Practice Areas

Because of the added dangers they face daily, construction workers are afforded extra protections under the law. These protections are meant to deter general contractors and land owners from saving money by jeopardizing the safety of the site worker. For instance, in the case of a scaffold collapse or a safety harness failure, the general contractor and the land owner in most instances will be held strictly liable to the injured worker. In addition to receiving worker’s compensation for medical treatment and lost income, the New York State Legislature provides for the award of damages for personal injury.

When litigating a construction accident, it is vital that the attorney be familiar with both Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations as well as the New York State Industrial Code, as violations often make the contractor and land owner liable to the injured worker. For example, the workplace must be kept clean to avoid workers’ falls on debris. The failure to keep walkways clean can subject the contractor and land owner to liability when a worker is injured. However, the failure to properly allege these sections of the Labor Law could be fatal to the outcome of the case.

Unfortunately, when workers are injured on a construction site, the injuries often are very serious and career ending. The outcome of the personal injury case must ensure that an injured worker and his or her family will be properly compensated for a lifetime of lost income, loss of pension benefits and medical bills, as well as for the pain he or she will suffer from now and into the future.

The attorneys of Bergman, Bergman, Fields & Lamonsoff have been handling construction cases for more than 50 years and in nearly every county of New York State. We know the law. If you’ve been injured as the result of a construction accident, please call us. We can help.

Whether it’s an accident involving two cars or 10, a pedestrian or bicyclist, a motorcycle or a motor home, all are considered motor vehicle accidents. New York Law treats motor vehicle cases differently than all other kinds of accidents. In fact, motor vehicle negligence and insurance claims are regulated by their own unique Traffic, No Fault and Serious Injury Threshold laws in New York.

A lawyer who undertakes to represent a person injured in an automobile accident must understand the intricacies and interplay of the laws and how they apply to the facts of the case. Additionally, the interpretation of these laws by the Courts can change from year to year. In fact, even though they are all New York State laws, they may be interpreted differently from one County’s court to another’s. Your attorney should know the difference and be well versed with the law, its evolution and interpretation.

The attorneys of Bergman, Bergman, Fields & Lamonsoff have been handling motor vehicle accidents for more than 50 years and in nearly every county of New York State. We know the law. If you’ve been injured as the result of a motor vehicle accident, please call us. We can help.

Product liability cases take many forms. There are cases where many people are injured as the result of an inherently dangerous quality of a product. These types of cases often involve a drug with a bad side effect or a car that should have been recalled. Further, dangerous conditions may arise from the design of a product or from a defective manufacturing process. Still other cases may not impact a large number of people but instead come to light when an injured person comes to an attorney to seek redress.

The litigation process for these cases is often quite costly and time consuming. Almost without exception, they require the retention of an expert, the storage and inspection of the product, recording of all testing done on the product as well as significant research, often on a global scale, to determine if others have been similarly injured. Your law firm should have the staff and means necessary to see this kind of litigation to trial.

The attorneys of Bergman, Bergman, Fields & Lamonsoff have been litigating product liability cases for more than 50 years and have the resources and expertise to see your case to a successful conclusion. We know the law. If you’ve been injured as the result of product liability, please call us.We can help.

Medical malpractice is distinguished from most other areas of injury law in that the damage caused by the negligence of the health care professional is heaped atop an already sick or injured person. Worse still, in most circumstances, the victim voluntarily placed his faith in the skill of the medical professional only to become a victim for a second time.
You might think that given the foregoing, the law would provide for added protections to victims of medical malpractice. Unfortunately, the reverse is true. In fact, the law actually reduces the time frame in which one may bring a malpractice claim as compared to other acts of negligence. And, the law imposes other restrictions on the ability of a victim of medical malpractice to obtain justice in Court.

Your attorney must be knowledgeable, experienced and passionate in representing you if for no other reason but that justice demands that you not fall victim for yet a third time.

The attorneys of Bergman, Bergman, Fields & Lamonsoff have been medical malpractice cases for more than 50 years and have the resources and expertise to see your case to a successful conclusion. We understand what is at stake, what you have been through and how important it is that you finally receive justice, and we are here to see that you do We know the law. If you’ve been injured as the result of medical malpractice, please call us. We can help.

Premises cases include but are not limited to slip/trip and fall accidents, ceiling collapses, injuries caused by fire, faulty construction and improper maintenance. While each of these types of cases falls under the title of Premises Liability, each is different and is treated differently by the law. New York’s Building Codes specify acceptable standards of construction to which property owners must adhere. For instance, the law provides very detailed requirements for the measurements of stair risers and treads as well as the need for hand rails. Even the shape of a hand rail is regulated! An attorney cannot be effective in representing an injured person unless he knows which regulations have been violated.

Slip and fall cases generally involve an unsafe walking surface made so due to the presence of a slippery substance such as water, ice or snow, or leakage from a refrigeration unit or even tomato sauce from a broken bottle in a shopping aisle. Likewise, ceiling collapses often are caused by the failure to repair leaks from pipes or a roof above. In these cases, proper and timely maintenance may have prevented the accident. These cases are heavily dependent on photographs of the defects, collection of witness statements and investigations into the existence of prior similar occurrences. An attorney must aggressively pursue of all of these items and act swiftly.

The attorneys of Bergman, Bergman, Fields & Lamonsoff, LLP have been handling slip and fall cases for more than 50 years and in nearly every county of New York State. We know the law. If you’ve been injured as the result of a slip and fall accident, please call us. We can help.