by PMT | Sep 4, 2020 | News, The PMT Advantage
What does it mean to have The PMT Advantage on your side? Outstanding lawyers. Period. Each PMT attorney selected to a Super Lawyers list has undergone a multi-phase selection process. Six PMT attorneys received this accolade for multiple years in a row. Being honored by Super Lawyers illustrates the dedication and commitment to achieving success for our clients. Only the top five percent of each state’s attorneys are selected. PMT provides our clients with swift, cost-effective resolution of cases. PMT has the experience and technology to successfully handle your legal concerns. PMT’s team approach brings together several highly skilled PMT attorneys within the firm to deliver a powerhouse defense for the client in each case. Our research team is second to none. We educate our clients through webinars and accredited courses. We strongly believe in diversity and offer several different languages for interacting with clients. All of our offices utilize high-end safety protocols and protecting the client is always at the forefront of our mission. At PMT you receive Marc Pillinger’s vast experience, Jeffrey Miller’s renowned negotiation skills, Neil Sambursky’s sought after products liability, defense and insurance coverage expertise, Craig Goldwasser’s success with a wide variety of complex and high exposure cases, Kimberly Carulli’s wide range of practice areas and Seth Frankel’s intense focus on civil litigation. All of the attorneys at PMT provide a singular vision…results, value and outstanding service. Marc H. Pillinger Executive PartnerSuper Lawyers2013 – 2020 Jeffrey T. Miller Executive PartnerSuper Lawyers2016 – 2020 Neil L. Sambursky Partner Super Lawyers2014 – 2020 Craig M. Goldwasser PartnerRising Stars2015 – 2020 Kimberly A. Carulli AssociateRising Stars2015 – 2020...
by PMT | Sep 4, 2020 | COVID-19, News
By John A. Risi. September 2020 – Update As New York State settles into its “new normal,” Governor Cuomo continues to issue executive orders addressing matters from school openings to procedures for public hearings. His latest Executive Order (EO-260), dated September 4th, 2020, continues the tolling of the Statute of Limitations through October 4th, 2020, with a minor exception lifting the toll relative to the time to challenge the approval by any municipal government or public authority of a construction project that includes either affordable housing or space for use by not-for-profit organizations. July 2020 – Update While all regions of New York State are in different phases of the re-opening process, as new COVID-19 cases largely remain at their lowest levels in New York State, Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to take a more cautious approach to re-opening, which can be seen in his most recent Executive Order. The Order (202.48), continues to toll New York’s statute of limitations for the commencement of lawsuits and even the filing of Notices of Claim (a legal pre-requisite to commencing litigation against governmental entities and municipalities) through August 5, 2020. The governor had initially taken this step on March 20, 2020 and signed subsequent orders continuing the toll, including his most recent order of July 6, 2020. Included in the tolling are any specific time limits relating to notices (such as a Notice of Appeal) and motions. PMT will continue to follow important developments such as this most recent Executive Order and keep our valued partners abreast of all matters of significance to our shared business interests as we appreciate the recent...
by PMT | Aug 17, 2020 | News, PMT Wins
By Anthony M. Napoli and Thomas M. Bona. Court: Supreme Court, State of New York Dutchess County Judge: Hon. Hal B. Greenwald Case Type: Slip and Fall Caption: Adami v. Ridgefield Apartment Associates, LLC Index No.: 2017-52447 Decision Date: July 17, 2020 Decision: Summary Judgment Although we are in the middle of a hot summer, it seems fitting that we talk about winter because we know that sooner than we want, we will get snow. What happens when there is a little bit of snow covering an apartment complex walkway and a person decides to avoid the walkway and takes a shortcut to avoid the possibility of slipping on the snow on the walkway? Believe it or not, the person slips and falls in a rut on the grassy area that they cannot see and then turns around and sues the apartment complex for not remedying the defect. Bizarre as this sounds, this is exactly the scenario that PMT was asked to defend. By aggressively demonstrating the fallacy of plaintiff’s claims, we were able to win summary judgment for our client. In Adami v. Ridgefield Apartment Associates, LLC the plaintiff who lived in an apartment complex in Dutchess County, was walking to her car on the day of the accident. It had been snowing and the walk, stairs and grassy area were covered in about an inch of snow. The plaintiff decided, based upon her “judgment”, that she would not take the public sidewalk and public staircase because she had seen a prior accident on the steps. Rather, she would cross the snow-covered, non-public grassy area. She felt that she was...
by PMT | Aug 6, 2020 | COVID-19, News
By Thomas M. Bona. We recently told you about a limitation of liability provision for hospitals and nursing homes that was inserted into the last New York State budget. This provision granted immunity from civil and criminal liability for any harm or damage alleged to have been caused as a result of an act or omission in the course of arranging for providing health care services if the health care facility or health care professionals were providing services pursuant to a COVID-19 emergency rule. We advised you that New York State legislators were caught off guard and not aware of the legislative immunity provision until the very last moment. When the legislature was in session in July, the Legislature quickly went to work at limiting the immunity provisions that they had just passed. The revised bill, which was just signed by Governor Cuomo, limits immunity to health care professionals providing diagnosis or treatment for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients, but does not apply to prevention or care of non-COVID-19 patients or to hospitals for arranging health care services. The revised legislation took effect immediately and applies to cases accruing after its enactment. So it now seems that the legislature has finally gotten the bill the way they intended it to be which is to provide immunity from liability for health care facilities for COVID-19 diagnosis or treatment. Should you have any questions, please call our office at (914) 703-6300 or contact: Jeffrey T. Miller, Executive Partner...
by PMT | Jul 29, 2020 | News, Uncategorized
By Thomas M. Bona and Jeffrey T. Miller. While some things in the Insurance industry slowed down during the pandemic, here at PMT we were racing ahead working on a challenge by one of our carriers. Our carrier asked PMT to select from a portfolio of habitation cases those which were ripe for resolution, schedule mediation days and resolve as many cases as we could. Working with our carrier, we selected 25 slip and fall and ceiling collapse cases. The cases involved back, neck and knee injuries. As we all know, mediation has become a popular and effective way to resolve cases. The theory, in such a setting, is both parties are highly motivated to settle cases. However, experience teaches there is a long way between the initial demand by the plaintiff and an ultimate resolution. Like a ritual dance, there is a process to a successful mediation. The mediations were personally handled by PMT’s Executive Partner Jeff Miller, one of our founders. In our industry, Jeff is universally considered one of the best attorneys at mediation and with good reason. Not all attorneys have the skill set to succeed at mediation, but Jeff possesses that rare combination of steely determination and empathy which, when combined with his ability to see the case from multiple perspectives, allows him to zero in on the fulcrum of the case to successfully close the negotiations and achieve positive results for our clients. With this as a backdrop, Jeff settled 24 of 25 cases at the mediation days. The settlements ranged from $20,000 to $450,000 and were all within the authority given by...
