New York Law Blog

Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and 3 other U.S. banks reached a $26 billion settlement with 49 states and the federal government to end a probe of abusive foreclosure practices. In the largest federal-state civil settlement in the nation's history, the banks have committed $20 billion in various forms of mortgage relief plus payments of $5 billion to state and federal governments. The settlement also stipulates that individual borrowers will receive restitution amounts somewhere in the range of $1,500 - $2,500, depending on how many people make claims.

One thing that our New York personal injury lawyers keep an eye out for is auto insurance fraud. Auto insurance fraud is the practice where scam artists stage car crashes in order to claim the insurance money. In Florida there were reports of a scam involving a crooked health clinic. Scam artists, after staging a crash, would visit the clinic, and be diagnosed with false injuries for which they could claim health insurance benefits. These scam artists are dangerous for several reasons: not only do they cause the price of auto insurance on the whole to rise, but they present a danger for unsuspecting motorists who are at risk of getting hurt during one of these fake crashes.

Chances are that over the past few years you’ve seen the advertisements for “Shape-Ups,” a fitness shoe created by Sketchers. Shape-Ups feature a patented design with rolling heel, and Sketchers claim that this new design gives its wearers a gym-quality workout while they walk around and do their day-to-day activities. Unfortunately, dozens of people are claiming in a class-action lawsuit that, rather than getting in better shape, they suffered severe personal injuries from wearing the shoes, which means that Shape-Ups are a defective product. Some of plaintiffs claim that those personal injuries were caused from sudden falls, while others claim that they were repetitive injuries caused by long-term use. Despite the differences in the types of injuries, the plaintiffs in this personal injury lawsuit assert that wearing Shape-Ups directly led to those injuries, which is why they’re trying to hold Sketchers responsible.

As a pedestrian in New York City, being aware of your surroundings is crucial to avoiding serious injury, especially because cars, trucks, and buses can come out of nowhere. Unfortunately, the proliferation of personal electronic devices has made many people less safe by making them unaware of what’s happening around them, especially when they are listening to music, talking on the phone, or texting. New research shows definitively that both those activities endanger pedestrians, putting them at greater risk of an accident and lowering their odds of winning a personal injury settlement to compensate them for their pain and suffering.