Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog

Syracuse Accident Lawyer Prepares for Syracuse Construction Accident Trial

August 17, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

My last blog was about ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution), such as mediation and arbitration, which is, to a certain extent, replacing jury trials as a way to resolve personal injury lawsuits in Syracuse, Central New York, and, in fact, just about everywhere else. Here’s a recent example of how ADR works from my own case load.

I am scheduled to try a Syracuse fall-from-scaffold lawsuit in about 3 weeks. Meanwhile, the defendant’s insurance carrier has invited me to try to settle the case through “mediation” first. After I explained how this works, my client agreed to it, and we will be at the mediation table in about a week. If we don’t settle at the mediation, I will have only a few weeks to prepare my trial, which is not enough time. I really need 6 weeks! So I am already preparing my exhibits, my direct examinations, my cross-examinations, etc., in case I need to try this Syracuse construction accident lawsuit.

The case may or may not settle at mediation. Much of that depends on how reasonable the insurance carrier will be. If the case settles in mediation, I won’t feel bad about having spent so much time preparing for trial. I always learn by preparing for trial. It makes me a better lawyer.

The Increased Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution in New York Personal Injury Lawsuits

August 15, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

Syracuse New York personal injury jury trials are fewer and farther between than only a decade ago. The same can be said for all Central New York personal injury jury trials. In fact, the same trend is being noted throughout the entire State, as well as the other 49 States. Read about it for yourself, but clicking here and here. All civil jury trials are down in numbers, everywhere.

Let’s be clear; although the number of lawsuits filed has remained steady over the last decade, fewer and fewer of those lawsuits are going to trial. Here’s a vivid demonstration of the trend: In 1962, more than 11 percent filed civil lawsuits in federal court went to trial. By last year, however, that percentage had dropped to 1.8.

If almost 98% of personal injury lawsuits are not going to trial, what is happening to them? Many of them are being resolved by “alternative dispute resolution”, (known as “ADR”). In some areas, ADR has overtaken trials as the predominant way to resolve personal injury lawsuits as well as other types of civil disputes. ADR consists mainly of “mediation” and “arbitration”. “Mediation” is a non-binding settlement procedure where a neutral “mediator”, usually a lawyer or a retired judge, tries to bring the parties to a reasonable settlement that is acceptable to both sides. “Arbitration” is an informal hearing where a lawyer or retired judge hears the case, and decides it, but the formal rules of evidence, such as the bar against hearsay, don’t usually apply.

Syracuse Truck-on-Car Collision Discussed by Syracuse Car Accident Lawyer

August 14, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

Wednesday, on Route 5 in Elbridge, a tractor trailer rear-ended a stopped car so hard that the car, a Kia, burst into flames, killing its driver and passenger. The Onondaga County deputy sheriff’s office says the tractor trailer left no skid marks at all, which means its driver did not apply the brakes. And what does that mean? That the driver did not even see the stopped car. And what does that mean? One of two things: Either he was sleeping, or he was distracted.

Most likely distracted. I have blogged about this before: distracted driving is become a HUGE problem on our roadways. More and more Central New York car accident lawsuits against distracted drivers are being filed. As a Syracuse car accident lawyer, the volume of car accidents cases I handle where the at-fault driver was distracted because he was using a cell phone, texting, and using some other electronic device has increased dramatically over the years.

Typically, distracted driving causes crossover accidents (the texting or dialing driver slowly drifts across the centerline without noticing) and rear-end collisions (the distracted driver does not notice that the vehicle in front of him has stopped). But distracted drivers also tend to run red lights, blow past stop signs, and run into utility poles or other roadside structures.

Strutured Settlements Are a Good Alternative to Lump Sum Payments for Some New York Personal Injury or Medical Malpractice victims.

August 9, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

Being a New York personal injury lawyer has its perks! A client took me out to dinner the other night. It was a fine meal at a great Geneva New York restaurant, Port’s Café. The restaurant is only about a mile and a half from where my client’s tragedy happened 3 summers ago — his wife was hit and killed by a tractor trailer as she crossed routes 5 and 20 on foot, in a crosswalk, in the City of Geneva.

The dinner was a kind of celebration. We had settled his Geneva New York wrongful death case after almost three years of intense litigation, which included the filing of two lawsuits, and the taking of many depositions. And although no amount of money could ever replace the loving wife he lost, he had finally found peace. He felt that at least a measure of justice had been done. We had made them pay! To him, the money meant they had finally accepted responsibility for the accident after years of denial.

Because the wrongful death settlement was for a substantial sum of money, and my client does not need the money at this time (he has a good job and no children to support), I suggested he should consider a “structured settlement“. A “structured settlement” is an insurance or financial agreement in which the plaintiff does not take the entire settlement from the insurance carrier in “a lump sum payment” right away, but instead forgoes immediate payment of at least some of the money, which he will receive later in “periodic payments” (usually monthly). A structured settlement is usually created through the purchase of an “annuity“, which guaranties future periodic payments at a fixed amount over a fixed period of time, with interest added in so that you end up with more money.

Syracuse New York Car Accident Accident Lawyer — “Texting While Driving Kills!”

August 7, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

I have blogged about New York texting while driving car crash cases more than once. You can read my prior posts here and here. But this video — oh my god — if you can watch it more than once, you did better than I did. As painful as it is to watch, we should REQUIRE all drivers – especially inexperienced ones — to watch it repeatedly! I have saved the video so I can show it to my oldest son — Sebastian — when he starts driving (only three years from now!).

More on New York Spinal Injury cases from Central New York Accident Attorney

August 6, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

I blogged just the other day about spine injuries and “pre-existing” or “degenerative” spinal conditions and how they can negatively impact New York personal injury and accident settlements and trials. My partner, David Kalabanka, a great Central New York personal injury lawyer, read the post and sent me the following email, which I think makes a great post itself. (By the way, David used to work as an insurance company defense lawyer in Syracuse. His job was to beat us in court! We litigated several Syracuse New York accident cases against him, and he defended them with such skill that we decided to bring him into our firm to work with us instead of against us. He came aboard about 8 years ago and never looked back. But I digress!) Here’s David’s email to me:

You should tell your readers that sometimes the injured accident victim has radicular symptoms. What are radicular symptoms? An injury may cause nerve root or a spinal cord compression or irritation. The irritation/compression follows the nerve that innervates another part of the body and cause pain there. The back is complex–and injury to a certain area of the back will cause pain in one or both feet The most commonly known back injury that causes pain elsewhere is sciatica where an injury to the back causes pain in the buttocks or the back part of the leg or calf. That is why it is so important for thorough testing, not just one time examination or review because an injury may not be what it initially appears to be. A foot pain could actually be originating at a certain level of the back and it may take the medical providers time to determine the actual source of the pain. An injury to the neck may cause pain in the elbow, wrist or hands or certain fingers depending upon where the injury in the neck is located.

Thanks, David, for your very astute email. You made today’s blog post a breeze!

“Worker in Geneva New York Who Fell from Scaffold Probably Has a Slam Dunk Case against Wal-Mart”, Geneva New York Injured Worker Lawyer Says.

August 4, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

My hometown newspaper, the Geneva Finger Lakes Times, reports today that a Florida man working for a subcontractor on the Wal-Mart “Super Center” expansion in the Town of Geneva, New York, fell from a scaffold, suffered shoulder and wrist injuries, and was then Merrcy Flight-flown to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. The worker had been working at the ceiling level when he and the scaffold both fell over. OSHA is investigating.

No matter what OSHA decides, though, I can tell you with almost absolute certainty, from my years of handling New York falling scaffold injury cases, that the injured worker has a “slam dunk” New York worksite accident case against the owner of the building where he fell, Wal-Mart, as well as against whoever the general contractor on the job was. This is because of a special New York law, called the “scaffold law” (Labor Law 240[1]), specifically designed to help victims of unsecure scaffolds and ladders get full compensation for their injuries from both the owner of the building and the general contractor on the job. You can read my prior posts on this topic by clicking here and here.

Syracuse New York Accident Lawyer: “Think The World Would Be Better Without Lawyers? Think Again.”

August 4, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

Not much to write about here, just watch the video below:

A World Without Lawyers – The most amazing home videos are here

Spinal Injuries Can Be Problematic in New York Personal Injury Cases

August 3, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

The Syracuse and Central New York accident law firm of Michaels Bersani Kalabanka represent lots of people with spine injuries. That’s not surprising; spine (neck and back) injuries are very common in car crashes, falls from scaffolds or ladders, slip and falls, and other accidents. But in the world of New York personal injury claims, spine injury cases pose special problems in court. Let me explain why.

Our injured clients often have never in their life had any back or neck pain, but ever since the accident they have had excruciating pain in the neck (cervical spine), or mid back (thoracic spine), or lower back (lumbar spine), sometimes with “radiculopathy” (radiating pain) down into the legs or arms. The pain is sometimes so severe it prevents them from working in anything but sedentary jobs, or from working at all.

But even though our clients never had any problems with their back or neck before the accident, after they undergo an MRI or CT Scan, the radiologist will sometimes say that their spine was already compromised before the accident. The radiologist will see evidence, in the MRI or CAT scan, of something known as “degenerative” spinal changes or disease. It might be a herniated disc (a protrusion or budge in the intervertebral disc that can compress nerves around the spine) or.a spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the spinal canal causing swelling of the tissue around the spine, which can compress the nerves around the spine).

Under New York Bicycle Accident Law, Dog Owners Are Not Always Liable for Dog-on-Cyclist Attacks

August 1, 2010 | by Michael Bersani

At my favorite Bike Shop (the Geneva Bicycle Center), I recently learned of a dog-on-bicyclist attack near Geneva, New York. Apparently, the dog charged out at the cyclist and caused her to fall from her bike and fracture her pelvis. That’s a painful injury that will require lots of time to heal.

So here’s my bog topic of the day: Can the injured cyclist hold the dog owner liable for her injuries? The answer, unfortunately, is only “maybe”! The basic rule in New York where a dog charges out into the roadway and causes a cyclist to fall is that the dog owner is legally liable only if he or she knew or should have known that the dog had a tendency to chase after or obstruct traffic. Take a look at the case of Alia v. Fiorina and you will see how a dog owner can beat a cyclist’s case by testifying that the dog never chased down cars or bikes before.

So if you are the seriously injured victim of a dog-on-cyclist attack, how do you find out whether this was the first time the dog ever chased down a car or cyclist, or whether the dog had a history of doing so? Just ask the dog owner, right? Wrong!