New York City Liability Defense Legal Blog

What should I do if my home insurance claim is denied?

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. posted in insurance coverage defense on Sunday, July 7, 2019.

Insurance claims are denied for all types of reasons, from a peril not being covered or owner negligence. While in some cases the denial is justified, in others it's based on an error or misunderstanding of your policy. That's why it's important for you to address all denied claims in the appropriate manner, as explained by Money Crashers.

If you don't know your policy backward and forwards, now is a good time to become intimately acquainted. Understanding the details of your home insurance policy will allow you to catch any errors or mistakes that may have slipped by your adjuster. It will also allow you to understand policy limitations. For example, even if a peril is covered your policy may fall short of the compensation you're requesting. Also, revisit your claim and compare it to policy details. Make sure you have all the information you need before contacting your insurance company.

Keeping customers safe from tripping hazards

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. posted in premises liability defense on Sunday, June 16, 2019.

A concern of many business owners in New York that often goes unrealized by the busy patron is keeping their premises safe and free of hazards that could accidentally injure their customers. Often, companies spend time throughout the day monitoring their premises to make sure that hazards are dealt with in a timely manner before they turn into risks.

Unfortunately, there are times when the carelessness of a customer can contribute to an accident in which he or she is injured. During these situations, it is not uncommon for the company to be investigated as authorities try to reach the bottom of what has happened. In these circumstances, companies may have to defend their position and provide evidence that the accident was not in fact, their fault.

What if you were blamed for a trucker's decision to speed?

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. posted in trucking and transportation liability defense on Monday, June 10, 2019.

Employees will often cite the pressure to perform as a reason for their cutting corners at work. This puts the spotlight on you (as an employer), painting a picture where your concern is only for your bottom line rather than the well-being of your workforce and the integrity of your services. While it may be true that you expect employees to perform at a certain level, your expectations need not always be misconstrued as pressure to accomplish tasks no matter the costs.

As a provider of trucking and/or transportation services, you have an obligation to your clients to complete routes within a reasonable amount of time. That depends largely on your drivers, who you know need to balance the safe operation of their vehicles with the need to get to where they are going on time. If one of your drivers happens to be driving at excessive speeds and causes an accident, it might be very easy for them to claim they were only speeding to meet your performance demands.

What duty of care do you owe to visitors?

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. posted in premises liability defense on Monday, May 27, 2019.

You might believe that as a property owner in New York, you only need to concern yourself with the safety of those that you invite into your home or onto your land. Yet your actual legal duty of care to visitors is quite a bit more complex. While you might think that those who trespass on your property assume whatever risks might be associated with being there, the law may sometimes disagree, placing the responsibility on you to ensure that even trespassers stay safe while on your premises.

The New York Bar Association cites the state's civil Pattern Jury Instructions when detailing your duty of care to visitors. Here it states that you are required "to use reasonable care to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition for the protection of all persons whose presence is reasonably foreseeable.” State court rulings have gone on to clarify that responsibility remains regardless of the status of visitors on your property. It has further been established that the scope of this responsibility depends on "the foreseeability of the possible harm.”

How to prevent polypharmacy errors

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. posted in pharmacy medication errors defense on Tuesday, May 14, 2019.

As a pharmacy professional in New York, you are fully aware of the care and attention to detail that must be given to your patients. Each person has a unique profile of medications given by physicians, nurses and a host of specialists, tailored to treating a certain condition or ailment. While some medications work better when taken in conjunction with other drugs, some medications can cause serious side effects and potential adverse reactions when taken together. It can be challenging to pick out these interactions, especially when the patient is taking many medications at once. Patients may go to several prescribing doctors and specialists, who may be unaware of what the other doctors are prescribing. In some cases, polypharmacy can lead to serious medication errors, patient harm and even death under certain circumstances.

Polypharmacy occurs when a patient takes multiple medications to treat various conditions, which are often prescribed by multiple doctors. For example, a patient’s primary care physician may prescribe a blood pressure medication. While the patient’s cardiologist may write a prescription for another blood pressure medication. The patient may be taking several medications for the same ailment, which could ultimately react with one another. In this case, it could cause the patient’s blood pressure to go too low and cause the patient to fall or get dizzy.

Class action litigation defense costs continue to rise

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. on Tuesday, May 7, 2019.

The number of companies facing class action lawsuits may be on the decline, but the cost to defend those class action lawsuits is steadily rising. According to an article published on Insurance Journal, the defense cost increases can be attributed to more complex cases that are of higher risk to the business organization. In addition, many of the companies facing class action lawsuits are battling multiple suits at a time.

How data analysis helps smaller trucking companies manage risks.

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. on Wednesday, May 1, 2019.

In the information age, data collection and analytics have affected best practices in every industry. From business decisions at the C-suite to basketball plays drawn up on a white board (or tablet), analytics have changed the way decision makers assess their landscapes. For risk management managers of trucking companies, data collection can be especially important to pre-emptively avoid common roadblocks for their companies.

Smaller and newer trucking companies may doubt the benefits of analytics, believing they do not have the fleet size or the historical data to justify the costs of implementing data collection methods. However, small trucking companies, should also be taking advantage of data analysis to limit accidents, stay compliant to safety standards and gain a competitive advantage.

Common pharmacy errors and how to prevent them

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. posted in pharmacy medication errors defense on Thursday, April 25, 2019.

As someone who makes your living dispensing medication in New York, you probably understand quite well that even the most minor pharmacy errors can have major consequences. At the Law Firm of Connors & Connors, P.C., we recognize that prevention is often your best defense against medication error claims, and we have helped many people in similar positions of responsibility take steps to protect or defend themselves against such claims.

According to the Specialty Pharmacy Times, some of the most common pharmacy errors include prescribing an incorrect medication, prescribing too much or too little of a medication, or failing to give patients the full story in terms of the risks associated with a particular medication. Other common pharmacy mistakes that can land you in serious trouble include selling medications that are unsafe or defective or prescribing a combination of drugs that, together, can cause dangerous side effects.

Reviewing dosage recommendation guidelines

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. posted in pharmacy medication errors defense on Sunday, April 14, 2019.

Most in New York assume that when they take medication prescribed to them by their doctors, their conditions will automatically improve. What is lost in this assumption is that medications are not guaranteed to work, along with the fact that they function by suppressing reactions within the body (which causes side effects). In any event, if you are the one who supplied them with medication, then the blame may be likely to fall to you. Your safeguard against liability is often to simply advise that patients follow the recommended dosage guidelines. Yet many in your same position often come to us here at The Law Firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. asking whose responsible for the validity of those recommendations.

In detailing its establishment of recommended dosages, the Food and Drug Administration points out that when it includes the word "should" in its guidelines, it is implying suggested or recommended standards, not something that is required. Thus, it assumes no legally enforceable responsibilities when setting forth its recommendations.

Defending yourself against fraudulent premises liability claims

On behalf of The Law firm of Connors & Connors, P.C. posted in premises liability defense on Wednesday, March 27, 2019.

These days, most residents of New York have probably seen at least one of those videos where someone intentionally falls so he or she can file a fraudulent premises liability claim, and such claims cost today’s home and business owners a substantial amount of time and money every year. At the Law Firm of Connors & Connors, P.C., we understand that some people regrettably fall on someone else’s property intentionally, and we have helped many people and businesses facing false premises liability claims get the full story on what transpired.

According to Elevanta Health, fraudulent premises liability claims are especially common in New York, which saw more questionable fall claims than any other state in the nation in 2010 and 2011, other than California. Fake slip-and-fall-accident claims also tend to increase during times of economic duress, with some people seeing a potential settlement as their ticket out of financial distress.