Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Stupid + Dishonest = You Lose. Central NY Injury Lawyer Explains.

December 13, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Being stupid and dishonest at the same time is a toxic mix. The math goes like this: stupid + dishonest = disaster. And here’s an example:

An Iowa lawyer was stupid enough to fall for one of those obvious email scams cooked up by some Nigerian shysters. You know, one of those emails that starts out with “Dear Attorney: We have urgent need to hire your firm for important matter involving large estate . . ..”

The Nigerian email schemers had a U.S.-based confederate, an existing client of the lawyer, help them convince the lawyer that the client was about to inherit $18.8 million from a long-lost Nigerian cousin. They then convinced the lawyer to represent the client to procure the inheritance in exchange for a 10% fee, which would amount to about $1.8 million.

This Holiday Season, Get A Designated Driver — For The Morning After!

December 12, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

If you are like me, you might end up downing a few more drinks than usual during the Holiday Season, especially at the dreaded “office party”! And I am sure I don’t have to tell you that it is illegal, dangerous, and plain wrong to drink and drive — your judgment, coordination, and reflexes are all impaired.

But did you know it may not not be safe to drive the next day, either? According to two recent studies, being hungover, even with zero alcohol content in your blood, impairs your driving performance almost as much as being drunk.

Participants in the experiments went out drinking on the designated night (I am sure they found plenty of “volunteers” for this experiment), had about 10 drinks each (yowzer!), and the next morning took a 20-minute simulated drive through urban and rural settings.

“But I didn’t Say That!” The Consequences For Your New York Personal Inury Case If Your Doctor Misquotes You In Your Medical Records.

December 9, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Doctors, nurses, physicians’ assistants and other medical providers are not always good listeners. I know this from personal experience, but also because they frequently misquote my clients in their medical records.

For example, I once had a client who tripped on a broken-up walkway on the way into a store and suffered a serious knee injury. But the emergency room record said that the patient had “slipped and fell” and injured his knee.

“Slipped”, “tripped”, what’s the difference, right? For the doctor, none. For me, the difference was crucial. The doctor made this mistake because it didn’t matter to him how the plaintiff came to fall; for the purposes of diagnosing and treating the patient, his or her only concern was that he fell, and what part of his body he landed on. So he was only half listening when the patient told him how he ended up falling. He was more interested in learning what part of the knee hit the concrete, where it hurt, and whether the patient had mobility there.

Injury Lawyer Advertising In Central New York And Elsewhere . . .

December 7, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

I hate legal advertising. But for a New York personal injury lawyer these days, even the best, it’s tough to get by without advertising, at least some. That’s because a few lawyers have bombarded the airwaves, TV included, and billboards, with catchy names and easy-to-remember phone numbers. A lot of injured folks know those ads and numbers by heart, and the easiest thing to do when they are injured is to dial one of those numbers instead of investigating who the best lawyer for them might be.

For example, one Rochester New York personal injury lawyer has played off his surname, “Mattar”, because it rhymes with “car”. So if you are hurt in a car, call William Mattar.

I’m not so lucky. My surname, “Bersani“, does not rhyme with “car”. But hey — it DOES kinda rhyme with Ferrari. So what about an ad, “if you are hurt in a Ferrari, call Mike Bersani“. The problem is there are not enough Ferraris in central New York where I practice personal injury law. Should I move to Greenwich Connecticut?

New York State Troopers’ New Anti-Texting-While-Driving Weapon.

November 27, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Blow a stop sign, speed, or turn without signaling, and a cop can see it, stop you, and ticket you. Even talking on a hand-held cell phone (illegal in New York) can be seen from outside your car. But texting-while-driving is different. How does a cop “catch” you doing it? Most texters keep their phone down on their lap or at least below the window line, so a cop traveling behind, or even beside the texter, is not going to see it happen.

Until now. New York has recently given State Troopers thirty-two tall, unmarked SUVs for the express purpose of peering down at drivers’ hands and catching them “red-handed”.

This reminds me of a funny scene from the 1960’s Peter Sellers’ film, “A Shot in the Dark”, where Peter Sellers and a young lady end up having to escape naked in a small car. They are able to navigate the narrow streets of Paris without other motorists noticing they are naked, until a tall tourist bus pulls up next to them. Hilarious. See the scene here.

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.