Blog

Our client, a 74 year old female, was working in New York City at the time of her accident when, prior to work, she purchased coffee and was exiting a coffee shop. Upon exiting the coffee shop, she took three steps, turned to her left and tripped and fell on an obviously defective sidewalk, fracturing her shoulder necessitating surgery. Upon being retained, Attorney Todd Greenberg immediately sent an investigator to talk to the superintendent of the building who showed him a video tape of the accident occurring and our client’s fall. The investigator recorded the video on his cell phone which turned out to be very significant in that the Defendant ultimately couldn’t locate the video tape! The Defendant argued that they should not be liable because the defect was “open and obvious”. However, the video tape that Mr. Greenberg recovered did show a normal crowded sidewalk on a workday. During a pretrial mediation, Mr. Greenberg argued that as every New Yorker knows, when you exit an establishment onto the street, you look to both sides first for people coming in either direction. Since this defect existed in an area immediately outside the exit of the store, a customer would not have the opportunity to look down on the ground prior to walking! Case settled for $450,000.00, without our client assuming any liability for the accident! Call Addabbo and Greenberg if you are seriously injured in an accident at 718-268-0400 or visit us at www.www.addabboandgreenberg.com.

A Queens nursing home settled a lawsuit brought by the Estate of man who was beaten to death by his roommate who was convicted of Manslaughter with the leg of a wheelchair. Unfortunately, the facts are disturbing: Our client, a resident of the nursing home, was viciously bludgeoned to death without any intervention from the staff of the nursing home! Upon retention by the Estate to pursue a claim of negligence, Personal Injury Attorney Todd Greenberg was told by the attorney for the nursing home that the nursing home was not liable, that it was the independent and murderous acts of the roommate that caused our client’s death and that the case would be dismissed prior to trial. Instead, after five (5) years of litigation, that same attorney on the eve of Jury Selection entered into a mutually satisfactory settlement with Mr. Greenberg on behalf of the Estate, the terms of which are subject to a non-disclosure agreement. Why? During the litigation, Mr. Greenberg filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with the District Attorney’s Office of Queens County, The New York City Police Department and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDH), and even brought an Article 78 proceeding against the NYSDH in Albany, to obtain all records and videotapes. NYSDH turned over a video, obtained during its investigation, which showed the killer roommate banging the footrest of the wheelchair on a hallway wall for two (2) minutes before going into his room and committing murder. The video also showed employees of the nursing home, in whose care our client was placed, walking by and ignoring his aggression! The nursing home was negligent in failing to intervene which, Mr. Greenberg argued, allowed the murderer to enter the room. This death could have been avoided! Our client’s pain and suffering action survived his death and his Estate received a mutually satisfactory settlement which the family hopes will act as a deterrent to such negligent conduct by nursing homes. If you or a love one is injured through the negligence of others call Addabbo and Greenberg and speak to Mr. Dominic Addabbo or Mr. Todd Greenberg at 718-268-0400 or contact us through www.addabboandgreenberg.com.

Our clients, a married couple and childhood friends of attorneys Todd Greenberg and Jill Stone, were passengers in a Lyft vehicle when they were rear-ended by a pickup truck travelling approximately 90mph in New Orleans in June of 2019. The accident was horrific and caught on videotape. The Lyft driver was not responsible, and the responsible pickup truck had only the $15,000.00 minimum insurance required. Plaintiffs, both California residents, were in New Orleans for a business convention. Plaintiffs were severely injured in this instant, with the female Plaintiff suffering the most serious injuries, including a fractured pelvis, fractured spine, and several fractured ribs. She had to go undergo several surgeries. This case features the importance of two principles: Due diligence by a law firm hired to maximize recovery and underinsured motor vehicle coverage. Underinsured motor vehicle coverage helps pay for the cost and damages resulting from an accident when the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident has liability insurance but does not have enough to cover the full extent of the damages caused by the accident.  In this case, Lyft had an underinsured motor vehicle coverage policy and our clients had a private auto policy and business policy that also provided for underinsurance. But here is where the Due Diligence comes in: Lyft claimed and produced a Certificate of Insurance that it’s underinsured motorist coverage was $250,000.00, barely enough to cover our clients’ pain and suffering. However, we filed a Freedom of Information (F.O.I.L) Claim on the City of New Orleans and discovered that despite Lyft’s Insurer’s Certificate of Insurance in the amount of $250,000.00, Lyft actually filed a Certificate of Insurance showing $1,000,000.00 in coverage! Because of its prior representation, Lyft agreed to provide coverage for $1,000,000.00 instead of $250,000.00. The total recovery was $1.6 million for our clients with Lyft contributing $1 million to the settlement. If you are in an accident, no matter where, the attorneys at Addabbo and Greenberg are here to help. Call us at (718) 268-0400 or visit us at www.Queenslaw.com.