Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Central And Syracuse NY Wrongful Death Lawyer’s Firefighter Case Finally Settles

June 4, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

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):

Syracuse NY Dangerous Product Lawyer Discusses “Wackiest Warning Label Contest”

June 3, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

Yes, there actually is an annual “Wackiest Warning Label” contest, no kidding. This year’s entries include:

• An electric razor that warns “never use while sleeping” (comment: I’ve heard of sleep walking, but sleep shaving?! Talk about light sleepers . . .)

• A decorative seven-inch globe that warns: “Globe should not be referred to for navigation” (comment: I’m hooking this baby onto my dash and tossing my GPS!)

New Law In New York Will Prevent Motorcycle Accidents And Deaths

June 2, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

Good news for motorcyclists. A bill (S. 7138) just passed the NY State Senate that would require “motorcycle awareness” training as part of the Department of Motor Vehicle’s mandatory 5-hour course that all new drivers are required to take. The training would educate new drivers on how to be aware of, and share the road with, motorcyclists.

The bill, which is expected to also pass in the Assembly, be signed by the Governor, and thus to become law, was prompted by a recent upswing in motorcycle accidents in upstate New York. Oswego County has been especially hit hard – motorcycle collisions have claimed four lives in Oswego already this season, a new record.

Why the upswing in motorcycle accidents? In recent years, with the high cost of gas, more New Yorkers are giving up their four wheels for two. In Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties alone, for example, the number of registered motorcycles has increased 16 percent since 2007. More motorcycles usually means more motorcycle accidents. (Paradoxically, if there were many more motorcycles on the road, we would probably see FEWER motorcycle accidents. Read why here).

According To syracuse New York Fallen Worker Lawyer, Fallen Cell Phone Tower Climbers And Their Surviving Family May Be Able To Sue The Cell Phone Carriers For Money Damages Beyond Workers’ Compensation

May 31, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

This is the second time I have blogged about the dangers cell phone tower climbers face. The media is catching on to my concern. PBS’s “Frontline” just published an article last week titled, “In Race For Better Cell Service, Men Who Climb Towers Pay With Their Lives”. It then aired a film version of the article.

As Frontline points out, the statistics are grim. Between 2003 and 2011, 50 cell phone tower climbers died on the job, almost all by falling to their death. AT&T has the worst record of all, with nearly three times more deaths than its nearest “competitor”.

Why are these workers dying? Frontline found that “in accident after accident, deadly missteps often resulted because climbers were shoddily equipped or received little training before being sent up hundreds of feet” and that, “to satisfy demands from carriers or large contractors, tower hands sometimes worked overnight or in dangerous conditions”. All the cell phone carriers are racing to roll out ever better and faster cell phone networks to deliver ever faster and more voluminous music, games and videos online. To get the jobs done fast, and cheap, safety rules are routinely violated.

Traumatic Brain Injury Trials Require Advanced Preparation, Central NY Injury Lawyer Says

May 30, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

I have two TBI (traumatic brain injury) cases going to trial early next year. In both cases, the defense claims my clients have suffered no TBI at all, or else it was mild, and resolved long ago. In both cases my clients own physicians and traumatic brain injury specialists have the client totally disabled.

TBI cases are complex and often vigorously defended. Because you can’t “see” a traumatic brain injury, defense lawyers often try to convince the jury that the injured plaintiff does not have it. They try to convince the jury that the symptoms (which can include concentration problems, headache, dizziness or loss of balance, sensory problems, such as blurred vision, ringing in the ears, fatigue, mood changes or mood swings, depression and anxiety fatigue or drowsiness) are being faked, or else stem from pre-existing depression.

So this Central and Syracuse New York personal injury lawyer has already started beefing up. This past March the American Association for Justice hosted a “Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group Meeting“, which I could not attend. BUT, I have ordered the DVD and course materials. They are sitting on my desk, right now, staring at me, just begging to be viewed. As they sit there, I can almost sense the pearls of wisdom from other TBI lawyers emanating from them.

NY Brain Injury Cases Coming Up For Trial!

May 27, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

I have two TBI (traumatic brain injury) cases going to trial next spring. In both cases, the defense claims my clients have suffered no TBI at all, or else it was mild, and resolved long ago. In both cases my clients own physicians and traumatic brain injury specialists have the client totally disabled.

TBI cases are complex and often vigorously defended. Because you can’t “see” a traumatic brain injury, defense lawyers often try to convince the jury that the injured plaintiff does not have it. They try to convince the jury that the symptoms (which can include concentration problems, headache, dizziness or loss of balance, sensory problems, such as blurred vision, ringing in the ears, fatigue, mood changes or mood swings, depression and anxiety fatigue or drowsiness) are being faked, or else stem from pre-existing depression.

So this Central and Syracuse New York personal injury lawyer has already started beefing up. This past March the American Association for Justice hosted a “Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group Meeting”, which I could not attend. BUT, I have ordered the DVD and course materials. They are sitting on my desk, right now, staring at me, just begging to be viewed. As they sit there, I can almost sense the pearls of wisdom from other TBI lawyers emanating from them.

New Play In NYC About A Medical Malpractice Case — It All Rings True to Central New York Medical Malpractice Lawyers

May 25, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

The New York Times reported today on a new play, titled “Love Alone“, about a fatal surgical medical mistake, and how it affected the family of the deceased victim, and the doctor who blew it. Although I haven’t seen the play (yet), the story line rings true to how medical malpractice spins its ugly web. Here’s how:

At first, the family does not know a medical error was responsible for their loved one’s death, and, of course, no one at the hospital tells them. This sure rings true!

Then the daughter, who finds it odd that her mother died during such a routine surgical procedure, gets a hold of the intraoperative report, which, strangely, is missing pages. This rings true, too. Just ask any New York medical malpractice lawyer about the kinds of strange erasures and missing pages that show up in some medical records.

Finger Lakes NY Boating Accident Lawyer’s Memorial Day Boating advice.

May 23, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

It’s looking like a gorgeous Memorial Day weekend in New York’s beautiful Finger Lakes. The Finger Lakes are my home. I live on Seneca Lake, my office is near Owasco Lake, and my family has a cottage (“camp” as it is known locally) on Skaneateles Lake. These lakes, together with the other 8 Finger Lakes — Otisco Lake, Cayuga Lake, Keuka Lake, Canandaigua Lake, Honeoye Lake, Canadice Lake, Hemlock Lake, and Conesus Lake – form a natural water-bejeweled necklace.

Admiring the lakes from the shore is one thing, but many of us Finger-Lakers like to get out ON them. Unfortunately, every year I have an opportunity to blog about a serious, or fatal, boating accident on one of the Finger Lakes (see the blog links below this article). And sometimes my personal injury law firm ends up representing injured boaters in lawsuits against boat operators and others who cause boating accidents.

Almost every boating accident I have seen has been avoidable. But don’t worry – I am not going to lecture you about boating safety rules (like checking the weather forecast, maintaining a safe speed, designating an assistant skipper, avoiding alcohol if you are operating the boat, taking a boating course, checking your vessel for safety). Oops, I just did lecture you!

Why Are New York No-Fault Insurance Regulators Targeting “Crooked Doctors” Who Support No-Fault Claims?

May 21, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

I read this article in the Syracuse Post Standard the other day about how no-fault insurance regulators plan to start “kicking crooked doctors out of New York’s no-fault program“, referring to such doctors as “linchpins in fake-accident scams that cost insurers and policyholders hundreds of millions of dollars”.

As a Central and Syracuse New York auto accident lawyer, I have represented many, many auto accident victims over the years. And I have some questions for the regulators who are targeting no-fault victims’ doctors. The first is, “what planet do you live on?!”

I have never, in my career, known any auto accident victims’ doctors or other medical professionals to take part in “fake” no-fault claims. Instead, I have known no-fault insurance carriers to hire biased doctors to issue one-sided reports used to justify denying car-accident victims their medical treatment. These doctors butter their bread with a regular stream of income from the no-fault insurance industry, which asks them, time and time again, to give an opinion as to whether their insureds’ no-fault funded medical treatment is “reasonable and necessary”. With surprising (actually, not) regularity, these doctors, bought and paid for by the insurance company, find the insured’s medical treatment NOT necessary or reasonable. The no-fault carriers then use these reports to justify denying payment of any further medical treatment for their insured, who by the way, dutifully paid their no-fault insurance premiums for years.

Words Matter To Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyer

May 6, 2012 | by Michael Bersani

What are the most important weapons a personal injury lawyer brings to court? Give up? OK, I’ll tell you: words.

Words are the arrows in the personal injury lawyer’s quiver. The “mot juste” (the right word), as the French say, can make all the difference. That’s why the best New York personal injury lawyers spend lots of time before a trial deciding what words to use in describing what happened to their client, and how they are suffering as a result.

Don’t think words matter that much? Watch this short video and you might change your mind: