Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

U.S. Tort Reformers Want Us To Follow Japan’s Example On Compensating Innocent People Injured By Corporate Negligence

April 16, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Warning: I am going to rail against tort reform again. Not the first time. Since it is my job as a Central and Syracuse New York personal injury lawyer to protect injured victims’ rights to full compensation, you can bet I am vehemently opposed to “tort reform”, which I call “tort deform”. So here goes my latest rant:

Don’t like American tort law? Think juries are too generous to injured plaintiffs? Then you should move to Japan where they know how to deal with people whose lives are ruined by the negligence of rich corporations.

Case in point: The operator of Japan’s nuclear plant, which has been spewing radioactivity since the earthquake and tsunami struck, said Friday it would pay $12,000 to each family forced to evacuate the area. Nearly 140,000 people are living in shelters. They left with almost nothing but the clothes on their back. These people not only lost their homes, but their livelihoods — they can’t return to their jobs because of the radiation threat. And for that, hey, $12,000, per family.

More On How Cyclists Should Defend Themselves From Canine Attacks

April 14, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

As my readers know, I am a Central New York personal injury lawyer who loves to cycle and run along the beautiful roadways around Geneva, New York, where I live, and Auburn, New York, where I work. I like to call myself the “Finger Lakes bicycle accident lawyer”, but that’s somewhat of an exaggeration, since I handle a lot of other kinds of accident cases as well. Fortunately, there are not enough bike accidents in the Finger Lakes for a lawyer to make a living just representing injured cyclists.

The Finger Lakes provide a stunningly gorgeous background to my workouts. But nothing is perfect. Those same run and bike routes are strewn with some very nasty, aggressive dogs. It seems that some folks who live far out in the country don’t mind if their pets make mincemeat of bicyclists and runners.

My last post was about dog-on-bicyclist confrontations, and how bikers should deal with them. I said there was no consensus among cyclists about how to handle vicious dogs that run out at you on your bike, and asked other riders to give me their views.

Central New York Injury Lawyer And Cycler Discusses How To Deal With Dog-On-Bike Confrontations

April 13, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Anyone who has bicycled on Central New York’s beautiful country roads, as I have, knows about the dangerous dogs lurking out there in the most pristine areas. And many of us have ended up in a ditch, or on the pavement, bloodied or with puncture wounds, because of it. Some of us have even been seriously injured and I (in my capacity as Central New York dog attack lawyer!) have been honored to represent them against the dog owner. Unfortunately, run-ins with dogs are part of cycling in the Central New York countryside.

As a Central New York personal injury lawyer and cyclist who has handled New York dog-on-bike cases, I have come to the conclusion that there are three main dangers in every dog-on-cyclist encounter: (1) the dog can bite you; (2) the dog can get caught up in your spokes and cause you to fall; and (3) the dog can divert your attention away from careful riding, and thus cause you to get hit by a car or fall from your bike. This last danger is the most serious one, but the one most cyclists overlook.

There is no universal agreement among cyclists about how to deal with a belligerent dog hovering close to foot or wheel. Here are the main categories of advice riders will give you: (1) ignore the pooch and keep riding as fast as you can; (2) spray the killer with your water bottle (the shock of the cold water will stop him dead in his tracks); (3) carry a can of “mace for dogs” with you and really teach the dog a lesson; (4) unclip the closest foot and kick him hard; (5) grab your bike pump and swing it at him, at least threateningly, if not to kill (5) if he is really close and might get caught up in your bike, slow down and, if necessary, get off your bike, put the bike between you and the dog to protect yourself, and then slowly talk your way out of the situation.

Facebook Case Has Lessons For New York Personal Injury Lawyers And Claimants

April 12, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

I just read about the Federal Appellate Court Decision deciding that the Winklevoss twins, who famously sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg claiming he had “stolen” their idea for Facebook, could not undo their settlement with Zuckerberg and go after him for more money (they settled for only $64 million). The twins alleged in the suit that Zuckerberg defrauded them in the settlement by not disclosing the true value of Facebook. The Appellate Court was having none of it. The Court pointed out that the twins were represented by a lawyer, and they signed a release releasing Zuckerberg forever from any liability to them.

I know what you’re thinking — what does this have to do with New York personal injury law? After all, isn’t that what this blog is about? How the heck is Bersani going to tie the Facebook decision into his Central New York personal injury lawyer blog?

Glad you asked. There’s a lesson in this case for all New York personal injury lawyers, but especially their clients: Very, very carefully consider a settlement before you sign a release. If your signature is on it, it is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to undo it. You can scream all day that you didn’t read it, you didn’t understand it, your lawyer tricked you into signing it, your lawyer gave you bad advice, the other side did not tell you all the facts, etc. But in all but the rarest of instances, you will be stuck with it.

New York Dental Malpractice Lawyers Sue Syracuse Dental Clinic

April 8, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

New York dental malpractice lawyers agree on one thing: You have to turn down most calls about dental malpractice. Most alleged dental malpractice cases are going nowhere. We get calls from people all the time. They got a bad result from their dentistry work, and they want to sue. But usually the bad result was a “known risk” of the procedure. When it’s a known risk, usually there’s no case. Sometimes there really was dental negligence, but then the injury is too small to really warrant a dental malpractice lawsuit. Getting a case with provable negligence, plus a significant injury, well, that doesn’t happen every day.

But a case I read about in the Syracuse Post Standard this week is more than just a dental malpractice case. I would describe it as a dental assault and battery case. It’s a god-awful story about ten Syracuse-area families who sued a dental clinic, “Small Smiles”, alleging their children had been subjected to unnecessary dental treatment, and without anesthesia.

That last part kills me. Imagine having your kids subjected to dental torture, and for no good medical reason? Can you say, “Marathon Man“? If these allegations are true, and apparently they are (Small Smiles’ national parent corporation settled with the Federal Government for $24 Million for Medicaid fraud based on the same facts) the case might well warrant punitive damages, which is all but unheard of in medical or dental malpractice cases.

Finger Lakes New York Personal Injury Lawyer Response to Article About Personal Injury Lawyers “Eyeing” Future Local Shale Gas Drilling

April 6, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

A web article I stumbled upon jumped off my computer screen at me today. It was titled “Plaintiffs lawyers eyeing Marcellus Shale Work.” My first thought: “Gee, I am a New York personal injury lawyer located right in the Marcellus Shale zone, so how come I am not ‘eyeing’ the future Marcellus Shall Work”. Next thought: “Hey, that hydrofracking work will be dangerous, workers will get hurt, they will need New York personal injury lawyers to represent them, so gosh, maybe I should be ‘eyeing’ the Marcellus shale work”. Next thought: “Don’t want people getting hurt, and besides, it’s going to be messy for our environment up here, so thanks but no thanks”.

All those thoughts streamed through my brain in about 3 seconds, before I even got to the first word of the article. Then I read it. A personal injury lawyer out of Pennsylvania somewhere was quoted as saying that the Marcellus Shale drilling would cause “horrendous injuries” because of all the gas and liquid under high pressure carried through pipelines, stored in big tanks, and ejected underground at high pressure. Drill rigs are notoriously dangerous. Toxic gas leaks burn workers and gas rigs explode. Big tanker trucks cause motor vehicle accidents on narrow local roadways.

OMG! Parade of horribles. Well, he convinced me: the Shale gas drilling, or “hydrofracking” as it’s called, if it ever happens up here, will be good for the personal injury law business. Unfortunately, it probably will, if it goes forward, produce a fair number of serious injuries and deaths. And I am sure that many of the injured and the families of the dead will find their way to our law office since we are well regarded in the personal injury field and, I believe, the only law firm located in our area of the Finger Lakes that limits its practices almost exclusively to New York personal injury cases.

Central New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Is Still Outraged About New York Doctors Push To Implement Damages Caps.

April 3, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

My outrage at New York doctors and hospitals, who recently tried to sneak into our State budget a booby-trap to explode on their unsuspecting malpracticed patients, has still not subsided. Read my recent blogs about their underhanded efforts here and here. Readers’ digest version: They tried to slip a “cap on non-economic damages” for medical malpractice lawsuits into our State budget. Fortunately, their efforts failed. But believe me, New York medical doctors’ lobbyists will try it again. Their motto is, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again”.

So forgive me if I rant a while longer. They will keep at it, so why shouldn’t I?

New York doctors and hospitals keep whining about skyrocketing insurance premiums, which they choose to blame not on greedy insurance companies, but on New York malpractice claimants and their New York medical malpractice lawyers. But when juries hammer doctors with big verdicts, it’s because the doctors hammered their patients with big harm — carelessly. Juries reluctantly bang out big verdicts to compensate big screw ups. Those juries have found the doctors’ treatment of their patient so pathetic – wait, let’s be generous — “crappy” – as to fall below any acceptable standard of medical care.

Syracuse New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer’s Response To New York Medical Society Regarding Failed Cap On Damages.

April 2, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

New York Medical malpractice victims, you might not know it, but you just dodged a bullet! The New York hospital and physician lobby just tried to cut the legs off your rights to compensation. They tried to get the governor to incorporate into his budget a provision that would have capped all medical malpractice pain and suffering verdicts at $250,000. I already blogged about the unfairness of such a rule.

Good news: The doctor lobby failed! The final budget, which has now become law, tossed out the ill-conceived medical malpractice cap. And that is cause for celebration, not only by New York medical malpractice lawyers, but also by New York medical malpractice victims and their families.

Turns out the doctors and hospitals are poor losers. In a letter from Medical Society of the State of New York President Dr. Leah McCormack to his fellow doctors, he says he is “more than disappointed” that the budget did not include the cap. He feels “angry, disgusted and betrayed”.

Central New York Injury Lawyer On Nuclear Accident Liability

March 28, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

So what rights would we New Yorkers have to compensation in the event of a New York Nuclear Power Plant Catastrophe?

Let’s assume that Oswego’s Nuclear Power Plant suddenly broke down and started spewing out dangerous radioactivity, just like in Japan. Let’s assume your family ended up sick, or dead, and that you had to move out of your home — forever — and that its market value was reduced to zero dollars. Can you sue the Power Plant owner? If so, for how much?

Well, I’ve got some bad news for you. Even though under New York common law principles you would be able to sue the power company for every penny of compensation you were entitled to for all those catastrophic losses, a not-well-known federal law trumps New York law, and would probably force you to accept pennies for every dollar you would otherwise be entitled to.

Give’m Some Room — New York Traffic Cops Need Your Help.

March 27, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Local news sources report that a passing motorist struck and killed a trooper as he was writing another motorist a traffic ticket on the shoulder of Interstate 290 near the town of Tonawanda.

This is every traffic cop’s nightmare. And mine, too. As a Central and Syracuse New York car accident lawyer who has represented several police officers and deputy sheriffs struck by negligent motorists, I am particularly sensitive to the risks our law enforcement officers voluntarily assume every working day to protect the rest of us from law breaking motorists.

There they are, hunched over the driver’s window of a stopped car on the shoulder of the roadway, within inches of the roadway itself, exposed to the risk of distracted drivers running them over. I always worry about how close some of the vehicles are passing by. These police officers risk their lives every time they write a ticket! Fortunately, most, but not all, passing motorists have the common sense to slow down and move over to the left to give the guy some space.