Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Ellen Retires!

July 20, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Twenty eight years ago a smart, hard-working mother-of-two from Elbridge, NY — Ellen Williams — sent a resume and cover letter into the law offices of Lee S. and George M. Michaels (our predecessor firm) . Her two daughters were now old enough so she felt she could go back to work. She had just graduated with an associate’s degree in paralegal studies from Cayuga Community College in Auburn, NY. Now she wanted to realize her career goal – a job as a paralegal at a local law firm.

Meanwhile, Lee S. Michaels (our senior partner) was on the hunt for a smart, ambitious paralegal. His personal injury practice was growing by leaps and bounds. He wasn’t finding the time to draft all his own pleadings, review and summarize the hundreds of pages of medical records that landed on his desk every month, set up and calendar his depositions, and reach out to his clients for additional information he might need.

Lee received Ellen’s application, met her, and hired her on the spot.

Central NY Injury Lawyer’s New Article on Municipal Liabilty

July 12, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Folks, it’s been a while since I have had the time to blog — been in trial! But now that I am out of trial – and have some breathing space – I wanted to post an article of mine that was recently published in the New York State Bar Association Journal. It’s titled “The Government Function Immunity Defense in Personal Injury Cases in the Post-McLean World”.

This article is for my fellow-lawyer readers. It walks you through the most recent legal requirements for getting past the “governmental immunity defense”, which is often raised when you sue governmental entities such as the State, counties, cities, towns, villages, school districts, etc. I hope this article helps my fellow lawyers navigate the rough seas of municipal liability.

And I will be traveling throughout the State, once again this fall, to present to my fellow lawyers my municipal liability update —- a compendium of new case law on the subject. It will be great to see old friends from all around the State. Hope to see you then!

New York Ratchets Up Penalty For Texting While Driving

June 2, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Hey text-a-maniacs, you just got a raise! Starting yesterday, your habit will cost you five points on your license instead of three. Of course it could also cost you your life, and the lives of others.

To put this into perspective, texting while driving will now cost you as many points as driving past a stopped school bus or speeding 30 miles per hour more than the posted speed limit. It is now at the top echelon of driving offenses.

And for good reasons. Gov. Cuomo justified the new law (not that he needed to) by stating the obvious: Texting while driving is a growing problem, especially among young drivers.

Suing For Injuries Caused By Stray Farm Animals In New York

May 5, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

You’re driving along a country highway, rounding a curve, when —- bam — you run into a cow. Yes, a cow! Why? Farmer Brown left a gaping hole in his fencing, and the big dumb animal wandered out. Can you sue the farmer for this obvious negligence?

Until just the other day, the answer was, surprisingly, “no”, at least not in New York. The rule in New York (which I blogged about last year) was that you could sue the owner of an animal which harms you ONLY if the owner knew or should have known the animal had “VICIOUS PROPENSITIES“.

This “vicious propensities” rule grew out of dog bite case law. The courts reasoned that it wouldn’t be fair to hold a dog owner liable for his dog’s first bite unless he knew his dog was a problem. This was sometimes referred to – though not very accurately – as the “one free bite rule”.

What Does This Boston Marathon Bomb Victim Teach New York Personal Injury Victims?

April 24, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Everyone loves a fighter. Someone who, when faced with great tragedy, hardship, or injustice, doesn’t just lie down and give up, but shoulders on and fights back. That’s why the story of Adrianne Haslet, a Boston Marathon bombing victim, is so compelling. The bomb blast blew off her left foot – a devastating loss — especially since she is a ballroom dance instructor.

But Adrianne is a fighter. She told the Boston Herald, “I absolutely want to dance again!” Do you doubt her?! She elaborated, “I just want people to know that you can come out of a situation that might seem like the end of the world and come out stronger.”

But why is Adrianne featured in my New York personal injury lawyer blog? Because Adrianne would make a perfect personal injury client. We all love fighters, and juries are no different. That’s why personal injury victims who fight back from an injury, who try to rehabilitate themselves, who try to remake their lives, fare better in Court than those who wallow in misery and self-pity.

CNY Injury Lawyer Has The Boston Marathon Blues — No True Justice

April 16, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

There is no true justice on this earth. Believe me, I’m in the justice business, so I know. And it’s not our fault. Our justice system, even the much decried personal injury law system, does the best it can. But it still falls short.

Take the Boston Marathon explosions. We don’t know who did it yet, but let’s assume they’re caught and end up in jail or on death row. Can they be forced to compensate their victims or their surviving family members for their life-long wage loss, medical expenses, pain and suffering, etc.? Hell no. I can almost guaranty it. Why not? Well, if the bad guys are homegrown (a la Timothy McVeigh), they will have shallow pockets. They are crackpots with nothing to lose. No big bank accounts to go after. On the other hand, if the terrorists turn out to be foreign operatives (a la Bin Ladin), they may have assets, but they will be hidden away in some remote spider hole half way around the world. You can never get to them.

That’s why it is unlikely that the victims will even bother suing them. Instead, if they choose to sue anyone at all for their personal injuries, it will probably be the local companies or officials who, through security lapses or other negligence, may have allowed the attacks to happen. I am not saying there were any security lapses — in fact there probably were not. This kind of attack is probably impossible to prevent. But if there were security lapses that allowed this to happen, then those responsible would be targets worth going after because they would likely have insurance or assets within reach.

CNY Injury Lawyer Gets Away From His Work — NOT!

April 8, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

A lawyer’s godda geddaway sometimes. But can you ever REALLY get away from your work?

Last week was spring break for my boys, so I took one of them, shown here with me, to Boston. (Actually, we were there to take my mother to see some specialists, but that’s another story . . .). While there, we jumped on the Boston Duck Tour. That’s an amphibious tour bus — the same bus that wheels you through the streets of Boston eventually plunges into, and then puts around in, the Boston harbor. See picture below.

As a Central New York personal injury lawyer, I see a lot of accidents, and it seems like a lot of them happen on holidays. Where others see fun I see disaster. And getting on a tour bus destined to drive into the Boston harbor was not exactly a tonic to my accident-phobia.

It’s a Small Case After All.

March 28, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Sometimes when I read newspaper accounts of other personal injury lawyers’ cases I wonder why those lawyers bothered to take them. While I wouldn’t call them frivolous, they just don’t make economic sense. How can you make a living taking those kinds of cases?

Case on point. Disney World’s “It’s a Small World” ride gets stuck. While most riders are evacuated right away, a paraplegic (from a prior injury), who is difficult to remove, is left on the ride for 30 minutes while “It’s a Small World” blares over and over again.

He sues Disney in Federal Court, claiming they should have called firefighters to evacuate him along with the others. He claims his high blood pressure and tendency toward panic attacks were aggravated as he sat in the boat listening over and over again to “It’s a Small World”. How much money would you give him? What’s his case worth?

Nothing Is Certain Except Death And Taxes (Except If you Have A Personal Injury Settlement!)

March 24, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Tax season, which is now upon us, is, for most people, about as fun as sticking a fork in your eye. But your Central New York personal injury lawyer brings good tax news for personal injury victims! You’ve all heard the refrain, “nothing is certain except death and taxes”. That’s definitely true for death, but not always so for taxes, at least not for personal injury victims. Let me explain.

Many of my injured clients are pleasantly surprised to learn they don’t have to pay income tax on their personal injury settlements. This is because compensation for pain and suffering is not considered “income” but rather money to replace a loss suffered. In other words, the loss + settlement = a net wash, i.e., no income earned.

Another thing our clients are sometimes surprised to learn is that they can avoid paying tax even on interest they earn on their settlement money. How? Well, If you take the money in a lump sum (cash), and place it in the bank, and earn interest on it, you must pay a capital gains tax on the interest earned. But if you instead take a “structured settlement“, you can earn the same or even more interest tax free! Assume, for example, you get a $100,000 net settlement and elect to have it “structured” so that you earn an extra $10,000 on it. The insurance company pays you $10,000 a year for 11 years for a total $110,000 in payments ($10,000 of which corresponds to interest earned). Normally, you have to pay a capital gains tax on interest earned, but not if you earned that interest on a structured settlement! That’s because technically the insurance company that structures your settlement money “owns” the money while it is cooking up the interest (you are not earning it – they are!) and pays you only after the interest is generated. A gimmick, yes, but a legal one that helps you keep all the interest you earned on your settlement money.

Heads You Lose Tails I Win! Central NY Personal Injury Lawyer Explains Unfair Rule.

March 13, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Imagine a three-way chess game where two players actually play, while a third sits by watching. Let’s call the guy watching “the watcher” (I’m brilliant!). The watcher is going to play you next. But here’s the thing: If you win the game you are now playing, the watcher will actually play you. But if you lose, then the watcher automatically wins his game against you and you automatically lose. No need to actually play that game. In other words, if you lose against your opponent, you lose against both your opponent and the watcher. But if you win, you win only against your opponent, and have to play the watcher to take a second win. In other words still, a loss makes for two losses, but a win makes for only one win.

Sound fair? Of course not! But those are the rules of the game the Court of Appeals has recently signed off on in Auqui v. Seven Thirty One Limited Partnership. And the player with the one-loss-equals-two-losses dilemma is YOU if you are an injured worker with a comp claim against your employer as well as a “third-party action” (personal injury lawsuit) against someone else.

Here’s how it works: Let’s say in both cases (comp claim and personal injury lawsuit) you are claiming you are disabled. Your workers’ comp hearing comes up before your personal injury trial. If the comp judge finds you NOT disabled, the personal injury lawsuit judge will rule you are automatically NOT disabled for the purposes of the personal injury trial, too. But if the comp judge finds you ARE disabled, you can’t use that ruling in your favor at the personal injury trial. You have to prove that all over again to the jury, who will never learn of the prior comp disability finding.