Slip-And-Fall Lawyers Get Tripped Up In New York
January 5, 2009
A recent court ruling could raise the legal bar on slip-and-fall lawsuits in the Big Apple, according to an article in the New York Times – a staple of predatory trial lawyers, who feasted on more than $600 million of sidewalk settlements paid by the City in the decade between 1997 and 2006. (Hat Tip, Carter Wood at ShopFloor.)
Back in 1982, some enterprising attorneys in the New York State Trial Lawyers Association hit on the idea of starting the Big Apple Pothole and Sidewalk Protection Committee. While posing as a public-spirited, good neighbor group interested only in alerting city officials and residents to needed sidewalk repairs, in reality the Committee had a far less noble purpose: backstopping thousands of lawsuits aimed solely at enriching personal injury lawyers. To fatten their wallets, the lawyers hired a mapping company to “scour the streets and sketch every crack, clink and pothole, with the ostensible purpose of giving the city notice of potential hazards it must fix, or face the consequences.” The Committee generates about 5,000 maps every year, cataloging more than 700,000 potential hazards along New York’s 13,000 miles of sidewalks.
For years, a squiggly line on one of these maps connected to a slip-and-fall case meant fast cash for a trial lawyer and trouble for the City. In a December 18 ruling, the New York Court of Appeals said a squiggle on a Committee map was not sufficient evidence to support a slip-and-fall case against the City. The decision prompted cries of “Hallelujah!” from former Mayor Ed Koch:
The money that’s paid out by such claims, which in my judgment are not worthy in many cases, is what deprives the city of spending money on matters that really are needed for the entire city.
Mayor Koch hits on the crucial point. The $600 million in taxpayer funds used to resolve slip-and-fall claims is money that couldn’t be spent on police, fire protection, paramedics and other essential services. Hopefully the Court of Appeals’ ruling will deter quick-buck trial lawyers from filing more merit-less cases – but don’t hold your breath.
Posted by Dan Pero in the categories: New York, Tort Reform, Trial Lawyers
One Response to “Slip-And-Fall Lawyers Get Tripped Up In New York”
Oh, that must have hurt a lot. It’s just too bad that slip-and-fall injury lawyers would go that far to cash in on the city and even their clients. But then, it’s still a good thing as New York becomes more vigilant when it comes to the condition of their roads.