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.
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Best Lawyers Award Badge

Our NYC Personal Injury Law Firm is pleased to announce that 10 lawyers have been included in the 2018 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.

Best Lawyers has published their list for over three decades, earning the respect of the profession, the media, and the public as the most reliable, unbiased source of legal referrals. Its first international list was published in 2006 and since then has grown to provide lists in over 75 countries.

“For more than a third of the century,” says CEO Steven Naifeh, “Best Lawyers has been the gold standard of excellence in the legal profession.” President Phil Greer adds, “We are extremely proud of that record and equally proud to acknowledge the accomplishments of these exceptional legal professionals.”

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Best Lawyers Award BadgeNew york City Legal Malpractice LawyerOur NYC Legal Malpractice Attorney, Ben Rubinowitz , our Managing Partner, was recently recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2018 “Lawyer of the Year” for Legal Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs in the New York City area.

Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this accolade particularly significant. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer review assessments.

Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.

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Best Lawyers Award BadgeNew york Product Liability Attorney Anthony GairOur NYC product liability attorney Anthony H. Gair was recently recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2018 “Lawyer of the Year” for Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs in the New York City area.

Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this accolade particularly significant. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer review assessments.

Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.

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A construction worker suffered minor injuries after collapsing at a construction site in Manhattan yesterday morning. The man was in a hard to reach area  of a construction site located at 348 West 14th Street, downtown Manhattan. The accident occurred around 9:00 am. Because of concerns about the stability of the building, firefighters had to use a tower ladder to get access to the worker and to remove him from the location where he passed out. The worker was then transported to the hospital. So far, the exact causes of the accident are unknown. However above average temperatures may have been a factor. (read more in the NY Daily News)

Every summer in America, thousands of construction workers are becoming ill because of the heat. Some even die. Here are a few guidelines that employers should make sure to follow if they want to prevent their workers from getting ill when the temperature rises:

  • New and temporary workers should always be closely monitored when starting to work during warm weather as they are the most affected by heat illnesses. Heat illnesses often occur during the first 3 days of work in the heat. One third of the fatal accidents related to heat occur on the first day of work in the heat.
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New York Personal Injury Peter SagirOur partner NYC personal injury lawyer Peter Saghir served on the faculty of the “Building Trial Skills: Northeast” program presented by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy at Hofstra University from August 7 to August 12 2017. Students in the program spent the week preparing for a mock trial which was held at the end of the program before current judges and lawyers. Peter spent his time teaching and working with students in the program on their direct examinations, openings and summations.

For over forty years, NITA has offered trial skills programming taught by the best trial lawyers in the country, volunteers who donate their time and dedicate it to your professional success. Nowhere but through NITA can you receive personalized coaching by a veritable “who’s who” of advocacy experts—trial lawyers, judges, and law professors—from coast to coast.

To learn more about this program or about the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, please click here

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Daniel-Pollack-1In many States if you want to become a foster parent, you can not have a DUI or a DWI  conviction during the 5 years before you apply. Is this enough to protect foster children? In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City suggests the mandatory installation of an ignition interlock, which measures the blood alcohol content in a person’s system, for any foster parent who has a history of being convicted for drunk driving. These interlocks temporarily lock the cars ignition if the blood alcohol content exceeds a prescribed limit. Ignition interlocks can reduce DUI recidivism by 67%. Additionally if an ignition interlock was mandatory for all DUI offenders, it is estimated that DUI deaths would decrease by 15%.

The complete article can be read here 

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96 people died and 27,923 suffered personal injuries in 110,992 motor vehicle accidents in New York City during the first 6 months of 2017 based on the most recent statistics released by the NYPD.

This is the first time that the number of people dying in NYC traffic accidents during the first six months of the year is below 100.  In 2013, before Mayor de Blasio launched Vision Zero, 121 people died in auto accidents in the city during the same period. Vision Zero was launched at the beginning of 2014 and since then the total number of people dying in NYC crashes slowly decreased from 110 during the first semester of 2014 to 107 during the first semester of 2015 and the first semester of 2016. It dropped to 96 for the same period of 2017. Multiple Vision Zero measures such as the reduction of the city speed limit to 25 mph as well as the installation of cameras may have contributed to this decline in fatal crashes.

traffic accident deaths in NYC for the first semester of 2013 to 2017
The decrease in traffic deaths in New York City occurred despite a significant increase in crashes over the last 4 years. In 2013, 99,474 crashes were reported to the NYPD during the first semester. This number increased steadily to 100,834 in 2014 and 104,636 in 2015. It then jumped to 111,588 in 2016. It decreased slightly during the first six months of this year to stabilize at 110,992. Distracted driving is the most common factor in these accidents.

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Bronx Lebanon covering fro medical malpracticesNew York orthopedic surgeon Ira Kirshenbaum was sued 10 times for medical malpractice and 4 of his patients died after undergoing surgery with him. This hasn’t stop Bronx-Lebanon Hospital to keep him as the head of orthopedic surgery since 2008 and to pay him $1 million-a-year and additional bonuses since that time.

Bronx-Lebabanon treats mostly poor patients on Medicaid and executives seem more concerned by the hefty bonuses they receive every year than by patient care. Hospital executives don’t seem to be too concerned if patients die after surgery or if they come out of  the hospital with one leg shorter than the other.

When they hired Kirshenbaum, Bronx-Lebanon executives main concern was how much additional money they could put in their pocket.  By hiring Kirschenbaum the hospital would increase the number of hip and knee replacements which are very lucrative procedures.

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Nursing home abuse is not only physical or mental abuse, it can also be financial abuse. Recently, 40-year old Channel Francis, pleaded guilty to identity theft of three residents of Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation in Queens, a nursing home in New York City. She is expected to serve 2 to 4 years in jail. Channel fraudulently obtained the identity of the victims though the help of an unidentified friend who was working at the nursing home.

In 2013, The New York Attorney General received complaints from 3 families of residents at the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation about unauthorized transactions on the credit cards of their loved ones. After investigation, the Attorney General’s office found out that Channel Francis used the credit cards of the residents to purchase designer handbags and various electronic items such as high definitions TVs and Ipads.  Despite not being an employee at the Queens nursing home, Channel was able to obtain the credit card information through another person who was working there.  Unfortunately the investigation did not determine who the person was.

Financial abuse of nursing home residents shouldn’t be tolerated. If a loved one is a resident at a nursing home, you can prevent financial abuse by regularly checking all financial statements of your loved one.

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accident sceneA one year old baby suffered injuries after being hit by a yellow taxi.  The baby was sitting in a stroller next to the parents on the terrace of a restaurant  located at 85th Street and Second Avenue in the  Upper East Side of Manhattan when the accident happened. Two yellow taxis crashed into each other.  The impact caused one of the taxis to jump the curb and hit the stroller.  Two taxi passengers, a 46-year-old woman and a 9-year-old girl also suffered minor injuries. The two taxi  drivers  weren’t injured. They both jumped out of their taxis and started to argue. According to a witness, they didn’t seem to care much about the injured passengers or the family that they almost killed. Both drivers told the police that the other one didn’t have the green light. The police are still investigating the accident.  They are going to look at footage of the surveillance video camera from the restaurant to  figure out who was right and who was wrong. It was a miracle that no other pedestrians suffered  serious injury as the accident occurred during a sunny  Sunday afternoon  with terraces and sidewalks packed with people. Read more here