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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In December 2013 4 people died and 70 others suffered personal injury in a Metro North train accident in New York. The National Transportation Board Investigation found that William Rockefeller the engineer who was operating the train had undiagnosed sleep apnea and nodded off  just before taking a 30 mph curve at 82 mph, causing the train to derail. Yesterday the office of Bronx DA Robert Johnson said that Rockefeller will not face criminal charges.  Read more here

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Amtrak AccidentAn Amtrak train heading from New York to Washington DC derailed yesterday night in Philadelphia. 6 people died and many the 243 passengers of suffered personal injury and were taken to the hospital. Among the people injured 6 of them were in critical condition. The Amtrak accident happened yesterday night around 9:30 close to Frankford Avenue and Wheatsheaf Lane near a bend in the track. One of the nation’s deadliest railroad accidents happened in the same spot on Labor Day 1943. A train carrying military service members on leave derailed killing 79 of them and injuring 117. The cause of yesterday’s train accident is still unknown. Speed as well deteriorating infrastructure and aging equipment are among the potential factors to be investigated. Former Congressman  Patrick J. Murphy was on board when the accident happened and tweeted the pictures on the left.
Read more about this train accident in the New York Times

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A Boltbus that departed from New York to go to Boston exploded on the Massachusetts Turnpike yesterday during rush hours.  The bus driver noticed smoke coming out of the bus, pulled over and immediately evacuated the 47 passengers with their belongings. Shortly after the bus exploded and caught fire. The recasons of the explosion are still being investigated.

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A woman suffered personal injury after being hit by debris in Manhattan. The woman was in front of a Zara store at 580 Broadway near Prince Street on Friday afternoon when debris fell from above onto her head and knocked her to the ground. According to witnesses, the woman was bleeding from her forehead but she remained conscious. She was taken to the hospital where she was treated for trauma.

Read more in DNA Info

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A defective surgical staple used to close tissue in the left atrial appendage of the heart is being recalled by the FDA after reports that patients suffered personal injuries such as tissue tears and bleeding  including a possible tear of the left atrial wall (top left chamber) during use of the device.   The manufacturer of the defective medical device, Maquet Medical Systems, sent an “Urgent Medical Device Recall (Removal) Immediate Action Required” letter to all affected customers asking them to immediately remove and quarantine the Tiger paw System II from their inventory.

Read the press release from the FDA

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NYC Fatal Personal Injury ChildrenPersonal Injury is the leading cause of death among children 1 to 12 years old in New York City and in the U.S. as well. Between 2003 and 2012 438 NYC children died from injuries according to a new report just published by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  These injuries were primarily related to motor vehicle accidents followed by fire related injuries, suffocation and falls. Most of the children who died after being involved in a traffic accidents were pedestrians.

Most injuries leading to death (65%) were unintentional.  Infants between 1 and 2 years old are the most at risk as well as non Hispanic black children of all ages and kids from very poor neighborhoods. Boys have a much higher risk of death from an unintentional injury than girls.

Death related to intentional injuries are more prevalent among infants, in poor neighborhoods. Non Hispanic black kids are the most at risk of dying from an intentional injury.

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benOur managing partner Ben Rubinowitz and the Honorable Nancy Vaidik, Chief Judge of the Indiana Court of Appeals will direct the National Session of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) in Boulder Colorado from July 22nd to July 30 2015. ” Together Rubinowitz and Vaidik have invited some of the best trial lawyers, judges, and professors in the country, all of whom are also some of the best teachers of trial advocacy in the country.”  Participants will have the opportunity to use NITA’s learning-by-doing method to practice and perfect their skills in the art of persuasion and trial advocacy with an outstanding faculty.  Participants will be personally coached on speaking well by Brian Johnson and Marsha Hunter, authors of “The Articulate Advocate” and communication experts extraordinaire. Students will also have the opportunity to practice and master isolated trial skills in a dedicated drill room.

To read more about this program and to register click here

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PrintGair Gair Conason Steigman Mackauf Bloom & Rubinowitz was featured in the New York Law Journal’s Top New York Verdicts of 2014 for obtaining the highest award for a verdict in a motor vehicle accident involving a bicycle.  The case was tried by our Managing Partner Ben B. Rubinowitz, along with our Partner, Peter J. Saghir.  The accident involved a 36-year-old woman who was riding her bicycle south on Broadway across East 14th Street when she was struck from behind by a New York City Transit Authority bus which was traveling southbound in the same direction as the plaintiff.  After she was struck by the bus she was dragged into the intersection where the right rear wheels of the bus rolled over her legs.  The bus driver claimed that he was in the center or left lane at the time of the accident and that the plaintiff suddenly and unexpeNY Personal Injury Lawyers Rubinowitz and Saghirctedly rode her bicycle across two lanes of traffic from the right lane to the left lane and struck the right side of the bus.  The plaintiff contended she was in the right lane as she approached the intersection.  It was undisputed that the plaintiff ended up in the left-hand lane of this three lane roadway.  The plaintiff suffered a degloving injury to her right leg as well as fractures to the distal tibia and fibula of her left leg.  The plaintiff’s entire claim was based on pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.  No claims were made for past or future medical expenses or past or future lost earnings.  After two days of deliberation, the jury found the New York City Transit Authority at fault and awarded the plaintiff $8,570,000 ($3,250,000 past pain and suffering and $5,320,000 future pain and suffering  over 40.9 years).

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Child abuse and neglect not only have terrible consequences on the life of the victim but also impose a hefty cost on our society.  Some interventions can change these personnally tragic and socially costly outcomes. A new website, Children Adversity Narratives (CAN) launched by Franck Putnam, MD, UNC at Chapel Hill, NC; William Harris, PhD, Children’s Research and Education Institute & New School for Social Research, NYC, NY; Alicia Lieberman, PhD, Sanfrancisco, CA; Karen Putnam, PhD, UNC at Chapel Hill, NC and Lisa Amaya-Jackson, Duke University. Durham, NC provides an in depth analysis of child trauma and adversities and propose to adopt a public health approach to prevent, screen and treat trauma related to child abuse and neglect.

child abuse

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Last August an 80 year old nursing home resident suffered severe personal injury after she was physically abused by a nurse’s aid in a New York facility. The incident happened when 59 year old Marie Jeanty, a certified nurse aid was changing the resident at the West Lawrence Care Center, a nursing home located at 1410 Seagirt Boulevard in Far Rockaway, N.Y.  According to Court documents, the nurse aid asked the resident to move to change her clothes and bed linen.   Jeanty then allegedly pushed and hit the resident multiple times in the arm and shoulder with a closed fist and forcibly pushed her into the side of the bed rail, causing her face to hit the rail. As a result, the resident suffered a black eye and significant bruising and swelling to her left arm, right temporal area, and right orbital area, which required treatment at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital. The nurse aid was arrested at the beginning of this month and charged with second degree assault and two  felonies for endangering the welfare of another person. Read more in the NY Daily News or read the press release of the New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman