Our first responder injury lawyers represent police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics hurt in the line of duty across Buffalo and Western New York. At Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP, our first responder injury attorneys help you recover the full compensation you're owed, often far beyond your line-of-duty benefits, and we do it for a reduced fee because of what you do. You take care of us. Our firm is here to take care of you.
First responders run toward the danger everyone else runs from, and they get hurt doing it, in crashes, at fire scenes, on rescues, and in confrontations. When that happens, the benefits you're entitled to are only part of the story, and they rarely cover everything the injury costs you and your family. Our Buffalo first responder injury lawyers make sure nothing you're owed is left on the table. This is one focus of our broader Buffalo personal injury practice, so the full weight of the firm is behind your case.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
Often, yes, and more often than most first responders realize. While your line-of-duty benefits are usually your first source of support, they don't prevent you from bringing a separate claim against a negligent third party who caused your injury. When someone else's carelessness hurt you on the job, our first responder injury lawyers can pursue full compensation from that party, on top of your benefits.
This is the point that changes cases. Many officers and firefighters assume their benefits are all they can get, so they never look further. But the driver who ran the light and hit your rig, the property owner who let a hazard fester, the company whose defective equipment failed, each is a separate source of accountability. Our first responder injury attorneys look past the benefits to every party who shares the blame.
A third-party claim is a lawsuit against someone other than your employer whose negligence caused your on-duty injury. It matters because your line-of-duty benefits, while valuable, don't pay for everything, and a third-party claim can. It can recover your pain and suffering, your full lost earnings, and the long-term costs that benefits simply don't reach.
Think about how a responder gets hurt. An ambulance is struck by a careless driver. A firefighter falls because a building owner ignored a dangerous condition. An officer is injured by defective gear. In each, a third party outside the department caused the harm, and that party can be made to pay full damages. Our first responder injury lawyers build these claims to capture what benefits leave behind, which is usually the largest part of the loss.
Not the way it once did. An older legal doctrine, sometimes called the firefighter rule, historically limited when police and firefighters could sue for the ordinary risks of the job. But New York has since given first responders important, expanded rights to recover, especially when someone's violation of a safety law or a building or fire code contributed to the injury. The old barrier is far weaker than people think.
New York law now specifically allows police officers and firefighters to bring claims for on-duty injuries caused by another party's failure to follow safety statutes, ordinances, and codes, in addition to ordinary negligence claims against third parties. These are powerful, first-responder-specific rights that many lawyers don't fully understand. Our first responder injury attorneys know how to use them to reach recoveries a general practitioner might assume were off-limits.
The full range of line-of-duty harm, across every branch of emergency service. Some come from a single violent event, others from years of exposure, but each can be the basis of a claim when a third party or a code violation played a role.
Our Buffalo first responder injury lawyers handle cases involving:
Whatever the situation, our first responder injury attorneys look at who outside your department contributed to the harm, and whether a safety violation was involved.
They're a crucial protection, and they work alongside a third-party claim, not instead of it. New York provides police officers and firefighters injured in the line of duty a special benefit that continues their full salary, tax-free, while they recover, separate from ordinary workers' compensation. It's a vital safety net, but it's not designed to make you whole.
These full-salary line-of-duty benefits cover your wages and medical care while you're out, but they don't pay for your pain and suffering, and they can involve disputes with the municipality over whether an injury qualifies and how long the benefit lasts. Our firm has considerable experience handling and negotiating these line-of-duty benefit claims, and we pair that with the third-party lawsuit, so both sources of recovery are working for you at once.
It depends on the role and the employer. Salaried municipal police officers and firefighters generally have access to New York's special full-salary line-of-duty benefit. EMTs, paramedics, and volunteer firefighters may be covered instead through workers' compensation or a volunteer firefighter benefit program. In every case, though, the right to sue a negligent third party remains.
That last part is the constant. No matter which benefit system applies to you, if a third party's negligence or a safety-code violation caused your injury, you can pursue a separate claim against them for full damages. Our first responder injury lawyers sort out exactly which benefits you're entitled to and layer the third-party claim on top, so a paramedic and a career firefighter each get everything the law allows.
Sometimes, yes, depending on the cause. Firefighters face elevated rates of certain cancers and illnesses from years of exposure to smoke, combustion byproducts, and toxic chemicals, and New York recognizes many of these as job-related for benefit purposes. Where a specific product or chemical maker's negligence contributed to that exposure, a claim against that company may also be possible.
Occupational illness cases are complex, because the harm builds over years rather than in a single event, and proving the source takes work. But the stakes are high, and these illnesses can be life-altering. Our first responder injury attorneys investigate whether a third party, such as the manufacturer of a defective product or a hazardous chemical, bears responsibility, in addition to helping you pursue the benefits you've earned.
Through a third-party claim, far more than benefits alone provide. A first responder injury claim can recover your pain and suffering, the full value of your lost earnings and future earning power, out-of-pocket costs, and compensation for a permanent disability or life change, on top of the line-of-duty benefits you receive. Where the conduct was especially reckless, punitive damages may also be possible.
This is why the third-party claim matters so much. Benefits keep your salary coming and cover medical care, but they put no value on the pain, the permanent limitations, or the career cut short. Our first responder injury lawyers build the full picture of what the injury took, so the recovery reflects the real cost to you and your family, not just the wages a benefit replaces.
The family may have a wrongful death claim, in addition to the line-of-duty death benefits available to survivors. When a third party's negligence or a code violation caused a fatal line-of-duty injury, the family can bring a claim through the estate against that party, seeking accountability and compensation for their profound loss.
Our wrongful death lawyer page explains how these claims work in New York, who can bring them, and what a family can recover. Our first responder injury attorneys handle these cases with the respect a fallen responder and their family deserve, while pursuing every party responsible.
Our attorneys have sat on the other side of the table. Members of our firm have extensive experience with the District Attorney's Office and the Office of Corporation Counsel, the office that defends the City in injury claims. That insider background gives our first responder injury lawyers a rare understanding of how these cases, and the municipalities involved, actually work.
That experience translates directly into results. We understand how the line-of-duty benefit process works from the inside, how municipalities evaluate and defend claims, and where the leverage is. Over the years, our firm has obtained substantial recoveries for numerous first responders injured in the line of duty. Few firms bring that combination of first-responder focus and municipal insight to the table.
It's our firm's way of giving back to the people who protect us. Like every firm in New York, our first responder injury lawyers work on contingency, so there's no fee unless we recover for you. But unlike other firms, we cap our fee at 25 percent of the recovery for first responders and their friends and family, rather than the customary one-third, across all areas of personal injury.
That reduced rate means more of the recovery stays where it belongs, with you and your family. It applies not just to line-of-duty injuries but to any personal injury matter for a first responder or someone they refer from their family or friends. Our firm prides itself on taking care of those who take care of us, and the First Responders Program is how we put that into practice.
First responders and the people close to them. The program's reduced fee is available to police officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, and other emergency responders, as well as their friends and family members, for any personal injury case our firm handles. If you serve, or someone you love does, the preferred rate applies.
We built it that way on purpose. A first responder's family shares the sacrifice, and their friends are often fellow responders, so extending the program to them was the natural thing to do. If you're not sure whether you or a loved one qualifies, just ask, and our first responder injury attorneys will let you know.
It depends on who you're suing, and some deadlines are very short. A third-party claim against a private person or company generally allows three years, but a claim involving a government entity can require a formal notice of claim within about 90 days of the injury, long before any lawsuit. Line-of-duty benefit claims carry their own deadlines as well. Missing one can bar a claim entirely.
Because a single on-duty injury can involve several different claims and deadlines at once, this is not something to sort out on your own or to put off. The safest course is to talk to a lawyer early, while every option is still open and the evidence is fresh. Our first responder injury lawyers identify every deadline that applies and make sure each one is protected.
Report the injury and get medical care, then start protecting your claim. Make sure a line-of-duty injury report is filed, get prompt medical treatment, document the scene and what caused the injury, and get the names of witnesses. Then talk to a lawyer before giving any recorded statement to an insurer for the third party involved.
The department paperwork protects your benefits, but the third-party claim needs its own evidence, the crash scene, the dangerous condition, the defective equipment, before it disappears or gets repaired. Getting our first responder injury attorneys involved early lets us preserve that proof while you focus on recovering, and keeps an insurer from using an early statement against you.
Our first responder injury lawyers pursue every source of recovery at once. From the start, our attorneys protect your line-of-duty benefits, investigate who outside your department caused the injury, preserve the evidence, and identify every third party and safety violation that supports a full-damages claim.
Our first responder injury attorneys secure the crash reports, scene evidence, maintenance and inspection records, and code-violation history, and bring in the right experts to prove both fault and the full extent of your injuries. Our team coordinates the third-party lawsuit with your benefit claim so the two work together, documents the lasting impact on your health and career, and prepares each case as if it's going to trial. Most cases resolve through negotiation or mediation, but our first responder injury lawyers build every one for trial, and our firm keeps these matters in house from start to finish, all at the reduced First Responders Program rate.
Our first responder injury lawyers combine a rare municipal-insider background, deep experience with line-of-duty and third-party claims, and a genuine commitment to the people who serve. Our firm handles these cases the same way it handles every case, in house, start to finish, through settlement, trial, and appeal, and we do it for first responders and their families at a reduced fee.
These cases reward a firm that understands both the benefit system and the third-party claim, and that respects what first responders give. That's what our first responder injury attorneys bring, along with straight answers in plain language, so you always know where your case stands. You've spent your career taking care of this community. Let our team take care of you.
If you're a first responder, or the friend or family member of one, injured because of someone else's negligence in Buffalo or Western New York, the attorneys at Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP are ready to help. Contact us for a free consultation, and a Buffalo first responder injury lawyer will review what happened, explain your benefits and your third-party options, and lay out the path forward, at our reduced First Responders Program rate and with no fee unless we recover for you.
Don't wait, especially if a government entity is involved, where the deadline to give notice can be as short as 90 days. The sooner our first responder injury lawyers start, the more our team can do to preserve the evidence, meet every deadline, and protect the full recovery you and your family deserve. If your injury was severe, our catastrophic injury lawyer page covers that overlap as well.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
Disclaimer: This page is for general information only and isn't legal advice. Reading it doesn't create an attorney client relationship. Laws, benefits, and deadlines can change and vary by role and employer; the rules described reflect New York law as of 2026. Every case is different, and prior results don't guarantee a similar outcome. For advice about a specific injury, please consult a licensed New York attorney.
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