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Upstate New York Personal Injury Attorneys

If you or a loved one is considering filing an injury suit in Upstate New York, the stress of the legal system and the physical pain you’re in may feel like too much to handle at once. At Block O’Toole & Murphy, we understand that a serious accident causes more than bodily harm; it creates endless medical bills, a loss of income, and uncertainty about the future.

Our trial attorneys are known throughout New York State for their relentless advocacy and strong verdicts and settlements. From the Hudson Valley to Western and Central New York to North Country, we have a proven track record of obtaining above-average results for clients across the state, including:

Need to Know:

  • Block O’Toole & Murphy has recovered approximately $100 million in Upstate New York personal injury cases.
  • Generally, you have three years to file a personal injury case in the State of New York. However, this does not mean you should delay contacting a lawyer. An attorney will need to act quickly to collect and preserve essential evidence. Additionally, if your accident involves suing a municipality, you will need to file a notice of claim within 90 days of your accident, and file your case within 1 year and 90 days.
  • Under New York State law, your case may be filed in a county if you or one of the defendants resides or is headquartered in that county, or if your accident occurred there. If you have a choice between multiple county courts, a skilled attorney will consider jury trends and court backlogs when deciding where to file your case.

In This Article:

Why Choose Block O’Toole & Murphy for Your Upstate New York Injury Case?

By hiring our firm, you are choosing a team of attorneys who are uniquely equipped to pursue maximum compensation for a New York catastrophic injury case.

  • Block O’Toole & Murphy is well-known throughout New York State. Because our firm has achieved many notable settlements and verdicts across the state, both courts and insurance companies recognize our firm by name. Additionally, Partners Daniel P. O’Toole and David L. Scher are Co-Chairs of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA) Labor Law Committee, and Mr. Scher was the former President of NYSTLA, a position that required him to travel and meet with legislators and lawyers from all around New York.
  • Insurance companies are aware of our track record of noteworthy verdicts and settlements. Some of our firm’s most impressive cases include a landmark $110,174,972 jury verdict for a paralyzed cyclist, a $53,500,000 jury verdict for a worker who fell on a construction site, and a record-breaking $32,756,156 jury verdict for an injured pedestrian. This track record strengthens our position in negotiations and compels insurance companies to offer higher settlements before a verdict is reached.
  • The attorneys at Block O’Toole & Murphy have received various top legal awards. For example, our firm has been recognized by New York Law Journal, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, Forbes Advisor, National Trial Lawyers, and more.

Block O’Toole & Murphy’s Practice Areas in Upstate New York

Our firm is skilled at handling wrongful death cases, catastrophic injury cases, and work injury cases in the following practice areas:

Case Study: $3,250,000 Settlement for Child Injured on a Playground in Oneida County, New York

In one case handled by Partners Jeffrey A. Block, S. Joseph Donahue and Associate Kristian Krober, our client was a boy who was severely injured on a public playground in Lee, New York. Just 11 years old at the time of the accident, our client and three of his friends were playing on a seesaw. Our client sat on one side, while the other three boys sat on the opposite side to lift him. When our client was elevated, two of the boys got off, and our client fell when the seesaw suddenly descended. Unfortunately, the concrete base of the seesaw was exposed, and our client, who was wearing flip flops, suffered a deep laceration to his heel.

Tragically, though our client sought immediate medical treatment and the laceration eventually healed, he suffered nerve damage and his pain and numbness remained. He was subsequently diagnosed with Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). Doctors struggled to manage the pain for years, resulting in our client regularly needing to stay home from school and missing out on countless childhood experiences. Eventually our client underwent surgery to place a spinal cord stimulator, an invasive treatment that interrupts pain signals to the brain and is only given to minors as a last resort.

Building a Premises Liability Case Against the Town of Lee

Our attorneys worked meticulously to prepare this case:

  • Cite case law from the Fourth Judicial Department, Appellate Division. Because Oneida County is in New York’s Fourth Judicial Department, our attorneys were careful to cite relevant case law. This case was built on Brady v. City of North Tonawanda, 161 A.D.3d 1526 (4thDept 2018, Rhabb v. New York City Housing Authority, 41 N.Y.2d 200 (1976)), which states that a city has a duty to maintain its park and playground facilities in a reasonably safe condition. Additionally, a city cannot ignore the foreseeable dangers it created or continue to extend an invitation to the public to use an area and not be held accountable for resultant injuries.  

In this case, the exposed concrete presented a foreseeable danger to any person using the seesaw. Typically, the base of playground equipment is supposed to be covered with a softer material, such as mulch, to prevent such accidents.

  • Depose town employees who were responsible for maintaining playground equipment. In his deposition, the town supervisor explained that mulch was laid yearly, and admitted that there was not enough mulch under the seesaw at the time of the accident. In previous years, new mulch had been put down in early summer. Our client was injured in July, and at the time of his accident, no new mulch had been put down since the previous summer.
  • Hire a playground expert to examine the equipment. Our attorneys consulted a playground expert, who confirmed that seesaws should have at least 12 inches of mulch to create a safe surface. However, this seesaw did not even have enough room to place 12 inches of mulch between the concrete slab and the seats, leading our expert to conclude that the seesaw was both installed and maintained incorrectly.

In response to these arguments, the defense claimed that the condition was open and obvious, and that an 11-year-old should have been able to see that it was dangerous. The defense also claimed that our client should not have been wearing flip flops, and that our client misused the seesaw by having four people on it instead of two. Finally, the defense alleged that there was no proof that our client’s laceration came from the concrete.

Our attorneys were confident that the defense’s arguments would not hold up in court, and fought aggressively to obtain fair compensation for our client.

Negotiation and Settlement

It took multiple mediations for our attorneys to settle this case, as the defense was adamant that an Oneida County jury would not award our client more than $2 million. However, our attorneys knew that our client deserved more than this, and held strong on our demands. In the end, the case settled for $3,200,000.

How Block O’Toole & Murphy Handles an Upstate Personal Injury Case

Whether we’re representing clients from Mohawk Valley, the Capital District or the Southern Tier, our firm brings the same tenacity, compassion and preparedness to every case we sign.  

  • Assign at least two lawyers to every case. This helps us give each client the level of attention their case deserves. This also lets our attorneys have the flexibility to travel anywhere in the state on a moment’s notice, allowing us to conduct thorough investigations of accident scenes, quickly find relevant evidence and witnesses, and ready our clients for each stage of their case.
  • Thorough preparation at every stage. Each time we file a case, our attorneys pore over local rules, county rules, and individual judge rules to ensure that your case moves through proceedings as smoothly as possible.
  • Individual case research. Upstate New York is divided into two different Appellate Divisions that may have conflicting precedents. Our attorneys diligently research relevant case law from your jurisdiction.
  • Meticulous jury selection. While larger cities are usually more plaintiff-friendly, many smaller counties in Upstate New York are more conservative and tend to be less sympathetic to plaintiffs. Additionally, in less populated counties, your attorney may need to be extra careful to ensure that no one on the jury has personal or professional connections to the defense. Wherever your case is tried, a skilled injury attorney will be careful to choose jurors who are more likely to hear your case with an open mind.

Case Study: $9,950,000 Settlement for a Pedestrian Car Accident in Buffalo, New York

Hear Partners Stephen J. Murphy and David L. Scher discuss how Block O’Toole & Murphy secured a $9.95 million settlement in a Buffalo, NY car accident case.

In one car accident case handled by Block O’Toole & Murphy, our client was a 28-year-old social worker. She was parked in front of a nonprofit and loading her car with groceries for a needy family when she was suddenly struck by a commercial van that careened into the lot, pinning her to her car’s back bumper.

Our client’s injuries were catastrophic — her leg was severed during the impact, and she needed a full amputation. The resulting pain and suffering completely upended her life.

How Our Attorneys Investigated a Complicated Car Accident in Western New York

While it was clear that our client was not at fault for her accident, the chain of events was still in question. The driver of the van, who believed it was a one-lane road in each direction, claimed that the accident was the fault of another commercial vehicle which had struck his van while he was making a right turn into the parking lot. Meanwhile, the other driver insisted it was the van’s fault for making an improper turn from the left lane.

To find out who was responsible, Partners Stephen J. Murphy and David L. Scher, who managed the case, did the following:

  • Subpoenaed the van’s dashcam footage. This confirmed the van driver’s allegations that he was hit by the other car. However, our attorneys needed to investigate further to determine whether the road had one lane or two, and whether the van driver was making a legal turn.
  • Filed a FOIL request with the City of Buffalo. Among the documents received from this request was a report from an investigating accident detective. Crucially, the report observed that the road had only one lane, and summons were issued to both the van driver for making an improper turn and to the other driver for passing on a one lane road. This evidence showed that both drivers were partially at fault for the accident.

Mediating a Fair Settlement for Our Client

New York is a pure comparative negligence state. According to CPLR Section 1411, plaintiffs may seek compensation from any defendants who are at least 1 percent responsible for their accident.

Because both drivers were partially responsible for the accident, our attorneys were able to successfully negotiate a settlement from both codefendants. In the end, we settled the case for $9,950,000.

Case Study: $9,500,000 Settlement for a Construction Accident in Dutchess County, New York

In another personal injury case handled by Block O’Toole & Murphy, our client was a Local 8 union roofer who had been hired to help replace the roof of a middle school gymnasium. Our client, who was in his early 30s at the time of the accident, was given the task of removing skylight frames and temporarily covering them with plywood. Unfortunately, neither our client nor any of the other workers were provided with fall protection equipment.

Tragically, our client fell through one of the open windows. After landing on the gym floor 30 feet below, he could not remember what caused the fall. He was airlifted to the hospital, where scans showed he had severe injuries, including cervical, lumbar and thoracic spinal fractures, and wrist and elbow fractures.

Investigating a Labor Law 240 Case

It was clear to handling partners S. Joseph Donahue and Jeffrey A. Block that this would be a Labor Law 240 case. This New York State law is designed to protect construction workers from gravity-related accidents, and holds general contractors and property owners liable if workers are injured due to missing or defective safety equipment.

Initially, the defense argued that our client was not following proper protocol, and this led to his fall. However, during the discovery phase, our attorneys obtained a copy of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation into the accident. The OSHA report showed that the general contractor had neglected to provide fall protection, and had been issued a citation.

Negotiating a Fair Settlement

Our attorneys knew that Dutchess County can be a challenging venue for plaintiffs, and they would have to work diligently to secure the compensation our client deserved. Mr. Donahue and Mr. Block were very aggressive when negotiating for our client, and they also let the defense know that they would be moving for summary judgment under Labor Law 240. If granted, the defense would be found 100% at fault for the accident.

This approach was successful: before the defense depositions even took place, the defense agreed to settle the case for $9,500,000.

Notable Verdicts & Settlements in Upstate New York Injury Cases

At Block O’Toole & Murphy, we recognize the responsibility that comes with representing clients whose recovery and financial security depend on the outcome of their case. Our attorneys work tirelessly to ensure our clients are properly compensated for their pain, suffering, medical bills, and loss of income. We only charge a contingency fee, which means that our clients are not charged until we win their case.

Some of our major Upstate New York settlements include:

  • $9,950,000 settlement for a woman who suffered a leg amputation due to a car accident in Buffalo
  • $9,500,000 settlement for a roofer who suffered multiple spinal fractures after falling 30 feet from the roof of a middle school gymnasium in Dutchess County
  • $9,500,000 settlement for a painter who suffered a traumatic brain injury after falling from an extension ladder in Lagrangeville
  • $7,000,000 settlement for a worker injured while working on the Newburgh Tunnel Project
  • $6,250,000 settlement for a client who suffered quadriplegia after falling 9 feet due to a construction accident in Putnam County
  • $4,925,000 settlement after a car crash caused by an illegally parked tractor trailer in Orange County
  • $3,250,000 settlement for a boy injured on a public playground in Lee, New York
  • $3,000,000 settlement for a driver rear-ended on 1-287 in Rockland County
  • $2,625,000 recovery for the wrongful death of a couple caused by an auto accident
  • $2,500,000 settlement for a rear-end accident with a tractor trailer in Rotterdam, New York
  • $2,195,000 settlementfor a worker injured at an Orange County construction project
  • $2,000,000 settlement for a worker who fell through an unprotected opening while installing an HVAC unit in Delaware County
  • $1,850,000 settlement for a man who fell from a scaffold while performing asbestos abatement work in Albany
  • $1,500,000 settlement in an Orange County case for a union roofer who fell due to a defective permanently affixed ladder with caution tape on it
  • $1,400,000 settlement for a subcontractor seriously injured in a Labor Law 240 case in Orange County, New York
  • $1,350,000 settlement for a laborer who fell off a roof in Rockland County
  • $1,000,000 settlement for a laborer who fell through sheetrock while working on a townhouse development project in Middletown, NY
  • $750,000 settlement for a man who was riding in a car when it was struck head on by an oncoming left-turning vehicle in Pearl River

For a free legal consultation, please call 212-736-5300 or fill out our contact form.

 

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