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As my family and friends know, I am a fanatical bicyclist.  I have always enjoyed riding my bike since I started racing as a teenager.  I was away from the bike during college and law school but I later returned to the sport in my mid-30’s as a pressure-relief from my hectic work day and as the father of three young kids.  Thankfully, my wife shares my bicycling addiction and we enjoy lots of riding time together.

As much as I love riding, it is a sport that carries high risks.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety documents approximately 1,000 bicycle accident deaths per year in the US.   The Institute’s statistics also highlight one very important point:  “The most serious injuries among a majority of those killed are to the head, highlighting the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet. Helmet use has been estimated to reduce head injury risk by 85 percent.”

A recent case I am handling illustrates the point even more dramatically.  Two weeks ago, a local rider from Big Flats, NY was out riding his bicycle on Rt. 352, a local two lane highway, with wide shoulders.  Despite the fact that this rider was wearing a high-visibility yellow jersey and was riding on the shoulder of the road (3.1 feet to the right of the white line per the NY State Troopers!), he was mowed down by a driver who recklessly drifted on to the shoulder at 50mph.  He was thrown 36 feet and skidded to a stop on his head and right side.  Despite his helmet, the flesh was ground from his right ear and skull requiring internal stitches and 12 staples to close the gaping wound.  He broke his back.  He suffered deep lacerations over his arms, legs, shoulder and back.  But he survived….

Although I have handled lots of bicycle/car crash cases over the years, I have never seen a bike exploded apart like this rider’s bike. To say that it is a miracle that he survived this collision is an understatement….

This rider owes his life to his bicycling helmet. The helmet did its job by fracturing in many places thereby preventing his skull from doing the same. I am absolutely convinced that this rider would not be alive today if not for his helmet.

A safety lesson for all of us: Please wear your helmet at all times.  Even though NY only requires riders 14 and younger to wear a helmet, EVERYONE should ALWAYS wear a helmet.

If you already have a helmet:  Please carefully check your helmet for proper fit and any cracks. Over time helmets can get banged around, subjected to high temperatures in cars, etc. so do not assume that the good helmet you bought 3 years ago is still in perfect shape. If you find cracks or other damage, please buy a new helmet. Helmets are cheap, heads are priceless!

Good luck and safe riding!

Thanks, Jim
_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, 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

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For those of us who live and work in Upstate NY, we know that more often than not, the news regarding Upstate is bad, rather than good. However, now and then there are some bright rays of sunshine. A recent national article from AOL discussed the decreasing property values nationwide and then paid tribute to the #1 and #2 cities in the US that defied this trend by recording the highest increase in property values for the first quarter of 2008. By now, you have probably guessed that Elmira fared well. Yes, Elmira was #2 and our Upstate neighbor to the East, Binghamton, NY was #1. Congrats to both communities. Here’s a link to the article and a link to the page about Elmira. The full story is copied below for your convenience.

Thanks for reading,

Jim Reed
jreed@zifflaw.com

Realtor Data Shows Prices Up Rising in One Third of Top Cities During First Quarter

Brett Widness, AOL Real Estate Editor

One out of three metropolitan areas in the United States showed rising home prices in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors.

Gallery: See Which Markets Are Rising Near You

In the first quarter, 48 out of 149 metropolitan statistical areas showed higher median existing single-family home prices from a year earlier, 100 had price declines and one was unchanged. NAR’s track of metro area home prices dates back to 1979.

During the first quarter, the largest single-family home price increase was the Binghamton, N.Y., area, where the median price of $109,700 rose 11.8 percent from a year ago. Next was Peoria, Ill., at $119,000, up 10.4 percent from the first quarter of 2007, followed by the Spartanburg, S.C., area, where the first-quarter median price increased 10.1 percent to $130,300.

In the condo sector, metro area condominium and cooperative prices — covering changes in 55 metro areas — showed the national median existing-condo price was $216,900 in the first quarter, down 3.0 percent from $223,700 in the first quarter of 2007. Twenty-three of the 55 markets showed annual increases in the median condo price, while 31 areas had price declines and one was unchanged.

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Too often we have folks come in who have had work injuries and their income was unreported. While these folks are still eligible for medical benefits under the Workers’ Comp. Law, they are not eligible for wage payments because they have no reported income.

Unfortunately, if you don’t have wage payments and you can’t afford to take time off work, the medical benefit may be meaningless. Furthermore, you’re out of luck when it comes to a schedule loss of use or any payment under the Workers’ Comp. Law based on wage payments. It gets worse.

By filing a Workers’ Comp. claim you will likely be alerting the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to the fact that you have income for which you haven’t been paying taxes. Absolutely nothing good can come of that!

Additionally, if your income is unreported, you’re giving up not only Workers’ Comp. benefits, but unemployment benefits and Social Security benefits as well. So, if you’re thinking about not reporting your income, please think again. Come back for my next post in which I will discuss honesty and Workers’ Comp. claims.

Thanks for reading,
Eric

___________________________________
Eric L. Johnson
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel: (607) 733-8866
Fax: (607) 732-6062
Toll Free: 1-800-943-3529
Email: ejohnson@zifflaw.com
Web: http://www.zifflaw.com

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While getting the kids ready for school in the morning, I often have the TV on some news program to check the weather, school closings and local happenings before work.  What I have been seeing lately is disturbing.  Nearly every day, I see a commercial touting the need for tort reform to prevent law suit abuse and “frivolous lawsuits“.  It seems unlikely that in the 10 minutes I have the TV on that I am seeing the same commercial the only time it airs, meaning this commercial is on the air quite frequently.  This concerns me because the commercial is so misleading.

I have a confession to make.  Even though I have been an attorney for more than 10 years and have handled probably more than a thousand lawsuits over that time, I have never personally seen nor brought a frivolous lawsuit.  I don’t personally know any attorneys who have done so either.  That’s not to say they don’t exist, though.  Everyone has heard of the judge who sued his dry cleaner over the lost pants, and I have occasionally heard of an individual who is not represented by an attorney bringing harassing lawsuits against the same person or people over and over again.  What you never hear of, though, is an attorney who makes his or her living as a trial attorney bringing frivolous claims.  There is a pretty good reason for this, too.  As a trial attorney, I have grown accustomed to getting paid at some point in the litigation.  Whether it is a personal injury case taken on contingency (meaning I get a portion of the proceeds of the case) or a case taken on retainer (meaning I am paid on an hourly basis) I don’t handle cases where there is no chance of earning my fee.  By definition, a frivolous claim is one in which there is no viable cause of action which could earn a fee.

Yet another reason I don’t bring frivolous claims is that the ethics rules governing attorneys prohibit bringing frivolous claims.  I am not about to put my license to practice law at risk for a case in which there is no chance of earning a fee.  Every other attorney I know feels the same way, which is probably why the frivolous cases we hear about are brought by people representing themselves.

The commercial that prompted this blog makes it seem as if frivolous lawsuits are rampant.  My guess is that the people funding this commercial are the same ones who claim that all the medical malpractice lawsuits are frivolous.  They claim that the poor doctors are sued so often they settle cases just to get rid of them.  Yeah, right.  As someone who regularly sues insurance companies, I can personally assure you that they are not settling frivolous claims just to get rid of them.  Its difficult enough to get them to put realistic money on legitimate claims.

Here’s something else you haven’t heard about these so called frivolous lawsuits against doctors: unlike nearly every other type of insurance out there, the doctor’s medical malpractice insurer has to have the doctor’s permission to settle the case.  Your auto insurance carrier doesn’t need your permission to settle a claim against you, and neither does your home owner’s insurance company, but the doctor has to agree to any payment on a claim made against him, including the so-called frivolous claims.  Makes you think a little, doesn’t it?

The next time you see a commercial like this on TV, take a minute to think about the claims they are making and who has enough money at stake to pay the millions of dollars required for an advertising campaign of this magnitude.  Think about who has enough at stake to spend that much money attempting to brainwash the public into thinking that the judicial system is bursting at the seams with frivolous lawsuits.  Think who would want to have that commercial running through the minds of potential jurors as they climb into that jury box.  Do you think that the insurance companies have anything to do with it?

If you want to know why this type of false advertising gets us angry, imagine that you are the Plaintiff and its your future being decided by those jurors with that commercial running through their heads.

Are you angry now?

Thanks for reading,

Adam M. Gee, Esq.
New York and Pennsylvania Personal Injury and Malpractice Attorney
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY  14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: agee@zifflaw.com
www.zifflaw.com

This advice seems like a no-brainer but a recent study discussed on Engadget (a super blog about all types of electronic gadgets!) scared the bejeezus out of me.  This study (pasted below) found that 37% of Generation Y drivers, admitted that they text message while driving.  37%!!

That means more than a third of these young drivers are putting all of us at risk for serious injury in a car crash.  Let’s face it, anything that distracts your attention from the road ahead makes you a more dangerous driver.

Last year there was a horrific car crash in Upstate N.Y. that caused the death of 5 high school girls.  The investigation revealed that a text message had been sent from the drivers cell phone at the time of the crash.  While it was never proven that the driver herself sent the text message, investigators speculated that the driver or her friends were distracted while texting.

Here’s the Engadget post:

Survey finds 37% of Gen Y-ers text while driving

by Darren Murph, posted May 2nd 2008 at 3:26PM

While we regularly do Pennsylvania injury cases, PA Workers’ Comp. is something we don’t do here at the Ziff Law Firm. We generally refer PA Workers’ Comp. claimants to Athens, PA Attorney Jim Carroll.

We’re happy to announce that Jim has just started the PA Work Injury Blog.

Please visit his blog.

Thanks for reading,
Eric

____________________________________________
Eric L. Johnson
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel: (607) 733-8866
Fax: (607) 732-6062
Toll Free: 1-800-943-3529
Email: ejohnson@zifflaw.com

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We read study after study criticizing the the health care field for sickness, injuries and death occurring in hospitals.  Perhaps the most dangerous risk you face in a hospital is contracting a post-surgical infection.  Bacteria in the hospital setting is already mostly immune to the typical anti-biotics used to treat it, and it tends to be very aggressive.

The best way to protect yourself is not to contract the infection in the first place.  Here is a great article on exactly what to do from CNN.

Read the rest…

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Expert Witnesses are a necessary part of the legal profession. In certain cases, such as medical malpractice, experts are an absolute necessity. In other cases they are sometimes a luxury. The use of experts by defense attorneys seems to be on the rise, and so Plaintiff’s attorneys feel pressured to respond in kind. What some attorneys fail to consider, however, is that the expert they hire will play a HUGE part in whether they are successful.

Because of the increased use of experts referenced above, more and more individuals are looking to get into the expert witness game. A fancy website, a polished resume, and paying to be put on an expert witness list on a few websites is all that is required for someone to appear to be a reputable expert. But that doesn’t mean they will serve your needs in court.

Read the rest…

Under New York Workers’ Compensation Law you have the right to select any authorized physician for the treatment of your work related injury.  Many companies, however, push their injured employees to treat with the company doctor.

Many company doctors have cozy relationships with employers, which makes it difficult for the injured employee to get good care.  Many injured employees find the care from company doctors to be impersonal, unsympathetic, and even downright substandard.  In some cases, the employers pressure company doctors, which interferes with the normal doctor patient relationship and may result in the injured employee being released to work prematurely.

So how can this be avoided?  You must maintain control of your medical treatment.  In other words, see the doctor of your choosing.  Please come back for my next blog post in which I discuss the problems created by working under the table.

Thanks for reading,
Eric
____________________________________________
Eric L. Johnson
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel: (607) 733-8866
Fax: (607) 732-6062
Toll Free: 1-800-943-3529
Email: ejohnson@zifflaw.com

Social Security pays disability benefits to people who have met the earnings requirement and who cannot work because they have a medical condition that is expected to last at least one year or result in death.

On occasion we have folks who haven’t filed an application for benefits come to us for representation with regard to their Social Security Disability claim. Generally we advise folks that they don’t need representation unless their application was denied.

The system was set up for claimants to make the application themselves and, frankly, by doing the application yourself you’re going to save money and probably get it done more quickly. After all, the initial application for benefits asks questions regarding your personal and medical history, which only you would know.

You can apply using the Online Social Security Benefit Application.

Good luck and thanks for reading,
Eric

____________________________________________
Eric L. Johnson
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel: (607) 733-8866
Fax: (607) 732-6062
Toll Free: 1-800-943-3529
Email: ejohnson@zifflaw.com