Child injury cases in New York are governed by a distinct procedural framework that does not apply to adult claims: every settlement must be approved by a judge under CPLR §1207 and CPLR §1208, attorney fees are capped at one-third of the net recovery under 22 NYCRR §202.67, and the general 3-year statute of limitations is tolled during the child’s minority under CPLR §208, typically giving a minor until age 21 to file suit in non-medical-malpractice cases. According to CDC research analyzing National Vital Statistics System data, unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children and youth ages 1 to 19 in the United States, with roughly 7,444 children and youth aged 0 to 19 dying from unintentional injuries in a single recent year, an average of 20 preventable deaths each day. Porter Law Group represents children and their families in catastrophic injury cases across New York State, including pediatric medical malpractice, motor vehicle crashes, dog attacks, burns, and public-entity premises cases.
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Child injury cases demand particular care because the client cannot direct the litigation, the damages stretch 70 or 80 years into the future, and every settlement must survive judicial review under CPLR §1207. Porter Law Group has recovered more than $500 million for seriously injured clients since 2009, including multiple pediatric recoveries exceeding $8 million each for children who suffered permanent disabilities due to medical negligence. Led by Harvard-educated attorney Michael S. Porter, a former U.S. Army JAG Corps Captain with over 20 years of trial experience, the firm retains pediatric neurologists, developmental pediatricians, life care planners, and vocational economists to document every dollar of a child’s future medical, educational, and earning needs. Seven of eight partner-level attorneys are recognized by Super Lawyers, a distinction earned by fewer than 5% of New York attorneys.
“A child injury case is not a smaller version of an adult case. The client can’t describe the pain, the damages extend across a lifetime, and a judge has to personally approve the settlement as fair to the child. These cases require detailed life care planning, careful management of the infant compromise process, and a willingness to educate the court about what the injury actually means for a young person who has no voice in the proceeding.” Michael S. Porter, J.D., Porter Law Group
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New York law treats minor-plaintiff cases as a separate procedural category, and these differences are essential to valuing any child injury claim.
A minor cannot sue in their own name. Under CPLR §1201, a child’s lawsuit must be brought by a guardian of their property, a parent with legal custody, another person with legal custody, or a court-appointed guardian ad litem under CPLR §1202. The adult representative directs the case, but the recovery belongs to the child.
Infancy tolling under CPLR §208. The 3-year statute of limitations for personal injury under CPLR §214 is tolled during the child’s minority, so a child injured in a car crash, dog attack, or premises incident typically has until age 21 to file suit. Medical malpractice is handled differently: a statutory exception caps the tolling at 10 years from the malpractice, which for birth injuries generally means the claim must be filed before the child’s 10th birthday.
Court approval of every settlement. Under CPLR §1207 and §1208, any settlement of a minor’s claim is unenforceable unless a judge approves it at an infant compromise hearing. Counsel must submit affidavits covering the injury, settlement amount, outstanding medical expenses, liens, and why the deal is fair to the child. Under CPLR §1208(d), the petitioner and the child typically must appear in person unless the court excuses them for good cause.
Attorney fees and held funds. Under 22 NYCRR §202.67, attorney fees on a general infant personal injury settlement are capped at one-third of the net recovery after disbursements, unless the court authorizes more. Medical malpractice cases follow the sliding-scale cap under Judiciary Law §474-a. Courts typically direct net proceeds into a structured settlement or a court-supervised Article 17 account held for the child’s benefit until age 18, with early release available under CPLR §1211 only in cases of demonstrated need.
Liability in a child injury case depends on the setting and the mechanism of harm. Under New York’s pure comparative negligence system (CPLR §1411), damages can be apportioned among multiple at-fault parties, and each defendant typically carries its own insurance coverage. New York courts judge a child’s conduct against what is reasonable for a child of similar age, intelligence, and experience, not against adult standards, and very young children are often held non-negligent as a matter of law.
| Setting of Injury | Potentially Liable Parties | Related Practice Area |
| Labor and delivery | OB-GYN, labor and delivery nurse, hospital, anesthesiologist, midwife | Birth Injuries |
| Pediatric medical care | Pediatrician, NICU physician, hospital, pharmacy | Medical Malpractice |
| Motor vehicle crash | Driver, vehicle owner, employer, product manufacturer | Car Accidents |
| Dog attack | Dog owner (on proof of knowledge of dangerous propensity), landlord | Dog Bites |
| Premises injury (pool, playground, building) | Property owner, tenant, maintenance contractor | Slip and Fall |
| Burns and scalds | Property owner, product manufacturer, landlord | Burn Injuries |
| Public school or park | Municipality or school district (90-day Notice of Claim required under GML §50-e) | Slip and Fall |
| Traumatic brain injury | Varies by setting (above) | Brain Injuries |
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Child injury damages extend decades further into the future than adult claims, which makes accurate economic projections the single most valuable element of the case. New York places no statutory cap on damages in personal injury or medical malpractice cases.
Future medical care is typically the largest category. Porter Law Group retains life care planners to project the cost of surgeries, therapies, medications, assistive technology, home modifications, and custodial care across the child’s projected life expectancy. For catastrophic pediatric injuries like cerebral palsy, infant brain injury, or spinal cord injury, these projections commonly run to seven and eight figures.
Lost future earning capacity is more complex for a child than an adult because the child has no work history. New York courts accept projections based on the child’s family educational background, standardized vocational data, and U.S. Census earnings information for similar demographic groups, adjusted for the specific limitations imposed by the injury.
Pain and suffering damages are not capped. Juries consider the severity of the injury, the child’s life expectancy, the impact on normal childhood development, and the permanent nature of any disability. Non-economic damages in catastrophic child injury cases regularly exceed seven figures.
Parents’ derivative claim. Parents have a separate cause of action for the medical expenses they paid on the child’s behalf and for loss of the child’s services. This claim follows the parents’ own statute of limitations (typically 3 years, or 2½ years in medical malpractice cases) and is not tolled by the child’s infancy.
Porter Law Group’s published results include 53 cases at or above $1 million, with multiple pediatric recoveries exceeding $8 million.
$8,300,000 Settlement: A premature infant suffered profound permanent disabilities, including cerebral palsy, after physicians failed to properly manage the mother’s pre-gestational diabetes. The structured settlement provides lifetime care and therapy funding.
$8,250,000 Settlement: An infant sustained permanent physical and cognitive disabilities after delayed response to fetal distress during labor. Proceeds covered lifetime medical and educational needs.
$8,120,000 Settlement: An infant suffered permanent delivery-related injuries caused by mismanaged labor and delivery. The recovery funded a life-care plan built with the family’s physicians and therapists.
Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Birth injuries are among the most complex and high-stakes child injury claims in New York because they often cause permanent neurological or physical disabilities that require a lifetime of medical support. Porter Law Group handles the full spectrum of obstetric and neonatal negligence claims. The following are the primary injury types we prosecute:
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) occurs when a newborn’s brain is deprived of adequate oxygen and blood flow around the time of delivery, often due to delayed or mismanaged labor. HIE is a leading cause of cerebral palsy and permanent cognitive impairment. Birth asphyxia is the broader term for oxygen failure at birth and overlaps with HIE; both conditions require prompt therapeutic hypothermia (cooling therapy) to limit brain damage. Oxygen deprivation injuries also arise from umbilical cord complications, prolonged pushing, and anesthesia errors that cut off fetal oxygen supply.
Shoulder dystocia arises when the baby’s shoulder becomes lodged behind the mother’s pubic bone after the head is delivered. Improper traction applied by the delivering clinician can cause brachial plexus injuries — damage to the network of nerves controlling the arm and hand — or the more severe Klumpke’s palsy, which affects the lower brachial plexus and may cause permanent paralysis of the hand and forearm. Birth-related shoulder injuries often result from excessive lateral traction, fundal pressure, or failure to recognize a shoulder dystocia emergency and call for assistance.
Forceps injuries and vacuum-assisted delivery injuries result from the improper use of instruments to extract the baby during labor. Excessive force with forceps can fracture the skull, damage facial nerves, or cause intracranial hemorrhage. Vacuum extraction errors can cause cephalohematoma — a collection of blood between the skull and its covering periosteum — which in severe cases leads to kernicterus, a form of brain damage caused by extreme jaundice (bilirubin toxicity) that goes untreated. Each of these instrument-related injuries is potentially preventable with proper clinical technique.
Pitocin (oxytocin) administration errors represent a common source of obstetric malpractice. When Pitocin is administered at excessive doses or without adequate fetal monitoring, it can cause uterine hyperstimulation, fetal distress, and catastrophic oxygen deprivation. Umbilical cord complications including cord prolapse, nuchal cord, and true knots — can cut off blood flow to the fetus and require immediate recognition and emergency delivery. Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is a form of white matter brain injury common in premature infants that is associated with oxygen disruption and infection and frequently results in cerebral palsy and developmental delays.
Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) occurs when a baby inhales meconium-stained amniotic fluid into the lungs before or during delivery, causing respiratory failure and, if untreated, brain injury from oxygen deprivation. MAS is frequently linked to unrecognized fetal distress and failure to perform a timely cesarean section. Neonatal injuries — encompassing conditions diagnosed in the immediate newborn period — may also result from preeclampsia mismanagement. Preeclampsia is a maternal condition characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine that, when undetected or undertreated, can cause placental abruption, premature birth, and severe injury to both mother and infant.
Delivery room errors span a wide range of negligent acts: delayed responses to abnormal fetal heart rate tracings, failure to call for a C-section, premature cord clamping, improper resuscitation, and medication errors. Maternal negligence claims arise when a healthcare provider fails to adequately care for the mother during pregnancy or labor — for example, by ignoring warning signs of infection, failing to manage gestational diabetes, or not ordering timely imaging. Failure to diagnose conditions such as Group B streptococcus infection, placenta previa, or umbilical cord abnormalities can similarly lead to catastrophic infant injuries that form the basis of a birth injury medical malpractice claim.
When a child injury in the delivery room results in the infant’s death, the family may pursue a wrongful death claim under EPTL §5-4.1 in addition to any survival action. Our attorneys are experienced in handling both types of claims simultaneously to ensure the family’s full recovery. Porter Law Group evaluates every birth-related child injury case under a rigorous medical review process, partnering with board-certified obstetricians, neonatologists, and pediatric neurologists to establish the causal link between the clinician’s conduct and the infant’s outcome.
New York imposes different deadlines depending on the setting of the injury and the identity of the defendant. Because infancy tolling is complex and does not apply equally across claim types, consulting an attorney early is essential.
General personal injury: 3 years, tolled until age 18. Under CPLR §214 and §208, the base 3-year statute of limitations for claims like car accidents, dog bites, and premises liability is tolled during the child’s minority, giving the child until age 21 to file suit.
Medical malpractice: 2½ years, with a 10-year tolling cap for minors. Under CPLR §214-a and the infancy exception in CPLR §208, the tolling for a minor’s medical malpractice claim cannot extend more than 10 years past the malpractice. For birth injury cases, this generally means the claim must be filed before the child’s 10th birthday.
Wrongful death: 2 years from the date of death. Claims under EPTL §5-4.1 must be filed by the estate representative within 2 years, regardless of the child’s age at the time of injury.
Public schools, municipalities, and public hospitals: 90-day Notice of Claim. Under General Municipal Law §50-e, a Notice of Claim must be served within 90 days of the injury, and the lawsuit itself filed within 1 year and 90 days. The infancy toll applies to the underlying statute of limitations but not to the 90-day Notice of Claim itself, which is a strict condition precedent to suit.
Parents’ derivative claim: not tolled by the child’s infancy. Parents’ claims for medical expenses they paid and loss of the child’s services must be filed within the parents’ own 3-year (or 2½-year) statute of limitations.
1. Secure immediate medical care and document the diagnosis. Take your child to the emergency room or a pediatric specialist and request copies of all records, including radiology, neurology evaluations, and pediatric specialist reports. Under New York Public Health Law §18, you are entitled to your child’s complete medical records within 10 to 14 days of a written request.
2. Document the scene and preserve all evidence. Photograph the location, any dangerous condition, the dog, the vehicle, or the product involved. Save clothing, toys, or other items connected to the injury. If the incident happened at a business or on public property, request any incident reports and available surveillance footage before it is overwritten.
3. Identify every witness. Collect names, phone numbers, and addresses from anyone who saw what happened, including other parents, teachers, bystanders, or first responders. Adult witnesses often provide critical context because young children may be unable to describe what occurred.
4. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company. Insurance adjusters may contact parents within hours of a serious injury. Any statement can be used to reduce the child’s claim. Refer all insurance communications to your attorney.
5. Act quickly if the defendant is a public entity. Injuries at public schools, on municipal property, or involving city employees require a Notice of Claim within 90 days under GML §50-e. Missing this deadline can bar the claim entirely unless a court grants leave to file late.6. Contact a child injury attorney. Porter Law Group offers free consultations on a contingency-fee basis and handles the full process, from notice of claim through discovery, infant compromise approval, and trial.
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Porter Law Group represents injured children and their families throughout New York State, with a statewide practice handling cases in every county and jurisdiction. The firm’s Syracuse headquarters serves Central and Upstate New York, while attorneys travel regularly to downstate courthouses for cases in the five boroughs, Westchester, and Long Island.
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Wherever your child was injured in New York, call (833) PORTER-9 for a free consultation with an experienced child injury attorney.
No. Under CPLR §1201, a child in New York cannot sue in their own name and must be represented by a parent with legal custody, the guardian of the child’s property, another adult with legal custody, or a court-appointed guardian ad litem under CPLR §1202. The adult representative directs the litigation, but the recovery belongs to the child. Courts typically direct net settlement proceeds into a structured settlement or a court-supervised Article 17 account held for the child until age 18.
Under CPLR §1207, any settlement of a minor’s claim in New York is unenforceable unless the court approves it at an infant compromise hearing, which protects the child from accepting a deal that fails to cover their injuries. At the hearing under CPLR §1208, the court reviews the injury, future medical needs, outstanding medical liens, and proposed attorney fees. For general personal injury cases, fees are capped at one-third of the net recovery under 22 NYCRR §202.67 unless the court authorizes more. For medical malpractice cases, the sliding scale under Judiciary Law §474-a applies: 30% of the first $250,000, 25% of the next $250,000, 20% of the next $500,000, 15% of the next $250,000, and 10% above $1.25 million.
Public school districts are municipal entities subject to the Notice of Claim requirement of General Municipal Law §50-e, so notice must be served within 90 days of the injury and the lawsuit filed within 1 year and 90 days. Liability generally depends on whether school staff breached a duty of supervision, whether the injury was reasonably foreseeable, and whether district policies were followed. Private schools are treated as ordinary premises liability defendants under CPLR §214 and the infancy toll of CPLR §208.
New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule under CPLR §1411, which reduces but does not eliminate a child’s recovery when the child is partially at fault. Courts apply this rule with particular care for children: very young children are often held non-negligent as a matter of law, and juries are instructed to judge a child’s conduct against what is reasonable for a child of similar age, intelligence, and experience, not against adult standards.
Yes. Parents have a separate derivative claim for the medical expenses they paid on the child’s behalf and for loss of the child’s services. This claim must be filed within the parents’ own 3-year statute of limitations (or 2½ years for medical malpractice) and is not tolled by the child’s infancy. In stillbirth or miscarriage cases, mothers may also recover emotional distress damages under Broadnax v. Gonzalez, but that rule does not extend to live-birth injury cases under Sheppard-Mobley v. King.
Most New York child injury cases take 18 to 36 months from filing to resolution, though catastrophic cases involving extensive life-care planning can take longer. The timeline typically includes medical record collection, expert review, filing the complaint, discovery and depositions, the infant compromise hearing, and either settlement or trial. Porter Law Group prepares every case as if it will go to trial, which tends to produce stronger settlement leverage and a faster resolution once discovery concludes.
Michael S. Porter is the founder and managing partner of Porter Law Group, representing New York families in child injury, birth injury, medical malpractice, and catastrophic injury cases. A graduate of Harvard University (B.A., 1994) and Syracuse University College of Law (J.D., 1997), Porter served 4 years as a Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Selected to Super Lawyers for 14 consecutive years (2012–2025), he holds a 10.0 Superb rating on Avvo and a Distinguished rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
Bar Admissions: New York State Bar | U.S. District Court, Northern and Western Districts of New York
Memberships: New York State Bar Association, Onondaga County Bar Association, New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
If your child suffered a brachial plexus injury during a New York delivery, critical deadlines may run faster than you expect: municipal-hospital cases require a Notice of Claim within 90 days under GML §50-e, SUNY and other state-facility cases require a Notice of Intention within 90 days under the Court of Claims Act, parents' derivative claims are not tolled by the child's infancy, and the 10-year cap under CPLR §208 closes most birth injury windows before a child's 10th birthday.
Contact Porter Law Group today at (833) PORTER-9 for a free, no-obligation consultation. We operate on a contingency-fee basis, so you pay nothing unless you win.
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