Kenneth A Berkowitz

Kenneth Berkowitz is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

 

Since joining Blume Goldfaden more than 20 years ago, Ken Berkowitz has handled dozens of million-dollar settlements and jury verdicts, and has appeared on ABC’s 20/20 news program.

 

His trial expertise is evident in the significant verdicts he has obtained for clients injured as a result of diverse types of cases, including medical malpractice and product liability, including automobile defects, bicycle safety, and hot water heaters. Some of his cases were also fought in the appeals process that often follows a jury verdict.

 

In 2003, Mr. Berkowitz forged a record $25 million settlement for a New York family man who was permanently paralyzed from the waist down at a Caribbean resort hotel. Our research indicates that this is the largest recovery for a personal injury claim in New Jersey State Court history.

 

In 2009, Ken settled a personal injury case for $11 million (confidential settlement).

 

Utilizing mediation, rather than the lengthy litigation process, Mr. Berkowitz obtained a $2.75 Million recovery on behalf of the family of the limousine driver shot and killed by ex New Jersey Nets basketball star, Jason Williams. By entering into mediation with the attorneys representing Mr. Williams, Mr. Berkowitz was able to bring the civil suit to a swift conclusion - sparing the family of the victim the emotional and financial expense of litigation.

 

Among the numerous Product Liability and Medical Malpractice recoveries Mr. Berkowitz has obtained are:

 

One of the nation's largest jury verdicts in a bicycle safety case on behalf of a high school boy, who was riding his bicycle one evening. The new bicycle was, as with most bikes, misleadingly equipped with an "all-reflector system". However, without a headlight, reflectors were not enough for car drivers to see the bicycle at night. The young man was hit by an oncoming jeep turning left and suffers severe permanent physical and learning disabilities. As a result of this case, manufacturers and consumers were educated that all bicycles need headlights and that the all-reflector system can be dangerous. Mr. Berkowitz won a $7 million jury verdict in this case. A settlement with a present value of 7.25 million dollars on behalf of a young woman rendered a spastic quadriplegic with a neurogenic bowel and bladder at the age of 18 years. The young woman was in the ICU of her local Hospital for weeks being treated for life-threatening illnesses, meningoccemia, septic shock, DIC and acute respiratory distress syndrome. While in the intensive care unit (ICU), the malpractice occurred when she developed a tension pneumothorax which her physician and nurse failed to diagnose and treat for approximately 30 minutes, resulting in a cardiac arrest. A residential gas explosion in which a man was horribly burned over sixty percent of his body. Mr. Berkowitz discovered that the explosion was caused by a disrupted gas line. He obtained a $4.8 million settlement for the burn victim. A 31 year-old woman presented to a hospital with complaints of right flank pain, nausea and vomiting.  She was diagnosed with a kidney stone, given IV fluids and discharged with instructions to follow-up in the urology clinic the following day.  The young woman did not return the next day, and she hid from the ambulance the following day, having delirium, continuous vomiting, chills, and developing sepsis.  By the time she was brought to the hospital two and a half days later, she was in septic shock and suffered resulting amputations of both legs at the knees, and amputations of multiple fingers.  Mr. Berkowitz obtained a 3.13 million dollar settlement on behalf of the young woman. Mr. Berkowitz settled a case against Amtrak for $1.75 million on behalf of a railroad worker electrocuted while attempting to service a train at Newark's Penn Station. The 34 year old client was attempting to fix a pantograph, an apparatus that transmits electrical power from overhead wires, on top a NY bound Amtrak engine, when he was struck by 12,000 volts of current.  He suffered  severe burns to 12% of his body, requiring six surgeries, and, the amputation of 4 toes. A day care worker was washing an eight month old child in a sink when she was distracted by another child. The unattended infant knocked the faucet with her foot turning the water scalding hot. The infant suffered first and second degree burns on her legs and feet, leaving her with scarred feet and toes and psychological damage. She underwent multiple debridements and skin grafts.  Mr. Berkowitz settled this matter for $1.95 million. 

A settlement with a present value of 2.75 million dollars on behalf of an infant with spastic quadriparesis following a hypoxic ischemic brain injury at the time of her birth. The infant’s mother was admitted to a local hospital with irregular contractions and spontaneous rupture of membranes for a vaginal birth after C-Section (VBAC). After approximately 15+ hours of labor, the obstetrician decided to perform a repeat C-Section because of a lack of progress in the labor. The Plaintiffs did not claim that the trial of VBAC labor was contraindicated. Rather, the plaintiffs contended that the fetal monitoring strips were indicative of fetal distress, requiring the earlier performance of an emergency C-Section. The infant mother’s uterus ruptured along the previous C-Section incision and the infant’s body extruded outside the uterus. The child was immediately transferred to another area hospital with diagnoses of asphyxia, anoxic seizure disorder and respiratory failure. The claim had been previously rejected by other plaintiffs’ counsel.

 

After graduating from Union College in New York (B.A. 1971) and the Boston University School of Law (J.D. 1975), Ken Berkowitz clerked for Judge Arnold Stein and then joined a commercial litigation firm in Newark.

 

Mr. Berkowitz has also handled a number of other significant defective products and medical malpractice cases. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Rutgers, teaching trial presentation.