Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Central NY Injury Lawyer Selected As Bicycle Law Advisor for New York Bicycling Coalition.

April 9, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

As a cycling enthusiast, and a New York bicycle accident lawyer, I am proud to have been recently selected by the New York Bicycling Coalition to provide New York bicycle accident advice and information for residents of the New York State counties of Oswego, Madison, Onondaga, Cortland, Cayuga, Oneida, Herkimer, Otsego, Schoharie, Montgomery, & Fulton Counties.

Wait. What is the New York Bicycling Coalition? Glad you asked. Its mission is to ensure that bicyclists in New York State are safe, respected, and fully integrated into the transportation system, and that laws and funding are in place to make it so. They also provide education and advice to bike advocates and groups. In sum, the coalition provides a voice for the interests of people who, like me, ride bikes!

Three other New York bicycle accident lawyers have been selected to cover the other New York Counties. They are:

Suing For Compensation Beyond Workers’ Compensation For New York workplace Injuries.

April 8, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

Can you sue for compensation beyond your workers’ compensation benefits if you are injured on the job in New York? Maybe. Find out how by watching my new video about New York personal injury lawsuits for on-the-job injuries.

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

How to Win a Motorcycle Case in New York

March 28, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

Check out the latest installment of my New York personal injury informational vidoes: How to win a Motorcycle Case in New York.

Tell me what you think by emailing me at the address below.

P.S. No rotten tomatoes!

Central NY Injury Lawyer’s New Videos

March 27, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

There’s something new at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka: Personal injury informational videos. I have filmed about 20 so far (but not all are posted yet). Each runs for less than 5 minutes, and usually more like 3 minutes. Check them out here! For example, want to learn how a New York personal injury deposition works? Just click on the video. Want to know what your New York personal injury case is worth? Well, there’s a video for that, too.

Why am I posting these videos? Two reasons: (1) To answer some of my clients’ most common questions about their personal injury and medical malpractice cases and (2) To showcase our intimate knowledge of New York personal injury law to web searchers looking for a Central New York personal injury lawyer.

Filming them was easy. No notes needed. I am talking from memory because I know this stuff so well after nearly 20 years of doing it.

Central & Syracuse NY Injury Lawyer Discusses New Bicycle Safety Gadgets

March 12, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

Yesterday the sun peeked out from its cloudy winter hide-away, prompting me to go for a noon-time run in shorts and a t-shirt. Alas, today winter blasted back, closed our local schools, and kept me at home working from my computer. For my workout today I donned my cross-country skis and traipsed through some nearby woods.

But yesterday got my mind on spring. My daily workout will soon include bicycling. In the good weather, I try to put in at least 150 miles a week on my road bike.

I have a steady companion when I am out on the roads on my bike; fear. Why fear? Because I am a New York bike accident lawyer. Because many of my clients lives have been destroyed by a car or truck. Because one of my cousins was killed on bike last year. And because I personally have had some close calls.

Bill In Albany Would Allow Lawsuits By Wrongfully Convicted Even If They Gave False Confessions.

February 20, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

These days, thanks to the “Innocent Project” and advances in DNA testing, more and more victims of wrongful conviction are able to prove their innocence, even after many years behind bars.

This gets them out of jail, and under certain conditions, arms them with a claim against the State of New York to get money compensation for their nightmare behind bars. In New York, Court of Claims Act section 8-b says the wrongfully convicted can seek compensation from the State if they prove they are innocent and “did not by their own conduct bring about the conviction.” Courts have interpreted this language to mean that someone who falsely confesses to the crime cannot sue for compensation. After all, if you tell the D.A. “yeah, I did it”, you arguably “brought about your own conviction”, right?

Maybe. But that begs the question of why someone would confess to a crime they did not commit. Sounds silly to people who have never been under the grueling pressure of a tough interrogation for hour upon hour. But it makes sense to some of the accused at the time. Lengthy, tough interrogations do something to the human psyche. Sometimes people crack. Some folks have weaker constitutions than others. Especially those with serious mental or psychological problems, or who are too young to know what they were doing.

Why this Central NY Medical Malpractice Lawyer Would Not Get “Caught Dead” In The Auburn Memorial Hospital Emergency Room.

February 16, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

If you were my client, and you read the following headline in our local Central New York Newspaper, the Syracuse Post Standard, what would you do?:

“Central New York Injury Lawyer Worst in Nation“.

Or what about this one:

Can You Sue For An Unwanted Marijuana High? Central NY Injury Lawyer Explains.

February 4, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

Marijuana is now legal for medical purposes in about twenty States and for recreational purposes in two (Colorado and Washington). New York appears poised to follow suit, at least for medical purposes. That makes for a lot of legal pot smoking. But not everyone who wants, or medically needs, marijuana’s effects likes to smoke. So marijuana stores are stocking up on tasty ways for customers to eat their way to that same high, including gummy bears, dew drops, chocolate truffles, and other sweets all laced with mind-altering THC. Some of them contain ten times as much psychoactive THC as a casual pot smoker might take.

So what’s the problem? Once a customer removes these goodies from their carefully labeled “marijuana” bags or boxes, they look just like the sweets commonly available in any grocery store candy aisles. They don’t look like a drug. In fact, they look like pretty tasty treats. They then become an “attractive nuisance” to the unwary and hungry. Small children are especially attracted to the colorful delicious looking candies or chocolates. Unsolicited, unexpected highs are bound to happen.

This is not just a hypothetical problem. The New York Times reports that a growing number of children are seeking treatment after accidentally consuming marijuana. The children, many of them toddlers, are taken to the ER because they seemed strangely sleepy and disoriented.

How New York Personal Injury Lawyer Can Be Spiderman’s Superhero.

February 2, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

Who wouldn’t want to be Spider-man? His outfit is so much cooler than Superman’s. And what about swinging between skyscrapers by spitting that web-gook from your wrists? Isn’t that a more thrilling way of getting around than that all-so-boring Superman extended-arm flight?

Not so fast! Be careful what you wish for. At least that’s what three Spider-man actors are saying.

Let me take you back to December of 2010, when I blogged about Spider-man’s incredible 30-foot plunge to the stage floor in a Broadway performance of the musical, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Light”. His spider-swing-line failed, catapulting him to the stage below in front of a horrified crowd of Spider-man fans. But Spidey — as I like to call him — in true superhero fashion, recovered and returned to the show within months. The show must go on!

Can Uber (The Mobile Phone Driver-Rider Connection Service) Be Held Liable For a New York Car Crash?

January 28, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

Move over taxi services. You’re sooo “old school”! I mean, come on, making us stand on a corner and hale you down? Geez.

Uber is the new black. Just download the Uber app on your smart phone and it will “connect you with a driver at the tap of a button”, according to the Uber webpage. An Uber driver will appear out of nowhere, having almost instantly obtained your location from his or her Uber drivers’ app. No cash exchanges hands — the rider’s “fare” is paid automatically through his Uber online account.

Uber essentially connects freelance, self-employed drivers with anyone needing a ride in major cities, including New York City. It now operates in 26 countries and 50 cities. But at least here in the U.S. sticky questions are coming up about Uber’s liability for crashes its drivers might cause.