Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Personal Injury

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Personal Injury Attorney Ben RubinowitzOur managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz, will be part of a panel of expert litigators who will explore the latest issues involved in federal court practice, along with commentary by Judicial Chair Hon. Gregory H. Woods, SDNY, in a webinar organized by the New York County Lawyers Association, Federal Courts Committee.  “Winning Cases in Federal Court” is a continuing legal education webinar that will take place tomorrow January 11th in the evening and will continue next Tuesday January 18th, in the evening as well.

Tomorrow evening will focus on “the Trial” and the following Tuesday evening will focus on “Discovery, Depositions and Experts”

AGENDA — DAY 1:– Commencing an Action in Federal Court– Responding to a Complaint in Federal Court– Seeking and Opposing Summary Judgment– Trial of a Civil Case in Federal Court– Overview of Post Trial Procedure: Motions; Commencing an Appeal; Enforcement of JudgmentsAGENDA — DAY 2– Overview of Discovery Methods and Motions– Non-Party Discovery– Electronic Discovery

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carbon monoxide danger signEvery year in the US, thousands of people are injured and an average 70 die from exposure to carbon monoxide after using a portable generator. With more and more power shortages caused by climate events, the number of deaths caused by dangerous carbon monoxide emissions from generators is on the rise in America. Last February in Texas, after a major power shortage, 1,400 people were treated in hospitals for carbon monoxide poisoning and 17 died.

One portable generator can emit the same amount of carbon monoxide as 450 cars together

According to a recent investigation by ProPublica,  the portable generator manufacturers are well aware of the danger of their products and over the years they have been resisting multiple attempts by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to require that their devices emit less carbon monoxide.

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Hospital PatientMost medical devices used by hospitals are legacy devices that are still operating on Windows 7 that Microsoft no longer supports.  Manufactured at a time when cybersecurity was not a preoccupation, these devices can now easily be hacked and potentially be dangerous to patients. As a result, on top of safeguarding traditional IT assets, hospitals now have to figure out a way to secure tens of thousands of legacy devices from hundreds of manufacturers connected to their network.  It is a real headache for most hospitals and healthcare organizations as many of them do not even keep an inventory of their medical devices. According to a recent study only 36% of healthcare organizations know where their medical devices are.

While some devices that can cause fatal injuries, such as insuline pumps or pacemakers, are being actively monitored and recalled by the FDA, it is estimated that all other medical devices have an average of more than 6 vulnerabilities per device and that 40% of devices used by hospitals are at the end-of-life stage and do not have security patches or upgrades available.

Not surprisingly, FDA regulations in this field are lagging with the agency only saying both hospitals and manufacturers are responsible for protecting devices from cyber attacks. Hospitals are pointing fingers at manufacturers for not providing the necessary support and want the FDA to mandate lifetime support of medical devices by manufacturers.  So far, the further the FDA went was to publish post-market guidance for medtechs on what they should do to secure their products. This is not enough as hospitals find themselves dealing with thousands of devices that they are supposed not only to track but also patch to prevent cyberattacks. With the ongoing Covid19 crisis, hospitals are unable to handle this task and as a result they become increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks that could injure or kill patients.

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NY pileup due to icy conditionsFreezing rain caused dozens of car accidents around New York City and in the tri-state area on Wednesday morning. While accidents resulted mostly in pile ups and damages to cars at least one man died and multiple people were injured.

Driver who exited from his car fatally hit by other car sliding on ice

The fatal car accident occurred on a ramp connecting the eastbound Cross Country Parkway to the northbound Bronx River Parkway in Mount Vernon.  After multiple vehicles collided on the ramp due to icy conditions, a man whose vehicle was stopped, got out of his car and was fatally hit by another vehicle that slid on the ice. The passenger of the same vehicle attempted CPR on him and so did the emergency personnel at the scene but the man could not be saved.

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storm drains can be deadlyWhen people died in flooding that occurs after heavy rain there is usually not a lot of information about the cause of the death except for “the person drowned”. However a recent investigation by ProPublica highlights the danger of the actual drainage system in the US. Giant storm drains with no grates have been constantly “swallowing people” during heavy rains and flooding.

A recent case occurred in New Jersey last September. A couple who was driving back from a visit at a North Jersey mall was driving back at night on September 1st when the remains of Hurricane Ida abated in New York and New Jersey. Extremely heavy rain left motor vehicles stranded on the road. The couple, like many other motorists, decided to abandoned their car, thinking it would be safer to walk in the muddy water and find a safe place to stay until a family member could pick them up. As they were walking in the muddy water, they suddenly were sucked under water into what looked like a large black vacuum. The woman, Kavya Mandly was able to grab a bridge railing and did not get sucked in but her fiancée, Dhanush Reddy who was only holding her hand, was not as lucky and disappeared in the drain. Reddy had just been sucked into a 3-foot wide storm drain. As the police arrived they started to look at the exit of the drain. They found another 18 year old man hanging in a tree who also had been pulled in a drain. He was still alive. Reddy was not as lucky and was found dead in a wooded area the following day, blocks away from the entrance of the drain.

Unfortunately Reddy is not the only one that has died after being pulled in a storm drain. Stories like this one are actually quite common but cities and communities are reluctant to put grates in front of these dangerous drains because of the cost of not only installing them but also keeping them clean so they are still functional when a storm occurs.

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location of the explosion6 people were injured in NYC and 54 of them lost their home after an explosion sparked a major fire just after midnight on Wednesday. The explosion originated in the basement of a 3-story brick rowhouse located on Vermont Street near Jamaica Ave  in Cypress Hill.

According to CBS, tenants and neighbors complained to the landlord about gas smell 12 hours before the accident occurred. Tenants thought the landlord would take care of it but instead they were woken up in the middle of the night by a giant explosion.

The explosion which is being investigated, sent a giant fireball across the street and fire propagated quickly to the apartment units on the top (see video below) . Two tenants living on the top floor were awake and and were able to escape before the firefighters showed up 3 minutes later.

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Sadly Thanksgiving Holidays are not only associated with good family time but also with a rise in car accident fatalities and injuries. National statistics show that car crashes increase by 17% during the day and the night before Thanksgiving as families travel across the United States to get together. Consumption of alcohol is also a contributor in many accidents that occur during the Holidays.

overpass where the deadly crash occurred NY19 year old loses control of vehicle packed with 5 passengers killing two of them and seriously injuring two others

In the New York area, two young people died in a car accident in Long Island on Thursday night. According to the police, the driver of a Honda Pilot who was carrying 5 other passengers sideswiped a Toyota Corolla on the Southern State Parkway near Hempstead and lost control of the vehicle. The car then crashed into an overpass located near exit 21.  The driver, identified as 19 year old Herson Gonzalez survived while two 23 year old passengers, Patricia Rakissoon from Bay Shore and Elliott Bryant from Brooklyn, died. Two other passengers were transported to the hospital with serious injuries while the driver and another occupant were also transported to the hospital to be examined. The occupants of the Toyota were not injured. The exact causes of the accident are still being investigated.  (read more in the Nassau Daily Voices) (Picture of the location of the deadly crash: courtesy of Google Map).

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Triborough_Bridge were the accident occuredThankfully nobody was seriously injured in an accident involving multiple cars  after a NY State trooper opened fire on two suspects fleeing in a stolen car  on the RFK bridge that was packed with holiday travelers.  The bridge was closed  for hours creating major traffic delays.

The hunt for the car, a 2021 Acura Sedan, started the day before when the owner of the car reported to the police that the vehicle was stolen. On Sunday afternoon, the owner of the Acura contacted the police again and told them that his tracking app was showing the vehicle on the RFK bridge. The car was spotted by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority officials who contacted the NY State Police.

According to a witness the State troopers were able to localize the car and get close to it. One of the troopers knocked on the window of the stolen car. After a while the driver opened it and the officer grabbed him by the neck.  The driver took off, hitting another car that struck the trooper. The trooper then opened fire on the fleeing suspects who hit multiple other cars as they were fleeing from the police.   Two people were hurt including the State Trooper and the thieves were arrested in Harlem after they got off the bridge.

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Personal Injury attorney Rubinowitz gala honoree
Congratulations to our managing partner Ben Rubinowitz for being among the 50 alumni who will be inducted to the Hofstra Law Hall of Fame as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the  Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University.  Ben and 49 other alumni as well as 15 distinguished alumni on the bench will be recognized at the Law School’s 50th anniversary gala on April 5, 2022, at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Recognized as a top trial attorney nationally, Ben graduated from  Hofstra Law and started his career as a prosecutor where where he honed the trial skills that would become his hallmark. He joined the Personal Injury Law Firm of Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf  and throughout his 30-year legal career he made his mark as a leading trial lawyer devoting his career to helping those in need. Results speak for themselves as through his hard work, meticulous trial preparation and his outstanding courtroom skills and presence, Ben has obtained 200 verdicts and settlements in excess of one million dollars. Among the most recent outstanding results was the largest pain and suffering award ever affirmed in New York State history by the Appellate Division. This record setting award was based on a $60 Million jury award in which a 16 year old student was severely burned in his Chemistry class when his teacher negligently performed a demonstration in violation of the school’s own science safety manual.

Throughout his brilliant career, Ben received multiple prestigious awards such as the prestigious Prentice Marshall Award and Robert E. Keeton Award for Trial Practice, and was voted “Lawyer of the Year by “Best Lawyers in America” four times. He was also invited to be a member of the Inner Circles of Advocates whose membership is limited to 100 trial lawyers in the country.

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