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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A NYC bicyclist struck by a car driven by a murderer says he is lucky to be alive. David Hunter, a Brooklyn Fashion designer, was injured in a scary bicycle accident a few blocs away from his house last Saturday afternoon. He was waiting at a light to cross Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park. A man in a car was also waiting at the intersection and Hunter looked at him a brief second crossng the street in front of him.  As he was crossing the man in the car turned around and started to follow him. He looked very angry and kept saying “f—er, f—er, motherf—er”. He started to speed and intentionally struck the bicyclist who couldn’t pedal fast enough to escape. The bicyclist was thrown on a parked car. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet as his head hit the bumper of the car. Hunter lost consciousness as the crazed car driver continued to yell and curse by the window before taking off. Later on as witnesses took the plate number of the crazy driver, police discovered that the he was a cold blooded assassin. Oscar Morel, the driver, was indeed the man accused of killing Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee, 55, and his assistant Thara Uddin, 64. He was fleeing the murder scene when he struck David Hunter.

Read more in DNA Info

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New York Personal Injury Lawyers Gair and RubinowitzTwo of our New York Personal Injury Attorneys, Anthony Gair and Ben Rubinowitz have been recognized by America’s Top 100 Attorneys as two of the top 100 attorneys, all practices included, in New York State. Membership among America’s Top 100 Attorneys® is meant to identify and highlight the accomplishments of the nation’s most esteemed and skilled attorneys in all areas of practice. Only 100 attorneys in each state* receive this honor and are selected for membership among America’s Top 100 Attorneys®. While selection for any award, honor, or exclusive membership organization is always subjective in nature, America’s Top 100 Attorneys® have developed a comprehensive multi-phase selection process involving propriety algorithms and Qualitative Comparative Analysis in an effort to help ensure that only the most skilled and exceptional attorneys in the community are selected for membership.

Anthony Gair (left picture) is a senior partner at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf. One of the most respected personal injury attorney in New York, Mr Gair specializes in preparing and trying catastrophic personal injury cases such as automobile accidents, bus and truck accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice and product liability. Mr Gair enjoys a national reputation in the area of civil rights litigation. In one of his most notable cases he represented the family of Amadou Diallo who was shot 19 times by NYPD officers. The city of New York agreed to pay $3 million to the family of Amadou Diallo. This amount was at the time the largest amount that has ever been paid by the city of New YorAmerica Top 100k in a wrongful-death action for the death of a single individual with no dependents and minimal earnings. Mr Gair was the 2006 recipient of the prestigious  New York State Trial Lawyers’ Civil Justice Honor Award. Mr Gair is also recognized as one of the top product liability attorneys in the country and was named 2011 Lawyer of the Year, Product Liability Litigation  – Plaintiffs, New York City Area by Best Lawyers. An expert in construction accident litigation, Tony Gair also lectures extensively on this area.

Ben Rubinowitz (right picture) is the managing partner at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf. A meticulous and skilled trial lawyer, Mr Rubinowitz has been recognized as one of the top Personal Injury Attorneys in the country and has received numerous awards. A day ago he was recognized for the third time as “Attorney of the Year” by “Best Lawyers”.  Recently Melissa Rivers, Joan Rivers daughter chose Ben Rubinowitz and Jeff Bloom, another of our senior partners to to sue the doctors and the clinic for medical malpractice over the death of her mother. Ben and Jeff reached a major but confidential settlement for the case. Mr. Rubinowitz’s experience and legal acumen is also sought out outside of the courtroom. Not only does Mr Rubinowitz regularly write about trial advocacy (he is the a co-author of  a column in the New York Law Journal) but he is also a highly recognized trial advocacy teacher. For the past five years he has chaired the prestigious “Masters of the Art of Trial Advocacy Program” sponsored by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Rubinowitz is also member of the exclusive Inner Circle of Advocates, The International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a Director of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and a Past President of the New York Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

 

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brCongratulations to Ben Rubinowitz for being selected NYC Personal Injury “Lawyer of the Year”-Plaintiff 2017 by Best Lawyers in America. This is the third time that our managing partner has been selected Best Lawyer’s “Lawyer of the Year” by his peers.  Last year Ben was named New York City “Lawyer of the Year” for Product Liability Litigation  – Plaintiff 2016 and in 2013 Ben was selected by Best Lawyers as New York City Personal Injury “Lawyer of the Year”-Plaintiff.

Ben Rubinowitz started his legal career more than  30 years ago and this award is a result of his hard work and dedication to helping people who have been injured by the negligence of others. Starting as a prosecutor, Ben honed  remarkable trial skills and courtroom presence that have now become his hallmark. He then continued his career serving as a personal injury attorney and joined Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf  in 1989. In 2013 Ben replaced Robert Conason as managing partner of our firm. Ben has achieved numerous verdicts and settlements in excess of one million dollars. A few months ago, Ben and our partner Jeffrey Bloom reached a substantial confidential settlement in The Joan Rivers  medical malpractice case. Ben also represented the family of Marylin Dershowitz, a retired Manhattan Supreme Court special referee who died in a bicycle accident. Ben obtained a $4.6 million verdict for her family.  In another recent case Ben obtained a verdict of $27.5 million for a pedestrian who lost her leg after being struck by a bus.

Recognition by one’s peers is one the most meaningful forms of recognition among attorneys and Best Lawyers is considered the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 36,000 leading attorneys cast almost 4.4 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

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Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is proud to announce that 9 of our New York Personal Injury Lawyers were listed in The Best Lawyers in America© 2017.

Marijo AdimeyJeffrey B. Bloom, Seymour Boyers, Anthony H. Gair, Howard S. Hershenhorn, Stephen H. Mackauf, Ben B. Rubinowitz, and Richard M. Steigman were selected in the following practice areas:

Marijo Adimey, listed in Best Lawyers since 2015

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King Plaza and FlatbushA hit and run driver hit a couple crossing Flatbush Ave, killing the husband and seriously injuring the wife.  Last Thursday around  5pm Angel and Samantha Sagardia were crossing Flatbush Ave in front of the King Plaza Mall in Marine Park, Brooklyn when they were struck by a van. According to witnesses the van was speeding. He hit the woman first and then the man. The van driver didn’t slow down and continued on his way leaving the couple critically injured on the road. A side mirror from the van was also found on the street by investigators. The van was also found later on near the intersection of Rogers and Tilden Avenues in East FlatBush. The driver is still at large.  Read more in the NY Daily News

 

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rubinowitz_torganIn their recent  Trial Advocacy column in the New York Law Journal, Personal Injury Attorneys Ben Rubinowitz and Evan Torgan write: With discovery and depositions as broad as they currently are, problematic issues in a case should be laid bare before you even walk into the courtroom. It is not the fact that there is a problem but often the trial lawyer’s ability to confront and address the problem during jury selection that can make the difference in the outcome of a case.

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57 pedestrians, 21 bicyclists and 289 motor vehicle occupants were injured in a car accident between 2010 and 2014 at the intersection of Atlantic Ave and Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn, New York City. 5 people also died in crashes at this same location between 2008 and 2016. This busy intersection is one of the most dangerous in New York City and the Department of Transportation wants to make it safer. Last week the DOT presented  a study of the actual traffic conditions at this intersection and proposals to make it safer. As of now, pedestrian crossings are extremely long, the traffic is heavy and often conflicting with pedestrians while turning. Bike lanes do no connect, taxi and buses block the traffic while dropping passengers and the sidewalk design is not appropriate. The intersection is very dangerous. The DOT proposes not only to redesign the intersection of of Flatbush Ave and Atlantic Ave but also the Flatbush Ave intersections near Hanson Place and Ashland place. Among the changes, the plan includes the addition of pedestrian islands and curb extensions to reduce the crossing distances as well some blocks being converted to pedestrian areas and new signalization. The complete study can be downloaded here

Dangerous Intersection NYC

Picture courtesy of Google Map

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boy dead in water slide accidentCaleb Schwab sustained a fatal neck injury as he was riding the the “Verrückt” which is the world’s tallest water slide. The 10 year old boy was decapitated and found dead in a pool at the bottom of the slide.

The accident happened at the Schlitterbahn water park  in Kansas. The “Verrückt” which means insane in German was named the tallest water slide in the world by the Guinness Book of  World Records in 2014. The opening of the ride was delayed after tests on the 168-foot water slide had rafts flying off the slide (see video below).  When the ride finally opened the minimum age to ride it was 14 years old. However a month after the opening the age limit was removed and only the height requirement of 54 inches was kept as a limit to get on the ride.

Caleb boarded the raft with two other women who were not related to him. Both women suffered face injuries. Kelsey Friedrichsen and Josh Foster, a couple waiting  at the top of the water slide to be on the next ride told People Magazine that they saw a group of people at the bottom and a woman being treated for injury to her face. Then they saw first responders covering the body of Caleb.  “It looked like he must have somehow been ejected from his seat, bounced around between the netting and the slide and just slid down,” Friedrichsen said. “He would have fallen down without the raft. It’s kind of like a tube.” A 14 year old girl who took a ride on the “Verrückt” earlier during the day also mentioned that “toward the end of the ride the Velcro on her belt had come undone.” Investigators are still working on determining the exact cause of the accident.

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snoop Dog42 people were injured at a Snoop Dog and Wiz Khalifa concert last Fridat night in Camden NJ. The two artists were performing at the BB&T Pavillon when  a railing collapsed causing dozens of fans to fall several feet below onto the concrete (see video at the bottom). One person was critically injured and dozens of them were transported to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries such as bruises and broken bones.

Accidents at concerts and festivals are not very common however when they happen they are often catastrophic because they include a large number of people that are often intoxicated. It is the responsibility of the event organizers to make sure the venue is safe and that contingency plans are in place in case of complications.  Inadequate protection and planing can quickly lead to dramatic disasters during crowded concerts and festivals.

Here are some of the most terrifying concert accidents that happened in the past, the most deadly were due to fire accidents in venues where organizers neglected attendees safety:

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Pollack and DumasCould a child be better protected from potential injury and abuse if the CPS investigator was not randomly assigned to his or her case but specialized in that specific type of case? In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City and Gilion Dumas, a practicing attorney in Oregon focusing on cases involving child sexual abuse explain why instead of randomly assigning cases to CPS investigators children may be better protected if a specialized investigator is assigned to their case.

Download a PDF of the article here