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The Importance Of An Aggressive Personal Injury Lawyer

In todays poor economy, many people who are wrongly injured and sue for negligence are getting their cases delayed and not obtaining recoveries. The first problem is that the New York Courts suffered major cut backs in the budget and now have much less personnel to handle the load of cases. Judges who used to work late are being forced to shut down everything at 4pm because almost all security officers will be out of the court building by 5pm. This means that cases are taking longer to prosecute delaying settlement or trial.

The other problem is that some insurance companies are not settling cases and taking advantage of the courts backlog. This means the insurance companies hold onto their monies to invest and earn more rather than paying on the claims they will have to pay when the trial date gets closer. One company, Allstate insurance, is well known for delaying any offer of settlement until the trial date gets closer.

Without a determined New York personal injury lawyer, and more specifically, a good Manhattan trial attorney, an injured victim could wait years longer then they need. However, some lawyers push a case to trial too quickly and ignore or overlook obtaining important documents which may hurt the chances of a good or better result.

In one recent motor vehicle accident case in the Brooklyn, a man was struck by a car in the rear. Our firm made a motion for summary judgment early in the case which resulted in the court finding that the defendant was at fault as a matter of law. This means the only issue for the jury would be a trial on determining the plaintiffs injuries from the accident and a monetary value, not whether the defendant was at fault. However, even after a finding of fault against their insured, this insurance company refused to make any offer to settle the case. The insurance policy coverage of the defendant driver was only $100,000 and we believed the value of the injuries exceeded the policy limits. Our demand to tender over the entire $100,000 policy was rejected.

I sent a letter to defense counsel and the insurance carrier advising them that if they did not settle for this amount, then I would seek a recovery greater than the $100,000 from the insurance carrier in a bad faith action. What does this mean? If a jury heard the case and awarded $150,000, then the insurance carrier would only be responsible to pay the $100,000 policy limit. We could then obtain the balance of $50,000 from the defendant himself. However, many defendant drivers do not have much assets and garnishing wages from their employer could take year and sometimes, the defendant is not employed.

A bad faith action is where you tell the insurance company for the defendant that because they did not settle the case for the policy limits, a jury verdict exceeded the policy limits to pay the balance. Had the insurance company simply offered the policy limit, then the insured driver would not be responsible for this additional amount. In other words, the insurance company breached the contract the driver signed to obtain insurance coverage. The contract would have an implied obligation for the insurer to settle the case if they could and if the chance of a verdict in excess of the policy limit was likely. The insured assigns his breach of contract action to the attorney for the injured victim and the damages is the balance still owed from the verdict.

Well, in this one particular case, I sent a letter to the insurance carrier about a possible bad faith action and spoke to the insurance adjuster reminding her that I would be deposing her very shortly in a separate bad faith action if she did not settle this case right away. The insurance carrier shortly after this phone called tendered their policy and my client was very happy. The best way to help my clients requires being very aggressive and thorough in how a case is litigated. Anything less means the lawyer is not providing zealous representation, which in New York State is his or her ethical obligation.

If you have any questions about apersonal injury accident, call to get a free consultation.As a general rule, you should never retain or speak to a lawyer who found you rather than you finding the lawyer. These lawyers or their agents, called runners or ambulance chasers are unethical and many of these lawyers have been disbarred, but new ones keep appearing. Make sure your lawyer has a respectable website with information about all the lawyers and their experience.

Select A Practice Area

Construction Accident

$1,700,000

$1.7 million verdict in New York County against the driver of a delivery truck who struck a man as he was crossing the street within the crosswalk in Manhattan.

Motor Vehicle Accident

$3,600,000

$3.6 Million settlement in New York Supreme Court for a Spanish speaking construction worker who fell off a 6 foot ladder and landed onto metal and wooden debris. The worker required lumbar spinal surgery for his injuries and needed surgeries to both knees from the fall. The worker could not return to work and suffered depression from his injuries resulting in a suicide attempt.

Construction Accident

$3,200,000

$3.2 million verdict in Queens Supreme Court for an undocumented Polish speaking construction worker who fell 12 feet during a demolition project. The worker fractured a vertebrae and herniated several discs in his spine requiring surgery. The plaintiff was unable to return back to work due to his injuries.

Motor Vehicle Accident

$1,500,000

$1.5 million verdict in Supreme Court Kings County for a woman struck by a car that jumped the curb and hit the pedestrian while standing on the sidewalk across from Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Slip And Fall Accident

$1,900,000

$1.9 million verdict in New York Supreme Court for a bank manager who slipped and fell on a wet floor, resulting in spinal injuries. The building owner knew about a recurring leak inside the basement cafeteria but failed to correct the problem.

Construction Accident

$2,000,000

$2 million settlement in Queens Supreme Court for Polish construction worker who fell 2 stories from a bucket. The worker’s supervisor told the construction worker to ride the material bucket down to use the bathroom because it would save time. The worker fractured his pelvis in several places requiring surgery and was unable to return to work.

Medical Malpractice

$4,500,000

Defense counsel offers 11 cents to settle before trial and the jury renders a verdict of $4.5 million dollars for a medical malpractice victim and his wife. The action was commenced in New York Supreme Court for a patient who suffered massive internal bleeding during a lower back surgery when the surgeon negligently cut an artery and failed to promptly treat the condition, causing a loss of oxygen and injury to the brain. The anesthesiologist failed to properly monitor the patient’s vitals during the surgery and alert the surgeon of the drop in blood pressure.

Assault

$1,250,000

$1.25 million settlement in New York Supreme Court against building owner for negligent security that caused two women to be assaulted while leaving work. A masked man entered their elevator from a floor that was supposed to be closed off for construction. The assailant used a metal pipe to attack the two women. The two women split the settlement monies.

Construction Accident

$1,500,000

$1.5 Million settlement in New York Supreme Court for a construction worker who was struck by a piece of concrete that fell on his head and back. Workers above were chipping concrete despite knowing that people were working directly below them. The plaintiff required surgery on his neck but made a good recovery.

Medical Malpractice

$3,900,000

$3.9 million settlement in Supreme Court Kings County for a Brooklyn man who suffered a stroke shortly following an eye surgery. The patient was given medical clearance for local anesthesia but instead was placed under general anesthesia for 7 hours. The patient’s blood pressure was not well controlled resulting in a 30 minute hypertensive emergency near the end of the operation. The patient died after 7 years of living in different nursing homes.

Slip, Trip and Fall, New York

$1,400,000

$1.4 Million settlement for Queens Hispanic woman who slipped and fell on ice walking out the door of her rented basement apartment.

CLIENT REVIEWS

    I did not think myself that we will win this difficult matter and become victorious, especially after being rejected by numerous other attorneys…but your professionalism Brett, dedication and determination, not to mention a huge heart, was how we prevailed

ALEKSANDER J.

    When I brought my situation to a local attorney he directed me to Brett Nomberg, and I’m so glad he did. Someone always was able to give me a status of what was going on. Your team made my wife and I realize we were dealing with a truly professional firm and at the same time, sympathetic to our needs. Great job. Excellent Customer Service.

GREG M.

    I want to thank you for all the help and support that was given to my parents by you and your colleagues. Your firm’s time, effort and dedication, is without question second to none and this led to a successful settlement

PAT R.

    We can’t thank you enough for the wonderful representation you provided and for believing in our case. It was very vindicating to have a judge and jury decide in our favor.

JANE AND TOM D.

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