New York Personal Injury Law Blog

Survivors of child sexual assault earn major victory

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP posted in Sexual assault on Thursday, February 14, 2019.

Legislation extends statute of limitations on sexual abuse

After a long and bitter battle for legislation that would allow New York sex abuse victims to sue the Roman Catholic Church and other organizations for monetary damages, the New York State Legislature unanimously passed the Child Victims Act on Jan. 28, 2019. Governor Cuomo signed the bill into law on Feb. 14, 2019, extending the statute of limitations for victims of sexual abuse.

The Act allows child victims to seek prosecution against their abuser until the age of 55 in civil cases, a significant increase from the previous limit of age 23.

Can I collect injury compensation if I was partly at fault?

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP on Monday, February 11, 2019.

A woman suffered a serious leg injury at a Disney resort. A Florida jury awarded her thousands of dollars in compensation -- even though it determined she was primarily at fault.

Is this some miscarriage of justice? No. It’s called comparative negligence. It actually works the same way under New York law. It’s one reason you should never assume you have no legal claim. You could be entitled to partial compensation even if you contributed to your own accident.

New laws helping protect NYC renters with Asthma

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP posted in Landlord Negligence on Friday, February 8, 2019.

Over 25 million individuals in the United States suffer from Asthma, a common lung disease that causes a person to experience difficulties breathing. Unfortunately, for many people, the quality of their apartments is making their Asthma symptoms even worse.

Last month, New York City passed the Asthma-Free Housing Act. Under this act, landlords “will be required to have their buildings inspected every year for asthma triggers, such as mold, pests and rodents.” Additionally, the new law requires landlords to alert tenants about any asthma-related triggers and fix any related issues that arise.

Mother’s fatal fall exposes the shame of the NYC subway

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP on Monday, February 4, 2019.

People around the world were heartbroken when a young mom died falling down the stairs of a Manhattan subway station. But New Yorkers with small children or disabilities were hardly shocked.

New York is an elevator town. But NYC ranks dead last of all major cities for disability access in its public transit system, namely the lack of elevators at subway stations. Maylasia Goodson died because she had little choice but to carry her infant’s stroller down the subway stairs.

Robots being placed in grocery stores to prevent slip and falls

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP posted in Slip-and-Fall Accidents on Monday, January 28, 2019.

There are millions of slip and fall accidents in the United States each year. Some reports suggest over 300 thousand injuries and around 15 thousand deaths occur as a result. However, this might all be changing— especially in grocery stores.

According to a recent article in the Claims Journal, a wheeled robot named Marty will be heading into 500 grocery stores around the United States in the next few months. The reason? Researchers have designed the Marty to alert grocery store employees about spills that might potentially cause slip and fall accidents.

New York law neither authorizes nor prohibits ‘granny cams’

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP on Wednesday, January 23, 2019.

In the past, the New York attorney general has authorized secret recordings to catch nursing home personnel suspected of abusing patients. Suspicious families have similarly taken matters into their own hands when they believed their loved ones were being abused or neglected.

As of January, Louisiana joined a handful of states that legalize “granny cams” in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. While New York is not among those states, they are not specifically outlawed either. So can you or can’t you?

Llegó el invierno, a conducir con cuidado

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP posted in Safety Tips on Wednesday, January 16, 2019.

Hace pocos días, en Estados Unidos, empezó oficialmente el invierno. Temperaturas bajo cero, lluvia, hielo, nieve y aguanieve es algo muy común que veremos en los próximos meses.

Recientemente, en Nueva York y sus alrededores, se tuvo una de las tormentas más grandes últimamente registradas. En total, se acumuló más de seis pulgadas de nieve y causó 7 muertes, además de cientos de accidentes de auto debido a la imprudencia de los conductores y el estado de las carreteras.

Landlords in New York required to provide heat and hot water

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP posted in Negligent Maintenance on Friday, January 11, 2019.

This past Christmas Day was one of the coldest New York has seen in a few years. However, it was even colder for some residents living in Harlem.

Residents at an East Harlem public housing development were without heat and hot water for three days over the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, that is not the first time they experienced these issues.

Adam Cahn featured as 'Personal Injury Lawyer of the Year'

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP on Thursday, January 3, 2019.

That's Adam D. Cahn, founding partner of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP, gracing the cover of Attorney At Law magazine. Adam was featured in the national publication as Personal Injury Lawyer of the Year.

The magazine article chronicles Adam Cahn's "origin story" and his steady rise and phenomenal success as a trial lawyer in the field of personal injury litigation in New York. After winning countless verdicts in the courtroom, these days he guides our firm's continued success behind the scenes as managing partner.

Christmas sees spike in injuries

On behalf of Sakkas, Cahn & Weiss, LLP posted in Hazardous Conditions on Monday, December 31, 2018.

One might assume that the most common injuries on Christmas occur from activities such as starting a holiday fire for the family to gather around or drinking and driving after one too many festive cocktails. However, you might be surprised to find out that the most common injuries on Christmas occur from opening gifts and assembling Christmas decorations, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.