New York Injury Law Blog

Orlow, Orlow and Orlow is proud to announce our new Manhattan location for our new law office. As New York City Personal Injury Attorneys, we have been serving New Yorkers who have been harmed through the fault and negligence of others for over thirty years.  Orlow, Orlow, and Orlow has now made our partners directly available to our clients, by appointment only, at our new address in the historic Chrysler Building.

The physical address for the New York Personal Injury Law Firm in Manhattan is

Orlow, Orlow, and Orlow P.C.

405 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10174

We will still maintain our Queens, NY Personal Injury Law Office as well as our Brooklyn Law Office. To speak with one of our skilled, experienced and understanding attorneys, please contact us at 718.544.4100 or fill out the law office contact form.

Contiued From DRAM SHOP ACT: DRUNK AND UNDERAGED IN NEW YORK

FIRST POST IN SERIES : DRAM SHOP LAWS IN NEW YORK

Those That Serve Alcohol can be Sued for Drunk Driving Accidents in New York

When a person drives while intoxicated and causes an accident, any person injured in that accident caused by the drunk driver may well have the ability to sue not only the owner and driver of the drunk driver’s vehicle.   You may be able to sue someone that supplied the liquor that caused the driver’s inebriation.   This applies, as well, to a person injured in any kind of accident at all that was caused by an intoxicated   person. (Caution: an intoxicated person causing injury to himself would NOT be able to sue the person that provided him with alcohol !).
This ability to sue the provider of alcohol  to an intoxicated adult “tortfeasor” (person that causes an accident) does have restrictions.  First, and most importantly, this law, in New York State, applies only to the commercial sale of alcohol.   Serving liquor to someone at a function or party, for example, would not bring the person  providing the liquor under this statute.
In order to hold a seller of liquor responsible, it is also necessary to show that the sale of the liquor went directly to the person that eventually caused the accident.   It is not enough to show that the person selling the alcohol sold it to one individual who then turned around and gave or sold it to the eventual “tortfeasor”.
Finally, it is essential in order to establish liability on the part of the person selling the liquor, to show that at the time the seller of alcohol  sold the liquor to the intoxicated  person, that buyer was VISIBLY INTOXICATED.   This may well be the most difficult aspect of  bringing a “Dram Shop Act” lawsuit,  since the requirements for the person bringing the lawsuit in showing “visible intoxication” at the time of the sale are very strict and burdensome.    It is this element alone that should make it immediately obvious toanyone injured by an intoxicated / drunk person  to contact experienced and knowledgeable New York Personal Injury Attorneys as quickly as possible  so that appropriated evidence can be gathered in an expeditious manner. DON’T ASSUME YOU KNOW THE ANSWER

THE IS A CONTINUATION FROM THE “DRAM SHOP ACT IN NEW YORK“POST

Serving Liquor to the Under Aged in New York

Serving liquor to a minor is recognized almost universally in the Untied States as highly undesirable, and states seek to discourage such activity. The application of “Dram Shop Acts” are therefore much more broad when applied to minors compared to their application to adults.
While the Dram Shop Act in New York State, as we will see, is strictly limited as to the provider of alcohol that it targets when the intoxicated person is an adult, the Act targets any person at all that provides liquor to anyone under the age of twenty-one. Thus the provider of alcohol targeted could be in an establishment that sells liquor, or it can be an adult in a home where liquor is being served at a party. If you serve liquor to a minor, and that minor causes an accident which injures some third party, that third party will have a cause of action against YOU. One important point: The injured party that seeks to sue a commercial enterprise (such as a bar)that sold the liquor to a minor must be able to show that the minor was intoxicated at the time the minor caused the accident. Just because the bar served the minor liquor would not be enough, in and of itself, to make the bar subject to a lawsuit by the injured third party.

Can A Drunk Teen Cause an Accident and Sue The Party or Person that Served Them?

One other point: If you serve liquor to a minor, and the intoxicated minor himself is then injured in an accident which the minor caused, the minor would NOT be able to sue you. A person cannot bring a lawsuit based on an accident caused by that individual’s own intoxicated condition–and this holds true for adults and minors.

DON’T ASSUME YOU KNOW THE ANSWER

There are numerous other variables that can arise, including exceptions to general rules, and any time a serious accident occurs, especially if caused by intoxication, it is of the utmost importance to seek the counsel of an experienced New York Personal Injury Attorney.

CONTINUED IN: DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENTS IN NEW YORK

“Lead is still present in many of our neighborhoods, but we can limit exposure to children and adults by working together on comprehensive actions…,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We’re committed to giving our nation’s children the fullest protection possible, and giving parents clear assurance that their children are safe from harm.”

According to the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program that the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene published in 2005:

New York City (NYC) has made great strides in reducing the number of childhood lead poisoning cases; since 1995 there has been an 82% decline in the number of NYC children less than 6 years of age who are newly identified each year with elevated blood lead levels (BLLs). Despite this progress, however, 3,490 NYC children were identified with elevated BLLs in 2003. Thus, lead poisoning remains an important public health problem.”

The EPA is Trying to push for further regulations and testing of buildings including tests of air quality encouraged by the 2008 Sierra Club settlement in conjunction with efforts put forth by the NYC Coalition to End Lead Poisoning. Small children, especially in economically challenged neighborhoods, are still very susceptible to the detrimental effects. The EPA acknowledges the problem is still pervasive and landlords along with the government at all levels need to work to take responsibility for the issue of lead poisoning, especially in dense urban areas in New York City.
In addition to trying to get more pervasive testing in buildings, the EPA is seeking to get a ban on lead weights used in tire balancing which contribute to lead particulates in the air.
If you believe you or a loved one may have fallen ill from exposure to lead here is a link to some of the symptoms of lead poisoning. You should also read this blog post about lead poisoning in New York children.

According to the MTA, a New York City Construction worker was killed after a fall. The Workers death was initiated when he was struck by a small crane on the back of the truck while working on the Throg’s  Neck bridge, connecting Queens and the Bronx.

The fatal construction accident, occurring August 24, 2009, comes after a series of prior incidents which took place during the ongoing renovation of the Throg’s Neck Bridge.  This includes a fire which shut down the vital transportation hub for almost an entire day in July and demonstrates a pattern of negligence in the planning and supervision of the efforts.

As Construction Accident Attorneys in New York City, we too often see accidents such as these caused by gross negligence.  Most New York Construction Accidents can be prevented by simply obeying the guidelines set in place.  Extreme precaution must be adhered to when working in such precarious locations as the massive Throg’s Neck Bridge.

When safety becomes haphazard, at best there is a traffic jam and at worst a family loses a loved one who is often the sole provider.  These construction accidents are preventable and are the reasons most New York City Personal Injury Attorneys so vehemently seek justice for those wronged by others neglience on a New York construction site.

Who is Responsible for the Acts of Intoxicated Persons?

The term “Dram Shop” is legal terminology that generally refers to an establishment that sells liquor out of its original container.   A “dram” was a small unit of liquid measurement and the “Shop” usually refers to a bar, tavern or similar business.

Before any statutes were passed, the theory was that those serving the liquor were not responsible for the harmful acts of intoxicated persons against other parties.  It was the intoxicated persons themselves that bore the responsibility for their acts.   The so-called Dram Shop Acts, enacted by most, if not all, states, now place part of the responsibility for the harmful acts of intoxicated persons on those that supplied the liquor, usually if the person to whom the liquor was supplied was “visibly intoxicated” at the time he/she was served, or if the person being served was a minor.

We will explore the variations and ramifications of this type of law which has been expanded and refined over the years..

Continued in: The Underaged and Intoxicated in New York