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What?! A Rochester Tort-Reformer Filing A Frivolous NY Personal Injury Lawsuit?!

January 27, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

As a Central and Syracuse New York personal injury lawyer who takes on only legitimate accident claims, I resent, despise, disown, and spit-in-the-general-direction of all frivolous personal injury lawyers and their frivolous lawsuits. They give my bonafide injury lawsuits a bad name. And they give all legitimate personal injury lawyers a bad name.

Yes, I hate frivolous claims, but I also dislike so-called “tort-reformers”. Most of them have self-interest at heart; they work for or represent big insurance companies or businesses who stand to gain by taking away the little guys’ right to hold big business liable in court for their careless safety shortcuts that injury innocent people. To dupe the public into believing our time-tested tort law is a problem, they blow out of proportion the very few “frivolous lawsuits” that are filed, and try to convince the public that all or nearly all, personal injury lawsuits are frivolous.

So, since I despise frivolous lawsuits, and I also dislike tort-reformers, I should doubly despise and dislike frivolous personal injury lawsuits filed by tort reformers, right? What? A tort reformer filing a frivolous accident lawsuit? Yes, you heard me. An editorial in the New York Daily News the other day criticized conservative Republican New York State Senator James Alesi, a self-proclaimed “tort-reformer” (he represents the Monroe County towns of Chili, East Rochester, Henrietta, Irondequoit, Mendon, Penfield, Perinton, Pittsford, Riga, Rush and Wheatland, and portions of the City of Rochester) for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

Why This Central New York Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawyer Turned Down a TV Interview

January 8, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

It’s nice to win. And this Central and Syracuse New York personal injury and wrongful death lawyer recently won an appeal for the widow of a wrongful death victim in a Syracuse wrongful death lawsuit. The case is about a tragic accidental death that got extensive news coverage all over New York State. I have received phone calls from lawyers from other parts of the country about this case. Some have asked me for copies of my arguments (Brief) in the appeal.

What’s the case about? I am not at liberty to discuss the facts of the case in this blog for reasons I will explain below.

But first let me tell you that this was the second time the appellate court reversed the trial court in this case. Each time, the trial court had thrown my case out, and each time the Appellate Court reversed and reinstated it. I am sure the trial judge did the best he could each time. But the case involves difficult, novel New York wrongful death legal issues, and even I did not know how the Appellate Court would resolve them. I feel fortunate to have won, twice now. And guess what. A third trial court decision is coming, and after that, a third appeal. How do I know? Well, I know I will appeal if I lose, and the defendants will do the same if they lose. It is a big case. Both sides are giving it all they’ve got, fighting tooth and nail.

Can Spiderman Bring A New York Personal Injury Lawsuit For His Injuries?

December 23, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

If you’re like me, you wouldn’t mind being Spiderman. Hey, he’s got a cool way of getting around, shooting spider-gook from his wrists and swinging around town. Beats driving in city traffic.

But every job has its drawbacks, even Spiderman’s. We learned this week that he plummeted 30 feet during Monday night’s performance of the Broadway production, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”. Doctors say he is in serious condition, with broken ribs and internal bleeding.

Little is known about how this accident happened. We do know, however, that somehow the wire he was swinging from failed. (In this Broadway show, he was swinging from wires rather than his spider-gook — go figure!) We do not know whether the wire failed because it snapped or because it became unfastened. Either way, it appears certain that Spiderman was the victim of someone’s negligence (unless it was Green Goblin’s sabotage).

Central NY Personal Injury Lawyer Wishes All a Happy (and Safe) Holiday Season

December 20, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

I would like to wish a happy holiday season to all my readers. And don’t forget to be safe during the season! Check out my post from last year on this topic:

Central New York Injury Lawyer Says, “Don’t Be Careless at Christmas – Be Safe with Holiday Lighting and Christmas Trees”

Keep safe!

How Much Can A NY Personal Injury Lawyer Charge in Fees?

December 14, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

When you go to the supermarket, do you know what to expect a gallon of milk to cost? If you are a careful shopper, you should. What about when you go to see a New York personal injury lawyer? Do you know?

First, you need to understand some basic concepts. The “gross recovery” in a personal injury case means the full amount of money the insurance company pays to settle the claim or to satisfy the judgment after trial. The “net recovery” means the insurance company’s payment minus expenses. The “expenses” on a personal injury are all the monies your attorney pays to others to perform services to move your claim forward. Such expenses include, for example, the money he pays to the process server to serve the claim, Court filing fees, expert fees, and copying expenses.

New York law allows a New York personal injury attorney to charge a maximum of 1/3 the “net” recovery. For example, if you settle your case for $100,000 and there were $10,000 in expenses, your attorney should charge you 1/3 of $90,000, which amounts to $30,000. This leaves you with $60,000. This is the law in New York State.

$66 Million Western New York Personal Injury Jury Verdict For Quadriplegic Plaintiff

December 12, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

OK, I’ll admit it. I have never gotten a $66 Million Dollar verdict. Although all the lawyers in our firm have either gotten million dollar settlements or verdicts, and even multimillion dollar ones, we have never come close to that number. $66 million? That’s a lot of money. That’s a Western New York personal injury verdict record. And that’s what a Western, NY jury awarded a woman who suffered severe spinal in a workplace accident last week.

I am sure there was very good lawyering here (hats off to Michael Law, a good friend of this law firm, and his partner Kevin English) but that alone can’t explain a verdict of that size. In my experience as a Central New York personal injury lawyer, a jury will only give that much money away when (1) it really dislikes the defendant, and/or (2) the injuries are devastating beyond belief.

Both of these things appear to have been present here. This was not just a run-of-the-mill back injury. This twenty-something woman was rendered quadriplegic after a large piece of exercise equipment toppled onto her, shattering her cervical vertebrae, and causing massive spinal cord damage.

Central and Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyer Explains Why The Contingency Fee Makes For a Fairer Civil Justice System.

November 29, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

As a Central New York and Syracuse personal injury lawyer, I make my living, in large part, on contingency fees. This means that if I don’t win, I don’t get paid. If I do win, or settle for a sum of money, I get roughly a third of the money, or less, depending on the type of case.

New York personal injury lawyer contingency fees (as well as such contingency fees everywhere) have sometimes sparked controversy. In many countries they are not even allowed. For example, although our U.S. legal system has its roots in England, attorney contingency fees are not allowed over there. Here’s my (kind of) historic rendering of why they are allowed here but not there.

From the beginning of our new democratic nation, our founders believed courthouses should be accessable by the “people” to seek justice. This was not the case in the “old world”. There, civil courts were by and large places where the rich and their companies advanced their civil money claims, and where poor people appeared only to be evicted or sent to debtor jail.

Central and Syracue NY Accident Lawyer Has Lots To Be Thankful For

November 27, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

This Central and Syracuse New York personal injury lawyer seldom delves into his personal life in these blog posts, but I feel compelled to do so today. It is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I recently spent two blissful weeks visiting my two daughters, their significant others, and my three-year old grandchild in Spain (see accompanying picture). I spent Thanksgiving with my Central New York State-side family, including my other daughter, two sons, wife, parents, who are both alive and well at 83, multiple brothers with wives and kids, etc. I count more than 50 “close” family members, including 5 brothers, all with great wives and children. And remarkably, we are, every single one of us, healthy, uninjured, and well-off.

My job as a Central and Syracuse New York accident lawyer requires me to confront my clients’ sometimes unbearable injuries, loss of loved ones, loss of income, and related misfortunes. Those misfortunes are caused by the carelessness of others. But some misfortunes are caused by just plain bad luck.

My family has, so far, had nothing but good luck – we have avoided the slings and arrows that nature rains down on some — the unlucky – and we have, so far, also avoided the injuries that befall those who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when someone else acts negligently or carelessly. Knock on wood!

Syracuse NY Accident Lawyer Discusses Representing the Injured Child.

November 15, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

I love children (I have 5 or them myself) and love representing them, too. But representing an injured child is not the same as representing an injured adult. Here are the main differences as I have come to see them in my years as a Central and Syracuse New York accident lawyer:

1. The child can’t legally hire an attorney or sue in his or her own name. The parent or guardian must act for the child.

2. Children, especially very young children, can make poor witnesses. They can sometimes change their accounting of what happened without even realizing they are doing it. At deposition, when the defense attorney uses leading questions, which they are entitled to do, the child is more likely to want to “agree” with the lawyer, even if the answer is not entirely true. The child can easily be led into agreeing to untrue “facts” that destroy his or her case. A lawyer representing the child has to be on the lookout for this, and has to be prepared to “pounce” with appropriate objections to the questions.

What Is A Good New York Sports Injury Case?

November 12, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

As a Central and Syracuse New York sports injury lawyer, I can tell you that sports injury cases in New York are not easy. I like to tell my clients that they are like a soufflé. They will fall flat unless they are made of the right ingredients. That’s why a sports injury lawyer must listen carefully to the client to learn whether he or she is bringing the right ingredients to the kitchen.

What are those ingredients? Well, first let’s talk about what they are NOT. If you or your child is injured in a sporting event in which you or he or she voluntarily participated, a legal doctrine called “assumption of the risk” generally bars the claim. For example, if you are playing basketball and the ball hits you in the face, and causes you to lose some teeth, you generally can’t sue anyone because that’s just one of the risks inherent in the game of basketball. New York sports injury law says you are deemed to have assumed that risk when you agreed to participate in the game. Tough luck!

Sure, that player who tossed the ball at you could have been more careful, and maybe the coach or ref could have policed the game better, but hey, getting a ball slammed in your face is still just one of the risks inherent in the game of basketball. Getting to a jury on those facts will be tough. Your soufflé is toast!