Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog
Just before jury selection a few months ago, I tentatively settled a complex Syracuse New York wrongful death case I was about to try. For the settlement to be final, we needed Onondaga County’s legislature to approve it, and several layers of workers’ compensation approval, too. We finally got the last stamp of approval last week.
The case, which has bounced its way through the court system for more than 8 years, and went up on appeal twice, generated a lot of press, not only locally, but nationally, especially in firefighter publications. It is believed to be the only case where a court has ruled that a firefighter, and his or her employer, can be held liable for negligently issuing firefighting instructions or orders that end up killing or injuring another firefighter.
Yes, I am proud of this win. It took years of hard work, innovative legal arguments, the scaling of the high and thorny firefighter “red wall of silence”, untold hours of preparation (ask my wife and kids!) and, of course, a large dose good luck, too. This blog post is a kind of “scrape book” for the case, and that’s why I am listing below a few of the headlines this case generated over the years (you can read the full articles by clicking the headlines):
Lawsuit revived against fire departments in firefighter’s death in 2002 house fire
Firefighter line of duty death (2002) lawsuit reinstated (This article is of special interest to Fire Officers, and those that aspire to be)
Fire Department Officers Liable in Double Firefighter LODD
Trial in lawsuit over firefighter’s death in Pompey house fire set to begin today
$1.2 million goes to widow of Fayetteville Firefighter Timothy Lynch under proposed settlement
Keep safe!
Mike Bersani
Email me at: bersani@mbk-law.com I’d love to hear from you!
Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
mbk-law.com
Central and Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels Bersani Kalabanka
1-315-253-3293