Posted on December 11, 2015 in Personal Injury

The family of Kathleen Durst recently filed a $100 million dollar lawsuit against Robert Durst claiming he murdered his wife thirty-three years ago, hid the body and deprived them of their right to bury her. With New York State’s two-year statute of limitations on wrongful-death claims,how can her family sue after all these years?

ThE JINX HELPED MAKE CLAIM POSSIBLE

Kathleen Durst disappeared on January 31, 1982. She was pronounced dead on March 21, 1988 after being missing for over six years. Her body was never discovered and the killer was never caught. It was not until thirty-three years after her disappearance that her family filed a multi-million dollar civil action against Kathleen’s husband, billionaire eccentric Robert Durst.

In an episode of the highly acclaimed HBO series,The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, which aired on March 15, 2015, Robert Durst admitted to killing his wife.In a chilling confession, he says “There it is…you’recaught. What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.” Basedon this confession, Kathleen Durst’s family filed a lawsuit claimingthat Robert Durst killed his wife, hid her body and deprived them of their right to bury Kathleen. It was the confession, claims the family of Kathleen Durst, that gave rise to their claim.

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 Posted on December 04, 2015 in Personal Injury

A 20-year old Brooklyn man was killed at about 1 PM on Monday when a contractor hired by the Parks Department failed to close off a path running through Red Hook’s Coffey Park when pruning and removing trees as part of post-Hurricane Sandy clean up.

TREE REMOVAL CONTRACTOR’S FAILURE TO CLOSE PATH RESULTED IN THE DEATH OF A NEIGHBORHOOD MAN

Jim Liu, a neighborhood fixture described as “hard-working”and “friendly”, was riding his bicycle through the popular path in Coffey Park to deliver food to a customer when he was struck by a falling tree. Mr. Liu was transported to Methodist Hospital where here mained in critical condition before his untimely death. It is unclear whether the contractor who was responsible for the incident attempted to stop Mr. Liu from riding down the path however what does appear clear is that the paved path was not closed for traffic despite the dangerous activities in progress.

POST-HURRICANE SANDY CLEAN-UP CONTINUES

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 Posted on November 25, 2015 in Personal Injury

As we finish up our Thanksgiving Day preparations and pack up the family to attend the New York Macy's parade, we would like to give thanks to all of our clients and their families.

Handling wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases requires our team to be zealous legal advocates. An equally important task is to provide emotional support and day-to-day guidance for the family members who are tasked with picking up the pieces.

When we get retained, our clients have generally just gone through the worst day of their lives. They have sustained very serious and permanent injuries, or worse, and the financial realities associated with same hit home very quickly.

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 Posted on November 12, 2015 in Personal Injury

A 75-year-old grandmother was killed on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on Sunday by a cab driver who admitted to working an illegal shift.

Salifu Abubkar admitted that he had worked an illegal 16-hour shift as a cab driver when he hit and killed a 75-year-old woman as she crossed the street on the corner of Columbus Avenue and West 109^th Street. She was in the crosswalk and had the light.

The cab driver, a resident of the Bronx, passed a Breathalyzer test, but admitted to working a 16-hour shift, four hours longer than the legal12-hour limit imposed by the City of New York on livery drivers. Mr. Abubkar worked as a cab driver for over 20 years and routinely worked over 16hours per day to make a living.

Mayor de Blasio’s “Vision Zero” Plan has garnered mixed results. Since Halloween, traffic-related incidents have claimed 11 lives.The Vision Zero plan-a traffic plan originating in Sweden in the late 1990s with the goal of reducing the number of traffic fatalities to zero-mandates increased police enforcement and has resulted in police issuing over 12,000 more speeding tickets than last year. However,it remains to be seen whether de Blasio’s plan to slap drivers with more fines will result in fewer pedestrian deaths.

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 Posted on November 07, 2015 in Personal Injury

An elderly woman was killed by an MTA bus when she crossed the street in Brooklyn and the bus driver cannot face criminal charges because of adeal reached by the Union and the City of the New York.

Hit and Run bus Driver with Criminal Past

Carol Bell, 70 years old, was crossing the street in broad daylight when she was hit by an MTA bus, pinned under the vehicle’s rear wheel and literally torn apart. Her mangled, lifeless body was left in the middleof the street as the bus driver simply drove away.

The bus driver, a 15 year employee of the MTA, had a lengthy criminal history,including arrests for possession of drugs and felony assault. The MTAadmitted that it knew about his arrest history, but kept him behind the wheel.

Despite onlookers hearing the impact, the bus driver did not stop the bus.His attorney said in a statement that the driver did not see the woman because she was in his blind spot.

Bus Drivers Exempt from criminal Liability

In September, the MTA bus drivers’ union reached a settlement with the City of New York exempting bus operators from criminal charges if they hit a pedestrian who has the right of way. The deal was reached after the Union complained that bus drivers were under attack and being charged liked criminals when they hit and kill pedestrians with the right of way.

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 Posted on November 05, 2015 in Personal Injury

In a heart breaking case which has recently come to a close, the New York Superior Court has determined that the City of White Plains is liable for the death of Concetta Russo Carriero, a woman who was abducted and murdered in a Westchester County parking garage. While the case is tragic,our firm is proud to have been able to hold the City responsible for their negligence and recover damages on behalf of Mrs. Carriero’s estate.

A Tragic Case

The plaintiffs in this case, our clients, were the executor of Mrs. Carriero’sestate, as well as her family members. She was killed in the Lexington/Grove Garage East, a parking garage which was owned and operated by the City of White Plains. A homeless man living at the Westchester County AirportHomeless Shelter confessed to the crime, was convicted, and is currently serving twenty-five years to life in prison.

Our firm was able to successfully argue that the City failed to make the garage reasonably safe, and failed to take reasonable precautionary measures to provide adequate security. The City fought back, essentially claiming that they did not assume any duty to make the garage reasonably safe.However, the Court ultimately found that the City was acting in a proprietary or ownership capacity, rather than a governmental capacity. Therefore,they would be subject to the same requirements any other landlord would have.

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 Posted on November 02, 2015 in Personal Injury

Insurance is a business like any other, and insurance adjustors are employed to deny and reduce the value of claims that come across their desks. With this in mind, it’s not uncommon for many car accident insurance claims to be wrongfully denied for a variety of reasons. In this blog, our New York car accident attorneys discuss four of the most common reasons why insurance companies deny claims.

1. The Other Driver Has an Expired Insurance Policy

While getting another driver’s insurance information is always the right thing to do in a New York car accident, it may do you no good if their policy is expired. You may be able to pursue a civil claim against the driver, but your ability to recover sufficient damages for your injuries can be limited. For this reason, it is always a good idea to have uninsured motorist coverage.

2. The Other Driver Has Insufficient Coverage

Some drivers have no insurance or an expired insurance policy, but others simply have insufficient coverage to pay for your injuries. On the surface,these cases are relatively straightforward - the insurance company should pay you the full amount covered by the policy, and you can file a lawsuit against the driver to cover the balance. However, insurance providers often wrongfully deny these claims simply because the amount was too high for them to cover. Your attorney can help you pursue fair compensation in these cases, but they are a reminder of the importance of under nsured motorist coverage.

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 Posted on October 30, 2015 in Personal Injury

After a jury awarded $12 million dollars to a 78-year-old woman whose right foot was left hanging by a flap of skin after a steam-pipe explosion in Midtown Manhattan, the Judge decreased the award by $8 million dollars after the woman asked for $7.5 million dollars more in damages for past pain and suffering.

On July 18, 2007, the plaintiff was standing on the corner of 40^th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, waiting to cross the street when she was suddenly catapulted into the air by an underground explosion.Upon landing, bricks, stones and boiling water fell on her. Lying on the ground, covered by debris for 45 minutes, she was finally rescued by the New York City Fire Department. Flaps of skin kept her right foot from detaching from her leg.

The plaintiff was taken to a nearby hospital where she underwent multiple,excruciating surgeries to save her right foot. Skin and muscle were removed from plaintiff’s chest and stomach to reattach her ankle and foot and fill-in any gaps. The muscle was exposed in places because she did not have enough excess skin to cover it. Her right toe developed gangrene and was amputated. She suffered from constant diarrhea and infection.She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

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 Posted on October 28, 2015 in Personal Injury

The circumstances of an accident that results in an injury are not always clear cut. When most people think of a personal injury suit, they imagine one injured party seeking compensation from one defendant--the negligent party-- who is completely at fault. However, what happens if the actions of multiple parties contributed to a dangerous accident?Or if the injured party had a hand in the circumstances that harmed them?

In these more complicated cases, New York's comparative fault law isused to properly assign fault to all involved parties. Under comparative fault, responsible parties who are contesting their role in an accident are assigned a percentage of fault decided by a jury. That percentage of fault is then subtracted from any awarded compensation.

To demonstrate how comparative fault works, the following hypothetical car accident case involved three injured drivers. A jury awarded each of the drivers $10,000 for their injuries and damages but also found that fault was shared between them.

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 Posted on October 24, 2015 in Personal Injury

In the world of personal injury law, proving that another party was negligent is a critical component of nearly any claim. Although many people understand the dictionary definition of negligence, it can be far more complex a sa legal theory. In this blog, our New York personal injury attorneys discuss the elements of negligence as it applies to car accident cases.

How is Negligence Defined?

When another driver is negligent behind the wheel of a car, truck, or other vehicle, they have essentially acted in a way which is careless or reckless. Typically, this will include any action that should not have been taken, such as speeding excessively, as well as actions which were not taken but should have been, such as stopping at marked intersection. Drivers in New York have a responsibility to use reasonable care or caution while driving, and failure to act in this way can potentially be negligence.

How is Negligence Proven?

While negligence is a fairly easy concept to understand, proving that another driver acted negligently in court is an entirely different issue. There are four basic elements of proving a negligence claim:

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