new legislation creates an exception for automobile personal injury actions governed by the No-Fault Law. Rather than adopting a straightforward 50-percent bar, the statute CPLR 1411(b) provides: “In any action to recover damages for personal injury subject to the No-Fault Law, the culpable conduct attributable to the claimant shall bar recovery if the culpable conduct attributable to the claimant is greater than the culpable conduct of the person against whom recovery is sought or is greater than the combined culpable conduct of the persons against whom recovery is sought.” CPLR 1411(b). The above new statute is not applicable to any other areas of law other than motor vehicle accidents. Pure comparative fault continues to exist in other areas of personal injury law. The practical implications of this language remain uncertain, particularly in multi-vehicle collisions. Questions arise where a plaintiff’s fault exceeds that of one tortfeasor but is less than that of another. In such circumstances, issues concerning which defendants remain liable and how any unrecoverable share of fault is allocated will likely require judicial interpretation. Continued Development from Change in Law  These changes to NY automobile liability law raises many questions for plaintiff attorneys, which will be answered through future litigation and court decisions. If you or a loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident, it is important you contact an experienced law firm, like Flink Maswick Law PLLC, who can help you understand your rights to recovery.

On May 27, 2026, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law significant amendments which impact the ability of parties injured in automobile accidents to recover money damages. Three major changes have gone into effect, including the elimination of an injury category to qualify for non-economic damages, a cap to a plaintiff’s recovery who is convicted of certain crimes out of the accident, and changes to a plaintiff’s right to recovery where plaintiff holds the majority at fault. These changes are being explained in a series of three blog posts. This second post reviews the newly placed cap on non-economic recovery for a plaintiff convicted of certain offenses. $100,000.00 Cap on Non-Economic Damages for Certain At-Fault Plaintiffs The law imposes a limited $100,000.00 maximum ability to recover on pain-and-suffering damages for certain plaintiffs whose conduct contributed to the accident. The cap applies when a plaintiff: Was operating an uninsured vehicle that he or she was responsible for insuring, unless the lapse in coverage lasted fewer than 30 days; Was operating a vehicle while impaired and is subsequently convicted of the impairment-related offense; or Was operating a vehicle during the commission of a felony, or while fleeing immediately from the commission of a felony, and is subsequently convicted of that felony.  The cap applies only to claims for non-economic damages and does not affect wrongful death actions. It is important that your attorney either has experience in criminal law or works closely with your criminal attorney if you are injured in a motor vehicle accident and charged with a DWI or a felony arising from the same accident. There may be limited circumstances in which this issue arises, but if you are injured in a motor vehicle accident, it is important you contact an experienced law firm to educate you on your rights to recovery. Part 3 to come in this series.

On May 27, 2026, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law significant amendments which impact the ability of parties injured in automobile accidents to recover money damages. Three major changes have gone into effect, including the elimination of an injury category to qualify for non-economic damages, a cap to a plaintiff’s recovery who is convicted of certain crimes out of the accident, and changes to a plaintiff’s right to recovery where plaintiff holds the majority at fault. These changes will be explained in a series of three blog posts. This first post covers perhaps most dramatic change to New York motor vehicle accident personal injury litigation, the elimination of the 90/180-Day serious injury category. Elimination of the 90/180-Day Serious Injury Category For the vast majority of personal injury cases involving motor vehicle crashes, plaintiffs seek to recover damages associated with pain and suffering for the injuries they have suffered. Simply receiving economic damages, such as lost wages, is helpful but does not fully compensate an injured plaintiff for what they have been through as a result of the negligence of another driver. In most situations, to bring a lawsuit that seeks pain and suffering damages, a plaintiff must have suffered what is known as a serious injury under the New York State Insurance Law. A serious injury is statutorily defined as: Death; Dismemberment; Significant disfigurement; Fracture; Loss of Fetus; Permanent Loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system; or Permanent consequential limitation of use of body organ or member; or Significant limitation of use of a body function or system. Previously, there was a ninth category; a plaintiff could recover damages from the defendant driver and satisfy the “serious injury threshold” by demonstrating a medically determined, non-permanent injury or impairment that prevented the performance of substantially all of plaintiff’s customary daily activities for at least 90 of the 180 days immediately following the accident. However, the new legislation removes the 90/180-day category from the definition of “serious injury” under New York Insurance Law § 5102(d). This is a significant change that will cause many who are significantly injured to not have a right to bring a lawsuit and seek pain and suffering damages. The category commonly known as “90/180” was a sort of catchall that permitted folks who were significantly injured in a car accident, but who did not break a bone in a car accident, to have the right to bring a lawsuit seeking full damages and compensation for their injuries. Now, these people may not be able to bring a suit like they could have previously. Think of those with significant and serious soft tissue injuries, torn ligaments, concussive issues or rotator cuff injuries. If you have a potential personal injury case, the attorneys at Flink Maswick Law PLLC are pleased to evaluate your matter free of charge. Please do not hesitate to contact us. Parts 2 and 3 to come.

In observance of Memorial Day, our offices will be closed on Monday, May 25, 2026.  We will reopen on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 8:30 AM. Please join us to remember and honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

On May 7, 2026, news broke that New York State Governor Kathy Hochul had announced a budget agreement for the upcoming fiscal year for New York State. However, there were a number of portions of this budget agreement which included issues outside of simply what money would be spent on, including potential longstanding law changes that would impact the ability of people to obtain compensation for injuries suffered in car accidents which are not their fault. In New York State, for many years, to be able to bring an action/lawsuit for pain and suffering associated with a motor vehicle accident, one must meet what is known as the “serious injury” threshold, which is defined by Insurance Law Section 5102(d). Without the ability to seek pain and suffering compensation, frequently car accident cases are not litigated. Seeking non-economic damages is the way that folks who are injured as a result of someone else's negligence in a car accident recover funds to help compensate them for the injuries, pain, suffering, and impact on their life that they have really and truly experienced. Under Insurance Law 5102(d), serious injuries are defined currently as follows:

This Mother’s Day, all of us at Flink Maswick Law extend our heartfelt wishes to the mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, and mother figures who make our Adirondack and Upstate NY communities so special. Today we celebrate your strength, compassion, guidance, and the countless ways you support your families every day. Whether you are spending the day relaxing by the lake, gathering with loved ones, or simply enjoying time together, we hope your Mother’s Day is filled with joy, appreciation, and beautiful moments. From all of us in our Lake Placid, Tupper Lake, and Albany offices — Happy Mother’s Day!

The Lake Placid Office will remain open during regular business hours. The Tupper Lake office will be closed on Monday, April 6, and will reopen on Tuesday, April 7 at 8:30 a.m.

We are excited to announce that Flink Maswick Law PLLC and some of its attorneys have been nominated again this year in multiple categories for the annual Best of the Mountains contest, which is hosted by the Adirondack Daily Enterprise . In addition to being nominated for Best Law Firm, which Flink Maswick Law PLLC has won the past three years in a row, Attorneys Molly S. Hann and James L. Maswick have both been nominated for the Best Attorney category for the third year in a row. Molly S. Hann won in this category in 2024 and 2025, and James L. Maswick won in 2023. Additionally, Flink Maswick Law PLLC has been nominated for the category known as Best Customer Service. It is an honor to be recognized, especially by the community we are proud to serve daily. If you would like to support us, voting is now open and we truly appreciate the trust of our community. You can vote via the Adirondack Daily Enterprise website until May 5, 2026. No matter the outcome, Flink Maswick Law PLLC is grateful to be part of such an incredible community and to continue doing the work we care about. Please follow this link for voting - dailygazette.secondstreetapp.com/Best-of-The-Mountains/

We have had clients report to us on Monday, March 23, 2026, and Tuesday, March 24, 2026, that they had trouble calling our offices. We have been working with our phone carrier to fix those issues, with some calls connecting and others not. We are advised that this issue is fixed by our phone carrier. However, if you still experience this issue, please report this to our business manager Kasey L. Donahue via email at kdonahue@flinkmaswicklaw.com so that we may continue to have our phone carrier work on this issue.  We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Thank you for your ongoing trust and support.