New York, New York, July 31, 2011, For Immediate Release: Waiting until 9:46 pm on a Friday night to seek comment by email, Susan Edelman of the New York Post has once again printed a story comprised of half-truths, designed to tell as few facts as possible while igniting the worries and anger of men and women who have already suffered enough from illness, beaurocratic delay and financial ruin. In writing a story about Edgar Galvis, an office cleaner who became ill with sinus problems and cancer after working near the site of the World Trade Center following the 9/11 attacks, Edelman wrongly suggests that the attorneys, who are bound by law to pay statutory liens out of the client's settlement funds before he receives payment, have acted improperly.
"This is exactly what the public can expect in the way of 'reporting' by a writer and a news organization who have demonstrated again and again they have no interest in the truth," said Galvis' attorney, Paul Napoli. "Ms. Edelman waited until well after the close of business on a Friday night to send an email seeking comment rather than call any one of the many attorneys at the firm whose personal phone numbers she has had for years. With that belated non-attempt at seeking comment, the Post then gratuitously claims the firm failed to respond."
Had the Post been interested in the truth, it would have reported that plaintiff Edgar Galvis has received tens of thousands of dollars in WTC settlements and that he is set to receive tens of thousands more now that review of his claim by the Allocation Neutral is complete and has been approved. Mr. Galvis' Merrill Lynch settlement occurred and was finalized before his diagnosis with tonsilar cancer in August of 2010, but contrary to the Post article, Napoli explains that "Mr. Galvis' claim for the cancer has been submitted to the Settlement Allocation Neutral as part of his claim and we were actually able to secure a greater amount in settlement with the City than Mr. Galvis had initially requested, additional tens of thousands of dollars he will receive upon payment of the City claim." Continuing, Napoli said: "In wrongly claiming that Mr. Galvis was not told how the expense amount deducted from his settlement payment was reached, the Post also conveniently fails to mention that Mr. Galvis, like all claimants, received a detailed expense statement that he acknowledged by signature on April 12, 2010. He also met with us in our office on at least two occaisions and all of these expenses, as well as the liens, were carefully explained to him."
As part of his Workers Compensation claim, Mr. Galvis' medical bills and lost wages were paid and Mr. Galvis subsequently settled his Workers Compensation "Section 32" claim receiving checks for those payments in hand. The Post also fails to mention that New York State Law requires these monies to be repaid in the event a claimant such as Mr. Galvis receives a personal injury settlement from a law suit. This is because the Workers Compensation law, like many other types of disability insurance, prevents recipients from being paid twice for the same injuries. Hartford Insurance has required that Mr. Galvis pay back these monies based upon the overall amount of settlement monies he will ultimately receive, rather than as a percentage of any single settlement payment due him. The reason this lien payment encompassed the balance of Mr. Galvin's Merrill settlement check is because lien payments must be paid back first, before the claimant receives cash for the balance of the settlement. The lien is now partially satisfied and Mr. Galvis will ultimately receive funds out of the additional (larger) settlement with the City. "Unfortunately, while we would like to turn over all the money our firm receives to Mr. Galvis, the State law requires us to pay these monies to those who already advanced the money for his claims. It is only in the last week that the Allocation Neutral has approved his "Tier 4" determination notice which will result in payment of his WTC Captive Tier 4 claim – including payment for his cancer diagnosis."
Cases and Settlements of Note
SECURITIES
- Client v. McGinn Smith & Co. The firm represented a retail customer of a registered broker-dealer in a fraud and self-dealing case. Following a three-day arbitration, a panel of three arbitrators found McGinn Smith guilty of self-dealing and awarded our client his full out of pocket losses.
- Client v. Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc. The firm represented a retail customer who purchased Morgan Keegan's bond funds from third party broker-dealer. The Client alleged that Morgan Keegan misled investors and their brokers concerning the funds holdings. After intense litigation, the chair rejected Morgan Keegan's argument that those who relied on the firm's representations contained in the prospectus and other materials disseminated by the firm did not have standing to hold the firm liable in FINRA and awarded the Client her full loss.
- Client v. UBS Financial Services Inc. The firm represented a retail customer in the inappropriate purchase of a private placement that defaulted on its debt. The Client argued that the purchase of the private placement violated the Investment Advisor Act of 1940's “Qualified Purchaser” provision that was designed to protect consumers from investing in speculative investments. The panel awarded the Client restitution with interest.
- Platovsky v. City of New York. The trial court's order was affirmed in favor of our client, a litigation financial services company, finding that an arbitration clause in a litigation financing contract was effective against the contracting litigant despite collateral claims that the matter should remain in Supreme Court because the contracting litigant claimed that his trial attorney had been dismissed for cause.
MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
- Badolato v. Rosenberg. The Second Department affirmed the trial court's denial of summary judgment to chiropractor, holding that a physician retained to perform a physical examination for Workers Compensation or Disability purposes can be held liable for medical malpractice where the physician affirmatively interferes with the patient's treatment to his detriment.
- Selva v. Lillie. The court affirmed a denial of summary judgment to general practitioner who claimed that her failure to refer a patient suffering neurological disorder that rendered him quadriplegic for specialist consult was not a departure from good medical practice because she did not have the neurological expertise to recognize that the patient was suffering from a systemic neurological disorder rather than a herniated lumbar disc.
- Graham v. Mitchell. The appellate court reversed the trial court's order granting summary judgment on a catastrophically brain-damaged infant claim and reinstated the plaintiffs' complaint.
- Raciti v. Sands Point Nursing Home, et al., 54 A.D.3d 1014 (2d Dept' 2008), reversing dismissal of plaintiff's complaint by the trial court which abused its discretion in refusing to consider plaintiffs' opposition and cross motion, delivered late to court due to interruption of transit service in a torrential rainstorm.
FDA
- Diet Drug (Phentermine, fenfluramine, dexfenfluramine) Products Liability Litigation. The firm achieved a landmark settlement of half-a-billion dollars on behalf of thousands of plaintiffs injured as a result of their ingestion of defective diet medications.
- Client v. Bayer Corporation. The firm achieved settlements totaling over $1M on behalf of plaintiffs injured as a result of being administered the defective drug Trasylol during heart surgery.
ENVIRONMENTAL
- In Re: World Trade Center Disaster Site Litigation. The firm obtained a $52M settlement for environmental contamination of municipal water supplies of MTBE by petroleum refiners and retailers. The Firm also worked extensively on which resulted in a $712.5M settlement of injuries sustained by rescue and recovery workers at Ground Zero from toxic dust.
- In re: MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether) Products Liability Litigation. The Firm attained more than $50M in settlement with ExxonMobil Corporation and other defendants on behalf of numerous municipalities and municipal water districts whose potable drinking water sources were endangered and contaminated by leaks of petroleum additive.
WTC
- In re: World Trade Center Disaster Site Litigation. The firm negotiated a historic settlement of over $800M for more than ten thousand workers' claims against the City of New York, its contractors and other defendants in the mass tort litigation where first responders, construction workers and laborers became ill as a result of toxic exposures suffered during the debris removal and clean up operations at the World Trade Center and related sites following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
PI
- Sam Sanclemente v. J Young's Paving et al. The firm represented, Sanclemente, a limo driver, who was driving on the Long Island Expressway. A box truck collided with a dump truck, became airborne, and landed on Sanclemente's car. Sanclemente had knee and neck injuries, requiring knee surgery and epidural injections. A verdict of $7.3M was awarded in March 2010.
- Buckley v. Charles K. Goldner, LLC, Abranham Colton. The firm represented Buckley who was a guest in the building, who leaned against an elevator door, believing it to lead to laundry facilities. The elevator door swung open from below, and Buckley fell down the shaft, breaking part of his spine, tearing his urethra, and dislocating his shoulder. The Verdict of $1.9M was awarded in May 2010.
MESO
At the World Trade Center site, the massive cloud of toxic dust created by the collapse of the Twin Towers contained toxins including asbestos, mercury, and lead. While the full extent of the health consequences of exposure to this dust is unknown, potential health effects include: various cancers, including Mesothelioma, Upper and Lower Airway Disease, Acid Reflux Disease (GERD), Asbestosis and more.
Our lawyers represented more than 10,000 firefighters, police officers and construction workers who developed illnesses caused by exposure to toxic dust during work in 9/11 rescue, recovery and debris removal efforts in the case of In Re: WTC Disaster Site Litigation. After eight years of compiling and fighting the cases, our attorneys secured a settlement of over $800M for these heroes in November 2010.
AUTO ACCIDENTS
- Radi v. Mbaye. The trial court's decision to dismiss our client's claim for serious physical injuries suffered in a rear-end collision was reversed.
- Sam Sanclemente v. J Young's Paving et al. The firm represented, Sanclemente, a limo driver, who was driving on the Long Island Expressway. A box truck collided with a dump truck, became airborne, and landed on Sanclemente's car. Sanclemente had knee and neck injuries, requiring knee surgery and epidural injections. A verdict of $7.3M was awarded in March 2010.
- Buckley v. Charles K. Goldner, LLC, Abranham Colton. The firm represented Buckley who was a guest in the building, who leaned against an elevator door, believing it to lead to laundry facilities. The elevator door swung open from below, and Buckley fell down the shaft, breaking part of his spine, tearing his urethra, and dislocating his shoulder. The Verdict of $1.9M was awarded in May 2010.
- Jermaine Rhoden v. NYC Transit Authority et al. The firm represented Rhoden who was bicycling on White Plains Road when he attempted to pass between a parked vehicle and a public bus. Rhoden became wedged between the bus and vehicle, and injured his knee, which required knee surgery to fix. A verdict of $550,000 was awarded in September 2009.
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