New York Accident Lawyer Blog

Labor Law § 240(1), a New York State statute, imposes upon owners and general contractors a non-delegable duty to provide proper and adequate safety devices to afford protection to construction workers working on a building or structure subject to elevation-related hazards. No matter how stringent the safety standards are in New York regarding construction, all construction laborers are at risk every single day while on the job.

Any breach of the statute will impose absolute liability upon the owner and general contractor at the construction site. Moreover, negligence of the injured construction worker is of no consequence against a Labor Law §240(1) claim. This statute, along with Labor Law §241(6) and §200 (codification of common law standards) allows an injured construction worker to recover monetary damages for injuries suffered in a construction site accident.

Earlier this month, a wall collapsed at a construction site in Rego Park, Queens on January 10, 2011, killing a construction worker and seriously injuring three other workers at the site. This was the first construction death recorded in New York City this year, according to New York City's Department of Buildings. The accident occurred as two workers were perched atop the wall, which was 18 feet tall, pouring concrete into the spaces in the cinder block wall, when it collapsed. There were two workers on the ground near the wall and beneath the scaffolding when the wall began to collapse.

Continue reading "Worker Dies at Queens Construction Site" »

Human tendency is to want immediately everything that can be obtained immediately. We like one hour photo-labs, microwave ovens, overnight mail, same day dry cleaning, and fast food. Well, as proof that the wheels of justice don't always turn slowly, our beloved court system has developed the summary jury trial also referred to as the "SJT." An SJT is an alternative dispute resolution technique that has been around for years but is now gaining increasing use around the country and certainly in New York. It is a break from the regular trial system and can afford a litigant several benefits.

The particular technique of which I have had personal involvement has been the "Binding SJT" in which the parties try the case to a binding verdict rather than simply engaging in a non binding mock trial. The binding SJT's are generally one or two days in length. The parties stipulate as a prerequisite that each litigant will be bound by the jury's verdict. The right to move to set aside the verdict may be waived or strictly limited to instances where, for example, fraud was used to obtain the verdict, or there is an error of law that occurred during the trial, or a miscalculation of figures occurred.

The first day of the trial is generally used as an evidentiary hearing for purposes of determining which documents and witnesses the jury will learn about and/or hear from during then trial. Related medical treatment records as well as the plaintiff's and defendant's expert medical reports are usually stipulated to be admissible. This generally saves money for the both the plaintiffs and defendants. Day two consists of jury selection and the trial. The presentation of evidence and arguments made by the attorneys are governed by strictly enforced time limits to ensure that the entire case is presented and the jury gets the case the same day for deliberation.

Continue reading "Summary Jury Trials: Justice or Just Fast?" »

The effects of the blizzard of 2010 are finally ending but not for the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) or the City of New York. Hundreds of passengers were stranded for several hours on trains that never should have left the station. THERESA JUVA of amNewYork, who spoke with passengers on a stranded train reported that no MTA official assisted passengers and they were left without food, water or blankets. Several personal injury claims have been presented to both the NYCTA and the City of New York. In fact one person died from exposure. Furthermore, ambulances and other emergency personal where unable to be dispatched, leaving several sick and elderly residents stuck in their homes.

On January 10, 2011, the New York City Counsel held a public hearing addressing the City of New York's response to the blizzard of 2010. John J. Doherty, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Sanitation, testified at the hearing and admitted that "New Yorkers rightfully expected the delivery of timely and efficient service that we have consistently provided during past major snowstorms, but this time our clean-up response was unacceptable." Commissioner Doherty was questioned extensively and promised to review the City's response and to make adjustments and improvements for future storms.

Testimony DSNY 1-10-11

Leav & Steinberg, LLP, has successfully sued the NYCTA and the City of New York for their negligence on numerous occasions. It is important to realize that there are strict time requirements for making a claim against the NYCTA or any city entity. As a general rule a notice of claim must be filed within 90 days! But each agency has its own rules so the best course of action is to call Leav & Steinberg,LLP as soon as you have an accident.

Remember, we work for you and as I tell all my clients at Leav & Steinberg, LLP. "It is always best to call your lawyer as soon as an accident happens".

By Alexander Kran III

In September 2010, Nebraska State created an iPhone application that allows realtime searching of its court dockets by date, time, and location. Although it appears the app has its share of kinks to work out, such a tool could be a useful aid to attorneys in all states who need to obtain reliable information when they are out of the office. With today's onslaught of mobile technologies, such as iPads, tablets, and compact laptops, it seems natural that attorneys would be able to work anywhere that they can get a signal. Yet, Nebraska seems to be the only state to have such an app available. In New York, some personal injury attorneys could use a state generated court app, since some docket searching sites, like e-law, do not work on all mobile phones.

Notwithstanding all of the virtues, it bears reminding that technology can do some harm too. In the same month the Nebraska court app was authorized, Judge Jeffrey Arlen Spinner of the Suffolk County Supreme Court ruled that a woman who claimed that injuries resulted in the loss of enjoyment of her life had to turn over information from her Myspace and Facebook accounts in her personal injury suit. Not only did she want to keep the information private for personal reasons, but the disclosure of the information could have undermined her claim of having sustained severe injuries. Nevertheless, maintaining and posting to a Facebook or Myspace account does not preclude an injured person from succesfully bringing a personal injury action or always mandate that an injured party turn over private information from social networking accounts. For more information, contact an experienced New York personal injury attorney.

Leav & Steinberg, LLP predominantly practices in the five counties that comprise the City of New York: Bronx, Kings, New York, Richmond, and Queens. However, we also practice in surrounding areas, such as Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester. We currently have offices in downtown Manhattan and Bronx and maintain a large network of experienced accident attorneys who practice in the geographic areas that fall outside of our proximity.

Resources:

American Bar Association Journal, January 2011, "iCourt" by Ed Finkel.

Kathleen Romano v. Steelcase Inc. and Educational & Institutional Cooperative Services Inc.

By Kathleen E. Beatty

The New York City Board of Education is supposed to provide a safe environment for our children to learn. Unfortunately, some schools fail in this respect, and students are being attacked while attending school. Parents have the right to send their children to school and expect them to come home unharmed.

As recently reported in the New York Times by Karen Zraick, a student was stabbed in the neck on his way to school in the Bronx. The victim is currently in critical condition at Jacobi Medical Center.

We at Leav & Steinberg, LLP. have represented many families whose children were attacked while in school. In one recent case, a settlement was reached with the City of New York and the Board of Education on behalf of the parents of a high school student who died for the sum of $550,000.00. A settlement was reached on behalf of another family, whose son survived the same stabbing but was seriously injured and traumatized, for the sum of $350,000.00.

Contact the New York School Assault Personal Injury Attorney if your child is attacked in school. As there are time limitations in which to file a claim with the City of New York and the Board of Education, time is of the essence in contacting an attorney. Our staff of attorneys, assisted by their support team of paralegals and secretaries, will thoroughly investigate the incident and discuss your rights with you and your family.

By Wendy Wong

As one of the first legislative agendas the U. S. Congress will attempt to repeal the recently enacted National Health Care Reform Act. Despite all of the negative hype this legislation has generated and whether or not you are for or against the present Health Care Bill the need for a major overhaul of the health care industry to enable the average middle class individual to have access to safe and effective health care should be a priority for our legislators.

In the New York Metropolitan area access to safe and effective medical care is getting more and more tenuous. We all know how frustrating it is to sit for hours in a walk in clinic or emergency room only to be quickly processed out with no real quality care or follow up. Hospitals, Clinics and emergency rooms are overcrowded and understaffed and closing at alarming rates. This healthcare crisis has led to suboptimum medical care and misdiagnosis of serious medical conditions that otherwise should have been diagnosed sooner and treated more effectively. In some cases these overcrowded understaffed clinics completely miss serious conditions such as undiagnosed life threatening infections, cancers, etc. that result in injuries and even premature deaths of hundreds of people every year who with timely diagnosis and treatment would have avoided serious complications and even death.

At Leav & Steinberg LLP we have successfully represented hundreds of victims of medical malpractice due to failure to timely diagnose serious medical conditions, including a recent 1.4 million dollar settlement before trial for a woman who lost her eye as a result of a post cataract eye infection which went undiagnosed and treated for several weeks due to an inadequate and incompetently staffed medical clinic.

Resources:
KETK NBC.com New Congress to vote on repeal of Health Care Law, By Ashley Aldrich 1/4/11.

The Wall Street Journal April 8th 2010 St Vincent's Hospital in New York to Close By Suzann Sataline

By Philip R. Papa

Approximately 45,000 Americans are hospitalized each year for the treatment of severe burns, according to the American Burn Association. Tap water scalding injuries have been cited as the most common cause of serious burn injuries, especially among children. The results of a burn can be extremely painful and expensive to treat. For many people, they require admission into specialized burn units of hospitals, as well as prolonged and costly medical care.

Burn injuries can be especially problematic because they are slow to heal, may require surgery (skin grafts, debridement or reconstruction surgery), prone to infection and leave permanent scarring (keloid scars or contracture scars) and disfigurement. There are different levels of burn injuries, consisting of 1st degree, 2nd degree and 3rd degree burns. Both 2nd and 3rd degree burns can be caused by exposure to scalding hot water for mere seconds.

Examples of accidents that cause scalding injuries include (1) defective hot water faucets; (2) sudden and unexpected scalding hot water from the tap; (3) defective boilers and (4) poorly maintained boilers and hot water heating systems.

Continue reading "New York Apartment Burn Injuries: When is the Hot Water in Your Apartment Too Hot?" »

Biomechanics is the study of how physical forces affect and influence living organisms. It is said to combine mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. Experts in this field have served in personal injury cases in a variety of factual scenarios including trips and falls and most predominantly now in motor vehicle cases. This entry was prompted by a recent article published in the New York State Bar Association Journal November/December 2010 edition titled The Rise of Biomechanical Experts at Trial which discusses and promotes the increase in the use of biomechanical engineers by defense attorneys in defending automobile cases.

Although the article we reference highlights the trend of retaining experts of this type specifically at the time of an impending jury trial, we note that the warning signs of the involvement of such experts are appearing earlier in the litigation. Within the last 8 months I received pre-suit correspondence from adjusters claiming that the soft tissue injuries claimed by my client were not causally related to the subject low impact collision "from a biomechanical standpoint." Some plaintiff's attorneys have reported that they have received reports from defendant's biomechanical engineer as exhibits in summary judgment motions on the serious injury threshold question served upon completion of depositions. The purpose of the expert disclosures in the motions and trial testimony by the expert is the same. The expert is retained to argue that the injury producing mechanisms were not present in the accident. That is to say, the forces exerted upon the injured body parts were not of a sufficient magnitude to cause the injury alleged by the plaintiff based upon the expert's knowledge of human anatomy and a mathematical assessment of the forces involved in the collision.

For the injured plaintiff and her attorney this is just one more obstacle to consider in the quest for justice. It would seem that there would be no rise in the use of biomechanical engineers if the use of same did not create a benefit to defense counsel and yet it begs the question: Is it the expert or is it the case?

Continue reading "Preparing For Trial: Bio Mechanical Breakdown" »

As a New York premises liability attorney, I am all too familiar with the following scenario: It is late at night, you are walking home from work. You trip and fall due to a dangerous and defective sidewalk and fall face forward with your hands out. You land hard on your right arm. First reaction is not to lie there until someone comes to find and help you. The first logical thing most would do is get up and 1) try and see if you are bleeding and if not 2) continue home as its late, dark and likely no one around. At that point you may think you can walk it off or that the pain will simply go away. One may feel shaken or embarrassed and will leave the scene without making a report or advising any responsible party of the accident. Hours or even a few days later one may realize the severity of the injury which may ultimately require significant medical care.

Though leaving the scene is a normal reaction, the lack of documenting your presence at the scene of the accident, has become a potent defense for the responsible party. They will often say that the injured party's claim that they fell where and when they say they did should be rejected since there was no affirmative proof that they reported the accident as soon as it happened.

The City of New York has set up a telephone switchboard system in order to report accidents or dangerous conditions even after one has been injured and left the scene. You can simply dial 311or find out more information on the City of New York 311 website. The service provided will take down the date, time, location and specifics of the accident and will provide a complaint number which will be kept on file with the City of New York.

Though still circumstantial evidence and not as good a reporting the accident right when it happens, this reporting is a "real life" way of advising someone other than your loved ones that you have been injured as a result of a dangerous condition.

At Leav & Steinberg, we have often been faced with this "lack of reporting" defense and have on several occasions been able to sway the juries that the 311 reporting by the client was further evidence that they are being forthright and honest about their claim.

By Edward A. Steinberg