Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Meet “Everyday Hero” Tim Coolbaugh

November 26, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

As Syracuse Crunch fans all know by now, Michaels Bersani Kalabanka, your Central New York Injury Law Firm, is honoring “Everyday Heroes” at all Syracuse Crunch home hockey games this winter. “Everyday heroes” are local community volunteers who have given their time and talents to a local charitable organization. In front of the whole Crunch crowd, we regal them, and their family and friends, with free game tickets, food, drink, etc.

Now let me tell you about one of our recent “Everyday Hero” winners, Tim Coolbaugh.

For many guys Sundays means the couch, a brew and a game. Not for Tim (though he loves all three of those!). He has more important things to do. You can find him on Sundays rescuing and transporting abandoned dogs to and from Syracuse to Binghamton, Rochester, Albany or Canada. The only compensation Tim receives is the love of the dogs (and an occasional cat). He gives his time, use of his car, and his money. Why? To save dogs, many of which have been abandoned by “puppy mills” that can’t sell them for a profit.

Jerry Sandusky, Childhood Sexual Abuse, and What Lawyers Can Do

November 24, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Jerry Sandusky sexually abused and raped boys in Penn State showers, and elsewhere on Penn State grounds, and Penn State let him.

Jerry Sandusky is in jail and broke. But Penn State is not. That’s why Sanduski’s victims, now grown men, are suing Penn State and not Sandusky for money damages. You can’t get water from a rock. But Penn State is no rock. It’s a reservoir.

Michaels Bersani Kalabanka has recently taken on a similar case involving a New York State school district whose administrators knew, or should have known, that one of its teachers was sexually abusing and raping young students. And we are suing the school district rather than the jailed and disgraced teacher. Again, you can’t get water from a rock.

The Creepy Jury Stalker Story Goes Viral

November 23, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

The “Creepy Jury Stalker” story, straight from my hometown, Syracuse, New York, has gone “viral”. The New York Law Journal covered it, and so did the American Bar Association Journal not to mention the Syracuse Post Standard.

Now an even more important news source is covering it: Me.

The backdrop to the story is a dental malpractice trial in Onondaga County Supreme Court. The insurer for the defendant dental practice was AIG, the same AIG which helped collapse the global economy in 2008. I guess their fifteen minutes of ~~fame~~ infamy back then wasn’t enough, and they have come back to the trough for more.

Greedy Lawyers Give Us Good Guys A Bad Name

November 17, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. Likewise, a few greedy lawyers can make all lawyers look bad. Here’s a prime example.

First some background. We New York personal injury lawyers generally charge a 1/3 contingency fee. Sometimes we work our asses off and the case goes south or we get a very small settlement or verdict. Cases that look good at the start can quickly sour when the other side pulls out its evidence. In those cases our per-hour fee can end up being a buck hour or less.

On the other hand, sometimes we get a great result for not-so-much work, and can earn a huge hourly fee. It all evens out in the end and we make a decent living, even a very good one if we are very good at what we do (we are!).

Should Drunk Who Tries To Kill Himself By Lying Down On Railroad Tracks Be Allowed To Sue Railroad?

November 15, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Let’s say you’re feeling blue, have a few, get into a drunken stupor and decide to kill yourself by lying down on some nearby railroad tracks. Let’s say the railroad company, doing what railroad companies do, then runs a train along its tracks. The engineer spots you almost immediately, puts the train into emergency, but cannot stop the train before it reaches you. You get hurt.

Should you be able to sue the railroad? In De Los Santos v. MTA Long Island Rail Road, the Queens County judge says “no”. After reviewing the case law regarding a railroad’s liability for striking pedestrians on its tracks, he surmised that the “focus [must be] on whether the reaction of the train operator was reasonable under the attendant circumstances”, which they were here.

I represent injured people all day long. They sometimes have some fault in causing their own injury (we personal injury lawyers call this “comparative negligence”). But I don’t know if I could sue a railroad on behalf of a suicidal drunk who lies down on the tracks. Takes hutzpah.

A Yellow Dot Can Save Your Life

November 14, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

As New York car accident lawyers, we have represented many critically injured motor vehicle accident victims over the years. One thing we have learned is that first responders who arrive at the scene of a wreck aren’t always able to take into account the victims’ health history or medical conditions before rendering treatment. And that’s too bad, because that knowledge can mean the difference between life and death.

For example, I am on a blood thinner (Xarelto) because if have developed some atrial fibrillation – a common and minor disorder of the heart. And I sure would want anyone performing emergency medical care on me to know about that. After all, I could bleed to death if they do surgery on me without knowing I am on blood thinners.

Now there is a potentially life-saving program from the New York State Sheriffs’ Association that can help you, your family, and your friends alert first providers about their medical conditions and medications. It’s called the “Yellow Dot Program” and it works like this:

Bystanders Accidently Shot By Police Face Uphill Battle In New York Personal Injury Lawsuits

November 11, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

I came across a New York Times’ article the other day titled, “Bystanders Shot by the Police Face an Uphill Fight to Win Lawsuits.” We don’t get a lot of cases brought by bystanders struck by police bullets in my neck of the woods (Central New York), but the article interested me because it deals with an area of law I write and speak about frequently; “governmental immunity”.

First, a bit of background. The legal doctrine of “governmental immunity” in very general terms says this: As long as a governmental actor, such as a police officer, exercises his or her discretion in making a decision, the victim of any negligence can’t sue for the harm. This doctrine is meant to protect our governmental agencies, such as police departments, from a barrage of lawsuits and allow them to make their sometimes necessarily spur-of-the-moment decisions without fear of being sued. It also protects all of us taxpayers from getting hit with huge bills for lawsuit verdicts.

But recently, in my opinion, the Court of Appeals has taken the doctrine too far. As a result, it seems almost impossible to hold a police officer liable for his or her negligence. For example, in 2010 the Court threw out a lawsuit brought by a bystander struck by police bullets intended for an armed robbery suspect, even though the police officers testified THEY NEVER EVEN LOOKED TO SEE IF THERE WERE BYSTANDERS NEARBY BEFORE THEY STARTED FIRING. The police won that suit by relying on police guidelines stating that officers should not fire their weapons when “in their professional judgment, doing so will unnecessarily endanger innocent persons”. They claimed they had exercised their “professional judgment”, and thus were off the hook. But how could they even exercise that “judgment” if they never looked to see whether there were any bystanders? Four of the seven justices said it did not matter; the police were acting within their discretion when they fired, and thus were protected by “governmental immunity”.

Michaels Bersani Kalabanka Once Again Ranked “Tier 1 Best Law Firm” By U.S. News & World Report

November 8, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

I’m proud to report that Michaels Bersani Kalabanka has once again been honored by U.S. News & World Report as a “Tier 1” National Best Law Firm for our area of expertise, that is, New York personal injury law.

The 2014 rankings were announced November 1 of 2013. This prestigious national recognition — recognizing that we are among the best in the nation at what we do — not only honors us for being good, it might even make us BETTER at what we do! How?

Insurance defense firms and insurance adjusters who sit on the other side of our cases — and who aren’t familiar with the high quality of our work already — might take notice that they are dealing with a top notch firm that gets top results, and may thus be more inclined to settle with our clients at top dollar without a need for trial.

Liability For Allowing Dog Loose Which Causes Cars Or Bikes To Crash

October 10, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

I just love it when I’m right!

Last year I blogged about the Court of Appeals (highest court in NY State) case of Hastings v Suave where the Court made an exception to the general rule that, if an animal harms someone, the owner can be held liable only if he knew or should have known that the animal had “vicious propensities”. The issue in that case was whether a farmer could be held liable for negligently allowing his cow to stray out into the road and cause an accident. Obviously cows are not “vicious”, so under the general rule the farmer could not be held liable for the harm.

The wise Court saw the need for an exception to the rule, and held that “a landowner or the owner of . . . a farm animal . . . may be held liable where the animal is negligently allowed to stray from the property on which the animal is kept even when the animal did not display ‘vicious propensities'”.

Syracuse Personal Injury Lawyers at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka honor “Everyday Heroes” at Syracuse Crunch games!

October 9, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

As all of Auburn and Cayuga County knows, all summer long, at each home Auburn Doubleday baseball game, Michaels Bersani Kalabanka honored a”Hometown Hero“, that is, a local community volunteer who had given his or her time and talents to a local charitable organization. In front of the whole crowd, we regaled them, and their family and friends, with free game tickets, food, drink, etc.

But that was not enough for us. In fact, the program’s success only whetted our appetite for more! So now we have expanded the program to all of Central New York.

This fall and winter, and all the way through April, “Everyday Heroes” will be nominated, selected and then honored at all Syracuse Crunch home hockey games this winter.