As New York accident lawyers, we are interested in your thoughts and opinions on topics relating to personal injury law, medical malpractice law, and related subjects. We invite your comments on the following subjects.
“TORT REFORM”
Is tort reform, something we need as a society, or is it just a concept derived by politicians to save big companies, as well as insurance companies, cities, state and other municipalities from the expense of fairly compensating accident victims for injuries caused by the defendants’ negligence?
OUR OPINION
We believe that the concept of tort reform is based on the theory that injured plaintiffs either caused their own accidents, or are faking their injuries, or that they should be more careful navigating through the maze of broken sidewalks, improperly maintained apartment buildings, stores with fixtures, merchandise or other items left strewn about in the path of customers, mopped floors with no warning signs, slippery supermarket floors caused by employees carrying or dragging a leaking carto of merchandise, hidden staircases or open cellar doors without warning signs, improper lighting, defective products, dangerous products lacking readily available safety devices, and other hazards of everyday life. We disagree with the notion that people should be expected to accept those dangers as normal, and that in the event of serious injury, that they should not be compensated.
We also believe that if our system of justice does not hold defendants accountable for negligent conduct that causes serious injuries, there will be little incentive for landlords, store owners, manufacturers, etc. to maintain high levels of safety, which I believe we all deserve.
WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?
Click Contact Us & tell us your opinion.
MONETARY LIMITS ON NON-MONETARY DAMAGES (INCLUDING PAIN & SUFFERING)
Many politicians, large corporations and insurance companies are pushing the public to accept Monetary Limits on Non-Monetary Damages. If enacted, this would mean that when someone is seriously injured due to a defective product, or due to the negligence of a property owner, store, municipality, etc., the accident victim would be entitled to be reimbursed for his or her medical and hospital expenses and lost wages, but would have an artificial limit set on the money damages he or she could possible receive for the non-monetary damages, including pain, suffering, loss of quality of life, and all the other adverse changes in life that the accident caused.
OUR OPINION
It seems to us that this concept is based on the ill founded belief that accidents are just a cost of doing business for corporations, municipalities, etc., and that injuries can simply be measured in medical bills and lost salary. For example, if a young man or woman who earns $50,000 per year and is an avid participant in sports is seriously injured and confined to a wheelchair for life, the proponents of monetary limits on non-monetary damages would agree that as long as the victim receives reimbursement for medical and hospital expenses, including the cost of the wheelchair, and the lost salary of $50,000 per year (adjusted for inflation), the only additional compensation should be the maximum of the pre-set cap of perhaps $250,000 for pain suffering and loss of quality of the rest of his or her life. (It should be noted that under this theory, if the same person was a professional baseball player, the lost earnings component of monetary damages would be enormous.)
The loss of the accident victim’s active life style, loss of personal enjoyment from participating in recreational sports, and the confinement to a wheelchair, as well as permanent pain, suffering, inability to ever walk again, will all be compensated by the cost of the wheelchair plus the predetermined cap on non-economic damages. Maybe as plaintiff’s attorneys, we are biased in favor of innocent accident victims, but we don’t think that $250,000 is a fair compensation for such a tragic loss.
WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?
Click Contact Us & tell us your opinion.
FRIVOLOUS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAWSUITS?
Is the spiraling cost of medical care the result of over aggressive medical malpractice lawyers bringing frivolous lawsuits?
OUR OPINION
We strongly disagree with the notion that the spiraling cost of medical care the result of over aggressive medical malpractice lawyers bringing frivolous lawsuits. What this theory ignores is that the malpractice lawyer has no incentive at all to commence frivolous lawsuits, and has much to lose by following such an imprudent and improper course. Fists, in New York State, medical malpractice lawsuits must be certified to have merit in order to proceed. Second, medical malpractice cases are extremely expensive to litigate, particularly due to the high cost of medical experts to establish that a hospital or doctor deviated from the accepted standards of care. Third, in New York, the medical malpractice legal fees have been substantially reduced. This operates as a further disincentive for lawyers to accept marginal cases, or even clear cases of medical malpractice unless the damages sustained are very substantial.
In any system of justice dealing with medical malpractice, there will be instances where a physician or hospital is wrongly abused of malpractice, and in those instances, we believe that the lawsuit will be properly dismissed by either the judge or the jury. We believe however that under our current system of justice, many acts of medical malpractice are rejected by lawyers for the above reasons, and that frivolous or questionable cases, or those where the damages caused by malpractice are not substantial are never perused by lawyers at all.
WHAT’S YOUR OPINION?
Click Contact Us & tell us your opinion.
FREE CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION
If you have been seriously injured due to an accident, and would like to discuss your case with a New York Accident Lawyer, call our office for a free confidential consultation, or visit our NY Accident Lawyer website, or complete our questionnaire.
GENERAL DISCLAIMER
Visiting our website, submitting any information via questionnaire or email, or discussing your case with us does not create an attorney-client relationship. An attorney-client relationship with our law firm can only be established with the signing of a written retainer agreement prepared by our law firm.
Under New York law, in the event there is no recovery in a contingency fee case, the client is responsible for the expenses of the litigation, including court costs and disbursements.
Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future case or legal matter.
NEW YORK ACCIDENT LAWYER DISCLAIMER
The New York personal injury, accidental injury, serious accident, or other personal injury legal information contained in this website is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor to create an attorney-client relationship or lawyer-client relationship. We recommend that you discuss your accident case with a New York Personal Injury Lawyer or New York Accident Attorney promptly, since there are strict time limitations that apply to New York personal injury and New York accident cases.
This website is not intended to solicit clients for accident cases outside of New York State. However, we do represent accident victims who live outside of New York, who sustained fractures or other serious injuries in a motor vehicle collision, hit & run accident, uninsured motorist accident, under-insured motorist collision, motorcycle collision, pedestrian accident, bicycle accident, roller blade accident, in-line skating accident, premises accident, trip & fall accident, construction site accident, or on the job accident that occurred in New York State, as well as wrongful death or accidental death caused by a NY accident.
New York City Personal Injury Lawyers and Accident Attorneys New York representing accident victims who have sustained serious injuries in New York City, Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Westchester County, Rockland County and upstate New York.
Law Offices of Michael W. Goldstein, a New York personal injury law firm
Attorney Advertising