Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Everyone loves a fighter. Someone who, when faced with great tragedy, hardship, or injustice, doesn't just lie down and give up, but shoulders on and fights back. That's why the story of Adrianne Haslet, a Boston Marathon bombing victim, is so compelling. The bomb blast blew off her left foot - a devastating loss -- especially since she is a ballroom dance instructor.

But Adrianne is a fighter. She told the Boston Herald, "I absolutely want to dance again!" Do you doubt her?! She elaborated, "I just want people to know that you can come out of a situation that might seem like the end of the world and come out stronger."

But why is Adrianne featured in my New York personal injury lawyer blog? Because Adrianne would make a perfect personal injury client. We all love fighters, and juries are no different. That's why personal injury victims who fight back from an injury, who try to rehabilitate themselves, who try to remake their lives, fare better in Court than those who wallow in misery and self-pity.

Many people assume that personal injury lawyers like me coach our clients to moan, groan and complain, to "play up" their injuries to the jury. Nothing could be further from the truth. No one likes a whiner. Good personal injury lawyers hardly have their clients talk about their injuries on the stand at all. They let their doctors, friends, neighbors and family members describe how the injuries have affected the client.

Yes, juries respect fighters, and reward them. I have been fortunate in that most of my clients fall into the "fighter" category. I am proud to represent them. I love telling their story to the jury. And the last thing I want them to do is whine in front of the jury.

I want my legless client to tell the jury how she is going to dance again! I want them to be like Adrianne Haslet. Hats off to you, Adrianne.

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

A lawyer's godda geddaway sometimes. But can you ever REALLY get away from your work?

Last week was spring break for my boys, so I took one of them, shown here with me, to Boston. (Actually, we were there to take my mother to see some specialists, but that's another story . . .). While there, we jumped on the Boston Duck Tour. That's an amphibious tour bus --- the same bus that wheels you through the streets of Boston eventually plunges into, and then puts around in, the Boston harbor. See picture below.

As a Central New York personal injury lawyer, I see a lot of accidents, and it seems like a lot of them happen on holidays. Where others see fun I see disaster. And getting on a tour bus destined to drive into the Boston harbor was not exactly a tonic to my accident-phobia.

The driver's instructions just before we took the plunge only made matters worse:

Driver: "If the vessel should begin to sink, the life jackets can be found . . ."
Me: "What?! That's actually possible?!"

My law firm represented the families of several retirees killed on a tour boat that capsized on Lake George only a few years ago. With that background, it is not surprising that, as the duck bus bounced around harmlessly in a slightly choppy harbor, the imaginary headline in my head read: "Boston Duck Tour sinks killing 23!"

Needless to say, we made it back to shore safe and sound. But not content to leave well enough alone, I later googled (from a safe and dry place) "duck tour accidents". I learned that in 1999 a Duck tour bus sank in Hot Springs, Arkansas, killing 13 of the 20 people on board, that on June 23, 2002, a duck bus on the Ottawa River in Canada, sank, causing four passengers trapped under the vehicle's canopy to drown, and that on July 7, 2010, a duck bus was disabled by an engine fire and later run over by a barge on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, killing two passengers.

Glad I didn't perform this Google search BEFORE the tour.

While I wouldn't say that my line of work actually makes me more afraid to die or of getting injured, it makes me think about it more often, and in more situations, than most people.

So yes, I got away from my work last week. But my work did not get away from me . . .

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

Last year I blogged about a case (Miglino v. Bally Total Fitness) where one of New York's intermediate appellate courts (the Second Department) held that health and fitness clubs in New York State must actually use automated external defibrillators (AEDs) when necessary, and not just have them available. If not, they can be held liable to the unattended victim.

In that case, the Court was interpreting a 2005 Statute, General Business Law 627-a, whose literal reading required only that AED's be "on-site" at New York health clubs, and did not specifically mandate that Club employees use them. Nevertheless, the intermediate appellate Court read between the lines, holding that it was "illogical to conclude that no such duty exists".

Now the highest Court in the State, the New York Court of Appeals, has reversed that Court's Decision. The majority disagreed that the law creates an affirmative duty for clubs to use their defibrillators.

Often courts go out of their way to prevent what they perceive as an unwarranted spread of liability. That's clearly what the Court did here.

In a partial dissent, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said "it should go without saying that the presence of an AED will be of no benefit whatsoever to a person in cardiac arrest unless, of course, it is actually used". He felt that the Statute, as interpreted by the majority, was "essentially purposeless" in that it required health clubs to purchase AEDs and train employees to use them but does not require the devices to be used.

Judge Lippman's reasoning makes sense. And now the Statute, as interpreted by the Majority, makes no sense. It's a toothless paper tiger. Might as well wipe it off the books.

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

Adam Gee, a friend and fellow New York personal injury lawyer, recently blogged about the newly enacted New York "assault rifle" ban. Adam is very knowledgeable about guns and about this new law. I can't claim to be knowledgeable about either, since I have never held a gun in my hand (except squirt guns) and have not read the new law. But what Adam appears to be saying is that upstanding citizens should have a right to own guns like those used in the Sandy Hook massacre, i.e., M-16 military style guns capable of killing a lot of people in a little time.

While I fully respect the rights of my fellow citizens to own and use guns designed for hunting and basic protection in their homes, I question the right to own military type rapid-fire guns. After all, you have to draw the line somewhere. The right to bear arms does not include, I don't think, the right to own nuclear bombs, fertilizer-truck bombs, grenade launchers or machine guns. Although the kind of M-16 style gun used in the Sandy Hook massacre did not go that far, still, where do you draw the line? I would draw it before the M-16 style weapon.

And I don't think such bans are unconstitutional. In District of Columbia v. Heller,, the Supreme Court found that reasonable prohibitions and restrictions on firearms possession are consistent with the Second Amendment. And if you interpret the Second Amendment to mean that the government cannot ban any weapon, well, why can't I buy my first nuclear bomb at Amazon.com (as soon as I finish blogging)?

Banning such guns is not the only solution (although it's the best). I've got an alternative to an outright ban: A statute holding manufacturers and vendors of M-16 style guns (who are making a "killing" on sales) strictly liable to the victims of shooting sprees where those guns are employed.

Sounds pretty radical, but I think it's fair. The resulting lawsuits would push up the price of those guns as manufacturers pass the cost onto the consumers, making them less affordable and less prevalent. Consumers who nevertheless choose to exercise their "right" to own an M-16 style gun would end up shouldering the cost to society by financing victim payouts.

It's a win-win situation. Unless you happen to be a gun manufacturer, an assault rifle aficionado or a mass murderer. But the rest of us win. We're safer, our kids are safer. And don't feel too sorry for the gun manufacturers, who can still make and sell guns, nor for the sportsmen, who can still buy and use them. All I'm saying is, at the very least, the cost of having deadly mass-killing machines "out there" should be born by those who enjoy them or profit from them.

My two cents!

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

I usual cheer for the injured plaintiff in lawsuits. I love it when wrong-doers and their insurance carriers get slammed for huge verdicts -- hey, especially if it's my case!. But every once in a while I root for the other side.

That's how I felt about a California Supreme Court ruling that a bumper-car rider could not sue the amusement park for a broken wrist he suffered in a bumper car ride. The adult plaintiff was enjoying the bumper car ride when he was hit from the front and then from behind. She broke her wrist when she sought to brace herself on the car's "dashboard". A year after the accident, the amusement park owner added an island in the middle of the bumper car park -- like those you see in most bumper car rides nowadays -- to keep bumper car drivers headed in the same direction and minimize head-on collisions. The plaintiff's lawyer argued, among other things, that this should have been done before his client's accident.

The State's highest court disagreed. It ruled that, by voluntarily engaging in the mock violence of low-speed collisions, bumper car riders assume the risks inherent that activity, just as people who play football or other sports assume the risks inherent in those sports. (We New York personal injury lawyers call this the "primary assumption of the risk doctrine" -- see my prior blog post about it here.)

Because the plaintiff had "voluntarily assumed the risk" of the injury, the Court "bumped" the case.

And I'm glad. I love those little bumper cars. My kids love them, too. But we loved them a whole lot more when there was no island in the middle. Yes, we love those head-on collisions! The little dings on the side are soooo boring. We want some real violence.

Bring back the free-for-all, island-free, head-on-collision bumper car rides! California, lead the way!

Keep safe! (kind of . .)

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central and Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

You get hurt. Your first thoughts are about getting medical care. You aren't thinking about calling this Central New York personal injury lawyer or filing a lawsuit. You're not "the suing type", you say. But several weeks later, when you realize you may be stuck with this injury for the rest of your life, you start seething about the careless jerk who hurt you.

So you call me. Sure, you have a lot of questions, but so do I!

If you slipped and fell I am going to ask you, "do you still have the shoes you were wearing". Why? I need those to disprove the almost certain defense that worn out or inappropriate footwear made you fall.

If you slipped and fell in oil or some other substance, I'll ask, "did you already wash the clothes you were wearing"? Why is this important? I want to have a chemist examine the liquid to see what it is and where it likely came from. Maybe one of defendant's machines!

And if you were hurt in a car accident, I'm going to ask, "is the car still available for inspection"? The physical damage to the car tells us a lot about how the collision happened and whose fault it was. It also tells us a lot about the g-forces that transferred into your body so we can prove your injuries are authentic and not feigned.

In sum, what I want to know boils down to this: Did you preserve the evidence? This is important not only because it helps me prove your case, but because you, as the plaintiff, are legally required to preserve the evidence. This is because whoever you sue has a right to examine the evidence to disprove your case or prove his/her defenses. If you destroyed the evidence or threw it out, even accidentally, even without knowing any better, a judge can later "sanction" you.

What kind of "sanctions"? It depends on two things: The importance of the evidence and the degree of culpability on your part. If the evidence was not so important, and you made an innocent mistake in destroying it, the judge might simply instruct the jury that it can, if it chooses, infer the evidence would have disproved your case. But the judge is likely to be harsher on you if the evidence was either critically important or you knowingly destroyed it. In such cases, the judge can do to your case exactly what you did to the evidence; throw it out!

Bottom line: It is best to call me early on, not weeks after the accident. But if you don't call me right away, at least preserve all the evidence. Don't mess with it, don't toss it, don't sell it, don't fix it, and don't wash it. Preserve it. Photograph it. Bag it. Thanks!

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

As 2012 comes to a close, it's time to look back on this year's successes at the Central New York personal injury law office of Michaels & Smolak. Yes, we're proud of our victories. They have allowed us to truly help people, people we have come to care about, people we have stood beside through thick and thin from the day they were injured until the day, sometimes years later, they finally tasted sweet justice. When, after a long struggle, we finally ring the bell of justice, we celebrate.

Although we fight for fair compensation in both small and big injuries cases, the big ones stand out because they are so life-altering. Without our efforts, many of those clients would sink into financial ruin. Those unfortunate few, those severely injured victims, are not just "down on their luck", they are crushed by the overwhelming bad luck of having been at the wrong place at the wrong time in striking distance of the wrong wrongdoer. Not only can they no longer work to support their families, not only are they swimming in unpaid medical (and other) bills, but they must wake up in pain, drag themselves through the day in pain, and then lie down in pain again, only to relive the same pain again, and again, and again, every day of their lives. It's like a horror-movie remake of "Groundhog Day".

From our perspective, it's amazing, even immoral, that the insurance carriers don't pony up a fair settlement for these clients early on. Sadly, they often wait till the eve of trial to begin to make reasonable settlement overtures. Sometimes they only "see the light" or more accurately, feel the fear of a big verdict, at trial.

Here's a few examples this year: After a week of trial, an insurance company finally tendered a fair settlement of $2.25 million to a 48-year old roofer with a severe and painful leg fracture that prevented him from working for the rest of his life. In another case, the widow and small child of a fallen firefighter finally achieved a fair settlement of $1.2 million from four defendants at trial. In another case, after two years of litigation, a 48-year old welder, whose car was flipped over in a rear-end collision, and who suffered a cervical herniation requiring surgery, finally was offered a fair settlement of $1.2 million.

We also got the children and wife of a victim of medical malpractice a half a million dollars for the E.R. room doctor's negligence in failing to diagnose their father/husband's aortic aneurysm, which led to his death. And we achieved a $1.9 million settlement for a 45-year old man who suffered permanent severe aggravation of a preexisting degenerative disk condition in his neck.

We had other settlements and verdicts, some large, some small, but in every single case, even in those that do not turn out as well as we would have liked, we did our very best for our clients. We think they know that. We think they like that. And that's why they keep referring their friends and relatives to us. Thank you to all of our 2012 clients for trusting us, for believing in us, and for letting us fight for their justice.

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

A lawyer friend of one of my partners called him yesterday to tell him that, while in a telephone conversation with one of the judges who sits in the Appellate Court in Rochester (Fourth Department), the judge asked him if he knew Michael Bersani (me). He responded, "sure, I know Mike, why"? The judge replied, "because he writes the most excellent appellate briefs"!

Very flattering, especially since I don't even know that judge. I used to work up there clerking, many years ago, but all the judges I worked for are retired.

More important than the flattery, though, is what this could mean to my clients. I have two important appeals pending up in that Court. I argue one of them next week. Did the judge's comment mean that this particular judge agrees with my arguments? Or does he just think I write wonderfully on a losing argument? I am hoping the judges don't just think I can "write" well, but also that I am just plain "right" on the legal issues.

You have a much better chance of winning an appeal if you are a powerful writer. Being "right" and knowing how to "write" overlap. Appellate advocacy is not about splashing an argument onto a brief and hoping the judges agree. It's about framing the argument right, organizing it right, and saying it right, so that the only logical conclusion a reasonable reader can draw is that you ARE right.

I sure hope I'm right!

Stay tuned . . .

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

Hey mom and dad: Halloween's here. Boo! Not really scary, huh? Figured. Hey, I'm a parent, too, and also a Central and Syracuse New York personal injury lawyer. (Scared yet?).

From my experience representing injured people, including injured kids, let me tell you what does not scare me about Halloween: tainted candy, candle fires and child abductions. If you read the newspaper headlines the day after Halloween, you are unlikely to see reports about any of that. That's because that stuff hardly ever happens.

But I can almost guaranty you will read a headline like this: "Trick-or-Treater struck by car".

Think about it. Kids in dark "scary" costumes, night-time, criss-crossing the roads to hit up every house, looking into their trick-or-treat bags to see their "stash" as they cross. Maybe some "celebrating" by driver (i.e., drunk). All that makes for a toxic combination. Now that's scary!

How to take the scare out of it? Watch your child (if he or she is young) and give them clear safety instructions if they are older. Make them bring a flashlight, too.

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyer
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

I have blogged about the Tea Party before, and here I go again. While many of the positions of the Tea Party are not my cup of tea, I strongly align with the Party on one particular issue: The right to a civil jury trial. It's in our Bill of Rights, and it's one of the most important rights we have.

I know what you're thinking: Of course you're for it because, as a New York personal injury lawyer, it's your bread and butter. Yes, I am biased. But I'm also right!

Don't take it from me. Take it from the Tea Party founding father, Judson Philips. In his most recent blog on the subject, he points out that the hallmark of American democracy is our "classless society". Everyone is treated equal under the law. We are unique on this planet in that our court doors open wide enough to allow even the poorest citizen to sue the richest corporation for injuries and other wrongs they inflict on us.

As he further points out, if "tort reformers" have their way, the ugly head of classism will wedge Americans apart, denying the most vulnerable their Constitutional right to a civil jury trial.

Top three memorable quotes in his blog post: (1) "Corporations do not want regular people to be able to sue them". Of course not! (2) "Corporations claim that any lawsuit they lose is a frivolous lawsuit". So true! And I might add that they never regard their frivolous defenses as frivolous. (3) "The ultimate goal of many of these 'Tort Reform' advocates is to make it impossible for lawyers to file lawsuits for the average citizen". You got it!

I usually drink coffee in the morning, but this morning I think I'll enjoy a cup of tea . . .

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

When I recently read about the wave of fungal Meningitis afflicting steroid spinal injection recipients, I thought, "I hope our clients are safe"! The rash of Meningitis from steroid injections has so far killed 14 and made another 156 ill. But others who have recently received the injections are holding their breath --- they too could get sick and die.

Many of our back and neck-injury clients have taken, or are taking, steroid epidural injections hoping for some relief from unremitting back or neck pain.

Unfortunately, most get only temporary, minor relief. And for this very insignificant relief they subject themselves to very significant risks, including nerve damage, strokes and paralysis, and now Meningitis.

Why these risk? Well, for one thing, doctors don't always administer the shots correctly. The doctor is supposed to poke the needle into the epidural space just outside the spinal column. But the doctor's hand is not infallible; on rare occasions the needle can go astray, and the drug can be injected into the spinal fluid or arteries, causing nerve damage, hemorrhaging or death to the nerves.

I know my clients are really, really in pain when they are willing to get spinal epidural injections. It ain't fun having a doctor poke a needle into your spinal area after he explains to you the risks of nerve damage, strokes and paralysis.

Why do they put themselves through it? Desperation! Constant pain drives you to try whatever gives you even a faint hope of relief.

If only I could take away their pain! Instead, all your Central New York personal injury lawyer can do is get them money, which they often need to get by on while they recover, and which they always deserve as compensation for what the careless defendant has put them through.

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

Fellow New York personal injury lawyers (and would-be ones) let me tell you about a free online subscription I just love. Eliot Wilcox, a Florida trial lawyer, runs a great blog with an email subscription to a weekly trial skills review. It is a three minute read each Friday, and reminds us personal injury lawyers of important trial skills.

No matter how good you are at trial, these quick reminders can help you be even better. Even great golfers need to be reminded once in a while to keep their head down on the swing. Same with trial lawyers. We may have learned all the good techniques, but being reminded to use them from time to time is great for our "swing".

Elliot's philosophy is like mine: Never stop learning. No matter how good you are, you can always get better. Life is short, and trial skills are long.

For example, recently, on my car rides, I have been listening to some personal injury trial books on my smartphone. I started with the "holy trinity" of personal injury trial books: (1) Rules of the Road: A Plaintiff Lawyer's Guide to Proving Liability; (2) Reptile, by David Ball and Don Keenan, and (3) David Ball on Damages. These books are a "must read" for all personal injury lawyers.

You can't listen to or read them enough times. More stuff keeps "sticking". In fact, when I'm preparing for trial, I always skim through them, looking for little nuggets I can use in my trial.

One of the joys of being human is that, no matter how good you get, you can always improve. That's true whether you are trying to improve as a doctor, plumber, president, dogcatcher, father, husband, or personal injury lawyer. The difference between a good personal injury lawyer and one who only pretends to be is this; the truly good trial lawyer knows he or she has got more to learn, and never stops trying to improve. The mediocre trial lawyer is a self-satisfied know-it-all who can't, and won't, suffer anyone's advice. I count myself in the former group, and I hope all my trial-lawyer readers do, too.

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central and Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

For a 57 year-old Central New York personal injury lawyer, I'm pretty social-media savvy. I blog, I tweet, I google, I post on Facebook, etc. So when I read some twitter chatter about an article titled "Juror Misconduct in the Age of Social Networking", I googled the article and read it. It was a good read, and since you might not have the time or inclination to read the whole thing, let me summarize it for you.

It starts with this quote from Albert Einstein: "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity". I assume Einstein was thinking of the atomic bomb, not social media. I don't think you can call social media an atomic bomb, though its impact on juries is certainly somewhat explosive.

The article goes on to describe how jurors are "tweeting", "Facebooking" and googling with smartphones during jury duties, often in defiance of the judge's order not to. If they are posting information about the case, or discussing it at all, or googling for information about the lawyers, their clients or witnesses, well, they are violating their juror oath. Jurors have been caught posting things like, "it's gonna be fun to tell the defendant he's GUILTY". Other jurors have been caught trying to "friend" witnesses on Facebook. They have also conducted improper "investigations" online, for example, regarding the distance between two relevant locations, or the yearly profits of a defendant corporation.

All this poisons the jury system because the jury is supposed to decide the case only on the evidence that comes into the courtroom, not on "evidence" they get from their smartphone. The parties don't have an opportunity to "rebut" or cross-examine or respond to the information or impressions the jury gets from their smartphones.

I read another article recently (I can't remember where - my age is showing!) that noted that some personal injury lawyers in New York and elsewhere, well aware that jurors might be (improperly) googling them, post blogs and other information on their website about the case being tried, or about the kinds of injuries their client has, that are intended to sway the jury. This is unethical because lawyers are not supposed to "communicate" with jurors, and posting information targeting the jury would be a type of "communication". These lawyers might think they can get away with this by claiming they were not targeting disobedient jurors, since the jury is not supposed to be visiting their site. But often the timing and the subject matter of the blog posts make it pretty clear these lawyers are actually counting on jurors disobeying the judge's orders, or at least hoping they do so.

So what's the bottom line? Smart phones and other devices are poking holes in our courtroom walls big enough for Mack trucks to drive through. Illicit "information" is driving through those holes, polluting our trials and our justice system. We're entering a brave new world of social-media savvy jurors and lawyers who don't care to plug those holes, or simply can't resist the temptation to sneak stuff through them. If we want to keep trials fair (yes we do) then we had better find a way to seal those holes securely. How?

Hmm. I'm thinking. Maybe I'll get to this in another blog post . . .

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.
Central & Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyers

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

If you are a New York personal injury lawyer like me, you need your stress relief. From my observations, the two most popular ways for litigation lawyers to "de-stress" are (1) exercise and (2) drink. I have chosen the first (although I also occasionally engage in the second, in moderation). When I work out hard, I can feel the stress peeling away, like when you peel back the layers of an onion.

Mostly I run, bike and swim, though my knees are giving out and so I do a lot less running than before. And every year I do at least one short triathlon (swim-bike-run race). This year is no exception. Saturday is my annual Geneva NY "Musselman" triathlon.

My goal is to beat my time from last year. I am racing only against myself. Can I win? In the glass-half-empty department: (1) I'm a year older, (2) low back pain, and (3) knee issues sabotaged my run-training. In the glass-have-full department: (1) in better swim shape, (2) faster bike, and (3) down 7 pounds or so. So it's a toss-up. In the why-the-hell-do-I-care department, all I can tell you is, good question!

The training has taken a toll on my blogging time. But curiously, so far none of my readers have reported withdrawal symptoms. If you are experiencing any, sorry, but there's no New York tort claim available against me for negligently failing to blog and causing you emotional distress.

I hope my readers will forgive me and not thank me for cutting down on the blogs for a while. After Saturday, I hope to be back in the blogosphere on a more regular basis.

By the way, the photo is of me finishing the race last year.

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169

I never knew I was a Tea Party kind-a-guy, but in at least one respect, I am. I found this post, titled "A Hollow Liberty", on the website for "Tea Party Nation". I agree 100% with it!

The article warns that Mitt Romney and other Republicans are planning an assault on our sacrosanct Seventh Amendment constitutional rights. The Seventh Amendment is the one that guaranties us the right to a civil jury trial.

To the Tea Party's chagrin, Mitt Romney wants to impose Federal Tort Reform throughout the nation. Tort Reform of any kind has only one true purpose; to sap the life out of our constitutional right to a civil jury trial for personal injury claims brought against careless corporations, drunk drivers, dangerous doctors, and a host of other wrongdoers.

The article also points out that Texas' much touted tort reform has been a huge failure -- seriously injured people with very strong cases against undeniable tortfeasors can't get lawyers to take their cases to a jury because the "damages cap" (a $250,000 ceiling on how much a jury can give for pain and suffering compensation) makes it economically impossible for them to do so. A third of $250,000 won't compensate the hundreds of legal hours necessary to bring to trial a complex personal injury or medical malpractice lawsuit. The most seriously injured victims are thus deprived of their constitutional right to a civil jury trial. The article also points out that Texas tort reform was supposed to make healthcare and insurance cheaper, but nothing even close to that has happened.

So now Mitt Romney wants to make the failed Texas law, or something like it, the law of the land. The Tea Party will have none of it! (But will they vote for his opponent? Now hold on, they don't love their right to a jury trial that much!).

I love this quote from the Tea Party Nation article: "The right to a jury trial is arguably the right our founding fathers thought was the most important [since] the 7th Amendment, the right to a civil jury trial, was the only amendment to the Constitution that was approved unanimously by our founding fathers at the Constitutional Convention in 1787".

Godda love those Tea-Partiers. At least sometimes.

Keep safe!

Mike Bersani

Email me at: bersani@michaels-smolak.com I'd love to hear from you!

Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
michaels-smolak.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels & Smolak, P.C.

1-315-253-3293 Toll Free 1-866-698-8169