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For more than 65 Years, the attorneys at Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP have prided themselves in giving their injured clients the personal attention that that they deserve. Mark has been named a SuperLawyer by Martindale - Hubbell and has earned the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards. The firm handles personal injury cases throughout the New York Metropolitan area and has won numerous verdicts and negotiated countless settlements totaling over $100 million for injury victims to help them offset expenses, disabilities, and uncertain futures.
Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP.
“We employ a team approach and have the knowledge, experience and resources to help accident victims fight the big insurance companies, as can be seen by our proven track record of case results. Our clients benefit from an experienced team and dedicated case managers.”
At Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP we are proud of our diversity and inclusion and we are fluent in the Spanish, Korean & Chinese languages. If you’ve been injured in an automobile or truck accident, a construction accident or an accident on the job, call us today at (516) 248-2234 or (718) 539-3100.
Case results include:
Awarded: $12,000,000.00: 43 year-old man (undocumented worker) fell through skylight suffering multiple injuries. Nassau County.
Awarded: $10,000,000.00, 34 year-old man struck by a motor vehicle. New York County.
Awarded: $3,900,000.00, 18 year old man assaulted in building by criminal intruder. Bronx County.
If you are involved in a New York car accident, it is important to understand what New York State law requires you to do.
According to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, the following are some actions you must take:
You must stop and exchange information with the other drivers involved in the accident.
If you or anyone else is seriously injured, call 911 and seek medical attention right away. Keep records of medical treatment that you have received.
If you are able to take pictures of the accident scene, do so. Many people have cameras on their mobile phones. Take pictures of the vehicle damage, skid marks or other details that could provide relevant evidence in your accident case.
Get the names and contact information from any witnesses who saw the accident.
Let your insurance company know that you were involved in the accident and how it occurred. Be honest in your description of what happened.
You should only discuss the accident with your lawyer, the police and your insurance company. Do not discuss the accident with other drivers’ insurance companies or other parties unless your attorney advises you to do so.
Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP recovered $700,000 for a 43-year-old Asian male sign installer in a settlement prior to trial. The sign installer fell from a 16-foot extension ladder at a renovation site while he was removing a 20-foot-long sign from the building. He suffered from a fractured ankle and required surgery.
New York Labor Law 240 states the following:
“All contractors and owners and their agents, except owners of one and two-family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work, in the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or pointing of a building or structure shall furnish or erect, or cause to be furnished or erected for the performance of such labor, scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, ropes, and other devices which shall be so constructed, placed and operated as to give proper protection to a person so employed.”
Prior to filing the lawsuit, our construction accident attorneys attempted to negotiate a settlement with the tenant, who had acted as the owner’s agent; however, the tenant refused to settle. Our firm entered a motion for Summary Judgment based on the fact that the tenant violated New York Labor law by failing to provide the proper equipment for our client. A summary judgment motion is an argument that the other party has no case and requests that the court decide the case based on the facts submitted. The court decided in favor of the Summary Judgment, and the case was settled through mediation, which awarded our client $700,000 in compensation for losses.
New York labor laws offer substantial protection for construction workers. If you suffer injury in a construction accident, you should seek legal advice and find out about your rights to recover damages. At Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP , we offer a free initial consultation to discuss your accident and the prospects of pursuing a case.
Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP successfully negotiated a $1.3 million settlement for a 41 year-old Asian male construction worker, who was injured while performing asbestos removal work at an upstate construction site. The injured client fell from a 6-foot extension ladder while affixing a heavy tarp across the top of a large 13-foot high, 100-yard long dumpster, for the purpose of preventing asbestos materials from spewing out of the dumpster.
The worker suffered injuries to his back, knees and shoulder and was caused to undergo multiple surgeries.
Based on New York State Labor Law, all contractors, property owners and their agents are responsible for providing safe scaffolding, ladders and other equipment so workers are protected. The law is very specific as to the responsibilities involved regarding safe construction work conditions.
Our attorneys argued that the general contractor violated New York State’s Labor Law by failing to provide the proper equipment to our client. We utilized two experts, an economist and a vocational rehabilitation specialist to establish the extent of our clients’ injuries and damages.
The argument was effective and enabled us to reach a $1.3 million settlement on behalf of our client prior to going to trial.
Construction workers whose jobs require them to work at elevations above the ground are particularly at risk for injuries. Falling from any height often results in serious injuries, and for this reason, NY laws offer protection so that reasonable precautions are taken to make the worker’s job as safe as possible. Even so, in an effort to increase profits, sometimes business owners and contractors cut costs, and doing so can result in devastating accidents for workers.
Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP has extensive experience handling serious injury cases where construction workers fall from heights. If you have suffered severe injury in a construction accident, find out how we can help.
The loud crash of scaffolding collapsing on Sunday, November 19 brought New Yorkers running to the accident scene. Gone are the days of New York passers-by standing distant and watching. Many pitched in to help.
According to the New York Post, dozens of people rushed to help people trapped underneath the fallen scaffolding.
The accident took place at the Prince and Broadway. People pulled the scattered boards of scaffolding, lifted long beams and metal sheets and freed one woman within minutes. According to one witness, she appeared to have a head injury and injured leg. A total of five people suffered injury, two pedestrians were trapped under the debris and three were hit by it.
A strong gust of wind shook and blew over the shed holding up the scaffolding and brought it tumbling down. The shed was high, about 20 feet tall. The wind caught hold of the exterior plywood panels, which billowed like a sail and blew the shed over.
FDNY Deputy Chief Joseph Lonino said there were a total of five injuries and they were all minor.
One man noticed the shed was rickety and took a picture of it to send to his boss. Fortunately for him, he walked away from it about 20 minutes before the scaffolding fell.
High Winds
Other wind damage accidents also occurred on Sunday, which included a huge tree falling onto the roof of a car in Midwood. In the Bronx, a tree blew over and crashed into some parked cars. A meteorologist clocked winds between 40 and 50 miles per hour and stated that they were strong gusts.
For Serious Accidents Seek Legal Help
Experienced personal injury lawyers can determine whether liability exists in any accident and it is worth your while to check, especially when injuries are serious. In this instance, lawyers can determine whether the construction company bears liability for the scaffolding collapse. If the shed and scaffolding failed to meet NY scaffolding law standards, they may be responsible for damages despite the high winds.
Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP offers a free consultation to discuss your accident and determine whether you have grounds for pursuing compensation.
On October 22, the driver of a box rental truck slammed his truck into seven cars and tried to flee the scene. He ended up climbing into a fire truck and fighting with fire fighters.
According to the New York Post , the driver was near Times Square between 42nd and 44th streets when he crashed into the seven vehicles. He exited his bashed up truck and began ranting that someone was chasing him, according to one eyewitness who watched the incident unravel from Landowne Road bar across the street. A driver in a black Mercedes Benz pulled up and accused the truck driver of hitting his and other vehicles. The witness grabbed the crazed truck driver in the middle of the street to keep him from running and prevent him from fighting with the Mercedes owner. Firemen soon arrived to help keep the two apart. They took over and the truck driver began fighting with them, got loose and tried to climb into the front seat of their fire truck where he got into an altercation with the fire truck driver.
Nine people were injured and went to the hospital, which included the fire truck driver. The truck driver was held for observation at Bellevue Hospital, according to officials. Officials suspected the truck driver was on drugs.
In May of 2017 an even more disastrous incident occurred at Times Square when Navy veteran, Richard Rojas drove his car down the sidewalk on Seventh Avenue and injured 22 people and killed an 18-year-old girl. Rojas was apparently high on synthetic marijuana called K2.
Unlike the recent incident where the driver ran into vehicles, Rojas crashed into pedestrians.
When someone else is responsible for causing your injuries or a death in the family, consult with a lawyer to understand your legal rights. In many instances, grounds exist for pursuing compensation to offset medical and other accident related expenses.
Around 4:15 a.m. on Saturday October 21, a three-car crash took place on the westbound Cross Bronx between Third Avenue and the Bronx River Parkway when a teen driver lost control of his vehicle.
Various news outlets reported about the accident, including ABC 7 , which described the teen driver speeding and weaving through traffic until he reached a halt in traffic and was unable to stop. Teen driver, Carlos Pereyra Batista struck the rear end of a tractor-trailer and then Batista’s 2002 Honda Accord smashed into a guardrail, bounced off it and collided into a Toyota RAV4 before rolling to a stop in the westbound lane. Eighteen-year-old Batista died at the scene of the crash. His 17-year-old male passenger was in critical condition and emergency personnel transported him to St. Barnabas Hospital. He was upgraded to stable condition and expected to survive.
The tractor-trailer driver, a 66 year-old-man was not injured and neither was the 29-year-old man driving the Toyota. They remained at the accident scene until police arrived.
It is a tremendous tragedy when a teenager dies in a car crash. You think the young person has his whole life ahead of him and then within moments he is gone. Such tragedies are felt deeply and especially by the families. The NY Daily News reported that Batista’s family ran a Dominican food stand in Mott Haven and he was often there helping them. The family was devastated when they arrived at the accident scene.
As of October 19, traffic accidents have claimed the lives of 23 drivers in 2017, which is a 12 percent decrease from 2016, when 26 drivers died in car crashes.
Teenagers are more at risk for dying in car accidents than from any other cause of death. The 16-19 year old age group is about three times more likely to be in a fatal crash than drivers who are 20 years and older.
When someone else is a fault in a serious injury or fatal accident, you have the legal right to pursue compensation for damages. Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP offers a free consultation to discuss your accident and determine whether you have grounds for pursuing compensation.
Subway accidents are more prone to happen in an old subway system. As with the rest of our country’s aging infrastructure, the older the New York City subway infrastructure becomes, the more you can expect malfunctions and delays. However, the risk of subway derailment like the one that occurred in June 2017 is also making people worry.
The New York Times reported that dozens of people suffered injury when the subway derailed in Manhattan on June 27, 2017. After emergency brakes activated, sparks flew and smoke filled the air inside and outside the subway cars, and then the two subway cars careened off the tracks. The derailment occurred around 10:00 a.m.
Panic and chaos followed as passengers groped in the dark, trying to figure out how to get off the subway train. Some people were screaming, and others threw up because the smoke was so dense.
Fire Department officials reported that at least 34 people suffered injury from the derailment and 17 were taken to area hospitals for treatment. Fortunately, their injuries were minor.
Preliminary investigation revealed that someone had stored an “improperly secured piece of replacement rail” on the tracks. The damage to the track from the derailment was extreme. It damaged approximately 200 feet of track and signal equipment. Hunks of concrete were torn off the subway walls.
A subway accident in Brooklyn occurred in 2015 due to crumbling walls falling on the tracks. Three people were injured during the accident and the need for infrastructure improvements became apparent at that time.
If you suffered serious injury in a subway accident, find out about your rights to sue for damages. Consult with our attorneys at Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP during a free initial consultation to discuss a potential claim.
On June 26, when a scaffolding collapsed, six construction workers suffered injury at a Queens construction site accident in Long Island City.
The incident occurred at 42-20 27th Street, between 42nd Road and Queens Plaza South, according to ABC7NY.
Workers were doing construction on the building’s fifth floor and pouring concrete when the scaffolding failed. All injuries were non-life threatening, but some injuries were serious.
NBC New York reported that the Department of Buildings stopped the work and issued the contractor an aggravated violation for failing to maintain a safe site.
In August 2016, CBS News ran an article that reported one in five worker fatalities in 2014 occurred in the construction industry. The top causes of construction worker deaths were falls, electrocutions, being struck by an object and being caught between objects, equipment or material.
New York Labor Law Section 240 (1) has provisions to protect workers that use ladders and scaffolding. Building agents and contractors must properly maintain scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, ropes and other devices so workers are not at risk for accidents and injury.
In fact, scaffolding must be constructed to bear four times the maximum weight required when in use.
Violations of NY Labor Law that cause construction site accidents can make contractors and building owners liable for damages.
When a construction worker is seriously injured or dies in a construction site accident and you suspect a contractor or building owner was at fault, consult with a lawyer as soon as possible. Our attorneys at Sackstein Sackstein & Lee can evaluate the accident and hold liable parties accountable. Seeking compensation for damages can help a family member recover from a serious injury or help the family deal with the consequences of a tragic fatality.
At 4:00 a.m. on August 24, an NYPD off-duty officer crashed into the rear end of a Honda. The Honda’s driver Vanessa Raghubar, her sister Maria Raghubar and Maria’s boyfriend, Justin Harricharra were returning from celebrating Maria’s 21st birthday. Vanessa had refused to drink any alcohol when toasting her sister because she was the designated driver.
The cars were traveling on the Van Wyck Expressway, southbound at Rockaway Boulevard in South Ozone Park. Weather conditions were foggy.
Vanessa, the 22-year old driver, died from her injuries early Monday after being rushed to Jamaica Hospital. She was a psychology student and talented artist. She attended York College and would have graduated in June.
Her sister Maria was also rushed to Jamaica Hospital where staff evaluated that she was in critical condition and surgeons worked to save her life. She had a broken pelvis, smashed bladder and damaged intestine.
Justin suffered from brain, back and spinal injuries.
According to ABC7, the off-duty policeman, Neville Smith was charged with vehicular assault, assault, DWI and refusal to take a breath test. He is also suspended from duty.
In a rear end accident, the driver who rear ends the vehicle in front is typically liable for the accident. If the court determines the officer was driving while intoxicated, such a finding would also point to his liability.
In this case, it looks like the Raghubar family has a civil cause of action to pursue damages for the wrongful death of their daughter and for the serious injuries incurred by their other daughter.
If you suffer serious injury or a loved one dies through the fault of another driver in a car accident, seek legal counsel as soon as possible. Attorneys will advise you how to deal with insurance companies and guide you through the legal process.