Scott Occhiogrosso

Scott Occhiogrosso is a partner at Block O’Toole & Murphy, where he has handled many significant construction accidents, car accidents, and other catastrophic injury cases that have resulted in multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements, totaling more than $375,000,000 recovered for clients. A skilled trial lawyer who honed his skills as a Brooklyn prosecutor, Mr. Occhiogrosso fights tirelessly to help those who have been injured in serious accidents find justice and rebuild their lives.

Some of Mr. Occhiogrosso’s significant cases include:

• $110,174,972 verdict from a Brooklyn jury for a cyclist whose spine was crushed in an accident at an MTA construction site. This result is believed to be the largest personal injury verdict outside of medical malpractice in New York State.
• $65,000,000 settlement for a catastrophically injured client who was paralyzed in a cycling accident. This is one of the largest personal injury settlements ever in New York.
• $30,000,000 jury verdict for a 53-year-old survivor of childhood sexual abuse. This is believed to be New York’s first Child Victims Act verdict on a defended case.

Each year since 2013, Mr. Occhiogrosso has been selected as a New York Metro Super Lawyer. This signifies that he is among the top 5% of plaintiff’s personal injury attorneys in the region.

Fluent in both English and Spanish, Mr. Occhiogross regularly lectures about worker safety and legal rights to Spanish-speaking laborers in New York. He has also spoken at the New York State Bar Association’s CLE programs and teaches trial advocacy and techniques at St. John’s University School of Law.

After graduating from Fordham University School of Law, Mr. Occhiogrosso began his training as an assistant prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. In recognition of his skills and tenacity as a prosecutor, he was eventually promoted to the Brooklyn Gang Unit, where he handled cases involving violent crimes and gang-related activities. There, Mr. Occhiogrosso earned a reputation as an ethical but formidable adversary and solidified his desire to make a positive impact as an attorney.

In 2005, Mr. Occhiogrosso joined the New York Port Authority as a defense attorney, representing police officers and other Port Authority employees in multi-million-dollar cases. The valuable courtroom experience he gained there led him to another well-respected plaintiff’s personal injury firm before he eventually joined Block O’Toole & Murphy in 2011.

Mr. Occhiogrosso lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three children.

Verdicts & Settlements

• $110,174,972 verdict for a Brooklyn cyclist who suffered catastrophic injuries while biking under a subway construction site. This result is believed to be the largest personal injury verdict outside of medical malpractice in New York State.
• $65,000,000 settlement for a seriously injured client who was paralyzed in a cycling accident in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This is one of the largest personal injury settlements ever in New York.
• $30,000,000 jury verdict for a 53-year-old survivor of childhood sexual abuse. This is believed to be New York’s first Child Victims Act verdict on a defended case.
• $13,500,000 settlement at trial for a catastrophically injured pedestrian on Long Island. This is the largest reported personal injury settlement in Suffolk County.
• $11,500,000 settlement for a worker injured by a defective circular saw in the Bronx, leaving him with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in his left wrist.
• $11,000,000 settlement in a Brooklyn case for a worker who fell three stories to the basement during the construction of a new apartment building.
• $10,100,000 settlement for a worker who lost his leg in a construction site accident in Queens.
• $8,166,666 settlement for a building superintendent who suffered cervical and lumbar spine injuries that left him permanently disabled from work after a freight elevator he was in dropped 2-3 floors.
• $7,000,000 settlement in a work injury case for a man who suffered crush injuries after he fell 30 feet down an elevator shaft in an iconic Manhattan building.
• $6,524,000 jury verdict for union laborer disabled by falling debris.
• $6,500,000 jury verdict for a union excavator who suffered herniated discs in a Queens construction accident where he was struck by a falling beam.
• $6,080,408 jury verdict in a Labor Law 240 case for a union carpenter who became permanently disabled after falling when scaffolding collapsed beneath him in Harlem.
• $5,900,000 settlement for a union bricklayer who suffered back, head and wrist injuries in a ladder fall.
• $5,500,000 jury verdict for a woman injured during childbirth.
• $5,000,000 settlement for an Albanian immigrant who suffered serious injuries after he was hit by a falling plank at a Manhattan construction site.
• $5,000,000 settlement on the eve of trial for a 47-year-old ironworker who suffered an exacerbation of preexisting spine and wrist conditions after tripping and falling on a construction site.
• $4,650,000 settlement for an undocumented day laborer who suffered back, hip and shoulder injuries in fall from warehouse shelf.
• $4,500,000 settlement for a plumber’s assistant who suffered neck, should and back injuries when struck by a falling metal pipe.
• $4,250,000 settlement for a union excavator who suffered shoulder and back injuries when struck by falling trench shoring planks.
• $4,200,000 settlement for a worker who fell from a defective A-frame ladder.
• $4,083,333 settlement for a construction foreman who sustained cervical spine injuries when a freight elevator he was in dropped 2-3 floors.
• $4,000,000 settlement for a carpenter who suffered knee and back injuries after a work fall from a closed A-frame ladder.
• $4,000,000 settlement for a motorist who suffered neck, shoulder and back injuries in a two-car collision.
• $3,720,000 settlement for a 28-year-old commercial glass installer who suffered ankle and foot injuries requiring surgery after a construction site fall.
• $3,500,000 settlement for a worker in Manhattan who suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) after falling from a ladder.
• $3,400,000 settlement for a union carpenter who suffered knee injuries after falling 12-14 feet down an elevator shaft in Queens.
• $3,258,000 jury verdict for a delivery truck driver who was struck by a forklift while making deliveries at a supermarket.
• $3,250,000 settlement for a Brooklyn motorist injured in a New York City Transit bus accident.
• $3,100,000 settlement for a security system installer who suffered lower back injury in a fall from an unstable ladder.
• $3,000,000 settlement for a carpenter who sustained head and wrist injuries in a ladder fall at a Manhattan job site.
• $3,000,000 settlement for a union carpenter who tripped and fell over loose wires on his construction site.
• $2,900,000 settlement for a worker who suffered severe foot injuries after falling from a ladder on the job.
• $2,750,000 settlement for a woman injured in a trip and fall accident on an uneven sidewalk.
• $2,700,000 settlement for a union roofer who fell from the roof of a Long Island school and fractured his leg and back
• $2,700,000 settlement in a Kings County case for a 23-year-old man injured in a vehicle collision involving a commercial truck.
• $2,500,000 settlement for a cyclist who suffered back, knee and hip injuries in an accident involving an Access-A-Ride van.
• $2,270,000 jury verdict for a Brooklyn woman injured in New York City Transit bus accident.
• $2,200,000 settlement for a 38-year-old plumber’s assistant who fell from an unsteady ladder and developed a debilitating chronic pain syndrome.
• $2,000,000 settlement for a union carpenter injured in a work-related fall.
• $1,500,000 settlement for a driver who suffered lumbar spine injuries in a Brooklyn rear-end accident.
• $1,198,000 jury verdict for a passenger injured in a rear-end collision with a box truck.
• $1,000,000 settlement for a Manhattan man who suffered severe lower back injuries after falling in an apartment building.
• $1,000,000 settlement for the wife of a pedestrian who died tragically after being struck by a van in the Bronx.
• $835,000 jury verdict for a freelance photographer injured in a motor vehicle accident.

Honors and Associations

• Super Lawyers, New York Metro, 2013-Present

Speaking Engagements

• Featured Lecturer, Theory of the Case: Trial Advocacy Skills for New Lawyers, 2022-2023. Part of the New York State Bar Association’s CLE program for new lawyers, “Bridging the Gap.”
• Featured Lecturer, Depositions 101 – Guidance for New Lawyers, 2023. Part of the New York State Bar Association’s CLE program.
• Featured Lecturer, Ten Deposition Lessons You Don’t Want to Learn the Hard Way, 2023. Part of the New York State Bar Association’s CLE program.
• Ten Deposition Lessons You Don’t Want to Learn the Hard Way | NYSBA News
• Featured Guest, Robert Liciaga v. New York City Transit Authority, Great Trials Podcast, 2019.

Press Mentions

• Jury Awards $110M to Bicyclist Whose Spinal Cord Was Severed by 10-Foot Railroad Tie | New York Law Journal
• Cyclist Paralyzed After Beam Falls From Elevated Subway Tracks Awarded $110M | NBC New York
• Man paralyzed by MTA accident awarded over $100M | New York Post
• Man paralyzed by falling subway debris awarded $110M in MTA lawsuit | New York Daily News
• NYC Transit Hit With Record $110M Verdict in Injury Suit | Law360
• Bushwick Cyclist Wins $110M After Subway Beam Crushed His Spine | Patch
• $110 millones para joven que quedó en silla de ruedas por accidente en el Metro de Nueva York | El Diario
• Victim Awarded $30M In Sex Abuse Case Involving Nassau Teacher | Patch
• Nassau jury awards man $30M in sex abuse suit against teacher | Newsday

Areas of Practice

• Construction accidents
• Motor vehicle accidents
• Wrongful death
• Premises liability cases

Bar Admissions

• New York