Lawyers

All Four Michaels Bersani Kalabanka Lawyers Are Once Again Selected as “Best Lawyers in America”.

August 15, 2016 | by Michael Bersani

Yes, once again all four of the lawyers here at Auburn New York’s premier personal injury and medical malpractice law firm have been included in this most prestigious legal directory, the 23^rd (2017) edition. They have been selected for both the “personal injury” and “product liability” litigation categories.

According to the publishers of “Best Lawyers in America”, inclusion in Best Lawyers is “based entirely on peer-review and employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services.” Best Lawyers asks voters – which consist only of other lawyers and judges who are named Best Lawyers – the question: “If you were unable to take a case yourself, how likely would you be to refer it to this nominee?”

The American Lawyer magazine – one of the nation’s preeminent law magazines – describes the Best Lawyers directory as “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

What does SU’s Final Four Basketball Result Have To Do With This Syracuse Personal Injury Lawyer?

April 3, 2016 | by Michael Bersani

Watching the Syracuse University basketball squad get scorched by North Carolina was tough. It seemed that North Carolina just could not miss a shot. Their three pointers seemed to swoosh in just as easily as their shots from within the paint. And SU? They could not seem to even score a foul shot. Where was the miraculous Syracuse team we saw only a few days ago pull off an amazing come-from-behind victory over number-one ranked Virginia?

Yes, despite playing their heart out, the SU team lost.

Every good personal injury lawyer knows the feeling. That’s because good personal injury lawyers sometimes try tough cases, where the odds are stacked against them. They take risks. And sometimes they lose.

Worst Lawyer Ad Of The Year (P.S. Not Ours!)

December 23, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

As we approach the end of the year, it is time for the Michaels Bersani Kalabanka personal injury law firm of Central New York to give out its “Worst Personal Injury Lawyer Advertisement of the Year Award”. This year we have a hands down winner. No need to even talk about a runner up. Not even close. Hold your applause until after you view the winning ad by “The Texas Law Hawk”:

Need I say more?

Dear New York Personal Injury client: You Have Been Ripped Off.

November 7, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Dear client: You have been ripped off. No, not by me, silly! By your doctor, by the hospital, by your physical therapist, and by anyone else who has treated you for your injuries. Let me explain.

Your medical providers have been charging me 75 cents a page for your medical records. This money initially comes out of my pocket, but eventually comes out of yours because I charge it as an expense on your case. The charge reduces your “net” settlement or recovery.

Seventy-five cents a page may not sound like a lot. But it’s a nickle-and-dime ripoff that can add up to a lot of money if we are ordering hundreds or even thousands of pages of medical records.

All Four Michaels Bersani Kalabanka Lawyers Selected For The 2016 “Best Lawyers in America” Directory.

August 26, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Modesty gets you nowhere. Sometimes you have to toot your own horn. (Just ask Donald Trump . . .). And today we are doing just that:

We proudly proclaim that all four Michaels Bersani Kalabanka Lawyers – Lee Michaels, Jan Smolak, Michael Bersani and David Kalabanka — were selected by their peers to be listed in a national directory of top-rated attorneys, “Best Lawyers in America”, for 2016. They were listed in the categories of “plaintiffs’ personal injury law” and “products liability law”.

The inclusion in Best Lawyers is limited to the best of the best — based entirely on peer-review (lawyers rating lawyers). According to the Best Lawyers publishers, the way they select lawyers to be listed

The Mental State Of “Negligence” In New York Personal Injury Cases

February 3, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

I came across this lawyer advertising billboard on the web and couldn’t convince myself NOT to post it on my blog. So now I have to justify posting it. I am going to somehow tie this sign into New York personal injury stuff. Just wait and see!

When you think about it, the sign is not just funny, or a sad statement about sleazy lawyering, it is actually true. You may have done the act you are accused of doing, but nevertheless be “not guilty” of the crime for a variety of reasons. For example, Bob Marley may have shot the sheriff, but if it was in self-defense (or if he was insane, or if the gun went off by mistake) there may be no “crime”.

When deciding whether a defendant committed a “crime”, the law looks not only WHAT he did but WHY he did it. What was going on in his head as he did the act? That’s what lawyers call “the mens rea“, i.e., the mental state. If the defendant kills someone deliberately with premeditation, that’s a more serious crime than if it was just careless. And if it was in self-defense, then it was no crime at all.

Emoticons Can Be Important Evidence! CNY Personal Injury Lawyer Explains.

January 29, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

A spurned man was recently on trial for posting threats against his ex on FACEBOOK. His defense? The “threats” were just a joke, and she should have known it. To support this claim, he pointed to certain emoticons (a facial glyph, used especially in e-mail and online posts, indicating an emotion or attitude) that accompanied the “threats”. For example, there was one of a face with a tongue sticking out. This emoticon meant the “threats” were in jest, he claimed.

The prosecutor wanted the threatening posts “read” to the jury, but the man’s lawyer – wisely – wanted to bar any open court “reading” of the posts. He wanted the jury to only SEE the posts so they could take into account emoticons. The man’s lawyer argued that it would be unfair to merely read in court the posts because the accompanying emoticons could not be “read” aloud. The jury would hear the “threat” without “hearing” the accompanying (and mitigating) emoticon. The posts had to be SHOWN and only SHOWN to the jury!

The lawyer had a point. Certain forms of writing — like repeated question marks (“???”), distorted words (like “soooo”) and emoticons — can’t be reliably or adequately conveyed orally. To do so distorts the meaning.

Did Shakespeare Hate Lawyers? Central NY Injury Lawyer Explains.

December 29, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

As long as there are lawyers, there will be lawyer jokes and lawyer insults. You can probably think of three lawyer jokes off the top of your head. I know I can. (Don’t worry – I won’t tell any in this blog post!)

But was William Shakespeare among the insult-hurling lawyer joke makers? Was the best writer of the English language among the mud-slinging anti-lawyer crowd? I ask this because of the famous line from one of his plays where one of his characters says, “‘the first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”? This phrase is often bandied about as proof that the great bard hated us lawyers. And if Shakespeare – the greatest writer in the English language – hated us, shouldn’t all reasonable but less skilled writers and thinkers hate us as well?

In my opinion, and the opinion of many Shakespeare scholars, Shakespeare did not despise lawyers! Au contraire, he loved us. Shakespeare’s famous “kill all the lawyers” line was uttered by Dick the Butcher in ”Henry VI,” Part II, act IV, Scene II, Line 73. Dick the Butcher followed rebel Jack Cade who thought that if he got rid of law and order, he could become king. Thus, when Shakespeare has Dick say, “the first thing we do (to take over government), let’s kill all the lawyers”, he is really giving a kind of backhanded compliment to lawyers. He is saying, “if you want to illegally take power and set up a totalitarian regime, you need to first get rid of lawyers who will stand in your way”.

Funniest / Tackiest Lawyer Commercials Of The Year

December 24, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

Well it’s that time of year again. The end. We know you have been waiting breathlessly for our compilation of the funniest / tackiest lawyer commercials of the Year. You need wait no longer. Just click the links!:

New New York Rule Requires Lawyers to Redact or Omit Identifying Information From Court-Filed Papers.

December 6, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

New York State has a new rule — §202.5[e] of the Uniform Civil Rules of the Supreme and County Courts — requiring attorneys to omit or redact “confidential personal information” from court-filed papers. The “confidential personal information” includes social security numbers (except the last four digits), the dates of birth (except for the year), the full name of a minor (except for the minor’s initials), and financial account numbers (except the last four digits). Compliance with the new rule is voluntary until Feb. 28, 2015 at which point it becomes mandatory.

Why this new rule? Identity theft, a growing problem. Identity thieves might conceivable go to the Courthouse or County Clerk’s office to peruse publicly available litigation papers in search of enough personal identifying information to get a hold of bank accounts, etc. Further, court-filed papers are soon going online, which will make identity theft even easier.

This new rule makes perfect sense. New York personal injury lawyers like me often file in courthouses and county clerk offices “motions” attaching “pleadings” and deposition transcripts, which traditionally contained private identifying information (client’s date of birth, ss number, etc). At Michaels Bersani Kalabanka we have been proactive in protecting our clients’ personal information. For several years now we have refused to disclose our clients’ social security numbers in any “pleadings” or other publicly filed documents. When we are required to disclose such information to our opponents, we do so “off the record” so that the information won’t inadvertently show up in any public filings.