This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for personal injury in New York, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a personal injury in New York costs on average $5,700, typically $2,300-$11,400 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 6-12 months to resolve. Common related costs include court filing fee ($200-$500) and medical records and bills ($100-$500).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $550 | $1,600 | $3,200 | 3-6 months |
| Moderate | $2,300 | $5,700 | $11,400 | 6-12 months |
| Complex | $6,450 | $19,400 | $38,800 | 12-36 months |
Last verified: June 2026
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</script>Personal injury cost formation works differently from most other legal matters because the attorney fee is usually contingent — a percentage of any settlement or verdict rather than an hourly bill. That percentage typically rises if the case proceeds to litigation or trial rather than settling early, since more attorney hours and case costs are involved. If there is no recovery, the client generally owes no attorney fee, though case costs (filing fees, expert reports) may still apply depending on the retainer agreement.
Separate from the attorney's percentage, a personal injury case accumulates its own case costs: expert witness fees (medical experts, accident reconstructionists), records requests, deposition transcription, and court filing fees if a lawsuit is filed. Simple claims that settle directly with an insurer before litigation avoid most of these costs; complex cases involving disputed liability, multiple parties, or serious injury typically require the full expert and litigation cost stack.
Take a moderate-complexity personal injury matter in New York. The recorded median total is $5,700, with reported quotes clustering between $2,300 and $11,400. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,800–$6,000, which leaves roughly $0–$3,900 of the New York median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. One further recorded fee is not itemised above and is not in that total.
At $5,700, the median personal injury cost in New York runs 16% above the $4,928 national average across all 50 states and DC.
New York carries 3 rows — simple, $550–$3,200 at $0–$0/hr over 3-6 months; moderate, $2,300–$11,400 at $0–$0/hr over 6-12 months; complex, $6,450–$38,800 at $0–$0/hr over 12-36 months — on 4 shared citations. Those figures put it in the top quarter of the table.
$5,700 is a median, not the middle of the band — $3,400 above the $2,300 floor, $5,700 under the $11,400 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 28.
New York ranks 8th of 28 tracked states for a personal injury, inside the highest-cost quarter of the table. The gap to the $5,200 midpoint is $500 — 10% — and only 7 states record a higher median.
Connecticut ($5,700) and Delaware ($5,600) bracket New York inside a $100 window — narrow enough that 8th is close to arbitrary.
6 tracked states — Alaska, Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware among them — record a median within three percent of New York's $5,700. The figure sits in the densest part of the personal injury distribution, where a rank change of several rows costs only a few hundred dollars.
| Rank | State | Median | Against New York |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | California | $6,050 | +$350 |
| 3 | Illinois | $5,950 | +$250 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | $5,900 | +$200 |
| 5 | Alaska | $5,800 | +$100 |
| 6 | Virginia | $5,750 | +$50 |
| 7 | Connecticut | $5,700 | −$0 |
| 8 | New York | $5,700 | — |
| 9 | Delaware | $5,600 | −$100 |
| 10 | New Jersey | $5,550 | −$150 |
| 11 | Wisconsin | $5,550 | −$150 |
| 12 | Colorado | $5,450 | −$250 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | $5,300 | −$400 |
| 14 | District of Columbia | $5,250 | −$450 |
$0 up or $100 down moves New York a row. A ten percent revision to the underlying figure would cross 12 rows in total — 5 up, 7 down — so the rank reads better as a band than as a precise place.
Climbing five places would mean passing Illinois, New Hampshire, Alaska, Virginia, Connecticut and adding $250 to the $5,700 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Delaware, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Colorado, Massachusetts: $400.
$950 short of Hawaii ($6,650), $2,200 clear of Arkansas ($3,500).
From $2,300 to $11,400 the moderate band is $9,100 wide, close to the $8,325 peer median.
Spread across the 6-12 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $5,700 median works out to roughly $633 a month. A complex personal injury runs longer, at 12-36 months, but it also runs hotter — about $808 a month — so the extra cost is not simply the extra calendar time.
| Measure | New York | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $5,700 | 8th |
| Hourly median | — | — |
| Implied hours | — | — |
| Simple median | $1,600 | 16th |
| Complex median | $19,400 | 2nd |
Rank is not stable across the tiers, and the direction matters. New York runs 16th at the simple tier, 8th at moderate, 2nd at complex of 28 — it climbs 14 places as the matter gets harder. Straightforward personal injury work is recorded at ordinary prices here; contested work is not.
$1,600 is 16th of 28 on a straightforward personal injury, under Michigan ($1,600) and over Pennsylvania ($1,600), $0 over the $1,600 tier midpoint.
$19,400 is 2nd of 28 once contested, between Hawaii ($20,850) and Virginia ($18,100), $3,500 off the $15,900 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in New York: the simple tier reaches $3,200 where the moderate tier starts at $2,300, and the moderate tier reaches $11,400 where the complex tier starts at $6,450. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | New York | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $1,600 | 16th | $1,600 | — |
| moderate | $5,700 | 8th | $5,200 | — |
| complex | $19,400 | 2nd | $15,900 | — |
$1,600 drops New York to 16th of 28 on straightforward matters, 8 below its moderate position and $0 (0%) over the $1,600 tier midpoint.
Michigan ($1,600) and Pennsylvania ($1,600) bracket it — a $0 window.
6 states sit within three percent of the $1,600 here, against 6 at the moderate row.
$19,400 puts New York 2nd of 28 on contested matters, 6 up on its moderate position, and $3,500 (22%) over the $15,900 tier midpoint.
Hawaii ($20,850) and Virginia ($18,100) bracket it — a $2,750 window.
Nothing else sits within three percent of the $19,400 here, against 6 at the moderate tier.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Illinois | $1,600 |
| 15 | Michigan | $1,600 |
| 16 | New York | $1,600 |
| 17 | Pennsylvania | $1,600 |
| 18 | Texas | $1,600 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $20,850 |
| 2 | New York | $19,400 |
| 3 | Virginia | $18,100 |
| 4 | Colorado | $17,950 |
In New York a personal injury is 5th of 8 at $5,700, between Immigration and Bankruptcy. At 46% of Criminal Defense ($12,450).
Across practice areas New York ranges from 2nd of 28 for Immigration to 12th for Divorce — a 10-place spread, with its 8th on personal injury inside it.
The spread across practice areas is wide. Immigration runs 32% above its own midpoint, while Estate Planning / Probate runs 8% above its own midpoint — 24 percentage points apart. A single "New York is expensive" or "New York is inexpensive" claim would be wrong for at least one of the matter types tracked here.
New York's practice areas fan out more than most: its largest tracked median is 5.5x its smallest, against 5.1x for the typical state. Prices here are set matter by matter rather than by one statewide level.
Every one of the 8 matter types tracked for New York places it in the upper third of its table, which is why the 8th on personal injury is not an outlier.
In percentile terms it sits at the 74th percentile of the 28 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $4,250 | $12,450 | $34,800 | 35 | 4th | +22% | New Hampshire |
| Divorce | $3,600 | $10,100 | $26,450 | 28 | 12th | +18% | Delaware |
| DUI / DWI | $4,250 | $8,800 | $20,600 | 27 | 9th | +18% | Alaska |
| Immigration | $2,300 | $6,250 | $12,950 | 19 | 2nd | +32% | Hawaii |
| Personal Injury | $1,600 | $5,700 | $19,400 | — | 8th | +10% | Connecticut |
| Bankruptcy | $1,650 | $4,300 | $5,950 | 14 | 6th | +19% | California |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,100 | $2,800 | $5,600 | 9 | 2nd | +26% | Hawaii |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $800 | $2,250 | $7,050 | 7 | 10th | +8% | Rhode Island |
Borrowing the wrong row. Delaware ($5,600) is $100 light, Connecticut ($5,700) is $0 heavy — but the $5,200 table midpoint is out by $500, 5x the neighbour error.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the New Yorkcourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.