Many times, our colleagues ask us to assist them with their cases, either for the entire litigation or just for trial or settlement purposes. This was the case recently when our firm acted as “co-counsel” to another law firm and were able to successfully resolve our client’s case which involved a defective elevator door that closed on him causing severe injuries. In this case, our client was working for a moving company when he was injured by a freight elevator that suddenly and unexpectedly closed on him, trapping his right foot in the elevator doors. As a result of the incident, our client injured various parts of his body, and underwent arthroscopic surgery to his knee to repair a torn meniscus. He also required an extensive surgery to his ankle. The ankle surgery was called a “Brostrom lateral ligament reconstruction” which is a type of surgery where the damaged ligaments are repaired utilizing graft augmentation, and the ligaments are shortened and repaired with suture fixation. After many years of litigation, our firm was asked by a colleague to be co-counsel on behalf of the plaintiff as the case was proceeding to trial. While the Coronavirus pandemic was in its beginning stages, the parties agreed to attempt to resolve the case with a virtual mediation. After many hours conducting a mediation via a Zoom call, Justin Blitz, along with our co-counsel, the defense attorney, and representatives of the defendants’ insurance companies were able to come to terms and settle the case in the amount of $1,400,000.

We are proud that Justin Blitz’s 2019 jury verdict for $3,000,000 was recently a 2020 Featured Verdict of Verdict Search.

Our client was driving to her job as a supervisor at the United States Postal Service when her vehicle was in a car crash as she was rear-ended by a car on the Long Island Expressway.  The driver of the car that struck our client’s vehicle told the police that he was unable to slow down in time to avoid the collision.  Our client was taken from the scene by ambulance to North Shore University Hospital with severe neck pain. MRIs showed herniations to her neck at the C5-C6 disc level. Despite undergoing multiple epidural steroid injections, our client did not have any relief from her pain. As such, she underwent surgery to her neck which consisted of an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion at the C5-C6 level. During the surgery, a plate and pins were inserted, and a bone graft was performed using bone harvested from another part of her body. Blitz Law Group brought a lawsuit against the driver and owner of the car that rear-ended our client’s vehicle.  Following the completion of depositions, Stephanie Mastrocola, Esq. procured the total amount of insurance coverage available and settled our client’s case for $250,000, providing our client with much-deserved compensation.

On January 4, 2017, our client, a 56-year-old woman, was working as a bus matron and was a passenger on a school bus that was parked in front of a public school in Queens when a large truck backed up into the bus.  The truck was owned by a milk company and was filled with milk at the time of the crash. As a result of the crash, our client suffered life-changing injuries to her back and shoulder which required her to undergo multiple surgeries, including a shoulder surgery and a lumbar spinal fusion surgery.  Blitz Law Group brought a lawsuit on behalf of our client against the driver and owner of the milk truck that caused the crash.  After years of litigation, the case was scheduled for trial and then the Coronavirus pandemic began. Despite the crisis, Stephanie Mastrocola, Esq. and Justin Blitz, Esq. arranged a virtual mediation, at which time they settled the case for $750,000.

On June 22, 2015, our 33-year-old client was driving his SUV on the lower level of the George Washington Bridge on his way to church when he was involved in a four-car crash. The crash occurred while our client, who was wearing his seat belt, was stopped in traffic in the middle lane of the bridge.  While stopped, our client’s car was struck in the rear by another vehicle, which had by struck in the rear by the vehicle behind it at a high rate of speed.  The impact caused our client’s car to smash into the car in front of him, causing significant damage to all 4 of the cars involved. As a result, our client severely injured his lumbar spine, which required him to undergo a spinal fusion surgery. The surgery consisted of an anterior “retroperitoneal radical discectomy” at our client’s L4-L5 disc level with placement of a perimeter cage, infuse bone graft and allograft with fusion, and placement of pyramid plate and screws. Blitz Law Group initially brought a lawsuit on our client’s behalf in the Supreme Court, Bronx County but as a result of a motion made by the defendant’s attorneys, the case was transferred to Supreme Court, Richmond County (Staten Island). After extensive litigation, and shortly before jury selection was set to begin Justin Blitz, Esq. settled the case for $450,000.

In February 2018, our client, an elderly woman, was on her way to the grocery store in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, when she tripped and fell on a broken sidewalk adjoining a synagogue in the neighborhood where she lived.  After falling, our client was taken by ambulance to the Emergency Room at Maimonides Medical Center where she was admitted and eventually underwent surgery to repair her fractured hip. Blitz Law Group discovered that the synagogue knew that the sidewalk was broken and dangerous well before our client’s accident but decided that fixing it was too expensive and chose to let it remain in a state of disrepair. Blitz Law Group commenced a lawsuit on behalf of our client and during we settled the case for $275,000, providing our client with just compensation for her significant injuries.

On October 2, 2018, our client had just left a rehearsal studio in the Times Square area of Manhattan.  She was intending to walk home when she tripped on the extended prong of a metal barricade that had been positioned in an L-shape on the sidewalk in front of the entrance to a theater. The barricades had been put there in an attempt to prevent people from interacting with any performers that might be exiting the back door of the theater. As our client was walking by, she did not see the barricade’s leg protruding out, and her foot got caught, causing her to trip and fall. Police officers came to the scene and called an ambulance, which transported her to Lenox Hill Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a fracture of her knee and underwent surgery consisting of an open reduction and internal fixation. Justin Blitz, Esq. was able to procure a settlement for our client for $190,000 within six months of the accident date and without having to bring a lawsuit, fairly compensating our client for the injuries that she sustained.

On January 20, 2019, our client, a 28-year-old woman with a master’s degree in journalism, was walking home from the gym heading eastbound on East 73rd Street in Manhattan when she slipped and fell on a patch of ice.  The ice emanated from the service entrance to a building and extended to the curb line. It was caused by someone that had removed leaking bags of trash from the building, which froze over, thereby creating the icy patch. When our client slipped and fell on the ice, she immediately felt pain in the upper part of her left arm.  A good Samaritan came to her aid and called an ambulance to the scene. Our client was taken to the emergency room at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center where X-rays confirmed a fracture to her humerus bone.  Because the fracture was so bad, it required her to undergo a surgery that consisted of an open reduction and internal fixation surgery where 2 plates and multiple screws were inserted. Blitz Law Group brought a lawsuit on our client’s behalf against the owner and management company of the building for creating the dangerous condition that caused our client to fall. While in the course of the litigation, and during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, Stephanie Mastrocola, Esq. was able to procure a settlement for our client in the amount of $200,000.

We are proud to report that it was recently announced that two of Blitz Law Group’s cases have been recognized for obtaining one of the Nation’s Top 50 Truck Accident Settlements in 2018 and one of the Nation’s Top 50 Premises Liability Settlements of 2018.

Our client, a married woman who lives in the Bronx, was on her way to work as a paralegal at a Manhattan law firm.  She had crossed over Park Avenue and took one step onto the sidewalk when she tripped and fell on a loose concrete paver which caused her to fall and land on her knee.  As a result, she tore various ligaments in her knee. Blitz Law Group commenced litigation against the owners and managing agents of the adjoining property, for allowing the concrete paver to be in a defective, loose and dangerous condition.  During the course of the defendants’ depositions, we were able to get the property manager to admit that the building had previously replaced the concrete paver that caused our client’s accident. While in the middle of the deposition of the plaintiff, Stephanie Mastrocola, Esq.  procured a settlement in the amount of $200,000, thereby fairly compensating our client for the injuries that she sustained.

When our client decides to do some grocery shopping at Whole Foods, she has no idea that this visit to the store would change her life significantly. Because her groceries are too heavy for her to carry home, she hails a taxi to take her to her apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. While traveling along Third Avenue, the taxi that our client was a passenger in was struck by a van. The van turns into the taxi’s lane at a high rate of speed. The van smashes the taxi in the intersection. Our client goes by ambulance from the scene of the crash to the emergency room. She later follows up with an orthopedist who orders MRI tests. The MRIs showed tears to our client’s knee and shoulder, both of which required surgery to repair. Shortly before the trial, Justin Blitz, Esq. settles her case for $455,000, that provides our client with just compensation for her significant injuries.

How does a botch hernia surgery lead to a $3 million jury verdict? In 2012, our client discovered that he had an inguinal (groin) hernia after undergoing a CT scan.  His primary care physician referred him to a general surgeon who specializes in hernia repairs.  Our client consulted with the surgeon, and initially elected not to have his hernia surgically repaired as he had no symptoms.  In 2013, our client’s hernia became symptomatic, and he had a second consultation with the surgeon, at which time he elected to proceed with the surgery. In November 2013, the surgeon performed a laparoscopic bilateral inguinal hernia repair surgery on our client.  During this procedure, the surgeon implanted mesh in order to repair the hernias, and affixed tacks to the mesh to secure it in place. Typically, a surgeon will use approximately three to five tacks to affix the mesh for hernia surgery. However, during our client’s procedure, the defendant-surgeon used approximately twenty-seven tacks.  In addition, we claimed that the defendant-surgeon improperly placed tacks in and around our client’s ilioinguinal nerve. This caused an injury to our client’s lateral femoral cutaneous nerve.  As a result, our client sustained severe and permanent injuries.  His injuries include left-sided meralgia paresthetica. Meralgia Paresthetica is a neurological condition that causes numbness, tingling, and pain in the outer thigh. The Injuries Change our Clients Life These injuries completely altered the course of our client’s life.  They also altered his career.  At the time of his surgery, our client was employed as a campus security guard at a local college.  Following the surgery, the physical demands of his job became too much to bear. Eventually he had to uproot his entire family and move to another state. There he was offered, and he accepted a less physically demanding job. A ProTack device used in the surgery to repair our client’s hernia. Blitz Law Group commenced a medical malpractice lawsuit against the surgeon on behalf of our client.  Over the course of five years of litigation, the defendant-surgeon continuously denied any responsibility.  The surgeon also would not consent to any settlement.  As such, the case went to trial before a jury. After six days of trial, Justin Blitz, Esq. was able to obtain a jury verdict for $3,000,000. That is how one obtains a $3 million Verdict for hernia surgery.