OUTCOME: Settlement Obtained for Both Injured Passengers
A settlement was achieved for two passengers injured in a car accident on I-684 in the Town of Bedford, in the County of Westchester. The plaintiffs, residents of Yonkers, New York, were traveling in ...an automobile northbound on Interstate 684 in winter when their vehicle collided with another vehicle traveling northbound. Icy pavement may have been a contributing factor causing the accident. Plaintiffs received medical treatment.
Personal injury
Matter of Andrews v. County of Rockland
Dec 18, 2012
OUTCOME: Our Client Won - Case Returned to Arbitration
Our client sought to overturn an arbitration decided against her in this personal injury action. She was injured when the Rockland County T.R.I.P.S. bus she was riding rounded a corner and she was thro...wn from her seat. The arbitrator concluded he did not need to decide if the driver was negligent as Andrews was not wearing a seatbelt, ruling she would not have fallen had she been wearing it, thus was barred from recovering regardless if respondent was negligent. The court concluded that while the award offered “barely colorable justification for the outcome reached,” it was fatally flawed as the arbitrator failed to determine the percentage of culpability on Andrews’ part for failing to wear her seatbelt, and the driver’s part, if any. It noted the arbitrator appeared to have concluded the accident was solely Andrews’ fault, but stated it was incumbent on the arbitrator to decide the percentage of liability attaching to each party. The court ruled it could not speculate as to the arbitrator’s intent. It granted the petition to set aside the award and remanded the case to be heard by a different arbitrator.
Family
One Appeals Court Cited Two of Our Cases
Sep 12, 2012
OUTCOME: Two of Our Prior Wins Just Cited by Appeals Court
Not one, but TWO of our past victories were just cited by an Appeals Court – August 2012
Unlike the accident and negligence cases handled by our firm, other cases handled by our law firm often get a...ppealed, and sometimes result in the clarification or expansion of existing law. When this happens, our court cases are often cited by other attorneys in their legal briefs to court. Those other attorneys and law firms bring our cases to the attention of the judges in their cases in the hope that citing our cases will help them win their cases.
Of course, lawyers who utilize this process do not cite just the cases won by this law firm only. They also cite cases won by other law firms. In fact, it is one of the most common methods all lawyers throughout the country use to strengthen their cases.
However, what is unusual is just how often our cases are cited by appeals courts. We are, after all, only a small law firm. But it seems we are a small law firm making a very big impact. Here’s a few examples.
Discrimination / Sexual Harassment: Hayut v. State University of New York has been cited by courts throughout the country thousands of times. You can confirm this assertion by going to Google Scholar, typing these three words in quotation marks as follows: ”Hayut and Univ.” You will note that the case is cited over 300 times. If you type the same words into a legal research database, which is a much larger library of court decisions, you will note that our Hayut case has been cited by courts and judges over a thousand times.
False Arrest / Civil Rights: Torres v. Village of Sleepy Hollow has been cited by courts throughout New York State many times. Again, check Google Scholar and type in these four words in quotation marks as follows: ”Torres and Sleepy Hollow”. The case has been cited several times and, if you type the same words into a legal research database, which has a more extensive collection of court cases, you will note that our Torres case has been cited by other judges on numerous occasions.
And now we have even bigger news. Just last month, in July 2012, even though there were thousands and thousands of cases to choose from, we had the good fortune of having TWO of our cases cited by an appellate court in ONE decision. That’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Just last month, the Appellate Division, Second Department, issued a decision in this matrimonial and family law case:
Matter of Giannoulakis v. Kounalis, 2012 NY Slip Op 5637 – NY: Appellate Div., 2nd Dept., 2012
The issue in the Giannoulakis case involves child custody and visitation. And our law firm has no involvement whatsoever with the Giannoulakis case. But if you read the decision, you will note that the Appellate Division cites not one previous Martin & Colin victory, but two. The case of Cervera v. Bressler is cited by the appeals court. Bressler was one of our clients. In that case, we successfully obtained a change of custody of the child to her mother. The case of Thompson v. Yu-Thompson is also cited by the very same appeals court. Yu-Thompson was one of our clients. In that case, we successfully obtained an order requiring that both the father and the child undergo therapy as part of the father’s visitation process, at the father’s expense.
Thus, we bring the Giannoulakis case to your attention because it was decided just last month, i.e., August 2012, and in that decision the appeals court cites not one, but two, separate Martin & Colin, P.C. wins.
A total of five cases are cited. Two are ours. That’s a large accomplishment for a small law office.
Child support
Matter of C. v. K.
Jun 06, 2012
OUTCOME: Father Owes Child Support Arrears
Father Owes Child Support Arrears
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14034275638292691434&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr
Child custody
Matter of J. v. R.
Mar 03, 2009
OUTCOME: Sole Custody Awarded to Our Client (the Father)
Sole Custody Awarded to Our Client (the father). Published at: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8604381690034655238&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr
Family
Matter of T. v. Y.-T.
Jun 05, 2007
OUTCOME: Visitation Requires Assistance of Therapeutic Professional
Father Required to Undergo Therapeutic Visitation. Appeal published at: http://courts.state.ny.us/Reporter/3dseries/2007/2007_04838.htm
