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“I’ve been trying cases for nearly 30 years and have been to many trial CLE programs. I can state unequivocally the information and knowledge Andrew provided was better than any CLE I ever attended. I hired Andrew to help me with one of the biggest cases in my office and it was against the NYC Housing Authority. I was hoping to recover $1,000,000. Through Andrew’s guidance and strategy I was able to settle the case for $3,200,000. Not only was his help with litigation strategy spot on, his insight with negotiations was exceptional.”
“I’ve practiced plaintiff’s work over 40 years and Andrew’s gift for simplifying a case is unique. He helped make a complex med mal case easy to explain. My teenage client was recently diagnosed with epilepsy. The pediatric neurologist failed to warn the child and her parents that hot showers can trigger seizures. Unbeknownst to my client, she took a hot shower while at a sleepover at a girlfriend’s house. The steam caused a seizure resulting in her exposure to water causing third degree burns over 60% of her body. The resulting policy settlement of $2,300,000 was a direct result of the strategy sessions with Andrew in crafting the expert disclosures.”
“After practicing for 25 years, working with Andrew on cases brought my skill set to a new level. Workshopping cases and developing case strategies are two areas I think Andrew stands above all others. We worked on a negligent oversight in a warehouse case together that resulted in a $2,500,000 settlement. Initially I did not think a million dollar settlement was possible, but after seeing the suggested animation come to life as well as the effectiveness of his negotiating strategies, I now see why he has been so successful for so many years.”
Client of Sharon Scanlan suffered a catastrophic injury of a loss of leg after driving his box truck into the rear of another box truck. The defense never took the case seriously, believing a hit in the rear means the last car is responsible. Prior to the verdict, the highest offer was $600,000.
After conducting a series of focus groups, we confirmed that not everyone believes a hit in the rear automatically means the vehicle that hit the other in the rear must be at fault. Armed with this knowledge, from jury selection to summation, we crafted a clear trial story supported by the physical evidence that echoed our trial theme. The defense simply relied on one fact; “it’s a hit in the rear”.
The attorney won and the defendant was found 100% liable at trial. After only 1 hour of deliberations the jury found the defendant 100% liable. A bad faith statement was put on the record and the full $5,000,000 policy was tendered the following day.
New York has one of the worst wrongful death statutes in the country as it does not recognize grief for immediate family members. The statute only permits damages for conscious pain and suffering of the decedent and economic loss to the estate, which includes loss of guidance.
Faced with these limitations, Mitchell Silbowitz sought my help on how to increase drive up damages for the family whose 84-year-old patriarch was killed when a 79-year-old driver backed out of her parking space, failed to stop and dragged him to death. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The insurance company was only offering $300,000, claiming there was no economic loss, as he had long been retired and the conscious pain and suffering was limited to 3 minutes or less.
Working with the family I discovered two significant facts. The decedent’s wife was actively in end-stage renal failure at the time of the death and, after 51 years of marriage, she lost his guidance during the final 18 days of her life. Additionally, I discovered that one of the decedent’s children had taken over the family business from the decedent and still relied upon his counsel and guidance in running the business.
Working with the attorney, we were able to develop expert reports establishing material economic loss for the lack of guidance. The case was settled for $2,300,000.
Client returned to her rented home after work one evening when she was caused to slip on an ice patch that formed on her driveway due to a leaky external faucet by the driveway. The defense argued the plaintiff’s failure to see the ice. Prior to my involvement, the offer was $135,000 for a serious knee injury requiring surgery against a final settlement demand of $750,000.
Afraid of the defense’s argument, I coached Marc Diller to reframe the case around the “why”. Why was the ice allowed to form in the first place?
Focusing on the why enabled the attorney to recognize that the landlord failed to properly winterize the property. Carefully crafted discovery and deposition questions revealed that the landlord, in fact, fully winterized her own home and did not do so for the 5 rental properties she owned.
While the defense focused exclusively on the plaintiff’s failure to see the ice, the jury heard how the ice never would have been there had the landlord cared for the properties she rented and received revenue from in the same manner she cared for her own properties.
At trial, the jury found the landlord 100% responsible and issued a verdict for $1,650,000. I further assisted the attorney on post-verdict negotiations related to bad faith positions taken by the defense lawyer. The case settled 4 months after the verdict for $2,400,000.
“My partner, Joseph Mikelos, and I are seminar aficionados. Whether at AAJ Summer or Winter Convention, or Reptile with Don Keenan and David Ball, we both attend, listen and then incorporate the continuing legal education into the representation of our clients in all personal injury litigation from automobile crashes to dangerous premises to medical malpractice to construction site unsafe conditions. Your one day presentation at our firm offices was the best seminar ever, loaded with knowledge and winning techniques. We have succeeded, time and again, at trial following the insights we received during your focus group presentations. We obtained 4 multi-million dollar verdicts on cases that, without your help, could have been lost.”
“My firm handles complex personal injury and employment discrimination cases. We recently had a case involving a hostile work environment where our client, after reported unwelcomed sexual advances, was terminated. Prior to the mediation we engaged Andrew to work with us to develop the strongest negotiation strategy. We viewed a reasonable settlement value as $400,000. After working with Andrew and executing the strategy he proposed we settled the case for $1,500,000, over 3 ½ times what our original value was. Working with Andrew has been amazing.”
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