New York Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Need more information to answer. There is a 2 1/2 year statute of limitations to sue for medical malpractice that runs from the date of injury but may be extended to the date of the last follow up treatment of the condition by the md who committed the malpractice. You may be able to sue both doctors if neither caught your cancer until it was too late. Is it inoperable? Were you treated successfully? Need more information about the testing and treatment and your prognosis- if it's not too late to sue.... Read More

You may have a case against the store, depending on exactly what happened after you were stopped for shoplifting. Assuming you were falsely accused, if you were detained in a room and not allowed to leave for an extended amount of time, you could have a claim for false arrest against the store, even if the police were not called. If there is video surveillance tape available, you should request it immediately. ... Read More

It is impossible for you to "know for a fact" that your 19 year old doesn't smoke marijuana around your 5 year old - or have him around someone who does- when you're not around unless you have her under 24/7 surveillance. She may be the subject of the CPS investigation but you could be next, and you may be in danger of losing custody of your 5 year old unless you get someone other than your 19 year old to take care of him when you're not around. You've already said there's a 2 1/2 hr window of time every school morning when she's alone with him and that she picks him up from school. You didn't say what time you get home but obviously she has a great deal of time to smoke around him- or have him around other people who do. If she has a car she could be smoking in her car or have someone in her car who smokes. Or she could be getting a lift from someone who smokes. You've given your 19 year old an enormous responsibility, and it's time for you to get someone else involved in taking care of your 5 year old- and let your 19 year old know how serious the situation is. If someone thinks your daughter has smoked massive amounts of marjuana since November, and the school smelled it on your son, and he was acting confused (sign of a contact high)- you've got a serious problem on your hands. Make your daughter understand that unless she cleans up her act she may not be able to live in the same house as your 5 year old. Marijuana may be legal, but exposing a child to it is not. child abuse.... Read More

As long as your brother and his wife are amenable to transferring the deed into your name and you follow the procedures in the condo by-laws, it should be a simple matter to get your name on the condo deed.. But if your brother and sister-in-law oppose this, the question is, why? If the condo was purchased with your money, why is their name on the deed at all? If they oppose adding your name, much missing information is needed about their role in the purchase to answer this question. ... Read More

I am puzzled as to how a "corner of a piece of vinyl flooring coming up" evolved into a "safety hazard" requiring "several thousand dollars" of repair over the course of a little more than a year. It really begs the question, how did that happen? If the entire floor was in such bad condition when you moved in, you should've notified the landlord about the general condition of the floor. The landlord now seems to be treating the floor problem as something you created.  Be that as it may, you can still report the condition to the Building Department if you live in a borough of New York City by calling (212)639-9675. If the floor is found to be a building code violation, the landlord will be served with a notice of violation and you can start a housing court proceeding (an HP action) and the landlord will have to fix it. You may even get a rent abatement. If you want the repairs done at no cost to yourselves, you'll need to let in inspectors and repair people regardless of whether they're masked. Since you're immune compromised you can always wear your own masks and ask everyone to keep their distance from you. But you can't force anyone to wear a mask.  You haven't said whether the landlord or super came into your apartment to inspect the floor, or just the flooring company, and whether you or the landlord arranged the company. But I'm guessing that neither the landlord or super has been in your apartment because they won't wear masks. That would be entirely understandable if it were April 2020, but it isn't. If it comes out in the course of a court hearing that you refused to give access for repairs or inspections because workers or inspectors wouldn't wear masks, there's no guarantee a judge wouldn't throw out your case.  You can always stay in another room while repairs are being made or conditions inspected.You can also call around until you find a company or repair person willing to do the repair at a reasonable cost, and pay out of pocket. Just because you were told by one company the repair will cost thousands of dollars doesn't mean it should. As for the landlord's demand for a $2800 deposit, that defies logic. If you choose to hire someone to repair the floor, make sure they're insured and don't alert the landlord.   ... Read More

If two doctors told you that the procedure was incorrectly done, necessitating another surgery, your son very likely has a good medical malpractice case. The question is when to bring it. You haven't said when the first surgery took place, but assuming your son is still under 18, the statute of limitations to sue for medical malpractice is tolled until 10 years after  date of the injury.  A second surgery might repair the problem but there also might be complications that do not emerge until he's older. That being said, the younger that your child is when you start a lawsuit, the less embarrassing it will be to him, and the less disruptive to his life. Give some serious thought to the timing of filing an action- you have time.  ... Read More

Your husband will probably be entitled to little or no share of your house or the joint bank account in your divorce.Since you bought the house before you married, it is not a marital asset. Therefore, he has no claim on it in a divorce, unless he put a very large amount of money into the property, in which case he might claim he has a constructive trust in it.As far as the joint account, if you had already filed for divorce you would've had no right to remove your husband's name, regardless of the fact that only you contribute to it. Your timing was excellent in removing his name now. Although you haven't mentioned it, if you have a job with a pension and your husband (as I suspect) does not, it's very important that you file for divorce as soon as possible to stop his share of your pension from continuing to accrue, keeping in mind that if he does have a pension, the same applies to you. The same applies to spousal support, which is calculated on the length of the marriage, up to the date you file for divorce. The additional caveat to filing as soon as possible is that if his income is significantly lower than yours, you can expect that he will file a motion for pendente lite relief, meaning a court order for spousal support and attorney fees from you, shortly after you file for divorce. Alimony is calculated according to a state mandated formula producing a range for an amount and length of time for spousa support to be paid, based on your joint incomes and length of the marriage. A skilled divorce attorney can often defeat or greatly reduce an award in that situation, depending on the particular case. ... Read More

First of all, keep in mind that the statute of limitations to file a medical malpractice action is 2 1/2 years, so if the surgery was in Sept 2021, the SOL to file a lawsuit expires in March unless you obtained follow-up treatment from the same doctor for the same condition, in which case it is extended for the length of the treatment. Second, the only way to prove medical malpractice is with testimony from a doctor in the same field that 1-but for the actions of the surgeon in question, you wouldn't have your injury, and that 2-your injury is permanent. In order to determine whether you have a viable medical malpractice case for the hammertoe surgery, your records need to be reviewed and opinion obtained from a foot surgeon. For your lack of informed consent claim for the right-side surgery, the same rationale applies, with the added caveat that you must prove that had you been informed of the condition requiring surgery, it would've been reasonable to refuse the surgery. A medical malpractice attorney interested in your case will normally obtain the necessary review, but it sounds as though your second opinion doctor may have already confirmed that you have a case.... Read More

Much more information is needed before your question can be answered. What stage is your divorce? Do both parties have attorneys? Has a divorce settlement agreement been signed by all the parties and their attorneys? Has the "packet" of divorce papers been submitted to the clerk for review before it goes to the judge to sign the decree? Or is it with the judge? Or are there outstanding papers that need to be drafted and signed?  Even in this age of no-fault divorce and even in an uncontested divorce, there is a mountain of paperwork that needs to be submitted to the court before the decree is signed by the judge. Once that paperwork is submitted, it is appropriate for your attorney to make periodic calls to the clerk to ascertain the estimated time before the papers will be reviewed by the clerk or the judge, depending on the stage. If corrections need to be made, the clerk will inform the attorney or party who submitted the papers. Once you answer these questions, you'll get a more helful answer. ... Read More

New York City requires home improvement contractors to be licensed, and allows consumer/homeowner complaints about one to be filed online with the NY City Department of Consumer Affairs https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/index.page. If you do not live in NY City kindly review your local county's website and determine if that county permits a homeowner to file a complaint against a home improvement contractor who fails, neglects or refuses to properly complete its work.  The contractor you site in your complaint could have its license suspended or revoked if the problem you describe is not remedied.  ... Read More

The big questions are whether the plumber can determine if the problem existed well before the property was sold, whether the seller had to have known about it, and whether a property disclosure form was submitted at closing or you received the $500 credit in lieu of the form. It seems unlikely that the sellers could've known of a gas leak and hidden the problem, considering a gas leak can be a life and property threatening condition. Unless you can prove that the sellers knew of this condition and failed to disclose it, unfortunately you have no claim against them. If you can prove the seller knew and deliberately hid the condition, you may have a claim against them. ... Read More

If you haven't already done so, you need to immediately inform your landlord of all the problems in writing and demand that your landlord address them and demand reimbursement and a rent abatement. Your lease likely has a clause requiring carpeting so you're entitled to know whether your upstairs neighbors are in compliance. If they are not your landlord must ensure that they install carpeting. Take videos documenting the noise level, time and length of disturbances. If you have renter's insurance, make a claim if the damage exceeds your deductible. If all else fails stop paying rent and let the landlord take you to court, keeping in mind that if you're found to be in the wrong you may end up paying the landlord's legal fees. That being said, if your lease is coming up for renewal and you don't plan to stay, your landlord might not pursue you for back rent if you agree to leave. Determining the best response to your problem requires more information on how long you intend to stay based on the length of your lease, assuming the problems are resolved. ... Read More

If your attorney had a $30K offer to settle your case that you turned down, the attorney would be entitled to a one third legal fee by statute when your case ultimately settles, unless you could prove legal malpractice or failure to work the case resulted in the case being worth less than it should've been. Did you get another attorney and if so, Is the case still in litigation or has it settled? Personal injury attorneys don't necessarily take on legal malpractice cases, so you can't assume your current attorney will handle this aspect of your case.... Read More

If you contributed to the down payment on the house and have been paying the mortgage at least partially with money that you brought into the marriage or earned by working outside of the house during the marriage, you have a very good argument that you've acquired an interest in the house through a constructive trust.  More information is needed for an accurate answer. ... Read More

You can absolutely sue your neighbor for trespass and property damage for the cost to rebuild your retaining wall, assuming it did not violate any local building codes and ordinances. Such statutes generally set height limits, may have guidelines for building materials and may also require permits. Before you rebuild check your local building department to determine whether you need a permit. Even if your retaining wall was built without a permit or violated the local building code in some other way, that didn't give your neighbor the right to take it down. They could've complained to the building department which would've investigated and made a determination as to the legality of the retaining wall.... Read More

If the judge ordered your neighbor to finish the fence and they didn't, you can file an order to show cause to hold your neighbor in contempt of court to force your neighbor to finish the fence. You could also finish the fence yourself and sue your neighbor for the cost. But you'd need to be careful with that because you don't want to inadvertently fence yourself out of property that belongs to you. You might consider doing a survey before you start any fence project- boundaries shift over the years, it's good to know exactly what's yours. ... Read More

In an application from B-2 to F-1, the usual inquiry of USCIS is when was the first contact with the school. This is seen as more relevant in determining the intent of the individual upon coming to the US than applying for a driver’s license or opening a bank account. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

If your 19 year old is working full time or otherwise financially independent, married, or in the military, you can go to court and make a motion for a reduction in child support based upon her being emancipated. However, if she is still financially dependent on her custodial parent, you're obliged to pay until she's at least 21 or as per any child support agreement you signed that sets out the circumstances under which your children are considered emancipated for purposes of child support obligations.... Read More

This could be both a products liability and a medical malpractice or personal injury case. The question of whether the helmet was defective needs to be explored, as does whether the doctor properly explained how to use it, whether your son properly used it, whether it was appropriate to use it, and if the doctor waited too long to instruct your son to stop using it.  The viability of the case will also depend on the severity of the deformity. You should be aware that the statute of limitations for products liability litigation is three years from the date of injury and medical malpractice is 2 1/2 years. ... Read More

You are not obliged to keep your tenant forever, but you can't start an eviction until Jan 5. Assuming your tenant is month-to-month and not in the middle of a lease term, you'll need to serve a 60 or 90 day notice to quit depending how long your tenant has been there. If the tenant doesn't leave after being served, you can start a holdover proceeding. While you cannot collect rent while you're in the middle of a holdover eviction, you can demand "use-and-occupancy" in your petition, which is the market rental value of the apartment, and get a money judgment for the same. If the tenant attempts to delay the eviction, you can ask the judge to order the tenant to pay use & occupancy to the court or directly to you as a condition of a second adjournment, while the eviction is pending.... Read More

Repossessing a vending machine in New York that was financed to a customer and placed on someone else's private property involves several legal and practical considerations. Here's a general guideline on how to proceed after you hire an attorney to help you: Review the Contract: Begin by reviewing the financing contract with the customer. It should include terms regarding default and repossession. This contract will dictate your legal rights in this situation. Notice of Default: If the customer has defaulted according to the terms of the contract (such as failing to make payments), you should provide them with a formal notice of default, as required by the contract and applicable laws. Communicate with the Property Owner: Since the vending machine is on someone else's property, you must communicate with the property owner. Explain the situation and seek their permission to enter the property to repossess the machine. It's important to gain their cooperation to avoid allegations of trespassing. Hire a Repossession Service: Consider hiring a professional repossession service to handle the physical removal of the vending machine. They are experienced in dealing with such situations and can help minimize legal risks. Comply with Legal Requirements: Ensure that all actions taken comply with New York state laws regarding repossession. This may include providing certain notices or following specific procedures to avoid legal issues such as claims of wrongful repossession or trespass. Avoid Breach of Peace: During the repossession process, it is crucial to avoid any actions that could be construed as a breach of peace, which can lead to legal liabilities. Seek Legal Advice: Given the complexities and potential legal issues involved in such a situation, it's advisable to consult with a lawyer who specializes in commercial law or creditor rights. They can provide guidance tailored to your specific situation and help ensure that you are acting within the bounds of the law. Document Everything: Keep a detailed record of all communications, notices, and actions taken during the repossession process. This documentation can be crucial if there are any disputes or legal proceedings in the future. Remember, each situation can be unique, and the steps above should be adapted based on the specifics of your case and in accordance with legal advice. Nick Spradlin, Esq. Attorney & Counselor at Law. 23 Years of Business Law Experience. Offices: FL TX NY Washington DC (DC = Federal work only)   The information provided is not intended as legal advice. Legal advice is case specific and is not provided by this post. Transmission of this information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. No one should act upon any information in this post without careful consideration for your specific fact situation, without careful analysis, and without seeking professional advice where appropriate. The information contained in this post is provided only as general information, which may or may not reflect the most current legal developments.    ... Read More