NY Accident Lawyer Praises New Driving Law to Protect Teens on the Road

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Jim Reed

As a NY accident lawyer, I can tell you that there is nothing more difficult than to sit with parents who have lost a child in a fatal car crash.

Often these cases involve a teen driver who didn’t have the experience or the maturity to safely drive a car. Often these teen car accidents involve carloads of teenagers – we all know all too well that peer pressure can result in unsafe driving activities, such as speeding and drinking and driving.

Now there is a great new New York state law that seeks to address these dangers by placing new restrictions on teen drivers in NY, the New York Graduated License Law for drivers under age 18. The law took effect on Monday, Feb. 22.

What does the new law do?

It reduces from two to one the number of non-family passengers under age 21 riding in a motor vehicle operated by a junior license holder when not accompanied by a licensed parent or guardian
Eliminates the limited use junior license and require that a junior permit be held for at least 6 months before a junior or senior license may be issued
Increases the number of supervised driving hours before scheduling a road test from 20 to 50 hours, that includes 15 hours of driving after sunset.

WETM-TV reported on this new law in a news story, “More Strict Driving Rules for Teens.” In the WETM story, Chemung County Clerk Katie Hughes said of teens: “They are so busy now with all the stuff going on around them, kids in the car, people in the car, talking on the phone, texting which is against the law so they are really cutting down on this.”

The thought behind the new law

The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles released a Graduated Driving Law video explaining the changes in the law and offering an important explanation from DMV Commissioner David Swarts.

” The intent of this new law … is to help prepare our young drivers for the life-long responsibility of driving. The rationale behind these changes is very simple. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for teens. The crash fatality rate is highest for 16- to 17-year-olds within the first six months of getting their license. These changes strengthen the current law and address the main causes of teen driver crashes-distractions and inexperience.”

I’m sure there is going to be a lot of disappointment expressed in the halls of high schools across the state. But this law is an absolute necessity if if can cut down on the number of fatal car accidents for teens. Our state’s young people shouldn’t have their lives cut short in car accidents, and parents shouldn’t have to hear that their child is gone.

Thanks for reading,

Jim
________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com
E-mail me at FreeReports@zifflaw.com for two free books:
NY Car Accidents and NY Car Insurance Secrets YOU Need to Know.

Information Lawyers NEED to Know: Ziff Law to Host CLE Seminar on Liens, Set-Asides and Special-Needs Trusts

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Christina Sonsire

The Ziff Law Firm has planned an important seminar for legal professionals.

The firm will host Liens, Set-Asides and Special Needs Trusts, noon to 2 p.m. on Friday, March 5 at the Ziff offices, 303 William Street in Elmira.

The seminar will be presented by Brett Newman, managing partner of Lien Resolution Group, and Ziff Law’s Christina Bruner Sonsire, Esq.

Participants earn two CLE credits and lunch will be provided. The cost is free for members of the Academy of Trial Lawyers and $100 for non-members. The $100 admission fee can be applied toward the cost of a one-year membership in the Academy. For more information, follow this link to the Seminar Brochure and/or check the Academy of Trial Lawyers Brochure.

The seminar will cover a variety of topics:

Changes in state and federal laws affecting Medicare reimbursement claims
Medicaid liens
Private health insurance subrogation claims
When Medicare set-asides are appropriate in liability and workers compensation cases
Attorney and client liability for Medicare, Medicaid and ERISA claims
Procedures to identify potential liens, initiate correspondence with the lien holder, audit and petition bills and payment summaries, and negotiate procurement offset
The protection of client government benefits through special needs trusts

To register for the seminar, please visit the Academy of Trial Lawyers online or call the Academy at (518) 364-4044. Please contact me directly if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Christina
________________________________
Christina Bruner Sonsire, Esq.
NY & PA Injury & Malpractice Lawyer
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, New York 14902-1338
csonsire@zifflaw.com
Office: 607.733.8866
Toll-Free: 800.ZIFFLAW (943.3529)
Web: zifflaw.com
Blog: NYInjuryLawBlog.com

NY Malpractice Lawyer Explains Difficulty of Determining the Time Limits to Bring a Claim

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Jim Reed

I recently had an e-mail from a concerned personal injury victim about his case. The writer is not a client of mine, but he was hoping I could give him some advice about the statute of limitations on legal malpractice claims.

I told him that the time limit to bring a legal malpractice claim in NY is “generally” 3 years from the date of the alleged malpractice by the attorney (ie the first date you feel the lawyer screwed up).

The reason I qualified this statement by saying “generally” is that there are a few, very limited exceptions to this 3 year time limit requirement (more on this below).

In this man’s situation, his case may be dismissed – and that could have been caused by legal malpractice by his own attorney. Through no fault of his own, this victim is looking at his case being dismissed before he even really gets started because the time limit to bring a NY legal malpractice case (3 years) has already expired.

The sad part is that he might not have any recourse because he was so caught up in his medical situation that he didn’t even know the applicable time limit for bringing a lawsuit against his lawyer. Now he has discovered that he may have to hurry up and file a legal malpractice case – if he can – before the 3-year window to bring a legal malpractice case closes.

He wanted to know if this was all the time his case had left – and if there were anything else he could do.

Statute of limitations in legal malpractice cases can be very tricky to determine and often are very fact-dependent.

My usual rule of thumb is to use 3 years from the date of the alleged malpractice. Any date other than that can become very risky because you are relying on exceptions to the general rule.

With that said, there is an exception generally referred to as the “continuous treatment doctrine” that is occasionally applied in medical malpractice cases. It says the clock doesn’t start to tick on the time limit to file a malpractice claim until the last date the defendant doctor continued to provide active treatment to the patient.

The corollary to this exception in the legal malpractice world is the “continuous representation doctrine” and it would suggest that the clock doesn’t start to tick on the attorney’s malpractice until the last date the attorney represented you on the particular matter that you allege he screwed up.

As I said before, these are general exceptions and the courts can be very strict in applying these exceptions to the facts of any particular case. Accordingly, competent malpractice lawyers prefer not to ever rely on these exceptions and try to bring the action within 3 years of the date of the alleged malpractice. I refer to this as the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Because determining the proper time limit is so important (and fatal to your case if you do it incorrectly!), I urge anyone with a this issue to consult with an experienced malpractice lawyer ASAP!

I hope this helps.

Thanks for reading,
Jim
_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com

E-mail me at FreeReports@zifflaw.com for two free books:
NY Car Accidents and NY Car Insurance Secrets YOU Need to Know.

NY Accident Lawyer Warns Other NY Injury Attorneys About Internet Scam Targeting Injury Law Firms

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Jim Reed

“If it is too good to be true, it is too good to be true.”

I ALWAYS keep that old saying in mind when considering any aspect of my personal injury or malpractice cases. Over the years, being extremely suspicious of something that sounds too good to be true has saved my bacon more times than I can count.

Just this past week, my suspicious instinct for self-preservation saved me from the most sophisticated Internet scam I have ever seen. What is amazing about this scam is that it is specifically targeting law firms.

And lest you think lawyers are too smart to get victimized by a simple Internet scam, think again — I am told that at least 22 law firms have fallen prey to this scam with each of them losing $300,000 to $400,000. That’s right, MORE than $300,000 each! And there is no recourse for these duped firms.

So let me tell you about the scam so you can make sure you don’t fall prey to this scam.

It starts innocently enough. You receive an E-mail from a woman who has been terribly hurt in a New York City accident. The woman tells you she is Korean and was working in the US in NYC at the time of her injury.

She says that the insurance company (MetLife in my case) has offered her $400,000 to settle her case but they are now jerking her around about paying because she has moved back to Korea due to her injuries and disability. She says she just needs a US attorney to receive the settlement check and then send her the funds in Korea.

Well, I am so used to insurance companies jerking people around for every reason under the sun, that that part of the story is entirelyplausible. Even though my instinct was that this smelled funny (and I told my wife that), I decided to play along and see where this would go.

I emailed back and said I would be happy to help but would need documentation of the settlement and additional information.

To my surprise, I was then emailed settlement documents that looked totally legitimate. They were professionally done, grammatically correct, and notarized. Not the kind of thing you normally see with the typical Internet scam where there are tons of misspellings and atrocious grammar. The documents identified a MetLife Adjuster with both a phone number and e-mail address for him.

So, I decided to continue to play along to see what would happen next.

I emailed the adjuster after checking that the E-mail was actually going to a MetLife domain. I truly thought that would be the end of it. But knock me over with a feather, I got an E-mail back from the adjuster

saying that he would process the $400,000 check and send it to me. I thought sure…..

The next day, I received a $400,000 MetLife check via FEDEX. The check (see the posted photo) looked totally legitimate and was drawn on a CitiBank account. I was amazed and was beginning to teeter on the edge of believing this actually might be legitimate. But that’s when I received a phone call from the US Postal Inspector. They asked if I had received a $400,000 check. I told them I had and they said that they were glad they had reached me before the check had been cashed or any funds had been transferred.

I was told that so far they were aware of 40 checks for $400,000 sent to lawyers and of those 40, 22 had already wired funds of more than $300,000 each out of the country. For those unfortunate lawyers, there is no recourse because the funds were now outside the US.

The Postal inspector explained that the CitiBank check did in fact have correct routing numbers for a MetLife account so that when the lawyer presented the check to his bank, that bank would honor the check because it looked to be legitimate. It would only be several days later when CitiBank rejected the check that a lawyer would learn of the scam. If the lawyer had already wired the money out of the country, they were totally out of luck.

So, a word to the wise: If it is too good to be true, it is too good to be true!” And another word to all attorneys: Wait until a check has CLEARED before disbursing any funds even if that means you have to wait 7 to 10 days. Better safe than sorry!

Thanks for reading,

Jim

_________________________________

James B. Reed
NY & PA Injury & Malpractice Lawyer
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
Mailto: jreed@zifflaw.com
Office: (607)733-8866
Toll-Free: 800-ZIFFLAW (943-3529)
Web: www.zifflaw.com
Blogs: NYInjuryLawBlog.com and
NYBikeAccidentBlog.com

NY Workers’ Comp Lawyer Explains Why He Probably Will Take Your Work Related Athletic Injury Comp Case

Posted on February 19, 2010 by Jim Reed

Attorney Jim Reed recently posted a very informative blog about school-sports injuries at “NY Accident Lawyer Explains Why He Probably Won’t Take Your School Sports Injury Case.” However, if you’re injured while participating in work-related athletic activity you may very well have a Workers’ Compensation case.

You might have a Workers’ Comp case if you’re injured when the employer required you to participate in the athletic activity, the employer compensated you for participating in the activity or the employer otherwise sponsors the activity.

I’m certainly not interested in discouraging employers from sponsoring athletic activity. I am encouraging employers to keep safety in mind. For example, some time ago the folks at the Ziff Law Firm got together for some firm sponsored paintball. Anyone who knows anything about paintball will tell you that you can, and often will, get injured playing paintball. Beyond that, given the competitive nature of folks at this firm, permanent disabilities were likely. I encouraged Jim Reed, the firm’s managing partner, to make sure good safety equipment was available and used. I’m happy to report that no employees of the Ziff Law Firm were seriously physically injured : )

If you’re injured while participating in work-related athletic activity, protect yourself and talk to an attorney.

Thanks for reading,
Eric

____________________________________________
Eric L. Johnson, Esq.
Workers’ Compensation and Disability Attorney
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14901
Tel: (607) 733-8866
Fax: (607) 732-6062
Toll Free: 1-800-943-3529
Email: ejohnson@zifflaw.com
Web: http://www.zifflaw.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AttorneyEric
Admitted to practice in New York and North Carolina

NY Accident Lawyer Explains Why He Probably WON’T Take Your School Sports Injury Case

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Jim Reed

As an experienced injury lawyer, you often demonstrate how smart you are by the cases you DO NOT take – as much so as by those cases that you DO take.

While I certainly don’t mind a challenging case (and I have taken many over the years!), there are certain types of cases where the law is so stacked against you that you just have to know when to say NO.

Sad to say, school sports injury cases are an example of the type of case that is virtually impossible to win.

Why?

Well, the law is stacked against you in many respects. First, there is a defense known as the “assumption of the risk doctrine.” Basically, this doctrine contends that people who are voluntarily engaging in a sport, assume the risk of the types of injuries that are inherent in that sport, and therefore they cannot recover for those injuries.

For example, if you are a pitcher on a baseball team, you assume the risk that a batter might hit a ball that hits you in the mouth. Likewise, if you are a baseball spectator, you assume the risk that a foul ball might hit you. On both of these scenarios, there are tons of NY cases that have been dismissed by the court because of the assumption of risk doctrine.

Two great blog posts, “Assumption of Risk Doctrine Bars New York Sports Injury Lawsuits – Part 1″ and “Assumption of Risk Doctrine Bars New York Sports Injury Lawsuits – Part 2 (Baseball)”, by NYC attorney John Hochfelder explain the assumption of the risk doctrine as it applies to many sports: baseball, floor hockey, wrestling and soccer.

With all of that said, there ARE some types of sports injuries cases that MAY be a possible case despite the assumption of the risk doctrine.

These cases usually involve an injury that is NOT inherent in the nature of the sport or a hazard of a type that is generally not assumed in that particular sport. For instance, if there’s a metal spike sticking up out of the ground in the base path to second base and a school knew about that hazard and failed to take any steps to remedy that condition, that might give rise to liability against the school.

The bottom line is that it is VERY difficult to decide if you have a good case or not and therefore it is usually best that you consult with an experienced injury lawyer to determine if you have a case or not.

If you want to e-mail me the details of your case at jreed@zifflaw.com, I am happy to let you know what I think.

Thanks for reading,

Jim
_________________________________
James B. Reed
NY & PA Injury & Malpractice Lawyer
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
Mailto: jreed@zifflaw.com
Office: (607)733-8866
Toll-Free: 800-ZIFFLAW (943-3529)
Web: www.zifflaw.com
Blogs: NYInjuryLawBlog.com and
NYBikeAccidentBlog.com

NY Workers Comp Attorney Makes the Carrier Pay for Filing Frivolous Appeal

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Jim Reed

Got a terrific Board Panel decision today that will make my client happy and an insurance company and its lawyers unhappy. A unanimous Board Panel penalized the insurance company $500 for filing a frivolous appeal. That $500 is paid to my client.

There are a couple of things about this Board Panel decision that make it particularly sweet. First, the decision that the insurance company frivolously appealed was a decision that awarded my client a penalty of nearly $4,400. I sought this first penalty for late payment of his lost wage benefit. So the $500 penalty for frivilous appeal was on top of the nearly $4,400 penalty for late payment of lost wages.

The other thing that makes this Board Panel decision special is that this is the first time I’ve gotten a penalty against a carrier for filing a frivolous appeal. Insurance companies delay and deny and they endlessly appeal. I routinely seek and obtain penalties when the insurance company delays in paying my clients’ lost wage benefits and I routinely seek penalties for frivolous appeal. I’ve been trying to get insurance companies penalized for frivolous appeals since I started practicing Workers’ Compensation and I was beginning to wonder if the Board would find anything frivolous. Well . . . I’m happy to say that the Board will assess a penalty for filing a frivolous appeal. Insurance companies beware.
Thanks for reading,
Eric

When The Going Gets Tough Does Your NY Motorcycle Lawyer Roll Up His Sleeves Or Run For The Hills?

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Adam Gee

I had the pleasure of handing over a sizable settlement check to the victim of a Pennsylvania Motorcycle Collision the other day. It’s a pretty common occurrence, but the circumstances of this particular case made it particularly satisfying. My hope is that by sharing the information on this blog, I can keep a future motorcycle client from making the same mistake.

This client didn’t come to us when he was first hurt. He made the mistake of calling one of those firms who advertise on TV about every 15 seconds. So they sent an “investigator” to him to have him sign a retainer agreement, and made him travel to their BIG CITY office several hours away to meet with some paralegal. Everything seemed to be going fine until the time came to discuss settlement with the insurance company. It turned out that who was at fault for the collision was a little bit of an open question, so the insurance company decided they wouldn’t pay a penny and basically dared the attorney to sue them.

This is where things get really interesting. You see, the client had a really significant injury. If this “BIG CITY” lawyer with the multi-million dollar advertising budget could convince the insurance company that their driver was at fault, the insurance company would surely offer up the entire policy due to the nature of the biker’s injury. For whatever reason, this “BIG CITY” attorney couldn’t convince the insurance adjuster to do this. That kind of thing happens. Insurance companies don’t stay in business long if they hand over money every time an attorney comes knocking with an arguable claim. If the insurance company refuses to pay anything willingly, the next step is clear: you sue them and start heading for trial. It doesn’t mean there will necessarily be a trial, as after the discovery part of the law suit is concluded there will be another round of negotiations where the case may settle, but you have to keep the case moving.

What happened next astounded me. This “BIG CITY” lawyer with the tough guy commercials tucked his tail and ran for the hills. He told the client he would no longer represent him. Now that the case might actually take a little work, this “BIG CITY” lawyer wanted nothing to do with it.

So the client came to me. I couldn’t figure out why the “BIG CITY” lawyer dropped the case, as it seemed like a good case to me. I sued the case and proceeded with the litigation. I was eventually able to convince the insurance company that their driver was at fault for the accident, and they agreed to pay my client the fully policy limits.

There are a couple lessons to be learned from this case. First, spending millions of dollars a year on tough sounding TV commercials doesn’t make a lawyer tough. Second, you don’t have to drive to a big city to get quality representation.

If you need a personal injury attorney, ask your family, friends and neighbors who they may have used. Do some research, and make an informed decision. As the above situation reveals, which attorney you choose can make a huge difference in how your case comes out. Ask any attorney you meet with if they are willing to take your case to trial if necessary, and how many similar cases they have tried. Insist that you actually meet with the attorney that will be handling your case and not some “investigator”. After all, do you really want to hire an attorney who is “too busy” to meet with you himself? If you are too far away for the attorney to drive to meet you, aren’t you too far away to drive to meet the attorney?

Everything for this client ended up working out for the best. I just worry about that firm’s other clients. Heaven help them if the going get tough in their case.

Thanks for reading,

_______________________________
Adam M. Gee, Esq.
NY and PA Personal Injury and Malpractice Attorney
The Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY 14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: agee@zifflaw.com
www.zifflaw.com

NY Injury Lawyer Urges: Protect Yourself And Your Patrons – From Treacherous Winter Walking Conditions

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Jim Reed

Over my 23 years of practice in Upstate NY and PA, I have handled my share of tragic cases due to falls on snow and ice:

a woman from Ithaca, NY who suffered a permanent brain injury due to hitting her head on an ice sidewalk outside a Corning, NY pizzeria;
a construction worker from Elmira who was caused to suffer a nasty, spiral fracture of his femur when caused to fall on icy steps at a Waverly, NY factory;
a Binghamton, NY man who badly injured his back in a twisting fall in a shopping mall parking lot.

Each of these cases resulted in very substantial payments by the insurance carriers for the property owners.

The sad part about each of these cases was just how easily they could have been avoided had the property owner just taken the simple (and legally required) step of keeping their property free of snow and ice.

Now don’t get me wrong, as a property owner myself, I know that it’s often a pain in the neck to keep my home and my office clear of snow and ice but I also know that it is my legal responsibility to do so and even more important, I sure don’t want to see one of my family, friends or clients hurt just because I was too lazy to make sure that I kept my property safe.

During the cold and stormy months of winter, it seems as if we just get the sidewalks cleared before Mother Nature strikes with another storm. A new layer of snow and ice coats the area, making roads and sidewalks slippery and dangerous until we can treat and clear them again.

I want to share some advice about winter conditions and legal liability. This is good information to remember, no matter what your “walk” in life. You may a business or building owner with the responsibility of keeping sidewalks and entrances clear and safe, or you could be a victim of a nasty fall on ice, trying to figure out what your legal rights are.

I was inspired to share some information about this issue by a post, Snow and Ice: Five Ways to Avoid Legal Liability by attorney Tim Rayne. Tim’s tips address the potential liability of property owners. He basically cautions them to:

Determine who is responsible for keeping walking areas free of snow and ice. It may be the property owner, or it could be the municipality – the key is to KNOW for SURE and assume the responsibility if it is yours.

Treat ice and snow effectively and get rid of it quickly. Don’t dawdle! If you are a property owner, and you don’t address dangerous walking conditions quickly, you are opening yourself up to a lawsuit.

I want to add that if you are a pedestrian and you note poor conditions, be sure and tell the property owner. You don’t want to be the victim of a slip and fall accident – or allow anyone else to be, either.

And finally, Tim tells property owners to be sure and have enough liability insurance to cover the cost of perhaps serious injuries to victims of slip and fall accidents.

I know from my 20+ years of experience handling personal injury cases that even when insurance adequately covers the costs of physical recovery, serious injuries have repercussions in victims’ family life, careers, mental state and more. First and foremost, we need to keep people aware of their responsibilities and/or risk during this sometimes treacherous season. Stay safe!

Thanks for reading,

Jim

_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
NY Fall and Injury Lawyer
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866 Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com http://www.zifflaw.com
E-mail me at FreeReports@zifflaw.com for two free books:

NY Car Accidents and NY Car Insurance Secrets YOU Need to Know.