Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Central and Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyer Explains Why The Contingency Fee Makes For a Fairer Civil Justice System.

November 29, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

As a Central New York and Syracuse personal injury lawyer, I make my living, in large part, on contingency fees. This means that if I don’t win, I don’t get paid. If I do win, or settle for a sum of money, I get roughly a third of the money, or less, depending on the type of case.

New York personal injury lawyer contingency fees (as well as such contingency fees everywhere) have sometimes sparked controversy. In many countries they are not even allowed. For example, although our U.S. legal system has its roots in England, attorney contingency fees are not allowed over there. Here’s my (kind of) historic rendering of why they are allowed here but not there.

From the beginning of our new democratic nation, our founders believed courthouses should be accessable by the “people” to seek justice. This was not the case in the “old world”. There, civil courts were by and large places where the rich and their companies advanced their civil money claims, and where poor people appeared only to be evicted or sent to debtor jail.

Yates County Jail Suicide May Be Basis Of New York Wrongful Death Lawsuit

November 28, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

A small, inconspicuous article caught my eye in the Geneva Finger Lakes times today. It was titled, “Teen Inmate Found Hanging in Jail Cell” and described how a 17-year old at the Yates County Jail in Penn Yan had apparently hung himself Friday evening by tying his bed sheet to his jail bars.

Central and Syracue NY Accident Lawyer Has Lots To Be Thankful For

November 27, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

This Central and Syracuse New York personal injury lawyer seldom delves into his personal life in these blog posts, but I feel compelled to do so today. It is the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I recently spent two blissful weeks visiting my two daughters, their significant others, and my three-year old grandchild in Spain (see accompanying picture). I spent Thanksgiving with my Central New York State-side family, including my other daughter, two sons, wife, parents, who are both alive and well at 83, multiple brothers with wives and kids, etc. I count more than 50 “close” family members, including 5 brothers, all with great wives and children. And remarkably, we are, every single one of us, healthy, uninjured, and well-off.

My job as a Central and Syracuse New York accident lawyer requires me to confront my clients’ sometimes unbearable injuries, loss of loved ones, loss of income, and related misfortunes. Those misfortunes are caused by the carelessness of others. But some misfortunes are caused by just plain bad luck.

My family has, so far, had nothing but good luck – we have avoided the slings and arrows that nature rains down on some — the unlucky – and we have, so far, also avoided the injuries that befall those who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when someone else acts negligently or carelessly. Knock on wood!

Central and Syracuse New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Discusses Medical Malpractice Study.

November 25, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

I came across this article in the New York Times titled “Mistakes Still Prevalent in Hospital Care, Study Finds“. The article didn’t tell me, a Central and Syracuse New York medical malpractice lawyer, anything I didn’t already know. To know how prevalent hospital malpractice is, all I have to do is pick up phone and listen to the stories my clients tell me.

The Times article discusses a recent, extensive study on hospital errors and problems. This is the first major study of hospital malpractice since 1999. That one caused a public outcry when it revealed that hospital malpractice causes a million injuries a year, and more than 50,000 deaths, in the U.S. alone.

The new study concludes that things have not improved since 1999. Here is a very scary statistic: About 18 percent of hospital patients are harmed by medical care, and most of those injuries are preventable.

Central NY Hunting Accident Lawyer Reminds Hunters of Safety Rules

November 24, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

Hey hunters, it’s that time of year again. Grab that gun, and your other hunting gear, get out there in the great outdoors, and make your kill.

But as a Central New York hunting accident lawyer who represents injured and shot hunters, I have to ask you to please remember safety! According to the International Hunter Education Association, hunters accidently shoot about 1,000 people in the US and Canada every year. About 100 of the 1,000 shootings are fatal. In fact, I handled a hunter-shot-hunter case last year. Luckily my client was not killed, but he was seriously injured by the other hunter who mistook him for a deer.

The victims of hunting accidents are usually fellow hunters, but not always. I remember reading about a case a few years ago where a woman was hanging clothes up to dry in her back yard, which was near some woods. She was wearing white gloves. A hunter mistook her white glove for a deer tale and shot her dead. She left behind several young children. Tragic!

Auburn NY Pedestrian Car Accident Victims Have Solid New York Pedestrian Accident Case

November 23, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

The Syracuse Post Standard reports today that two Auburn (NY) girls, one 12, the other 13, were hit by car as they were crossing East Genesee Street in the marked crosswalk at the East Genesee/Howard Street intersection at about 7:25 a.m. The driver of the car said she did not see the girls.

New York pedestrian accident law (Vehicle & Traffic Law 1151) protects pedestrians walking in crosswalks. Specifically, the law says that if a pedestrian is struck in a crosswalk, the driver is automatically liable unless he can show that the pedestrian suddenly left the curb and walked or ran into the path of the vehicle. In other words, the driver here is automatically liable unless the girls darted out in front of her, which does not appear to be the case.

The Auburn New York pedestrian and car accident lawyers at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka wish these two girls a speedy recover.

They Operated On My Wrong Leg — Do I Have a Case?

November 22, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

This should never happen, not any more. But it still does. What am I talking about?

Not too long ago it was pretty common for surgeons to mistakenly operate on the wrong leg, wrong arm, wrong eye, etc. But this kind of error got national attention. It outraged the public, including of State hospital regulators. Hospital administrators cracked the whip and made their hospitals and surgery centers adopt more stringent safeguards to prevent this kind of gross error. They started requiring that the part of the body to be operated on be marked with a sharpie. They began asking the patient, before surgery, to confirm which side he was expecting to be operated on. New York surgery malpractice lawyers like us at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka began seeing fewer wrong-side surgery cases.

So a few weeks ago, when I got a call from a guy whose upstate New York surgeon performed his operation on the wrong leg, I asked myself, how could this happen? As I investigated, it became clear why. It seems that the hospital just did not follow the safety protocols. No one bothered asking the patient, before the surgery, which leg he expected to be operated on. No one marked his leg.

Central NY Pedestrian Killed By Driver Looking At Cell Phone

November 16, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

It happened again. I think I have blogged at least 5 times within the last six months about this happening. It seems to be happening with greater and greater frequency. In fact, as a Central and Syracuse New York car accident lawyer, I am handling more and more of this kind of case.

What am I talking about? I am talking about Central and Syracuse New York car accidents caused by drivers distracted by texting, phoning or looking at their electronic devices.

The latest distracted driving accident? The Post Standard reports that a driver admitted he had been checking a missed call on his cell phone when his vehicle swerved off onto the shoulder of Route 5 and struck a woman who was out walking her dog on Route 5 in the Town of Sullivan (near Chittenango). When he looked back up from his cell phone, he saw the woman hitting his windshield.

Syracuse NY Accident Lawyer Discusses Representing the Injured Child.

November 15, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

I love children (I have 5 or them myself) and love representing them, too. But representing an injured child is not the same as representing an injured adult. Here are the main differences as I have come to see them in my years as a Central and Syracuse New York accident lawyer:

1. The child can’t legally hire an attorney or sue in his or her own name. The parent or guardian must act for the child.

2. Children, especially very young children, can make poor witnesses. They can sometimes change their accounting of what happened without even realizing they are doing it. At deposition, when the defense attorney uses leading questions, which they are entitled to do, the child is more likely to want to “agree” with the lawyer, even if the answer is not entirely true. The child can easily be led into agreeing to untrue “facts” that destroy his or her case. A lawyer representing the child has to be on the lookout for this, and has to be prepared to “pounce” with appropriate objections to the questions.

What Is A Good New York Sports Injury Case?

November 12, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

As a Central and Syracuse New York sports injury lawyer, I can tell you that sports injury cases in New York are not easy. I like to tell my clients that they are like a soufflé. They will fall flat unless they are made of the right ingredients. That’s why a sports injury lawyer must listen carefully to the client to learn whether he or she is bringing the right ingredients to the kitchen.

What are those ingredients? Well, first let’s talk about what they are NOT. If you or your child is injured in a sporting event in which you or he or she voluntarily participated, a legal doctrine called “assumption of the risk” generally bars the claim. For example, if you are playing basketball and the ball hits you in the face, and causes you to lose some teeth, you generally can’t sue anyone because that’s just one of the risks inherent in the game of basketball. New York sports injury law says you are deemed to have assumed that risk when you agreed to participate in the game. Tough luck!

Sure, that player who tossed the ball at you could have been more careful, and maybe the coach or ref could have policed the game better, but hey, getting a ball slammed in your face is still just one of the risks inherent in the game of basketball. Getting to a jury on those facts will be tough. Your soufflé is toast!