Why Are Personal Injury Appeals Important?

When a personal injury case is brought on behalf of an injured person, the person suing is then called “the Plaintiff.” In New York, it is generally brought in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, which is considered to be New York’s lower court. 

Many times, something can happen in the lower court that negatively affects your case and thus requires that an Appeal be brought to a higher court. In New York, that would be one of our four (4) Appellate Divisions. 

The attorneys at Jaroslawicz & Jaros have been writing and arguing Appeals for over forty (40) years and have been involved in literally hundreds of cases on various appeals at all levels-including the New York Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, as well as to the United States Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States.

We have not only been involved in having the existing law properly interpreted to benefit our clients but have also been involved in cases that have actually been instrumental in changing the law. On their numerous appeals, Jaroslawicz & Jaros has changed the laws involving injured construction workers who were hurt on the job and who received the special protection of New York’s Labor Law, motor vehicle claims, product liability, medical malpractice, life and disability insurance, and even laws affecting the recovery for property losses. 

For example, recently at Jaroslawicz & Jaros, we represented a woman who suffered injuries to her fingers when her apartment window fell on her fingers. Prior to the trial, the attorney representing the landlord being sued for negligence in causing this injury, who is called “the defendant,” asked the Judge hearing the case to dismiss it before trial. According to the defendant, since they did nothing wrong, there was no reason for a trial to even take place. The Judge agreed and dismissed the case. Our firm promptly filed an Appeal to the Appellate Division and wrote a brief and presented oral argument to the five (5) Judges sitting on the Appellate Division. They unanimously agreed with our position, reversed the lower Court Judge’s decision, and sent the case back for trial. The case was then settled for a fair sum without a trial.

Another example was a man who was injured while walking on a sidewalk adjoining a building and tripped on a section of an uneven raised sidewalk. Again, the attorney representing the owner of the building, who was being sued for negligence in causing this accident, asked the Judge hearing the case to dismiss it without a trial. Again, the Judge agreed and dismissed the case. Again, we Appealed and were successful in not only having this decision reversed and the case reinstated, but in also having the higher court, the Appellate Division, award a Summary Judgment to our client. This case established the law that a building owner is responsible for an uneven sidewalk and that no trial is necessary- the only remaining question is, what is the fair value of the injuries? This case was then settled without a trial. 

In another case, a building directory fell and injured the plaintiff while in a building’s lobby. Again, the attorney representing the landlord being sued for negligence in causing this accident asked the Judge hearing the case to dismiss it before trial. Again, the Judge agreed and dismissed the case. Again, we Appealed and were successful in having this decision reversed, and this case proceeded to trial and a successful verdict.

When you are interviewing an attorney for your accident case, because you are seeking to recover compensation for your injuries, one of the questions you should ask is: If necessary, does your firm write and argue your own Appeals, and what cases on Appeal have you handled? What is your track record?

Our firm, Jaroslawicz & Jaros, is proud that it handles its own Appeals and that it has a very successful record on appeal. I have received many phone calls and emails from plaintiffs who lost their cases and now want to appeal, but their lawyers simply refuse to bring the appeal on their behalf. When your lawyer refuses to bring an appeal on your behalf, you start calling other lawyers only to find that no lawyer will accept your appeal on a contingency fee basis and without being paid for the appeal. The fee may be $15,000 or $25,000 or more depending on its complexity. 

At Jaroslawicz & Jaros, we are proud that when the Judge makes an error that hurts your case, and we think the Judge was wrong, we will then bring an appeal, without a fee, on behalf of our clients. However, we are just too busy to accept appeals from other lawyers on cases that they have lost.

EXPERIENCE AND TRACK RECORD OF RESULTS