New York Personal Injury Laws

Slip and Fall Claim Process

Today on You Be The Judge. If you slip and fall, can you really sue and easily win? Go inside a real life slip and fall claim and see what a judge looks for when determining who is at fault. We’ll show you the facts and let you be the judge. While the idea of slipping, falling, suing and winning is often joked about, if you were the one left with the medical bills, you may want to know if the property owner played a role in the accident.

1. Who Do You Sue

First, who do you sue? The defendant will most likely be the property owner or manager. The defendant has the duty to keep their premises reasonably safe from hazard.

2. Determine Breach of Duty

Number two, did the defendant breach their duty and/or damages caused as a result? In other words, was the property owner, manager or an employee somehow neglectful by causing or creating the dangerous situation? Knowing about it but not doing anything to prevent it? Or if they didn’t know about the danger, should they have known? Not only must you prove that the defendant breached their duty, you must also prove what is called proximate cause, which says that the injuries were the result of that specific accident.

3. Reasonable Defendants

Three, did the defendant act reasonably? If someone trips over an object left on the floor, was there good reason for the object’s position or could it have been easily and reasonably moved before anyone could trip on it? Did the property owner take precautions to minimize the danger? How long was the danger present prior to the accident?

4. Injured Person Acting Careless

Number four, was the injured person acting carelessly? Everyone has the duty to protect themselves and to be careful. Would another reasonable person in the same situation notice and avoid the danger? Was there a legitimate reason that the person was on the property? Had the owner placed a barrier or warning sign for the danger? Was the injured person engaged in activities that could increase the chance of slipping and falling?

Contributory Negligence

For example, texting while walking. In a slip and fall lawsuit, both sides will attempt to prove that the other was at least partially at fault. In some states there is contributory negligence. This is where the plaintiff is in any way at fault, they cannot recover damages.

Comparative Negligence

Other states have comparative. If the plaintiff is partially at fault, that percentage is subtracted from any award. Finally, some states will offer compensation if you are less than 50% at fault, but none if you are more than 50% at fault. Ultimately, the injured person bares the greatest burden of proof.

Slip & Fall Litigation Example

Now we’ll go inside an abbreviated real life claim, present the facts, and ask you to make a ruling. A woman we’ll call Helen went with her husband to visit their son at a correctional facility. Helen entered and noticed someone nearby with a mop in hand, a bucket on the floor and a caution sign. As she walked, she tried to stay on the carpet runner and eventually stepped off to get to where she was going. At that point, she did not see any mops, buckets or signs. As Helen stepped off, she slipped and fell to the floor. Helen’s husband’s foot slipped too, but he was able to avoid falling. The facility’s standard policy was to put caution signs in a square around wet areas. Consider the previously mentioned criteria of slip and fall lawsuits.

Number one, did the facility breached their duty to keep their premises reasonably safe from hazard? Two, did the facility act reasonably? And three, was Helen careless? Now it’s time for you to be the judge. Should the defendant be held responsible for all part or none of the accident?

By: Edward Lake

Superbug CRE Linked to Infection, Disease and Death

Could a common medical device used in endoscopic procedures be linked to one of the most deadly diseases of our time? Let’s take a look at the facts. Antibiotic overuse and a nightmare of superbug have taken a heavy toll on Americans. As new drug-resistant diseases flourish in hospitals. What’s more, an estimated 40,000 harmful and lethal errors occur everyday in medical facilities. The Center for Disease Control reported that 1 in 25 patients develop a hospital acquired infection. In 2011, an estimated 722,000 hospital patients contracted an infection while under acute care. 75,000 died as a result.

A superbug called CRE, carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae appeared in 2001 in the United States. CRE is resistant to a class of antibiotics called carbapenem which are often used as a last resort against deadly bacterial infections. More than 500,000 patients undergo endoscopic procedures using duodenoscopes in the US every year. These medical devices are used for diagnosing and treating cancers, gallstones and other digestive ailments.

Use of Duodenoscope

A duodenoscope is a thin, flexible fiber optic tube that is inserted down the patient’s throat to allow a doctor to examine an organ. The problem for patients, is that the intricate design of the device makes it extremely difficult to disinfect. Even meticulously cleaning the devices does not eliminate the risk of transmitting infection. The design allows for efficient procedures while leaving the patient at risk for infections passed from other patients. Even if cleaned according to the manufacturer’s instructions, the risk of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections persists. For years, hospitals, clinicians, the CDC and researchers have been warning the Food and Drug Administration about the problems associated with procedures using duodenoscopes.

John Allen, a professor at the Yale School of Medicine tells us that we have known about this even as early as 1983 or 1984. With half a million patients undergoing procedures involving the duodenoscope, which is difficult to properly sterilize, patients are left with questions about their safety. Researchers give little hope regarding CRE, saying that, there is little chance that an effective drug to kill CRE bacteria will be produced in the coming years.

CRE Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Given the lack of available information, many have pursued medical malpractice claims after lost of loved ones or suffering severe illness and having to be hospitalized for months. Now, we are able to see the problem is not with the medical facility, as they have been given a device which is at its core defective without proper means of sterilizing. Share this video today. Americans have suffered in hospital beds for months because of how little these facts are publicized.

Share this video with your friends and family, so that they can be aware of the risks of this seemingly harmless procedure. If you think that you or a loved one has suffered from a superbug after undergoing a duodenoscopic procedure, call our team today. We have worked with people like you across the nation. It cost you nothing to consult with our team. We only get paid if and when you get compensated. Call today for a free consultation at 888-LAW-8500. That’s 888-529-8500 and visit us online at lawyersusa.com/superbug.

By: Steven Gacovino

Carpenters Exposed to Asbestos

You’re a carpenter, you’ve been exposed to asbestos and now you have mesothelioma. You’re trying to figure out what caused your mesothelioma. Hi, I’m Joe Williams and I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney and I can answer your questions about how carpenters who are exposed to asbestos. Now as a carpenter you worked with many things on large commercial job sites and also smaller residential job sites. But what we know about carpenters is they’re exposed to everything on those jobs. So a carpenter might be installing some cabinetry, might be working on some woodworking in one section of a room while another trade is putting up sheet rock and using asbestos containing joint compound. A carpenter might be doing some mill work in one portion of a room while another trade is starting the installation of asbestos containing floor tile 10 or 15 feet away. All of these are real exposures to asbestos dust for both the carpenter as a by stander and the floor tile mechanic or the dry wall taper who’s working with that asbestos containing joint compound. In addition, many carpenters over the years have told me that they also did these other types of construction work that put up walls with sheet rock and asbestos containing joint compound. That they installed asbestos containing ceiling tiles and drop ceiling. That they worked with asbestos containing floor tiles themselves. That that was all part of the work that they did as a carpenter. As a carpenter it’s not just the work that you did it’s certainly the work you did as well as the work that others did around you. All of this work created asbestos dust from working with various asbestos products which you breathe and that is one for the reasons why you have mesothelioma. I’m sure you have many more questions about mesothelioma and we can answer your questions. I’m Joe Williams, we represent victims of mesothelioma everyday. I invite you to call my office at the number below and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Steamfitter Exposed to Asbestos

You’re a steamfitter. You’ve been working your entire life with asbestos gaskets and pipe covering, and now you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma. And you’re struggling with how you’re going to handle your case.

Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City, and I’ve represented many, many steamfitters over the years. And I can tell you that their exposures are always the same. Steamfitters work with pipes and gaskets each and every day, and steamfitters help to build this city.

 How Steamfitters Became Exposed

And in so doing they worked at every powerhouse, built the powerhouses. And were exposed to those asbestos gaskets, they’re in-between the flanges of every pipe in those powerhouses. The pre-fabricated gaskets as well as the sheet gaskets that you cut with thick shears to fit over those flanges.

And then you take a hammer and pound through the flange where the bolt hole is, so that you can make that gasket fit securely. While you were doing your work, other trades were working around you. Insulators were insulating some of the very same pipes that you were working on.

And they were insulating equipment that was nearby to your work. And while you were working on these pipes and dealing with these flanges, you were attaching these pipes to large pieces of equipment like boilers or pumps.

And those pieces of equipment were covered with asbestos, causing you to be exposed again. Well, there are many ways that steamfitters were exposed to asbestos, both from their work and from the work of others in their working vicinity.

Why am I telling you this? Because you’ve been exposed to asbestos. Over the years I’ve represented many members of the local 638 steamfitters union here in New York City. And each of them has talked to me and talked in their deposition in their case about their exposures to asbestos gaskets, to asbestos insulation, asbestos pipe covering.

And if you’re a steamfitter, I’m sure you had many of the same exposures. I’m sure you have many questions about mesothelioma. Well, I have the answers to those questions. I’m Joe Williams, and I invite you to call me at my office at the number below, and we’ll answer your questions. We represent mesothelioma victims every day. This is what we do, and I’ll be happy to speak to you. Thank you.

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.

Staten Island Asbestos Exposure

You’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and you worked on Staten Island, and you’re wondering, “How did you get this disease?” Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I could give you some information about how workers were exposed to asbestos on Staten Island. We know that on Staten Island there’s a major Con Edison powerhouse – the Arthur Kill Powerhouse – wherein, electrical power is generated, and steam lines are coded and covered with asbestos, and there’s asbestos products that was used throughout this powerhouse, which exposed the workers – who worked at the powerhouse – to asbestos. At the mouth of Newark Bay, was the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, where large ships were built and repaired. That work involved the use of asbestos products by all the tradesman who worked on those ships.

 Housing Boom Increased Exposure

During the course of the last century, there was a housing boom, and Staten Island was built up to become a very populated borough. In order to do that, homes, apartment buildings, and even government housing projects were built on Staten Island. All of that work was done by tradesmen – the union tradesmen, non-union tradesmen – and it involved the use of asbestos products in the building of all of those residential structures.

Now, you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and I’m sure you have questions about asbestos and asbestos exposure. I’m Joe Williams, and at our firm, we answer questions from mesothelioma victims and their families every day. I invite you to give our office a call, and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Mesothelioma Claim Availability

You’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma and you want to bring a claim, but you assume that after all these years, the companies that made asbestos products or used asbestos products, they must be out of business. How could you possibly bring your claim?

Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I can give you some information about the asbestos companies and how you can make claims against these companies.

 Bankrupt Companies and Companies In Business

It’s important to recognize that many of the companies that made asbestos products, and many of the companies that used asbestos products, many of them have filed for bankruptcy protection. They’ve gone out of business. Other companies that used asbestos with their products have not gone out of business. They’re viable corporate entities still in business. So, we have bankrupt companies and companies who are in business. It’s important to know that when claims are considered for mesothelioma victim and their family, both avenues must be traveled – claims against companies that are out of business and bankrupt, and claims against companies that are in business and viable.

Making a Claim against Out of Business and In Business Companies

The viable companies, we go after them with a lawsuit, and we bring an action against them based upon the facts and evidence of the individual mesothelioma victim’s case. For the companies that are out of business – companies who made bags of asbestos insulation that was put on pipes, companies that made asbestos gaskets and all kinds of asbestos products – many of them have filed for bankruptcy protection. But, the courts have required them to set up trust funds so that future victims of mesothelioma will be compensated for their exposures to asbestos from that product. It’s a condition of them being able to reorganize their business and stay in business.  A victim of mesothelioma can make claims against the money that was put into trust for that very purpose. It’s important to know that there’s up to 60 trusts that have been established for these bankrupt companies, and those trusts have been funded with up to $30 billion.

 A Lawsuit Versus A Claim

So, a mesothelioma victim can make claims against companies that are in business, through a lawsuit, and that same mesothelioma victim also has the opportunity to make claims against the companies who have gone out of business by making claims to the trust – claims to that $30 billon that’s being held in trust for claimants just like that mesothelioma victim.

You have questions about mesothelioma, about the claims that can be made for a victim of mesothelioma? I’m Joe Williams. At our office, we handle these claims everyday. We help victims of mesothelioma and their families each and every day. Give us a call at our office and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Recovering Medical Bills

Can a victim of Mesothelioma recover the medical bills that they incurred through their legal case? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I Mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City, and I can tell you that the answer to this question is definitely, yes. In every case I’ve ever handled, in all the years I’ve been representing Mesothelioma victims, every victim and their family stresses to me the stress that they have over the large amount of medical bills that they are incurring.

 Making A Claim for Medical Bills

I can tell you, just like I tell every one of them, that in every Mesothelioma case we assert a claim in the case for the repayment of the medical bills. What that means is that we bring a lawsuit against the companies who exposed our clients to asbestos. As part of that lawsuit, one of the claims that we make is that our client has incurred significant medical bills, and that those companies should have to pay those bills, because they caused them to contract this unfortunate cancer.

Breaking Down The Medical Expenses

These bills can be extensive. A Mesothelioma victim’s treatment can include surgery or multiple surgeries. It can include chemotherapy, multiple rounds of chemotherapy. It can also include radiation, as well as well as numerous office visits.

All these things are obviously very expensive, and the bills can really add up, adding stress to an already stressful situation. I can tell you that as part of the legal case, we seek to recover payment of these bills from the companies we bring the case against.

 Further Questions and Concerns, Contact Us

Now, I’m sure you have many other questions about how medical bills are taken care of as part of a legal case. I can answer those questions. I’m Joe Williams, and in our firm we handle these cases every day. We represent Mesothelioma victims every day.

I encourage you to call the number on your screen below, that’s my office number, and we’ll answer your questions. Thanks so much for watching.

No-Fault Law Public Service Tip

I’m Ira Maurer with a public service law tip on the No-Fault Law in New York.

What is the No-Fault Law and why does it exist? Several decades back, our court systems were overwhelmed with too many claims, and the only way they could free up the logjam was to limit which cases could be brought in our court system. You must have a serious injury as defined by the No-Fault Law in order to pursue a lawsuit in New York, or your case will in fact be dismissed before trial on motion by the defendant.

Secondly, what benefits are you entitled to under No-Fault? Regardless of who is to blame, you’re entitled to receive wage benefits and have your medical treatment paid for. In New York, every insurance policy must have $50,000 first-party benefit available, payable over a period of 36 months. You are entitled to receive wage benefits not exceeding $2000 a month. You can get 80% of your wage loss, but it won’t exceed $2000 a month.

Second of all, your medical treatment has to be paid for. You don’t have to obtain preauthorization from your own No-Fault insurance company. They must pay reasonable and customary charges for your treatment. If they think you don’t need the treatment, they’ll send you for an independent medical exam to have a doctor cut off your benefits. But initially, they don’t have a right to decide whether or not you’re entitled to the care, and they don’t get to preauthorize anything.

That’s different from your own healthcare insurance, which may require pre-certification for an MRI, for example. So, No-Fault means your own insurance pays those benefits for wage loss and medical treatment. It doesn’t matter who is to blame. Your own insurance pays for it. And, you can purchase additional insurance beyond the $50,000 in first-party benefits when you purchase your policy. That’s something you should speak to your insurance agent about.

For more information about pursuing a claim under the No-Fault Law for personal injury from a car accident, visit the Maurer Law webpage at maurerlaw.net.