NYC Elevator Accident Lawyer

At Kelner & Kelner, our NYC elevator accident lawyers understand the devastating consequences that can result from elevator malfunctions and failures. With thousands of high-rise buildings throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, New York City residents and visitors rely on elevators daily. When these essential transportation systems fail, the results can be catastrophic.

If you or a loved one has suffered injuries in an elevator accident, a NYC elevator accident lawyer from our firm can help you pursue compensation for your injuries, lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. Our attorneys have decades of experience helping victims navigate the complex legal process following elevator accidents in residential buildings, office complexes, hospitals, malls, and other locations throughout New York City.

Financial Compensation You Can Pursue in a NYC Elevator Accident Lawsuit

As your NYC elevator accident lawyer, Kelner & Kelner is committed to helping you recover the full compensation you deserve for injuries sustained in an elevator accident.

• Medical Expenses: Compensation for all current and future medical costs, including emergency room visits, surgeries, hospital stays, rehabilitation, physical therapy, medication, and any necessary medical equipment.
• Lost Wages: Recovery for income lost while you were unable to work due to your injuries, including salary, bonuses, commissions, and other employment benefits.
• Diminished Earning Capacity: Payment for your reduced ability to earn income in the future if your elevator accident injuries cause permanent limitations that affect your career prospects.
• Pain and Suffering: Monetary damages for the physical pain and discomfort you've experienced as a result of your injuries, which a NYC elevator accident lawyer can help quantify.
• Emotional Distress: Compensation for psychological impacts such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and fear of elevators following the accident.
• Disfigurement: Financial recovery for permanent scarring or disfigurement resulting from your elevator accident injuries.
• Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Damages for your inability to participate in hobbies, recreational activities, and other pleasures of life that you enjoyed before the accident.
• Loss of Consortium: Compensation for the impact your injuries have had on your relationship with your spouse, including loss of companionship and support.
• Disability Accommodations: Funds to cover costs of necessary modifications to your home or vehicle to accommodate permanent disabilities resulting from the elevator accident.
• Punitive Damages: In cases involving particularly egregious negligence, additional compensation may be awarded to punish the responsible parties and deter similar conduct, which your NYC elevator accident lawyer can pursue when appropriate.
• Wrongful Death Damages: If you lost a loved one in an elevator accident, compensation for funeral expenses, loss of financial support, loss of companionship, and the victim's pain and suffering before death.
• Property Damage: Reimbursement for personal items damaged in the elevator accident, such as electronic devices, jewelry, or clothing.
• Out-of-Pocket Expenses: Recovery for other costs directly related to your injuries, including transportation to medical appointments and hired help for tasks you cannot perform.
• NYC Premises Liability: Additional compensation may be available under NYC premises liability law when property owners fail to maintain safe elevator conditions, which our NYC premises liability lawyer can explain in detail.

At Kelner & Kelner, our NYC elevator accident lawyer team works diligently to identify all potential sources of compensation and calculate the full value of your claim, ensuring you receive the financial recovery needed to rebuild your life after a serious elevator accident in New York City.

How a NYC Elevator Accident Lawyer Can Maximize Your Compensation

At Kelner & Kelner, our NYC elevator accident lawyer team employs strategic legal approaches to secure the highest possible compensation for elevator accident victims.

• Thorough Scene Investigation: Our NYC elevator accident lawyer conducts comprehensive on-site examinations to document crucial evidence like mechanical failures, missing safety features, and code violations before they can be repaired or altered.
• Maintenance Record Analysis: Our NYC elevator accident lawyer obtains and scrutinizes elevator maintenance logs, inspection records, and repair histories to establish patterns of negligence or identify missed warning signs that should have prevented the accident.
• Multiple Liability Determination: Your NYC elevator accident lawyer identifies all potentially responsible parties—property owners, maintenance companies, manufacturers, and building managers—to pursue compensation from multiple sources simultaneously.
• Building Code Expertise: Our NYC elevator accident lawyer leverages extensive knowledge of New York City's specific elevator regulations and building codes to pinpoint exactly how safety standards were violated in your case.
• Strategic Timing of Claims: Your NYC elevator accident lawyer files claims at optimal times to avoid statute of limitation issues while allowing sufficient time to fully document the extent of your injuries and long-term impacts.
• Medical Documentation Coordination: Our NYC elevator accident lawyer works with your healthcare providers to ensure all injuries are properly documented, including subtle or developing conditions that might otherwise be overlooked in your compensation claim.
• Economic Damage Calculation: Your NYC elevator accident lawyer collaborates with economic analysts to precisely calculate lifetime financial impacts of your injuries, including future medical costs and diminished earning capacity.
• Negotiation Leverage: We prepare each case as if it will go to trial, building a compelling evidence package that gives us superior leverage during settlement negotiations with insurance companies.
• Premises Liability Application: As both NYC elevator accident lawyers and NYC premises liability lawyers, we apply nuanced legal theories that establish the property owner's duty of care and breach of that duty.
• Expert Witness Utilization: We engage qualified elevator safety engineers, medical specialists, and vocational rehabilitation experts who provide authoritative testimony about liability and the full impact of your injuries.
• Insurance Coverage Maximization: Your NYC elevator accident lawyer identifies all applicable insurance policies, including primary coverage, excess policies, and umbrella policies, to access the maximum available compensation.
• Alternative Compensation Sources: We explore additional avenues for recovery beyond standard insurance, such as third-party claims and, when applicable, workers' compensation benefits.
• Comparative Negligence Defense: Your NYC elevator accident lawyer anticipates and counters attempts to assign partial blame to you, protecting your right to full compensation under New York's comparative negligence laws.
• Documented Safety Violations: We obtain Department of Buildings violation records and prior incident reports to establish a history of negligence, strengthening your claim and potentially supporting punitive damages.

At Kelner & Kelner, our NYC elevator accident lawyer team combines these strategic approaches with decades of litigation experience to build the strongest possible case for maximum compensation, ensuring that all current and future financial needs resulting from your elevator accident are fully addressed.

Common Injuries Associated with NYC Elevator Accidents

As NYC elevator accident lawyers, Kelner & Kelner has represented numerous clients who have suffered a wide range of injuries due to malfunctioning elevators throughout New York City.

• Fractures and Broken Bones: Sudden elevator drops or abrupt stops can cause passengers to fall, resulting in broken arms, legs, hips, and ribs that often require surgical intervention and lengthy recovery periods.
• Head and Traumatic Brain Injuries: Victims may strike their heads during elevator accidents, leading to concussions, contusions, or more severe traumatic brain injuries that can cause long-term cognitive impairment and require extensive rehabilitation.
• Spinal Cord Damage: Elevator plunges or ceiling collapses can cause devastating spinal cord injuries, potentially resulting in partial or complete paralysis that requires lifelong medical care and assistance.
• Soft Tissue Injuries: Sudden jerks, stops, or acceleration of elevators commonly cause whiplash, sprains, strains, and tears to muscles, tendons, and ligaments that may lead to chronic pain and mobility issues.
• Crush Injuries: Malfunctioning elevator doors can close unexpectedly with tremendous force, crushing limbs, fingers, or other body parts, sometimes necessitating amputation or causing permanent disfigurement.
• Lacerations and Abrasions: Broken elevator components, sharp edges, or being thrown against interior walls during malfunctions can cause serious cuts, potentially leading to significant blood loss, scarring, and infection risk.
• Joint Dislocations: The impact from falls or sudden movements during elevator accidents frequently causes shoulder, knee, or hip dislocations that may require surgical repair and result in future joint instability.
• Nerve Damage: Compression injuries in elevator accidents can damage peripheral nerves, causing numbness, tingling, weakness, and potentially permanent loss of sensation or function in affected areas.
• Internal Organ Damage: Severe impacts during elevator accidents can cause internal bleeding or damage to vital organs like the liver, kidneys, or spleen, often requiring emergency surgery and extended hospitalization.
• Psychological Trauma: Many elevator accident victims develop anxiety, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other psychological conditions that a NYC elevator accident lawyer will include in your compensation claim.
• Entrapment Injuries: Being trapped in a malfunctioning elevator, especially between floors, can lead to dehydration, heat exhaustion, exacerbation of pre-existing medical conditions, and severe psychological distress.
• Electrocution and Burns: Electrical malfunctions in elevators can cause electrocution injuries or fires, resulting in burns ranging from minor to life-threatening that may require skin grafts and extensive treatment.
• Facial Injuries: Forward falls during sudden stops often result in facial trauma, including broken noses, dental injuries, jaw fractures, and eye damage that may require reconstructive surgery.
• Wrongful Death: In the most tragic cases handled by our NYC elevator accident lawyer team, victims succumb to their injuries, leaving families to pursue wrongful death claims under NYC premises liability law.

At Kelner & Kelner, our NYC elevator accident lawyers understand the profound physical, emotional, and financial impact these injuries can have on victims and their families, which is why we fight relentlessly to secure compensation that fully addresses both immediate and long-term consequences of elevator accidents throughout New York City.

Causes of NYC Elevator Accidents

As NYC elevator accident lawyers at Kelner & Kelner, we have identified numerous factors that commonly contribute to elevator accidents throughout New York City's thousands of high-rise buildings.

• Improper Maintenance: Many elevator accidents occur when building owners fail to conduct regular maintenance or address known issues, leading to mechanical failures that could have been prevented with proper upkeep.
• Mechanical Failures: Defective or worn brake systems, cables, pulleys, and motor components can catastrophically fail, causing elevators to drop suddenly or operate erratically even when maintenance schedules appear to be followed.
• Door Malfunctions: Faulty door sensors or closing mechanisms can cause doors to close unexpectedly with excessive force or fail to detect obstructions, resulting in crush injuries that our NYC elevator accident lawyer team frequently represents.
• Control System Errors: Outdated or malfunctioning control systems can send elevators to wrong floors, cause sudden movements, or fail to respond to emergency stop commands during critical situations.
• Power Failures: Inadequate backup power systems or improper emergency protocols during blackouts can trap passengers or cause dangerous sudden stops that throw passengers off balance.
• Speed Control Problems: Malfunctioning governors and speed regulation systems can allow elevators to move too quickly, resulting in abrupt stops or crashes that cause severe injuries to passengers.
• Misleveling Incidents: Elevators that stop above or below floor level by even a few inches create serious trip and fall hazards, particularly for elderly passengers or those with mobility limitations.
• Overloading: When weight limits are exceeded or improperly calculated, elevators can experience mechanical stress leading to cable failures, emergency braking, or complete system breakdown.
• Inadequate Inspections: Failure to conduct thorough inspections or falsification of inspection records can allow dangerous conditions to persist, a violation of safety regulations that a NYC elevator accident lawyer can establish as negligence.
• Poor Installation: Improperly installed elevator components or systems can create hidden dangers that may not become apparent until a catastrophic failure occurs, often long after installation.
• Outdated Equipment: Many NYC buildings operate elevators far beyond their intended service life without necessary modernization, increasing the risk of component failures and accidents.
• Negligent Repairs: Improper repair work, use of substandard replacement parts, or incomplete fixes can create new hazards or fail to address underlying problems that lead to accidents.
• Software Glitches: Modern elevators rely on complex software that can develop glitches affecting critical safety features, floor selections, or emergency response systems.
• Inadequate Training: Maintenance personnel without proper training may miss warning signs or incorrectly perform critical maintenance procedures, creating dangerous conditions that fall under NYC premises liability law.

At Kelner & Kelner, our NYC elevator accident lawyer team thoroughly investigates each case to identify all contributing factors and responsible parties, ensuring that our clients receive maximum compensation for injuries caused by these preventable elevator accidents throughout New York City.

Who May Be Liable for Your Elevator Accident Injuries?

As NYC elevator accident lawyers, Kelner & Kelner identifies all potentially responsible parties to maximize your compensation after suffering injuries in an elevator accident.

• Property Owners: Building owners have a legal responsibility to maintain safe premises, including functional elevators, and can be held liable for failing to address known hazards or conduct necessary maintenance.
• Building Management Companies: Property management firms tasked with day-to-day operations often bear responsibility for elevator safety, maintenance scheduling, and responding to reported problems that could lead to accidents.
• Maintenance Contractors: Companies specifically hired to service and maintain elevators can be liable when their negligence, improper repairs, or failure to identify dangerous conditions contributes to an accident.
• Elevator Manufacturers: Manufacturers may bear responsibility for design defects, manufacturing flaws, or inadequate safety features that contribute to elevator malfunctions and resulting injuries.
• Installation Companies: Improper installation of elevator systems or components can create hidden dangers, making the installation contractor liable for accidents that occur even years after completion.
• Component Suppliers: Manufacturers of specific elevator parts such as cables, motors, brakes, or control systems may be liable if their defective components cause or contribute to an accident.
• Inspection Companies: Third-party inspection firms that fail to identify hazardous conditions or falsely certify elevator safety can share liability when their negligence allows dangerous conditions to persist.
• Repair Technicians: Individual technicians who perform substandard repairs or fail to follow industry protocols may be personally liable in addition to their employing company.
• Architectural Firms: Architects who design buildings with inherently unsafe elevator systems or inadequate safety features may share responsibility for resulting accidents.
• Engineering Consultants: Engineers who approve flawed elevator designs or fail to recognize safety issues during construction or renovation can be liable parties in your claim.
• Government Entities: In buildings owned or operated by government agencies, the responsible department or agency may be liable, though special procedural rules apply that your NYC elevator accident lawyer will navigate.
• Condominium Associations: In condominium buildings, the homeowners' association may be responsible for elevator maintenance and safety, creating potential liability for accidents.
• Former Property Owners: Previous building owners who concealed elevator problems during property transfer or failed to disclose known issues may share liability under certain circumstances.
• Premises Liability Insurance Carriers: Insurance companies covering the property may be directly liable for compensating your injuries under NYC premises liability law, though they often attempt to minimize payouts.

At Kelner & Kelner, our NYC elevator accident lawyer team conducts thorough investigations to identify every potentially responsible party, ensuring you can pursue maximum compensation from all available sources for your elevator accident injuries in New York City.

High-Risk Areas for Elevator Accidents in NYC

As NYC elevator accident lawyers serving clients from our offices near Centre Street, Kelner & Kelner has identified specific locations throughout the five boroughs where elevator accidents occur more frequently.

• Aging Residential Buildings: Older apartment buildings along Central Park West, Riverside Drive, and Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn often have elevators dating back to the 1920s and 1930s that haven't been adequately modernized, increasing the risk of mechanical failures and accidents.
• Public Housing Developments: NYCHA buildings in Harlem, the Lower East Side, and Brownsville frequently experience elevator maintenance issues, with residents reporting extended outages, sudden drops, and door malfunctions that our NYC elevator accident lawyer team has represented in numerous injury cases.
• Budget Hotels: Economy hotels along Queens Boulevard, near LaGuardia Airport, and in the vicinity of Penn Station sometimes defer elevator maintenance to minimize operational costs, creating dangerous conditions for guests who may have little choice but to use these potentially hazardous conveyances.
• Construction Sites: Temporary construction elevators and hoists at major development projects in Hudson Yards, Downtown Brooklyn, and Long Island City present unique dangers due to their temporary nature, limited safety features, and frequent use in challenging environmental conditions.
• Commercial Office Buildings: High-traffic elevators in Midtown skyscrapers along Sixth Avenue, Bryant Park towers, and Financial District high-rises experience significant wear and tear from constant use, with some property managers prioritizing continuous operation over necessary maintenance breaks.
• Healthcare Facilities: Hospital and nursing home elevators on the Upper East Side medical corridor, along First Avenue, and in major medical centers in Washington Heights present special risks when malfunctions occur, often falling under both medical negligence and NYC premises liability law.
• Shopping Centers and Malls: Retail establishment elevators in locations like Queens Center Mall, Gateway Center in East New York, and older department stores along 34th Street experience high visitor volumes that can accelerate deterioration of key components while limiting maintenance opportunities.
• Educational Institutions: School and university buildings throughout CUNY campuses, private institutions along Morningside Heights, and aging public schools in Queens and the Bronx sometimes operate dated elevator systems with minimal upgrades, creating potential hazards for students, faculty, and visitors.
• Transit Hubs: Elevator and escalator systems in major subway stations like Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center, Fulton Center, and Times Square-42nd Street face extreme usage patterns, weather exposure, and sometimes vandalism that contributes to malfunction risks.
• Entertainment Venues: Theaters in the Broadway district, Madison Square Garden, and Barclays Center may experience elevator overloading during peak events, testing the capacity and safety systems beyond their intended parameters.

At Kelner & Kelner, our NYC elevator accident lawyer team closely monitors patterns of elevator incidents throughout these high-risk locations from Queens to Staten Island, allowing us to anticipate common defense strategies and build stronger cases for victims injured while navigating the vertical transportation systems so essential to life in the Big Apple.

Why Choose Kelner & Kelner?

As NYC elevator accident lawyers, we have built our reputation on achieving exceptional results for injury victims throughout New York City's five boroughs.

• Proven Track Record: Our NYC elevator accident lawyer team has secured millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for elevator accident victims, consistently obtaining compensation that accounts for both immediate injuries and long-term consequences.
• Comprehensive Legal Strategy: We combine thorough investigation techniques, in-depth knowledge of NYC building codes, and strategic application of premises liability law to build compelling cases that insurance companies cannot easily dismiss.
• No Fee Unless We Win: Our NYC elevator accident lawyer services are provided on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing upfront and owe no legal fees unless we successfully recover compensation for your elevator accident injuries.
• Dedicated Personal Attention: Unlike high-volume firms, our NYC elevator accident lawyers personally handle every aspect of your case, ensuring you receive direct communication, individualized legal strategies, and the full benefit of our knowledge throughout your legal journey.

At Kelner & Kelner, our NYC elevator accident lawyers are committed to securing the maximum possible compensation while providing the focused, personalized representation you deserve during this challenging time in your life.

Elevator Accident Injury?

A New York elevator accident attorney at Kelner & Kelner can help you seek the compensation you deserve.

Other Types of Premises Liability Cases We Handle

Unsafe property conditions can lead to serious injuries—and our firm is equipped to handle a wide range of premises liability claims. If your injury happened on someone else’s property in New York, our personal injury lawyers in NYC may be able to help. Learn more about the types of cases we handle:

• • Slip and Fall Accidents
  • Trip and Fall Accidents
  • Escalator Accidents
  • Elevator Accidents
  • Building Collapse Incidents
  • Faulty Cellar Grate Injuries
  • Sidewalk Accidents
  • Negligent Security Incidents
  • Dog Bite Injuries