Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Syracuse University Newhouse Students Campaign To End Texting While Driving

October 22, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Kudos to SU’s Public Relations students, who have launched a campaign to dissuade their fellow students from texting while driving. Imaginative campaign, too. They are distributing “thumb bands” (think those ubiquitous yellow “LiveStrong” bracelets, but thumb size), with the word “pause” imbedded on them, to remind students not to employ that digit, or any other, on the smart phone while driving.

The campaign will be featured at Friday night’s Virginia v SU football game at the Carrier Dome, where the thumb bands will be distributed, and students will be invited to jump online with their smart phones where they can pledge not to text while driving.

As I have blogged about many times before, driving while texting is even more dangerous in many ways than drinking and driving. In my job as a Syracuse and Central New York car accident attorney, I personally have noticed a big increase in the number of cross-over and rear-end collisions due to young people texting while driving within the last few years. National statistics bear out my personal observations; according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 20 percent of crashes involve distracted driving, including texting, and most of these are drivers under 20 years old.

Can You Undo A New York Personal Injury Settlement If You Discover New Injuries?

October 18, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

You should never settle a New York personal injury case until you have let enough time go by so that you are fully aware of all your injuries, and the full extent of them. It is not uncommon for New York personal injury lawyers to wait a year or more before even making a settlement demand; they want to see where the injury “ends up” before they settle. Once you settle, you generally can’t go back for more money, so you have to be absolutely sure you know the full extent of your injuries before settling.

But let’s say you were not so prudent. Let’s say you got into a car accident and suffer an insignificant neck injury. Instead of hiring a lawyer, you settled your case on your own with the insurance carrier for the at-fault driver for a small amount of money. As part of the settlement, you signed a “release” that said you were releasing the at-fault driver, and his insurance carrier, from any and all liability for all injuries “known and unknown” that were caused by the car accident. After you sign, and after you get the settlement money, you start noticing pain in your lower back. The back pain gets worse and worse, and your doctor tells you it was probably caused by the car accident. The doctor is recommending surgery on your back.

You want to undo the settlement, because now you feel the small amount of settlement money is not nearly enough to compensate you for a severely injured back. You re-read the release you signed. It clearly says you release the at-fault driver and his insurance carrier from liability for ALL injuries KNOWN AND UNKNOWN that stem from the car accident.

Phoenix football player’s death – Is a New York Wrongful Death Lawsuit Possible?

October 16, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Sixteen-year old Phoenix football player Ridge Barden died from a massive subdural hematoma, or in laymen’s terms, lots of blood on the brain. As the father of a 15-year old boy, the horror and grief of the Barden family is tangible to me. My deepest sympathies go out to his entire family, including his football family.

The damage was caused by helmet-to-helmet contact during a football game between Phoenix and Homer High School in Homer last Friday. The injury, and death, appears to have resulted from a single impact during the game.

This tragic death comes at a time when brain injuries and concussions suffered in youth sports, especially football, are under scrutiny. A lot of people are asking, “are we doing enough to protect our young athletes’ heads”? Evidence is emerging to suggest that the helmets players use may not be enough to protect them from serious injuries, despite what some helmet manufacturers want you to believe. (I blogged last January about false claims made by helmet manufacturers that their latest models have reduced the risk of concussions).

Central New York Injury Lawyer Heads For Vacation

October 4, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Guess what? Your Central and Syracuse New York Accident lawyer/blogger has a life (I mean, outside of law). So for today’s blog, I am giving my readers a peek at my life.

I love children, all children really, but especially my own. Here’s a picture of me volunteering with Boys & Girls Club kids in Geneva — taking them all for a swim (I do this Friday’s after work from November through May).

Now below is a picture of me with my own kids. These kids (Sebastian, 15, and Nico, almost 13) are the best kids on the planet (am I biased?), and not only that, they are stellar students. They became top-notch readers when they found the Harry Potter series years ago. So we are big-time indebted to Harry and his pals.

Excuse Me, But Shouldn’t We Be Required To SEE To Get A Driver’s License?

October 1, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Ok. Maybe I’m just a little picky. But I want people who drive down roads, at lease ones my family and I frequent, to be able to see. This might be due to a professional bias — I am a Central and Syracuse NY car accident lawyer who actually knows, loves, and has represented, many victims of Central New York car crashes.

Yeah, I know, I’m just a chronic complainer, at least that’s what the New York Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) must think of me. I assume that’s the case because, according to a new DMV proposed regulation, you don’t even have to prove you can see to get your driver’s license renewed in New York. Under the DMV plan, drivers would merely have to “certify” that they meet vision requirements. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house . . .

But not so fast DMV. Apparently, I’m not the only picky guy in town. Your decision to toss out the vision test requirement is under fire. County clerks and state legislators are aghast. When they read the news, they must have questioned their own eyesight. They then scratched their heads and heaved a collective, “WHAT??!!! The noise then reached the Governor’s office, which announced Friday it will ask doctors to review the plan.

Central and Syracuse NY Injury Lawyer Gets “Reviewed” By Client.

September 30, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

It’s nice to be appreciated. And sometimes clients who appreciate my work write online “reviews” of me. I was flattered and honored to read the following review of my work from a client whose case I recently tried. Here is her review of my work from the attorney rating and review website “AVVO“:

Mike Bersani recently represented me in a personal injury lawsuit, which resulted in a settlement on the fourth day of the trial. In meeting with Mike several times before the trial, I sensed he was a competent, kind, intelligent person. On the first day, jury selection, it was obvious what a remarkable individual he is. Not only is he intelligent but he is also one of the most respectful and kind attorneys I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I am in the law enforcement profession and routinely work with attorneys. Mike is in a class by himself. He regarded the court attendants, jurors, witnesses, for both sides, and other attorneys with the utmost kindness and respect. He demonstrated integrity and class in the courtroom. I was extremely impressed by his knowledge of my accident. He knew my case as well as I did. On the fourth day of the trial, a settlement was reached. There were two Defendants in this case, and Mike was able to reach settlements with both parties. One of the Defendants offered a settlement on the first day of the trial, but Mike’s awesome presentation of the case resulted in their offer increasing, daily. By the fourth day, both parties were eager to settle for an amount that was considered fair. I am proud to tell others about this amazing attorney and would highly recommend him.

All of us at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka aim to keep every single client completely satisfied with our services. We appreciate the kind words and devotion of our former clients, and we look forward to satisfying our future clients.

Save New York’s Scaffold Law!

September 29, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

I read in the New York Law Journal today that a coalition of business groups has formed to once again attack Labor Law §240, known as the “Scaffold Law”, and its sister Statute, Labor Law §241. The Scaffold Law has, in my humble opinion as a Central and Syracuse New York construction accident lawyer, saved countless lives in New York by holding employers and owners of construction sites responsible for workers’ falls from scaffolds (among other things). The other Statute, Labor Law §241, provides additional protection, not only from falls, but for many other types of common construction “accidents” (I put “accidents” in quotes because most of them are not true accidents, but rather the result of employers and others encouraging or allowing their workers to cut corners on safety).

The “new” coalition is made up of the usual suspects: The Business Council of the State of New York, the Associated General Contractors of New York State, Unshackle Upstate, and the New York State Builders Association. These guys get together every five years or so to take another whack at our dear Labor Law, so far, thank God, without success! If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try . . .. Well, you know.

According to the article, the new coalition’s leaders believe Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration may be more “business-friendly” than his predecessors’, and that the time is right for delivering a knock-out blow to these safe construction-work statutes. And they may be right! But even if they are “right”, what they are doing is wrong. They are putting profits over safety, and in my book, and I hope in Mr. Cuomo’s, that’s like finger nails on a blackboard.

Central New York Injury Lawyer Recommends Using Projection Technology At Trial

September 24, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

In the Watertown New York personal injury jury trial I wrapped up this week, I used some technology that I feel really made a difference. It is called “Exhibit View“, and is a kind of trial presentation software. You load this program onto your laptop, and then connect your laptop to a projector. You then can project exhibits, for example photos and medical records, onto a screen for the jury to see.

The neat thing is that all the jury sees on the big screen is the exhibit itself, not all the paraphernalia you are using to enlarge, mark and move the exhibits. For example, when you want to highlight a portion of the text in the exhibit, or circle it in red ink, the jury sees the highlighting or red circling magically appear on the screen. They don’t see you “grab” the highlighter icon or red “pen” and move them over the text. Only you can see the “tools” you are using on your laptop screen.

Here’s an example of how I used it: After the defense attorney had cross-examined my plaintiff regarding a “history” of the accident taken by one of her doctors that was inconsistent with her testimony about how the accident happened, I did a re-direct of her in which I blew up on the screen, one at time, about five entries from other medical records where the “history” accurately reflected my client’s account. I was able to highlight, before the jury’s eyes, the key entries giving the accurate accounting of the accident. My client testified that each of the entries I was highlighting accurately reflected how the accident happened. So now it became visibly clear that the one “rogue” account of the accident, which defense counsel had made so much of, was due to the doctor’s error rather than my client changing her story.

Central New York Injury Lawyer Recounts Trial Success Story

September 23, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

I just emerged from a week-long personal injury trial in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York. The defendants who injured my client had offered us only about 1/5 of what we felt the value of the case was, so we took it to trial.

Every day, as our proof went in, defendants’ offer increased, as we held firm to our number. Yesterday, the second-to-last day of trial, they finally offered us what we had told them the case was worth all along. Case settled.

I would like to think that this result had something to do with my courtroom skills, but the truth is it had more to do with an appealing client and appalling defendants. She is an honest, hardworking single mom who struggled to overcome an injury that was not her fault. They shot themselves in the foot by refusing to accept responsibility for clear negligence on their part.

Central New York Injury Lawyer Describes His Experience In Manhattan On 9/11/01

September 11, 2011 | by Michael Bersani

Ten years ago today I flew into NYC to attend a meeting of the Amicus Committee of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA). The Amicus Committee, of which I was, and still am, a member, submits amicus curiae (“friends of the court”) briefs in important cases on appeal in New York State where the rights of injured people are likely to be greatly affected. I am proud to have been selected to be a member of the Amicus Committee, and to submit briefs to fight for the rights of New York personal injury victims.

But I never made it to that meeting 10 years ago. On the shuttle bus from JFK airport to the midtown tunnel, the guy sitting to my left cried out, “did you see that”?! We all looked. We saw fire and smoke spewing out of a gaping hole in one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The man informed us that a plane had just run into the tower. Someone commented, “what an idiot – how could that pilot have failed to see the towers on such a clear day”!

When we emerged from the midtown tunnel and got off the bus in Manhattan, everywhere people were talking about a second plane having struck the second tower. We were under attack. All of us headed to the nearest bar with a TV, and the rest, of course, is history.