Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

New York Injury Lawyer Discusses Salem New York House Explosion

July 14, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Three are dead and several injured, including a baby, in this evening’s two-level house explosion in Salem, NY,

From my experience handling propane and gas injury cases, I can tell you this has all the hallmarks of a propane explosion: An extremely violent explosion completely demolishing the home, debris blown hundreds of feet out from the epicenter, insulation hanging from trees, shingles and other debris strewn everywhere, mattresses, too. Even cinder blocks are blown far from where walls once stood.

One of the survivors, a renter, said he had called his landlord about a propane leak earlier in the day. That probably means that he smelled the leak. If he did, he should not only have called his landlord, but he should also have gotten out of the house until the leak was fixed, and should have warned others to get out, too.

Those Mother-Of-All-Personal-Injury-Cases — Syracuse And Central New York Accident Lawyer Explains.

July 11, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Most New York personal injury cases settle soon after the injured victim has finished her medical treatment. At that time, her personal injury lawyer and the insurance adjuster can see the full extent of the injury. At that time, most New York personal injury lawyers, including myself, sit the client down, advise them on what a fair settlement would be, and then get the insurance adjuster to offer that, or more.

Sometimes, though, no matter how skillful a personal injury lawyer is at negotiating with insurance adjusters, he or she can’t get the insurance adjuster to offer fair compensation for the injury. When that happens, the next step is to advise (the decision is up to the client) the client to let us sue. Usually after we sue, and the insurance carrier sees we mean business, the case is resolved either by settlement or trial within a year, or at most two.

But once in a while a case just takes a course of its own — a long one. I am talking about those rare, but unforgettable, crazy, complicated, over-the-top, seemingly never-ending cases. Right now I have two such cases that I have had in suit for more than 5 years. The first one has been up on appeal twice (I won both times) and still has not gotten to trial. It is likely to go up on appeal one more time before we finally get to trial. After trial, who knows, maybe another appeal.

Emerson Park, Owasco, NY, Third of July Car-On-Pedestrian Collision

July 4, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Owasco, New York’s Emerson Park tradition of Third of July music followed by fireworks ended on a sour note this year. As pedestrians exiting the festivities were walking along Owasco Road toward Auburn after the fireworks at about 10:15, seven of them were struck by a car that was pushed into them by a pick-up truck. Thankfully, none of the injuries appear very serious. The victims were brought to Auburn Memorial or University Hospital in Syracuse. The drivers of both vehicles were young (only 19 years old).

We hope all the victims make a speedy and complete recovery. As an Auburn New York car accident lawyer, I am curious to know more about how this accident happened, and which vehicle’s insurance will pick up the tab for the medical bills and any lost wages (“no-fault insurance”). Also, if any of the victims have a fractured bone, or an injury that keeps them out of work for more than 90 days, or that causes a long-term partial loss of use of a part of their body, they will likely qualify for “liability” coverage from one or both vehicles’ insurance.

Will these young drivers have enough auto insurance to cover all these injuries? Most young people buy the cheapest insurance – which covers only $25,000 per injury/$50,000 per accident. Although the injuries appear modest, the policies could soon be depleted because so many were injured. On the other hand, under New York law, the owner of the at-fault vehicle is also liable, and those owners may turn out to be well-to-do parents (one of the vehicles was a Volvo), who might have significantly higher liability coverage limits.

What is a “social Conscience Lawsuit”? Syracuse New York Personal Injury Lawyer Explains.

July 3, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

People sue for different reasons, and usually for a combination of reasons. When accident victims hire me to file a New York personal injury lawsuit, they often seem apologetic for having to sue, explaining to me, “I’m not the suing type, but . . .”.

Usually their voice turns a little angry after the “but”, as they explain the reason they must sue. Often it is because the person or company that injured them didn’t seem to give a damn about their safety or did not even apologize. They want to make them pay for their wrong.

Very, very often people sue because they have no choice; they can’t work and can’t pay the medical bills, and they need to sue just to stay afloat.

No More Baby Killer Cribs !

June 30, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Drop-side cribs should have been dropped a long time ago. Why? Because they kill. I blogged about drop-side crib deaths last year. The drop-side sometimes created a gap between the mattress and side rail where babies got caught, suffocated and died. About 40 babies have been strangled to death since 2000. This of course led to product liability lawsuits in New York and around the nation.

Are drop-side cribs convenient? Yes. A lifting side rail allows parents to easily place and pick up their baby. But in a convenience-versus-safety match, especially where babies are concerned, safety should win out.

And finally it did. This week the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is finally banning drop-side cribs, even at yard sales! Now, all four sides will be fixed, and so will the problem of baby strangulation.

The U.S. Supreme Court Deals Victims of Generic Prescription Drug Failure To Warn A Knockout Blow.

June 25, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

As every New York prescription drug lawyer knows, prescription drug suppliers don’t always do a stellar job warning their customers about risks associated with their products. In fact, sometimes they do a plainly lousy job. And that can cause serious injury, or even death, to prescription drug users.

But every wrong has a legal remedy, right? Who could disagree with that?

The Supreme Court of the United States, that’s who. Last Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5 to 4 vote, in a case called Pliva v Mensing, , ruled that the makers of generic drugs (as opposed to brand-name drugs) may not be sued for faulty or inadequate warning labels. This is surprising, to say the least, since two years ago the same Court, in Wyeth v Levine, reached an opposite conclusion regarding the makers of brand-name drugs.

Don’t Be A Fool With A Pool; Syracuse New York Personal Injury Lawyer Explains

June 20, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Today’s Syracuse Post Standard reported on a study published in the journal Pediatrics concluding that, in the U.S.A., a child dies in a portable pool every 5 days during the summer months. Ninety four percent of the victims are under 5.

Drowning is the second-leading cause of death among young children. (The first is car accidents). But why so many deaths in these cheap, shallow pools?

I can think of three:

Five Deadly Mistakes You Can, And Probably Will, Make If You Try To Settle Your Personal Injury Case Without A Lawyer, PART V.

June 18, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

This is the fifth and final part of the 5-part blog series about the pitfalls of trying to settle your own New York personal injury claim without a lawyer. Here’s pitfall number 5:

5. WATCH OUT FOR VULTURES. In some cases, you can’t take the settlement money without others, officially called “lien holders”, but whom I call “vultures”, holding out their hand for a piece of the pie. I call the lien holders “vultures” because they don’t participate in the “hunt”, i.e., the hard work of getting the settlement, but sit around and wait for you to make the kill, and then swoop in for a piece of the meat.

Unfortunately, this is their legal right. In a New York personal injury case, this is true especially if Medicare or Medicaid or ERISA-qualified health insurance policy paid for some or all of your treatment. Also, workers’ compensation will have a lien to recover any medical treatment or wage loss payments. If you take the settlement money, and then spend it, without first paying off the vultures, bad things will happen! They will come after you for reimbursement, and in the case of workers’ compensation, they might cut you off completely from any further comp benefits. And if you did not calculate these liens into your settlement demand, well, you’ll have to sit back and watch them eat the whole carcass of your settlement, leaving you nothing but scraps, or nothing at all.

Five Deadly Mistakes You Can, And Probably Will, Make If You Try To Settle Your Personal Injury Case Without A Lawyer, PART IV.

June 17, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

This is the fourth part of the 5-part blog series about the pitfalls of trying to settle your own New York personal injury claim without a lawyer. Here’s pitfall number 4

4. DON’T ASK FOR TOO MUCH, OR TOO LITTLE, TO SETTLE YOUR CASE. Let’s face it; you have no idea how much your case is worth. Even an experienced New York personal injury lawyer has a hard time putting a number on some injury cases. So many factors come into play: your age, how strong your “liability” looks, how bad the injury is, and how long it will last, your state of health and whether you have “pre-existing injuries”, what county the case must be tried in, and a few dozen other factors.

You might think you know how much your case is worth because a friend of a friend had the same or a similar injury, and his lawyer got him x amount. But that friend of a friend might have had a stronger or weaker liability case than you, and he might be older or younger, and he might have had, or not, pre-existing injuries to the same body part. All these things will make your case different from his, so it is a mistake to think your case is worth what he got.

Five Deadly Mistakes You Can, And Probably Will, Make If You Try To Settle Your Personal Injury Case Without A Lawyer, PART III.

June 16, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

This is the third part of the 5-part blog series about the pitfalls of trying to settle your own New York personal injury claim without a lawyer. Here’s pitfall number 3:

3. DON’T BELIEVE THE INSURANCE ADJUSTER WANTS TO HELP YOU. She (or he) doesn’t. She wants to get you to settle for as little as possible, fairness be damned. Her job, especially if she knows you have no lawyer, is to try to get you to sign something called a “release”, which puts the nails in the coffin of your case, for peanuts. The adjuster might seem nice, friendly, kind. And maybe she is, in real life. But this is not real life. This is business. And her business, sorry to be so blunt, is to screw you.

Don’t befriend her. Figure out what your claim is worth and convince her to pay you that amount, and if she won’t, tell her you will hire an experienced New York personal injury lawyer to get it in court (problem: She probably won’t believe you, though, since you have managed to avoid hiring a lawyer up to this point).