Representative Cases for General Litigation

For clients ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to smaller business owners, individual property owners and landlords, we handle claims involving bodily injury and commercial, residential and transportation-related property damage. The bodily injury claims include death and catastrophic injuries, such as electrical burns, head injuries and amputations, as well as more routine personal injury claims.

With a substantial trial practice centered in, but not limited to, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the firm has successfully tried hundreds of cases for our clients in state and federal venues. By frequently achieving early and favorable pre-trial resolution of disputes, clients are often able to take advantage of the firm’s reputation for being skilled in trials and appeals.

From day one, we establish a litigation strategy and, as the case develops, we remain committed to navigating the most efficient and cost-effective route to resolution.  We assess the potential benefits of early settlement, pre-trial motion practice and mediation, and seek to resolve cases on a reasonable basis as expeditiously as possible. To achieve this result, we take pains to ensure that our clients' cases are “trial-ready” with the goal of maximizing our clients’ leverage in settlement negotiations and sparing them from unexpected surprises in those cases that must proceed to trial and verdict.

Representative Cases

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  • Wallace v. Nat'l R.R. Pass. Corp., 2014 WL 1088906 (S.D.N.Y. March 18, 2014) (ruling that Amtrak was entitled to a declaration, prior to trial of the underlying personal injury claims, that its contractor, Weeks Marine, was contractually obligated both to pay Amtrak's defense costs and fees and to indemnify Amtrak against the personal injury claims of Weeks’ employee against Amtrak)

  • Arriaga-Hernandez v. MTA (New York County Supreme Court) (granting motion to compel the production of the plaintiff's cell phone records despite the fact that there was no evidence that claimant was on his phone at the time he was struck by defendant’s train and plaintiff had denied during his PALH that he used his cell phone while at the station)

  • Simoes v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 2011 WL 2118934 (D.N.J. 2011) (agreeing with our client’s position in a contract dispute that its unsigned purchase order issued to a contractor was a binding contract; that the purchase order was sufficiently definite to be enforceable; that the choice-of-law provision in the purchase order was enforceable; and that the indemnity clause in the purchase order was enforceable and entitled our client to indemnity even for client’s own negligence)

  • Vetter v. Dunkin Donuts LLC, No. MON-L-2737-08 (Sup. Ct. Monmouth Co. 2011) (allowing client to recover all of its attorneys' fees and costs incurred to defend a personal injury case and to prosecute the contractual indemnity claim in one of the first cases interpreting the Supreme Court of New Jersey's latest decision on contractual indemnity clauses)

  • In re: Human Tissue Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1973, No. 06-cv-135 (WJM) (D.N.J. 2010) (denying plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in putative class action against client funeral homes and others)

  • Montgomery v. Cheshire Handling d/b/a Riverside Reload Center, 2009 WL 332026 (Vt. Supr. 2009) (affirming denial of Rule 60(b) motion to vacate dismissal of a state court case involving an accident with catastrophic injuries, including loss of leg at hip, based on an allegedly inconsistent position taken by our client in a subsequent federal court trial on the merits of the same accident, which resulted in a defense verdict)

  • McDougall v. National R.R. Passenger Corp., 2005 WL 713339 (E.D.Pa. 2005)  (dismissal, following bench trial, of civil rights claims by defense attorney against police department for unlawful arrest, malicious prosecution and excessive use of force after the criminal case against him was dismissed)

  • Mercon v. DiPasquale, 2005 WL 696885 (S.D.N.Y. 2005) (dismissing action for alleged sexual abuse against a religious order)

  • In re Cendent Corp. Prides Litigation, 311 F.3d 298 (3d Cir. 2002) (reversing trial court and ordering trial court to grant Rule 60(b) motion filed by our client (Chase Manhattan Bank) to collect its $23 million share of a class action settlement)

  • The claims of a worker who allegedly suffered serious injuries while working in a rail yard were dismissed by the Supreme Court, Queens County in Ferrara v. NY & Atlantic Railway Co. et ano. The suit, arising from a 1998 accident, was filed in 1999. Plaintiff was allegedly injured by a railroad tie he contended was dropped on him by a backhoe. The case was twice marked off the calendar by the Court. The first time, it was reinstated by the Appellate Division. In awarding our client summary judgment and denying plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint, the trial court found Labor Law sections 240(1) and 241(6) inapplicable on the grounds that the accident arose from routine maintenance and that amendment of the pleadings would cause prejudice. The court also dismissed plaintiff’s common law negligence claims, holding that the doctrine of res ipsa loquitor could not overcome the lack of any eyewitness or other evidence of defendant’s negligence. Ron Joseph headed the LCBF team

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