Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

How NY Medical Malpractice Law Discriminates Against The Young, The Old, And The Poor

January 9, 2014 | by Michael Bersani

I recently read an interesting online article entitled “Patient Harm: When An Attorney Won’t Take Your Case”. The article describes the sad truth that most legitimate medical malpractice victims will never find a lawyer to represent them because their injuries are too “insignificant” to be “litigation worthy”.

You see, medical malpractice cases are extremely expensive to bring because (1) the doctors and their insurance companies will generally fight you all the way to trial and won’t settle; (2) to prove your case, you need to hire at least one, and usually more, expensive expert physicians who will testify that the defendant doctor committed medical malpractice and who will describe the injuries he caused you.

Because medical malpractice cases are so expensive (the costs, not including attorney’s fees, are generally at least $50,000 and usually closer to $100,000), the amount of compensation a jury is likely to give you for the injury has to be worth at least $250,000 to make it worth the lawyer’s time, and worth the risk he is taking of going to trial and losing.

Happy Most-Dangerous-Night-of-the-Year! (Central NY Injury Lawyer Explains)

December 31, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Why is New Year’s Eve so damn dangerous? Drunk driving is, of course, the biggest killer tonight. But drunk walking is a close second. Did you know that more people die while walking down the street tonight than any other night of the year? The dangers of dunk driving and drunk walking are easy to avoid; just stay home and celebrate with friends and champagne, right?

Yes, but even if you stay home there is one New Year’s Eve danger you need to avoid tonight. Cork popping. No, not popcorn popping, cork popping. Champagne, a big New Year’s favorite, incorrectly popped, causes serious blinding injuries each year. The pressure in those bubbly bottles can reach 90 pounds per square inch – more than most car tires. The cork can travel at a bullet-like 50 miles per hour as it leaves the bottle, fast enough to rupture eyeballs, detach retinas and take out your eye, or the eye of a fellow reveler. Spending New Year’s Eve on an ophthalmologist’s surgery table is not a good way to bring in the New Year. And guess what — it happens every year. Just ask your local emergency room doc.

But thankfully there’s a surefire (no pun intended) way to slow down the cork’s pace — and thus make it a lot safer. Make sure your champagne bottles are well chilled. A warm bottle’s cork explodes much sooner and with greater force than a cold bottle’s. And here’s some other safety tips for uncorking the bubbly:

Meet “Everyday Hero” Chris Rawlins!

December 28, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

As Syracuse Crunch fans all know by now, Michaels Bersani Kalabanka, your Central New York Injury Law Firm, is honoring “Everyday Heroes” at all Syracuse Crunch home hockey games this winter. “Everyday Heroes” are local community volunteers who have given their time and talents to a local charitable organization. In front of the whole Crunch crowd, we regal them, and their family and friends, with free game tickets, food, drink, etc.

Let me introduce you to Michaels Bersani Kalabanka’s latest “Everyday Hero”, eleven year-old Christopher Rawlins. Chris was born with Cerebral Palsy. He attends Reynolds Elementary School where he is an excellent student, plays the tuba and soccer, and participates in school plays. Chris has also participated in the Special Olympics and is a Jr Elk at the American Legion in Baldwinsville.

Nothing holds this kid back! He has a fantastic attitude, an infectious smile, and likes to keep friends and family entertained with knock-knock jokes. He is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan and can rattle off statistics on games and players.

“What’s My Central NY Personal Injury Case Worth?”

December 17, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

“How Much Is My Case Worth”?

I have heard this question thousands of times. And there is no easy answer. That’s because so many factors affect the “value” of a case. What do we mean by “value” anyway?

The settlement value of a case is based on a prediction of whether a jury will find you have a valid case, and if so, what the jury will award you for your injury. Since juries vary widely, and it is impossible to predict what any particular jury will do, we consider what an average jury would do.

Online Wall of Shame For Manufactures and Other Employers Is Good Idea! CNY Injury Lawyer Explains.

December 16, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Do you think you might be a safer driver if your traffic convictions and accidents were posted on line and easily searchable so that all your neighbors and friends could look your record up?

If your answer to that question is “yes”, then you’ll like a new rule by the Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) which makes companies’ safety records easily available on a government website.

Why this new rule? The shame factor. OSHA’s thinking is that if companies with a bad safety record know their record will not remain hidden is some dusty notebook in a government basement, but rather see the light of day on the world-wide web, they might think twice about cutting safety corners. In addition, prospective employees will be able to compare, when deciding which job to accept, not only the wages of the employers but also their safety records. As a side benefit, personal injury lawyers like me can build negligence cases against repeat offenders with greater ease.

Stupid + Dishonest = You Lose. Central NY Injury Lawyer Explains.

December 13, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Being stupid and dishonest at the same time is a toxic mix. The math goes like this: stupid + dishonest = disaster. And here’s an example:

An Iowa lawyer was stupid enough to fall for one of those obvious email scams cooked up by some Nigerian shysters. You know, one of those emails that starts out with “Dear Attorney: We have urgent need to hire your firm for important matter involving large estate . . ..”

The Nigerian email schemers had a U.S.-based confederate, an existing client of the lawyer, help them convince the lawyer that the client was about to inherit $18.8 million from a long-lost Nigerian cousin. They then convinced the lawyer to represent the client to procure the inheritance in exchange for a 10% fee, which would amount to about $1.8 million.

This Holiday Season, Get A Designated Driver — For The Morning After!

December 12, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

If you are like me, you might end up downing a few more drinks than usual during the Holiday Season, especially at the dreaded “office party”! And I am sure I don’t have to tell you that it is illegal, dangerous, and plain wrong to drink and drive — your judgment, coordination, and reflexes are all impaired.

But did you know it may not not be safe to drive the next day, either? According to two recent studies, being hungover, even with zero alcohol content in your blood, impairs your driving performance almost as much as being drunk.

Participants in the experiments went out drinking on the designated night (I am sure they found plenty of “volunteers” for this experiment), had about 10 drinks each (yowzer!), and the next morning took a 20-minute simulated drive through urban and rural settings.

“But I didn’t Say That!” The Consequences For Your New York Personal Inury Case If Your Doctor Misquotes You In Your Medical Records.

December 9, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Doctors, nurses, physicians’ assistants and other medical providers are not always good listeners. I know this from personal experience, but also because they frequently misquote my clients in their medical records.

For example, I once had a client who tripped on a broken-up walkway on the way into a store and suffered a serious knee injury. But the emergency room record said that the patient had “slipped and fell” and injured his knee.

“Slipped”, “tripped”, what’s the difference, right? For the doctor, none. For me, the difference was crucial. The doctor made this mistake because it didn’t matter to him how the plaintiff came to fall; for the purposes of diagnosing and treating the patient, his or her only concern was that he fell, and what part of his body he landed on. So he was only half listening when the patient told him how he ended up falling. He was more interested in learning what part of the knee hit the concrete, where it hurt, and whether the patient had mobility there.

Injury Lawyer Advertising In Central New York And Elsewhere . . .

December 7, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

I hate legal advertising. But for a New York personal injury lawyer these days, even the best, it’s tough to get by without advertising, at least some. That’s because a few lawyers have bombarded the airwaves, TV included, and billboards, with catchy names and easy-to-remember phone numbers. A lot of injured folks know those ads and numbers by heart, and the easiest thing to do when they are injured is to dial one of those numbers instead of investigating who the best lawyer for them might be.

For example, one Rochester New York personal injury lawyer has played off his surname, “Mattar”, because it rhymes with “car”. So if you are hurt in a car, call William Mattar.

I’m not so lucky. My surname, “Bersani“, does not rhyme with “car”. But hey — it DOES kinda rhyme with Ferrari. So what about an ad, “if you are hurt in a Ferrari, call Mike Bersani“. The problem is there are not enough Ferraris in central New York where I practice personal injury law. Should I move to Greenwich Connecticut?

New York State Troopers’ New Anti-Texting-While-Driving Weapon.

November 27, 2013 | by Michael Bersani

Blow a stop sign, speed, or turn without signaling, and a cop can see it, stop you, and ticket you. Even talking on a hand-held cell phone (illegal in New York) can be seen from outside your car. But texting-while-driving is different. How does a cop “catch” you doing it? Most texters keep their phone down on their lap or at least below the window line, so a cop traveling behind, or even beside the texter, is not going to see it happen.

Until now. New York has recently given State Troopers thirty-two tall, unmarked SUVs for the express purpose of peering down at drivers’ hands and catching them “red-handed”.

This reminds me of a funny scene from the 1960’s Peter Sellers’ film, “A Shot in the Dark”, where Peter Sellers and a young lady end up having to escape naked in a small car. They are able to navigate the narrow streets of Paris without other motorists noticing they are naked, until a tall tourist bus pulls up next to them. Hilarious. See the scene here.