We are excited to report that we successfully defended a jury verdict in our clients’ favor in the Appellate Division, Second Department (Rosenberg v. Hanasab, 2023 NY Slip Op 02136, 1 [2d Dep’t Apr. 26, 2023]).  This case arose out of an alleged slip and fall on ice on our clients’ property (the steps leading into their home).  But our trial attorney, Kim Townsend, successfully persuaded the jury that no snow or ice existed on the stairs on the date of the accident, and that there was a storm in progress at that time.  Kim also highlighted how the ambulance call report indicated that plaintiff told the ambulance personnel that she fell in the street, and not on our clients’ steps.

On appeal, plaintiff’s main argument was that the ambulance call report was unauthenticated and inadmissible, and that allowing this into evidence was prejudicial to plaintiff, requiring a new trial.  However, our appellate attorney, C. Briggs Johnson, showed that the ambulance report was properly admitted into evidence because it was satisfactorily attributed to plaintiff, and it contained a statement inconsistent with her position at trial.

The Appellate Division, Second Department, agreed with us.  They held that the balance of the evidence demonstrated that our clients were not negligent for the accident, and that plaintiff’s argument regarding the ambulance report was “without merit.”

Congratulations to first year associate, Matthew Finegan!

We are thrilled to announce that Matthew has officially been admitted to practice law in the State of New York! Well done on passing the bar exam and achieving this significant milestone in your legal career.

Matt works with Matthew Vitucci and Pat Cooney handling premises and commercial transportation matters.

 

Plaintiff, an employee of the general contractor, was standing atop a metal step ladder when an exposed wire came in contact with his ladder. Based upon a post-accident investigation, it was determined that someone had stripped a fluorescent light, plugging the stripped wires of the light into an extension cord allowing the exposed wires to meet the metal ladder.  At the time of the accident, plaintiff was installing metal framing in the ceiling, so when he grabbed the ceiling frame, he completed the circuit resulting in his death by electrocution.

Plaintiff’s estate sued the building owner and the tenant and our client, the electrical subcontractor. The plaintiff’s employer, the general contractor, was impled as a third-party defendant due to plaintiff’s grave injury.

On our motion for summary judgment, the Court agreed with our argument that our client, the electrician contractor, was not a proper Labor Law defendant as we did not direct, control, or supervise the work being performed by plaintiff. The Court also agreed with our argument that it was plaintiff’s employer who was responsible for electrical safety on the job site and that our client did not cause, create or have notice of any alleged defect, successfully achieving dismissal of all common law claims.

By William Parra

The Grieving Families Act (the “Act”), which the New York State Legislature passed on the final day of the June 2022 legislative session, was vetoed by Governor Hochul last night, as the Act formally expired. This followed an op-ed she published yesterday supporting the amendment of the wrongful death statute to expand recovery, particularly for the families of deceased children.

The Act expanded the types of damages recoverable in wrongful death suits, where recovery is presently limited to “pecuniary losses” of a decedent’s distributees, which is generally limited to a decedent’s future lost earnings. Although case law allows recovery of pecuniary loss in the form of a decedent’s pre-death conscious pain and suffering and for loss of parental support, guidance, assistance and inheritance, these damages are often difficult to prove. The Act sought to 1) permit a decedent’s survivors (vaguely defined as “close family members”) to recover for their own “emotional anguish” or pain and suffering; 2) extend the applicable statute of limitations from 2 to 3.5 years; and 3) take immediate, retroactive effect in all pending wrongful death suits.

In vetoing the Act, Governor Hochul voiced her support for the proposed expansion of the existing statute, citing the inequity against the families of minors and others in valuing a life based solely on its future earning potential. However, she cited the following concerns with the scope, financial impact and other “significant unintended consequences” of the Act, as drafted:

The Governor called for serious evaluation and study of the financial impact of these expansive changes on these groups particularly, and on the New York State economy generally. Most significantly, she agreed with opponents of the Act that have argued that the State’s constitutional prohibition against limits on jury verdicts on damages must be studied and considered. This refers to the fact that although almost every other state allows for some or many of the expanded classes of beneficiaries or types of damage claims the Act sought to add, but each of those states also have laws capping verdicts on such damages, which New York does not.

The Governor’s veto indicates that the drive to significantly expand the scope of the wrongful death statute is only temporarily defeated, that she is sympathetic and in favor of its expansion, but that she will only sign a bill that considers the overall impact to the general economy.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Howard Klar or William Parra.

Gallo Vitucci Klar LLP is proud to announce that 12 of our Partners and Associates have been named to the Super Lawyers and Rising Stars list for the year 2022. These GVK recipients have been recognized as the top attorneys in the New York Metro area for 2022. No more than 2.5 percent of lawyers in the state are selected per year to the Super Lawyers or Rising Stars listings, yet many of our attorneys have been named to the list year after year. Approximately 20% of our attorneys have received this recognition this year.

2022 Rising Stars

The GVK 2022 Rising Stars include, Partner, Jessica Clark who was selected to the Rising Stars list for her tenth consecutive year for her excellence in construction and general litigation. Partner, Brandon Weinstein was selected to the Rising Star list for his second consecutive year for his excellence in civil litigation and personal injury. Partner, Ancilla Dias-Pinto was selected to the Rising Star list for her second consecutive year for her excellence in personal injury.

2022 Super Lawyers

In addition to these three Rising Stars, Senior Partners; Howard P. Klar, Matthew J. Vitucci and Partners; Jeannine Davanzo, Stephen A. Hoffman, Heather C. Ragone, Bryan T. Schwartz, Patrick J. Cooney, Joe J. Rava, and Shanna R. Torgersen have been named to the 2022 New York Metro Super Lawyers List.

Senior Partner, Howard P. Klar has been named to New York Metro Super Lawyer List for his eleventh consecutive year in civil litigation defense. Senior Partner, Matthew J. Vitucci has been named to New York Metro Super Lawyer List for his tenth consecutive year in Civil litigation and Personal injury defense.

Partner, Patrick J. Cooney was selected for his second consecutive year in personal injury, civil litigation, construction litigation, insurance coverage, personal injury and transportation/maritime defense. Partner, Jeannine Davanzo was selected to the listing for her seventh consecutive year for her excellence in personal injury and construction litigation. Partner, Stephen A. Hoffman was selected for his seventh consecutive year in civil litigation defense. Partner, Heather C. Ragone was selected for her seventh consecutive year in transportation/maritime and insurance coverage defense. Partner, Bryan T. Schwartz was selected for his second consecutive year in personal injury defense. Partner, Joe J. Rava was selected for his second consecutive year in personal injury, appellate and insurance coverage defense. Partner, Shanna R. Torgersen was selected for her second consecutive year in professional liability, civil litigation, personal injury/general, personal injury/products and construction litigation defense.

Over the past few months GVK has added a number of attorneys across all experience levels to the firm in our various practice groups. The addition of these attorneys furthers our ability to provide to our clients the highest level of legal services in our industry. GVK is pleased to welcome Amanda Aiello, James Burbage, Debora Dillon, Scott Eisenberg, Matthew Finegan, Nadine Ibrahim, Michael Liloia, Tom Muldoon, Daniel Nachman, Paul  Pastore, David Roemer, Isaac Rosen, Dennis Swanson, John Szewczuk, Rachel Trauner and Sebastian Vollkommer to the firm.

ATTORNEYS

Amanda Aiello joins GVK as an Associate.  Amanda has over six years’ of experience litigating complex matters and more than four years of civil tort litigation including premises liability, constriction litigation, labor law claims, and general liability matters. Amanda works out of the Woodbury, NY office.

James Burbage joins GVK as a Partner.  James has over 30 years’ experience handling, negligence claims encompassing: auto, trucking, slip and trip and falls, Labor Law, subrogation, property damage, coverage, and public entities.  James works out of the Irvington, NY office.

Debora Dillon joins GVK as Of Counsel.  Debora has over 29 years’ experience, handling predominantly premises liability and vehicular/transportation liability matters. Debora works out of the Irvington, NY office.

Scott Eisenberg joins GVK as an Associate.  Scott has over 16 years’ experience handling premises liability, motor vehicle accidents, negligent security, property damage, New York Labor Law 240/241, and DRAM Shop cases.  Scott works out of the Woodbury, NY office.

Nadine Ibrahim joins GVK as an Associate.  Nadine has over six years’ experience handling both criminal matters and civil liability defense. Nadine works out of the Hackensack, NJ office.

Michael J. Liloia joins GVK as an Associate.  Michael has over 14 years’ experience handling general liability and personal injury litigation.  Michael works out of the Hackensack, NJ office.

Tom Muldoon joins GVK as a Partner. Tom has over 25 years’ experience in multiple jurisdictions focused on defending construction site accidents, premises liability claims, catastrophic injury claims, automotive liability claims, insurance coverage and contractual claims.  Tom works out of the Irvington, NY office.

Daniel Nachman joins GVK as an Associate.  Daniel formerly served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Mary F. Thurber in the New Jersey Superior Court.  Daniel works out of the Hackensack, NJ office.

David Roemer joins GVK as an Associate.  Daniel has over 15 years’ experience handling New York Labor Law, premises liability and commercial automobile claims.  David works out of the Hackensack, NJ office.

Isaac Rosen joins GVK as an Associate.  Isaac has over three of years’ experience handling personal injury, premise liability, product liability, labor law, construction law, insurance defense, elevator/escalator, and workers’ compensation law.  Isaac works out of the Hackensack, NJ office.

John Szewczuk joins GVK as an Associate.  John has over 40 years’ of experience in trying general negligence cases including labor law/construction, sidewalk, lead paint, premises liability including trip and falls, building fires, and motor vehicle accidents. John works out of the 90 Broad Street, NY office.

Rachel Trauner joins GVK as Of Counsel.  Rachel has over ten years’ experience handling complex, construction accident, construction defect, premises liability, and automobile liability claims.  Rachel works out of the 90 Broad Street, NY office.

FIRST YEARS

Matthew Finnegan joins GVK as an Associate.  Matt graduated in May of 2022 from St. John’s University School of Law.  He has passed the New York State Bar Examination and is currently awaiting admission to the New York State Bar.  Matthew works out of the Woodbury, NY office.

Sebastian Vollkommer joins GVK as an Associate.  Sebastian graduated in May of 2022 from St. John’s University School of Law.  He has passed the New York State Bar Examination and is currently awaiting admission to the New York State Bar.  Sebastian works out of the 90 Broad Street, NY office.

Dennis Swanson joins GVK as an Associate. Dennis graduated in 2021 from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. He has passed the New York State Bar Examination and is currently awaiting admission to the New York State Bar.  Dennis works out of the 90 Broad Street, NY office.

Paul Pastore joins GVK as an associate. Paul graduated in May from St. John’s law. He has passed the New York State Bar Examination and is currently awaiting admission to the New York State Bar.  Paul  works out of the 90 Broad Street, NY office.

Matthew Finegan, Daniel Nachman, Paul Pastore and Sebastian Vollkommer have each passed the NY State Bar exam and will be admitted to practice in the coming months!

Matthew J. Vitucci obtained a defense verdict on a damages only trial where plaintiff sought over $3,000,000.00 from the jury. Plaintiff, Maribel Ortega aged 56, alleged she was stopped in traffic eastbound on McLean Avenue and within its intersection with the southbound portion of Central Park Avenue in Yonkers, New York when our client’s tractor trailer made a wide left turn from the right westbound lane to go south on Central Park Avenue and struck the plaintiff’s 2015 Honda SUV on the driver’s side. Our client admitted liability in causing the subject accident; therefore, the case proceeded to trial on the issue of damages only.

Plaintiff claimed to have sustained severe injuries as a result of the collision. Following a yearlong course of conservative care Plaintiff underwent an anterior discectomy and fusion at level C5-C6 of her cervical spine. Plaintiff claimed severe aftereffects following the surgery including an allegation that there was a lack of fusion of the bone graft in the spine leading to a catastrophic hardware failure which would require the removal of the fusion construct, and re-implantation of  new hardware. Plaintiff produced experts who opined that she would also require a Lumbar discectomy and fusion, a total knee replacement for her right knee, and a left shoulder surgery. Plaintiff produced evidence at trial through a life care plan that her future medical care needs for allegedly necessary medical care totaled $2.7 million dollars.

In defense to the injury claims we offered the testimony of a neurosurgeon who that plaintiff merely suffered from the continued deterioration of a cervical disc that had been injured in a prior accident. The expert further opined that the hardware construct was stable and not in need of repair. He disputed that plaintiff had pathology in her lumbosacral spine that required treatment. He further saw no need for future care.

We produced the testimony of an Orthopedic surgeon who opined that plaintiff suffered from preexisting arthritic changes in her knee and shoulder and that imaging showed no traumatic cause for plaintiff’s complaints.

Upon the close of evidence plaintiff requested in summation that the jury give an award of over three million dollars. Following five hours of deliberation the jury issued a verdict in favor of the defense find that plaintiff failed to prove that that she sustained a serious injury from the accident pursuant to the New York State Insurance Law.

Our investigation into plaintiff’s prior accident history revealed that she sustained injuries to the same body parts allegedly injured in the subject accident. At the time of trial, we offered evidence which identified plaintiff’s prior medical treatment and complaints of residual pain which lasted for years after the prior accidents.

Despite our client’s admission of liability in causing the collision, we argued that the subject incident was nothing more than a “side-swipe” accident which did not cause the plaintiff to sustain a permanent serious injury within the meaning of New York Insurance Law §5102(d). In support of our position, we offered full testimony of a biomedical engineer who opined that the nature of the contact imparted an insubstantial force to cause injury.

GVK congratulates our Partner, Joseph Scarglato, for being appointed by the Brooklyn Bar Association to Vice Chair of both the Transportation Law Committee and Tort Law Committee. In his leadership role, Joseph will coordinate CLE programs and Association publications related to transportation and tort law.

Plaintiff, a nurse working in a Dutchess County Hospital specimen room, was struck on the head by a 90 lb. overhead cabinet which suddenly detached from the wall.

Investigation disclosed that the cabinet was installed 8 months earlier, as part of a hospital expansion project involving construction of a new services wing. It was concluded that our client, a metal frame and sheetrock contractor, failed to install necessary wood backing for the cabinet installation per architect specifications, and that the cabinet in question was improperly attached to the wall by screwing it into the metal studs. Plaintiff brought suit against the cabinet maker, the general contractor who allegedly approved the alternate method for attaching the cabinet to the wall, the cabinet installer, the metal framer (our client) who concededly omitted the wood blocking, and the architect who was present and impliedly concurred with the cabinet’s revised installation method.

Plaintiff was granted summary judgment and the case was directed to proceed as a liability apportionment trial.

We argued that the missing wood blocking was an expected occurrence on a job of this scope and nature, and that our client’s liability should be cut off by actions of the cabinet installer who was indisputably aware of the blocking omission at the time of the installation, along with other parties who approved the revised cabinet installation procedure. The jury agreed with our assessment and awarded our client a Defense Verdict, holding the cabinet installer, general contractor, and architect, responsible for the occurrence in varying percentages.