Bar/Professional Activity:

• American Association for Justice
• Brooklyn Bar Association
• Member, New York State Trial Lawyers
• Charter Member, New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers
• U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
• New York State Bar, 1991

Verdicts and Settlements:

• I obtained a reversal from the Appellate Division-Second Department from a Supreme Court Richmond County Decision which improperly denied the plaintiff's summary judgment motion against defendants in three separate rear-end collision motor vehicle accident.  In addition, the Appellate Division affirmed the Supreme Court's decision to deny the defendants' summary jugdment motions on the issue of serious injury as defined by Section 5102(d) of the Insurance Law, where as a result of the three accidents, the plaintiff sustained serious and permanent injuries to his neck.
• I successfully obtained a reversal from the Appellate Division-Second Department of a Supreme Court, Richmond County decision which had granted summary judgment to the defendants on liability in a motor vehicle accident, where the defendant driver admitted to speeding at the time of the accident, and raised numerous issues of fact in his own testimony regarding the happening of the accident.
• The Rice Case (update)- On a matter of novel impression before the Supreme Court, New York County, I successfully opposed a motion to dismiss a claim for the wrongful death of a construction worker who died as a result of an overdose from the medications prescribed to him for the injuries he sustained in a construction accident two years earlier and this resulted in a decision from the Supreme Court dated June 30, 2011, allowing the decedent's family to claim significant damages for his wrongful death.  I also successfully opposed a motion to reargue the decision of the Appellate Division - First Department which had granted the plaintiff summary judgment under Labor Law Section 240(1) and denied the defendants’ motion for summary judgment under the Labor Law. 
• I obtained a $575,000.00 settlement on behalf of a 42 year old Staten Island resident who was seriously injured in a trip and fall accident outside of a Lowe’s Home Center.
• I obtained a $2,500,000.00 settlement on behalf of a 44 year old Brooklyn resident who was working as a dock builder at the Third Avenue Bridge reconstruction project when he was sustained serious and permanent injuries due to Labor Law and Industrial Code violations by the general contractor.
• I obtained a $450,000 settlement on behalf of a client under the Jones Act in a maritime law case., 2010
• I obtained a $450,000 settlement on behalf of a 83 year old Staten Island woman who was a wheelchair bound passenger on an ambuletter which made a sharp turn, causing her to sustain serious injuries which led her to be hospitalized and eventually led to her death., 2010
• I obtained a $295,000 settlement for a elderly man who sustained fractures on both ankles when he was forced to jump out of a second story window of his home to escape a fire. I was able to establish the defendant, home owner’s liability as the electrical fire was due to an overload of electricity which she should have been aware of., 2010
• I obtained a $868,462.60 total settlement for a 38 year old New York City police officer who was working undercover when he was assaulted by a joint bank robbery task force, resulting in serious and permanent injuries. I was able to demonstrate a Section 1983 violation by the defendants., 2010
• I obtained a $585,000 settlement on behalf of a 47 year of Manhattan resident who was a passenger in a vehicle which was struck head on by a rental car which crossed over the double yellow line. The settlement represented the substantial portion of a limited insurance policy which had to be shared by all the victims of the accident., 2010
• I obtained a $450,000 settlement on behalf of a 22 year old Brooklyn woman whose motor vehicle was struck by a drunk driving causing her to sustain serious and permanent injuries to her knee which required three operative procedures., 2010
• I obtained a $310,000 settlement on behalf of a 70 year old Staten Island man who injured his knee and lower back in a trip and fall accident at a local bank. I obtained this settlement shortly before the start of trial in Richmond County Supreme Court., 2010
• I obtained a $475,000 settlement on behalf of a 51 year old woman from Westchester who sustained serious injuries when she was the victim of a hit and run accident. I was able to obtain this settlement utilizing the client’s SUM coverage. The client required surgery to her knee and shoulder, and treatment for psychological injuries., 2010
• I obtained a $1 Million settlement on behalf of a 44 year old Brooklyn man who received spinal injuries in a motor vehicle accident. I was able to obtain this settlement even though my client had a prior motor vehicle accident in which he sustained serious neck and back injuries and establish that those injuries were significantly aggravated by the second accident., 2010
• I obtained a $975,000 settlement on behalf of a 51 year old man from New Jersey who received serious injuries to his right foot and ankle when he was struck by a New York City Department of Sanitation truck while he was in the process of unloading a copier machine in downtown New York City. This case was settled after I had selected a jury and I was able to obtain this substantial recovery despite the defendants’ claims that my client’s truck was parked illegally at the intersection and that he was responsible for the accident., 2010

Other Outstanding Achievements:

• The Rice Case This year, I successfully defended an appeal by the defendants in a Labor Law case before the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division - First Department. By unanimous decision, the Appellate Court upheld the lower Court’s decision granting summary judgment on liability on the plaintiff’s Labor Law Section 240(1) claim. Prior to the appeal, I also successfully defeated the defendants’ motion to reargue the lower Court’s decision to grant summary judgment to the plaintiff. The Rice case is a complex construction accident case wherein the plaintiff was not provided with adequate safety devices for work at an elevated height and fell from a defective ladder; sustaining serious and permanent injuries which led to his death. Distinguishing the holdings in landmark cases, Miro v. Plaza Construction Corp. and Masullo v. 1999 Housing Corp., I demonstrated that there were no adequate safety devices available at the site for the plaintiff to use while working at an elevated height and that contrary to the allegations of the defendants there was no policy or procedure in place for the plaintiff to obtain such devices.  , 2010

Educational Background:

• St. John's University, B.A., 1986