New York Personal Injury Laws

Injured At Work

If you’ve been injured as a result of falling from a location at work or having something fall and strike you at work, you may have the right to bring a lawsuit under the New York State Labor Law. In order to determine whether or not you have a proper claim under that law, it’s necessary to access all the circumstances of your accident. For more information about a possible claim under the New York Labor Law, call the Maurer Law Firm or visit our website for more information on what you may be entitled.

World War Two Workers Exposed to Asbestos

70,000 workers worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War 2, and they were all exposed to asbestos. Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney here in New York City. I want to talk to you a little bit about the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Asbestos Exposure From Building Navy Ship

At the Brooklyn Navy Yard they were building ships since the time of the American Revolution. The site was 200 acres in size. Battleships like the USS Iowa and the Missouri were built there. The USS Antietam, an aircraft carrier was built and worked on there.

And I have a particular affinity for that ship because my father served on it during World War 2. In order to accomplish all of this work in the building and repair of US naval ships, there were foundries at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with high heat and steam pipes insulated with asbestos.

 Asbestos Exposure In The Machine Shops

There was machine shops, where equipment was repaired and worked on for use in these giant US navy ships. There were warehouses where parts and equipment, including all manner of asbestos components were stored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for use by the workers at the yard.

 Long Days of Exposure

During it’s height at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, ships were built and repaired around the clock, 24 hours a day. And that work using all kinds of asbestos insulation and asbestos containing products at the yard, exposed all of the workers to asbestos. These exposures to asbestos are especially important, because mesothelioma can be diagnosed up to 50 or 60 years after the time of exposure. So we have victims today who present with a diagnoses of mesothelioma. That happen because of exposures to asbestos decades and decades ago at the Brooklyn Navy Yard when those navy ships were being built. You have questions about mesothelioma, and exposures to asbestos. I’m Joe Williams, at our firm we answer questions for mesothelioma victims and their families every day. I invite you to call our office, we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Maurer Law Firm

I’m Ira Maurer, founder of the Maurer Law Firm. Welcome to our website. I’ve been practicing serious personal injury law in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and throughout New England for over 30 years now.

When I decided to open the Maurer Law Firm, there were a few principles that were important to me. I wanted every client of this firm to know that they would be treated like family because that’s how I would want to be treated.

I restrict the number of cases that I handle so that I can devote my attention to each and every client and their needs. I explain all the important things that they need to know because they need to be educated, because my clients can make the best, most confident decisions about their case if they understand everything that goes on.

Working as a lawyer isn’t just a profession for me. It’s not just a career. It’s my life.

Injured in a Motor Accident

Sometimes even a minor car or biking accident can result in severe long term injuries that can be costly. If you’ve been injured through no fault of your own, don’t go it alone. The legal team at Wilson Law has successfully resolved claims for severely injured individuals, by either negotiating with the insurance company or going to court. Don’t get overwhelmed. See the attorneys at Wilson Law for a free consultation. We’ll even come to you.

At Wilson Law we’re standing up to them and standing up for you.

Boil Maker Vulnerable to Asbestos Exposure

Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City. I want to talk to you about a particular client I had and explain to you how he proved his exposures to asbestos. Now, this client, a former client of mine his name was Don and he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He was a union boil maker who worked in the local power houses here in New York City for many decades. Through the course of his work he was exposed to all kinds of asbestos. Asbestos cement, asbestos block, asbestos pipe covering, asbestos refactoring. Now, the thing about Don that was very interesting is that Don was a brilliant guy. Don barely graduated high school, didn’t go to college, wasn’t a doctor or lawyer or any of those things. He was a union boiler maker. But boy, did he know what he was talking about. When it came time for him in the fight of his life and his deposition to talk about his exposures to asbestos he did a tremendous job of talking about all the ways that was was exposed to asbestos. He has an incredible memory and he was able to document through his great memory and his strong mind all the ways that he was exposed to asbestos. I have to say it was one of the great pleasures I’ve ever had working with such a knowledgeable and informed client. Don had a very successful and strong case and you may have a similar case. But every case is different. It’s depends on large part on the work up and effort that’s put into the case. To work on the case with the client to establish these exposures to asbestos so that we can prove them and resolve the case in a favorable way. Now, you have I’m sure many questions about how you prove that you were exposed to asbestos in the different ways you were exposed. We can answer those questions for you. I’m Joe Williams and at our firm we handle cases for mesothelioma victims everyday. Pick up the phone and call us at the number below and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you for listening.

The Risks of Hip Replacements

Today on You Be The Judge. Are hip implants putting toxic debris in people’s bloodstream? Could a major corporation have hidden its expectation that 37% of its hip replacements would fail? An estimated 500,000 Americans have received metal-on-metal hip replacements for Arthritis, fractures, and other conditions that cause everyday pain. This type of hip implant is called metal-on-metal because both the ball and socket are metal composed of Cobalt, Chromium alloys.

Metal on Metal Hip Replacements

Now let’s stop right there. Imagine two pieces of metal grinding against each other in your body. According to the FDA, this grinding from a metal-on-metal hip implant can release small metallic debris into the body. This lingering debris can raise the body’s toxicity levels, and for one 66-years-old man, this implant raised his body’s levels of Cobalt and Chromium seven times normal.     Testimony was heard in the Los Angeles Superior Court, and this first lawsuit to go to trial involving Johnson & Johnson’s all metal hip replacements.

Johnson & Johnson Hip Replacements

The manufacturer is alleged to have known about defects including the risk of Cobalt and Chromium poisoning due to the metal debris before they even started selling the implants in 2004, but there’s more. A Johnson & Johnson study presented at trial showed that the company itself had estimated the 37% of the devices would fail within five years of implant surgery. 37%, that’s almost 4 in 10.     Stop for a moment and imagine that you yourself needed a hip implant.

First of all, you would be dealing with a great deal of physical pain on a daily basis. You would have a hard time doing ordinary tasks like going to answer a knock at the front door or sweeping the back steps. Your doctor recommends a hip replacement, and after talking it over with your friends and family, you decide to undergo this intensive surgery. Afterward you go through a period of recovery, but it is well worth it because you can now go on with your life living like you are used to, at least for a while.

You begin having problems, and you are told that your hip implant is failing, and you need to be operated on again to remove the hip replacement. Then one day, you find out that the manufacturer had estimated that 37% of their products would fail within five years. Legally, Johnson & Johnson can withhold this kind of information from you, but should they? Should corporations release this kind of information to candidates for major surgeries?

By: Edward Lake

Companies That Caused Asbestos Exposure Went Bankrupt

You’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and you’ve learned that some or all of the companies that were responsible for exposing you to asbestos have gone bankrupt. What do you do?

Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City. I can tell you that in every mesothelioma case that we handle, there’s two claims. One, as against all of those companies who are still in business, who are viable, still conducting business, and we bring a civil lawsuit against them related to their liability to our client for causing our clients mesothelioma.

The second type of claim is administrative claims involving the bankruptcy trusts that had been set up by all of those companies that have declared bankruptcy over the course of the past decades in order to avoid the civil liability associated with these lawsuits related to mesothelioma and asbestos.

So how are those claims filed? Well, we elicit exposure information from our clients regarding their exposure to the products made by these bankrupt companies. We then take that exposure information and we submit it to the trust that had been set up, and the trust reviews the evidence and the exposure information that was submitted. It’s important to remember that these trusts were set up because these companies, these corporations, declared bankruptcy, and their bankruptcy

Experienced Mesothelioma Attorney

When handling Mesothelioma cases, a very important criteria the attorney just has to have when dealing with victims of Mesothelioma, is empathy for the plight of these victims. We represent people. We represent victims as they fight for justice against large entities, companies, corporations. There is no substitute for experience. Experience and seasoning is a very important factor in handling a Mesothelioma case.

 Caring About and For Our Clients

Our clients are brilliant people. They can see from day one the level of commitment that our firm has to their case. They know that to us, it’s not just a case, it’s a cause. It’s a cause that we take on, that we are all in, 100%, fighting for them.

Tylenol Health Risks

Previously on You Be the Judge, 37-year-old Antonio Benedi felt a case of the flu coming on. After taking the recommended dosage of Tylenol for three consecutive days he ended up in coma, near death, and was in desperate need of a liver transplant. One culprit and each year 450 deaths, 26,000 hospitalizations, 56,000 emergency room visits, 100,000 calls to Poison Control Centers. The suspect? A very common, everyday drug.

Acetaminophen Dosages

When people hear about the dangers of Tylenol or acetaminophen they often assume that Tylenol only harms people who abuse the medication or who don’t follow the directions. Is this true? And is the recommended dosage safe? It is widely asserted that a daily intake of 7,000 milligrams can severely damage an adult’s liver, but the level at which such damage begins to occur is predicted to be much lower. Levels as small as 2,000 to 4,000 milligrams have been implicated in approximately 10% of deaths related to acetaminophen, proving that the medication does not have to be abused to cause harm.

Considering that a single capsule of extra strength versions of acetaminophen is 500 milligrams, as few as four capsules might damage the liver. This is particularly concerning when you realize that bottles containing 500 milligram capsules of acetaminophen say that the maximum daily dosage is eight pills. 8 times 500 milligrams a total of 4,000 milligrams.

To add to the confusion around this medication, prescription drugs containing acetaminophen often have warnings about liver failure and even death, but the over-the-counter versions do not.  In 2009 the FDA recommended that the adult daily dosage for acetaminophen be reduced from the current maximum of 4,000 milligrams to no more than 3,250 milligrams.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary and the manufacturer of Tylenol, responded that they feared the recommendations could have the effect of steering consumers away from their drugs. To this day the company has not reduced the recommended dosage.

Selling Tylenol & Acetaminophen Over-The-Counter

Consider the following facts:

One, hundreds of the drug users die annually and tens of thousands are hospitalized. Two, over-the-counter forms do not warn of liver failure or death while prescription forms often do. Three, acetaminophen is the number one cause of acute liver failure. Four, the maximum dosage and the manufacturer’s recommended safe dosage leave no room for human error. Five, warnings on the label about alcohol are not very clear. Six, there are no warnings on the label about taking the medication while fasting. See the previous episode for details about taking acetaminophen with alcohol or while fasting. Seven, alternative medications are available that yield the same benefits and far fewer risks. Eight, many experts believe if Tylenol were introduced as a new drug today it would not be approved.

The damaging effects of acetaminophen are linked to over 100,000 Poison Control Center calls, 56,000 emergency room visits, 26,000 hospitalizations, and more than 450 deaths each year.   One final thought, if the side effects and risks linked with acetaminophen were associated with a dietary supplement, it would be pulled from the market immediately.

By: Edward Lake