Our practice areas include, but not limited to the following:

• Personal Injuries
• Medical Malpractice
• Defective Product Liability
• Discrimination/Sexual Harassment
• Wrongful death
• Bankruptcy
• Commercial & Business Law
• Matrimonial Law
• Estate Planning

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE:

What is Medical Malpractice?

To prevail in a medical malpractice lawsuit, you must prove that your injury, loss or damage resulted from the doctor's deviation or failure to conform with the applicable standard of care for your condition in your community.

Nearly 80,000 people die in the United States each year due partly to medical malpractice (based on an extensive study entitled "Patients, Doctors and Lawyers: Medical Injury, Malpractice Litigation, and Patient Compensation in New York," published by the Harvard Medical Practice Study in 1990, a report to the State of New York). These statistics have since been confirmed by other studies performed in California and New Jersey. Even more disturbing, these numbers are only based on hospital statistics. They do not include deaths from missed diagnoses or medical negligence that occurred in clinics, private doctors' offices, or other treatment facilities.

Some types of Medical Malpractice:

1. Birth injuries & Cerebral Palsy:
2. Cerebral Palsy is sometimes caused by lack of oxygen to the brain during birth. And injuries to a birth mother and infant can cause to obstetrician's negligence.
3. Misdiagnosis of Cancer Cases:
4. Delay in Breast Cancer Diagnosis, if a lump or cyst is not identified or soon after is noted it is possible that the provider was negligent.

Important notes for Medical Malpractice cases

Be aware of the Statute of Limitations. You may have a valid claim, but if you wait too long, the claim is lost even if it is valid. In New York State, generally, the rule is that the claim must be filed within two and one half years after the malpractice, or two years after you reasonably should have known there was malpractice. However, there are a number of tricky exceptions, (especially in cases involving government owned hospitals) so do not give up just because the time period (2 2) years may have passed already. Any delay helps the other side more than it helps you. Some states have laws which significantly limit the amount of damages that an injured person may recover as a result of medical malpractice. Many states also have shortened the applicable statute of limitations. Further, some states have established mandatory arbitration of medical malpractice disputes as a pre-requisite to a lawsuit for medical malpractice.

Expert testimony in Medical Malpractice cases

In order to establish malpractice, it will be necessary to prove what the standard of care in the community for that professional for handling a similar matter is. Lay people do not have the necessary education, experience or skills to act as a professional or to gauge what a professional is supposed to do or refrain from doing in a particular situation.

In order to determine what should or should not have been done in your particular circumstances, someone with the requisite education, experience and skill would be needed to establish what the standard of the community is. Many malpractice lawsuits are won on Expert opinion. After getting the medical records, an experienced attorney can often make a preliminary evaluation; however, more often, the attorney must discuss the records with an expert witness, or send the records to a potential expert witness for evaluation. This is where the high costs of a medical malpractice case really begin. (A well-qualified expert witness will often charge $250.00 to $400.00 per hour to review all the records and render an opinion.

Placid & Emmanuel, P.C., will pay all costs and disbursements and do not recover these costs until your case is settled successfully. Experts should always be hired by your attorney, to maintain confidentiality and retain your rights. The leading sites used by attorneys to find expert witnesses on the Internet are www.tasanet.com or www.expertpages.com

DEFECTIVE PRODUCT LIABILITY

What is A "Defective Product"?

A "defective product" is one that causes some injury or damage to a person because of some defect in the product or its labeling or the way the product was used. The manufacturer, and others involved in the chain of commerce involving the products that caused the injury, are often liable for injuries caused by the defective product.

New York States and all other states allow recovery to persons injured by "defective products". "Product liability" cases run from the obvious (a car sold without operational brakes, a mislabeled product that causes injury) to the not-so obvious (injury from exposure to tobacco, or harmful side effects from an improperly tested drug).

Generally, product defect cases are based on strict liability, rather than negligence. This means that it is not necessary to prove "fault" on the part of the defendant, but to be successful your attorney must prove:

1. that the product was "unreasonably dangerous" or "defective";
2. you were injured from use of the defective product; and
3. the injury was caused by the defect in the product.

Many states require that to win it is necessary to prove both that the product was defective, and that it was also "unreasonably dangerous", which means that the product was dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by an ordinary consumer.

The law recognizes that many products are dangerous, and that consumers should know that the product is dangerous when they purchase it (for example, guns, knives, power tools, etc.). However, if a consumer uses a defective product in a manner that an "ordinary consumer" would (even if it is not the intended use of the product), and is injured as a result, then a valid case may exist.

Who is responsible?

You have the right to sue, the repairer, seller or manufacturer of the defective products for injuries sustained by the person(s) using them. Liability may also extend to persons who did not purchase the product, but were using the product in a "foreseeable" manner when the injury occurred. Also, people injured as a result of someone else using a defective product may be able to recover if their injuries were caused by the product's defect.

In other words, the manufacturer of the defective product is liable for injuries caused as a result of the defect. Also the sellers of the product (everyone between the manufacturer and retailer, who are considered to be in the "chain or commerce", such as wholesalers or distributors) may be liable, even though they did not "cause" the defect.

If the defective part was a component in an larger product (for example, a defective seat belt in an automobile), the component producer may be liable, as well as the manufacturer of the larger product.

There is sometimes a question as to whether sellers of "second hand goods" can be held liable for a product defect, since there is not the same expectation on the part of the purchaser. That depends on the facts, and varies from state to state. However, if the product was warranted or guaranteed to work "like new", there may be a basis of liability.

Basis for Product Liability?

While the laws applicable to defective product cases varies from state to state, there are three legal theories common to all jurisdictions which may form the basis of a successful product liability case:

Manufacturing defect. In such cases the injury was caused as a result of defect in the manufacture of the product. An example would be a bicycle which was built with a small crack in the frame, which breaks when used, causing an injury to the rider.

Design defect. In these cases the injury was caused by a poor design (even though there may be no defect in the individual product itself). An common example would be a piece of industrial machinery which was built without a proper safety or protection devices, and as a result a worker is injured as result while using the machine.

Failure to warn, or "inadequate warning". These cases refer to injuries caused as a result of a product known to be potentially dangerous which was sold without a proper warning to the consumer. An example would be an over the counter drug sold without a warning of the hazards of use with certain other drugs, or excessive consumption, or possible side effects from its use.

If you or a family member has been injured because of what you believe is a product defect, you should consult an attorney familiar with product liability/defective product cases at the earliest opportunity to protect you right of recovery.