Friedman Simon - September 2021

Friedman Simon - September 2021

LEGAL BRIEF

SEPTEMBER 2021 FRIEDMANSIMON.COM 516-800-8000

Spring and fall are my two favorite times of the year. It begins unofficially in late August as the days start getting shorter and the nights get cooler — and by the end of Labor Day weekend, we know it’s really begun. Summer vacations have ended, and the kids are back to school. For our family, though, this will be the first year we don’t have a child going back to a local school. My youngest has gone off to college in Wisconsin, exploring her future potential starting with a major in psychology. I knew I wanted to write about the fall because, honestly, it brings the most beautiful weather of the year to Long Island. The oppressively hot days of July and August have gone, so my wife and I love to take bike rides on the pathway along the beach about 10 miles from our home. It’s still not too cold to enjoy the beach this time of year, so we’ll bike all the way down there, park, walk along the boardwalk, then bike home. Fall is just a great time of year to enjoy yourself and the community around you. We love going into the city as it gets cooler to walk around Manhattan. Wandering Central Park and seeing all of the artists, vendors, and street fare is always exciting, especially after the lockdowns. It brings a feeling that you can only get during this time of year. September also reminds me of how greatly I look forward to October, when fall’s colors start to really show. It’s a superb time to take a daytrip up to Upstate New York, Vermont, or New Hampshire, all of AND STAY SAFE! THIS FALL, LIVE IN THE MOMENT “I knew I wanted to write about the fall because … it brings the most beautiful weather of the year to Long Island.”

which are breathtaking in the fall. Seeing the magnificent red, orange, and golden leaves in the mountains and the 100-year-old architecture and bridges is something you shouldn’t miss when you have a chance. Fall brings me a lot of joy and memories, whether it’s pumpkin picking or apple picking in the afternoons with the kids and then carving and painting pumpkins at night. However, for our business, it also brings certain cases that are more common than you may think. During this time of year, we see more cases involving school buses and kids getting injured at school. We also see cases where pedestrians are walking, jogging, or running on the sidewalks covered in leaves, hiding dangerous defects. The courts also get very busy in the fall.

No matter how you’re planning on enjoying fall this season — whether it’s getting out into the city, watching football, or both — I hope you and your family will stay safe and tread carefully out there. Thanks for reading, friends.

-Roger Simon

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The dollar value of pain and suffering can be difficult to calculate after any type of accident. Pain and suffering occurs after car accidents, slip and fall accidents, construction accidents, workplace accidents, and many other types of accidents. However, severe pain and suffering does not necessarily leave behind any physical or visible injuries. HowDo Attorneys Calculate ‘Pain and Suffering’ Costs?

Back in 1992, an elderly woman named Stella Liebeck sued McDonald’s in what became known as the infamous “hot coffee lawsuit.” The public relations team at McDonald’s has made sure the case is remembered as frivolous, but, like the third-degree burns Stella Liebeck suffered from a cup of McDonald’s coffee, her lawsuit was dead serious. The facts were simple: Mrs. Liebeck used the drive-thru with her grandson, who was at the wheel. Once the car stopped moving, she placed the cup of coffee she’d just ordered between her legs and tried to add some creamer. The cup tipped over, dumping the contents into her lap, causing third-degree burns over 16% of her body. She required hospitalization for eight days. Whirlpool debridement of the burns and skin grafts followed. She was at least partially disabled for more than two years, and that’s to say nothing of her pain and suffering. Remember the ‘McDonald’s Hot Coffee’ Lawsuit? It Was Justified All Along

So, how do lawyers calculate pain and suffering?

Defense lawyers, on behalf of insurance carriers as well as some lawyers for accident victims, frequently use formulas that multiply the “hard” damage numbers, referred to as “specials” (special damages such as medical expenses and lost earnings) to arrive at a supposedly “fair” settlement figure for pain and suffering. To explain it simply, the insurance company will tally all of the expenses you’ve incurred from the accident (including doctor bills, hospital bills, insurance bills, ambulatory transport bills, car repair bills, lost wages, and any other expense), and then they will multiply the total, often, it has been reported, by a randomly chosen factor of three. This is frequently what the insurance company either believes is good enough to cover any pain and suffering caused by the accident or believes should represent the highest they hope to voluntarily pay out to eliminate their liability for this particular item of damage forever. However, our attorneys at Friedman & Simon wholeheartedly reject this approach. We believe this is an arbitrary and heartless formula that lumps together all accident injury victims as if they are merchandise, failing to appreciate the human quality of the struggles and anguish they face after an accident. We believe in a more realistic and just approach by carefully studying all the ways the accident impacted the life of the individual client. From the young parent who cannot interact with their child as they could before the accident to the retiree who has become a shut-in instead of enjoying the social life they had before becoming injured, we look at every detail of how the accident injuries changed our clients’ lives in a harmful way. From there, we gather all relevant evidence, including accident reconstruction evidence, medical treatment evidence, and financial impact evidence, to forcefully present a claim for pain and suffering and all other damages, in the strongest way possible. If you or a loved one ever find yourself in a position of needing our services, rest assured that we will advocate for the full extent of your pain and suffering damages in a most compelling manner to the at-fault party’s insurer or before a judge and jury in court. If you have questions about the pain and suffering aspects of an accident injury case, we will welcome your call and the opportunity to address your concerns patiently and comprehensively.

For all of this damage, Mrs. Liebeck asked McDonald’s for $20,000 — arguably not even enough to pay her hospital bills.

When McDonald’s refused to pay more than $800, the case went to court, and it came out that they’d known for at least 10 years about the dangers their hot coffee represented, with over 700 recorded burns and several lawsuits. But in 1992, their policy was to store coffee at 180–190 degrees F, which is almost the boiling point! Furthermore, McDonald’s higher-ups testified on the stand that no matter what happened, they had no intention of changing their behavior. Unsurprisingly, at the end of the trial, McDonald’s was hit with a $2.9 million penalty. Although the penalty was later reduced, McDonald’s still dragged Mrs. Liebeck’s name through the mud in the press, with their version of the story being the one that stuck in the public consciousness. But it wouldn’t change the fact that they had to pay her

around $700,000 at the end of the day — or that their coffee is now being served at a reasonable temperature.

(If you wish to understand more about this case and its many implications, consider watching the 2011 documentary entitled, “Hot Coffee” that takes a deep dive into the details.)

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A POSITIVE VERDICT FOR OUR CLIENT

In July, our office successfully obtained a verdict for our client in Nassau County for $825,000. Before trial, Allstate offered our client $60,000, and during trial, their maximum offer was $150,000. At the time of this December 2018 accident, our 70-year-old client worked tutoring students in their homes. After completing a session in Port Washington, while walking to the bus stop, she began to cross a street. At this time, a car that had been making a left-hand turn struck our client. The driver of the car was a professor at a local college who testified before trial that she never saw our client in the street prior to striking her. Our client remained hospitalized for a few days and suffered a broken collarbone, broken ribs, and injuries to her neck and back. She did not require surgery and returned to work within two weeks of the accident. During pretrial proceedings, the court granted our motion and determined the defendant was negligent. The court left open the issue for trial whether our client was also negligent. Allstate did not contest any issues of our client’s potential negligence at trial. In addition to this, the defendant professor did not appear in court during the trial. We established during her pretrial testimony, and presented to the jury, that she never got out of her car as our client remained injured in the street in need of medical attention — and she never made any post-accident inquiry as to how our client was doing. Despite the defendant’s medical expert testifying that our client had fully recovered from her injuries and that most of her complaints were related to pre-existing medical conditions, the jury awarded her $125,000 for past pain and suffering and $700,000 for her future pain and suffering.

SUDOKU

One-Pan Apple Cider Chicken Inspired by WellPlated.com

Bring the taste of fall into your kitchen with this sizzling skillet meal.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs • 1 tsp salt, divided • 1/2 tsp black pepper, divided • 1/2 cup apple cider

• 2 tsp Dijon mustard • 4 tsp olive oil, divided • 3 sweet apples, cut into 1/2-inch slices • 2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped, plus more for garnish

Directions

1. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Set aside. 2. In a small bowl, combine apple cider and mustard. Set aside. 3. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm 2 tsp olive oil. When shimmering, add chicken thighs top-side down. Cook for 4 minutes, then flip and cook for 4 more minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil. Wipe the skillet clean. 4. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet, then add sliced apples, remaining salt and pepper, and rosemary. Cook for 5 minutes. 5. Return the chicken to the skillet and add apple cider-mustard mixture. Cook for 5 minutes, then serve sprinkled with rosemary!

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Fall Is One of the Best Seasons — Here’s Why How McDonald’s Spun the ‘Hot Coffee Lawsuit’ INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 2

How Is ‘Pain and Suffering’ Calculated?

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A Positive Verdict for Our Client

One-Pan Apple Cider Chicken

Remembering the Heroes of 9/11

REMEMBERING THE HEROES AMID THE TRAGEDY The Everyday People Who Saved Countless Lives on 9/11

As we approach its 20th anniversary, Sept. 11, 2001, remains one of the darkest days in American history. Almost 3,000 people lost their lives when terrorists flew passenger airplanes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The infrastructural damage was severe, but the damage done to thousands of families across the country was even worse. While 9/11 remains a day of remembrance of these tragic events, it should also be a day to remember the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives to save others. These are just a few of their stories.

attendants perished, but the information they shared helped the FBI jump-start their investigation. Rick Rescorla A Vietnam veteran who had earned a silver star for his service, Rescorla was no stranger to stressful life and death situations. As the head of corporate security for Morgan Stanley in the South Tower, he defied orders from Port Authority to stay put and instead escorted 2,700 people out of the building before it collapsed. After that, he headed back in to look for stragglers. That was the last time anyone saw him. Passengers of Flight 93 While two planes hit the World Trade Center towers and one plane hit the Pentagon, another plane that headed for the White House never reached its destination. That’s because passengers aboard this flight, upon

learning their plane had been hijacked, decided to rush the cockpit and overtake the terrorists. They caused the plane to crash in an empty field in Pennsylvania, saving the White House but killing everyone on board. Welles Remy Crowther A heart-wrenching story, “Man in Red Bandana” is a documentary film that details the heroism of Welles Remy Crowther. Welles worked on the 104th floor of the South Tower and saved many people on Sept. 11. Tragically, he died that day, but his heroics became known eight months later as a result of an ordinary item — a red bandana. Sad though their deaths may be, these heroic men and women continue to inspire people even 20 years later. We should never forget the tragedy of 9/11, but we should also remember these regular people who decided to take extraordinary lengths to save others.

Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney After five al-Qaida terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, Ong and

Sweeney, two flight attendants, used the crew phone to call their colleagues and give them information about their attackers, including what they looked like and what seats they had been sitting in. Both

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