Irene Gabo on the Morning Show at Davidzon Radio – December 28, 2020

1. I have a medical malpractice case no attorney wants to take. They all tell me I have a case, but they won’t take it, why is it so hard to find an attorney in this field?

To start with, not every bad result is malpractice and majority of verdicts in medical malpractice cases are returned for defendants. In addition, with medical malpractice insurance, the medical doctor or hospital control the company’s ability to settle, to a degree. So if they don’t consent to the settlement, the case will continue all the way to trial, and your attorney will need to hire experts and depose witnesses. Its expensive and time consuming and unless the damages are great, it may not be worth the effort, that it requires. Finally, we must consult with a doctor prior to filing an action, so once a case filed in court we can say that the case has merit, because it was reviewed by a doctor before the matter was started.

2. My husband died from covid and he had a personal injury case that settled. I can use the money, to take care of the kids, but attorney says it has to go to the kids too, until they turn 18, why? I need the money now, not 10 years from now?

If your spouse died without a will, his estate will go under the intestacy distribution statute, which states as follows. The first $50,000.00 go to the surviving spouse and the rest, if anything is left gets split equally between the spouse and children. Children under 18 will need guardian appointed to receive the funds on behalf of the kids and to deposit the money in the savings bearing account, where the money will stay til the children turn 18. Any withdrawal from the account will have to be on an emergency/necessity basis, for example for medical treatment of a child, and the court will have to approve the expenditure. Otherwise, neither you nor the child can withdraw the money from the savings account.

3. I own a tire shop and received a summons that I am being sued for a fall over a cellar door, I have no cellar door by my shop, what do I do? There is no insurance, and I can’t really spend money to defend a case I have nothing to do with

We handle defense for people and companies who had no insurance at the time of an accident and are now being sued. First thing to do it get an attorney, who can contact the plaintiff’s lawyer to legally extend your time to answer. Take photos of property showing that location of the fall is not by your business. Your attorney can prepare a notarized affidavit to be sent to plaintiff’s attorney with photos that essentially says that the accident did not happen by your property and you have nothing to do with that location, i.e. you have no control over it. After that, hopefully your attorney can get you a stipulation of discontinuance against you, but if not, we can help defend you.

4. I had surgery due to my accident and the insurance company now says the surgery was not necessary and denied the doctor’s bill. What do I do?  Send to my private insurance for payment?

If it was an auto accident, the doctor’s office probably had you sign an assignment of benefits form before treating you, which essentially says that the doctor will bill the insurance directly, and if there is a denial he/she will arbitrate the bills. If the doctor undertakes an arbitration and wins, the no fault insurance pays him, if he loses, he cannot come after you for the payment, unless you violated the policy in some way, for example you did not show up for the medical exam set up by your insurance company.

If it was a trip and fall kind of case, yes, it will be your insurance, or a lien, and possibly if the opposing party has “med pay” policy, you can get reimbursed from there. Many of these “med pays” require submission of bills within a year to be considered for payment.

5. I am here on a student visa, and was hit by a car, there is a police report. I have no insurance and no papers. What can I do?

If you were injured you can treat here and the insurance of the car that hit you will pay for it. If your injuries are significant enough, you can make a claim against the car for pain and suffering. Your legal status does not matter, you can have student visa and still file a claim. If you leave the country before your case is resolved you may need to come back for a deposition and a medical exam by defendant’s counsel and doctor. Most depositions today are done via zoom so you can perhaps do a deposition being outside the United States

6. I fell upstate but live in Brooklyn. Do I need to find an attorney upstate and sue upstate? Its really far, like 3 hours.

As long as this happened in New York you chose where to start an action. So if you live in Brooklyn, as your place for trial. Or you can choose where defendant lives. There are certain exceptions where you can choose the location of the accident. In cases where defendant is the City of New York,  the county where your complaint must be filed is in the county of the occurrence of the accident.