Category Archives: General Personal Injury
Times Square Hotel Ironworker Shocked by Violations of Safety Regulations
Even without a trial, a judge has ruled that the owner and contractor on a New York City construction project are liable as a matter of law for the injuries sustained by an ironworker who received multiple electric shocks while bolting up the roof on a Times Square hotel construction project. Matthew Buckley was… Read More »
Californians Try to Raise Medical Malpractice Damages Caps, New Yorkers Try to Keep Them Out
The California legislature first put a cap on noneconomic damages (pain and suffering) in medical malpractice cases in 1975, with the passage of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). Under MICRA, a person cannot receive more than $250,000 for pain and suffering caused by a doctor’s medical negligence or incompetence, regardless of the… Read More »
New York Scaffold Safety Law Under Attack in Legislature
New York’s so-called scaffold law protects construction workers from the hazards of working on heights and applies to ladder falls as well as scaffolds or any elevation-related accident. The scaffold law can be found in several sections of the New York Labor Code, such as sections 240, 241, and 241A. These provisions apply to… Read More »
Defense Puts Injured Plaintiff on Trial in NYC Personal Injury Lawsuit
Let’s say you are walking down the street near a building undergoing renovation when a piece of the building falls down and hits you on the head. You sue the people you believe are responsible and seek compensation for your injuries, which include orthopedic injuries, traumatic brain injury, memory loss, emotional injuries, cognitive impairment,… Read More »
Comptroller Liu Recommends Fixes to Decrease NYC Motor Vehicle Accidents
In the recent Claims Report issued by the City of New York Office of the Comptroller for fiscal year 2012, City Comptroller John C. Liu reports that NYC paid out nearly $486 million in tort claims for the year. Over $75,000,000, or 16% of the total, went for motor vehicle accidents. As the Chief… Read More »
Recalls of Defective and Dangerous Drugs are Frequent and Ongoing
There are three different ways in which a recall can occur: a voluntary recall initiated by the drug company; a voluntary recall at the request of the FDA; or a mandatory recall required by the FDA. Drug recalls are classified into one of three classes according to the level of danger posed by the… Read More »
Parked Cars and Pit Bulls A Lesson in Liability
As a woman walked by a parked car (parked illegally in a no-parking zone) at a gas station/convenience store, a pit bull stuck its head out an open window and bit the woman on the breast. The injured woman (Reyes) sued the owner’s insurance company (GEICO), which offered to settle the case for $25,000,… Read More »
Actual Notice of Hazard Leads to Record New York Damage Award
Last week this blog reported on the case of Fama v. NYC, where a Department of Sanitation worker could not recover for his slip-and-fall injury because he could not prove that the City knew about the dangerous condition (a puddle of oil on the garage floor) yet failed to correct it in a reasonable… Read More »
Highway Construction and Fuel on the Floor
A couple of personal injury lawsuits against New York City were recently resolved in the courts. One case resulted in a jury award of $7.25 million for the injured plaintiff and his wife. In the other case, the court refused to hold the City liable for its worker’s on-the-job injury. Lack of Signage Causes… Read More »
Court Determines Mishandling of Teen’s Corpse Only Worth $600,000, Despite Jury’s Million-Dollar Verdict
New York Public Health Law provides that every body of a deceased person is entitled to a decent burial or cremation within a reasonable time after death. Section 4215 in particular addresses the remains of a body after an autopsy dissection has been performed and requires that these remains be buried as well. In… Read More »
