Syracuse, New York

The Syracuse personal injury lawyers at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka are all from or from near Syracuse. The City of Syracuse is the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. Syracuse is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York. The most recent United States Census indicated an estimated population of 143,396 within the City proper and the Syracuse Metropolitan area having a population of over 650,000 residents. Michaels Bersani Kalabanka has two offices in the Syracuse Metropolitan area to serve those injured residents: one in the heart of downtown Syracuse, at 499 South Warren Street, Suite 513, Syracuse NY and another in nearby Liverpool at Commerce Blvd, Liverpool NY.

In 2010, Forbes magazine rated Syracuse fourth among the top 10 places in the U.S. to raise a family. Known as the “Salt City”, from its early salt production industry, Syracuse developed into a large manufacturing hub until the early 1970’s when much of the dominant manufacturing base restructured and moved manufacturing facilities out of NY state or off-shore. Over the years, the manufacturing and chemical industries provided significant growth to the Syracuse Metro area. However, one of the significant residual issues of being a prominent industrial and chemical producer was that industrial dumping left Onondaga Lake the most polluted lake in the United States. To date, it is estimated that cleanup efforts costs over a billion dollars.

Syracuse is home to Syracuse University. SU is a major research university founded in 1870. Syracuse University has 13 schools and colleges with over 200 majors and advanced degree programs. SU enrolls over 22,000 students and some of its programs are world renowned. Syracuse University is synonymous with the color orange and SU athletics boast highly regarded Syracuse University Division I power-houses in football, basketball and lacrosse. Likewise, Le Moyne College is a nationally recognized liberal arts college on the east side of Syracuse. Syracuse is also home for known as Upstate Medical University, one of four medical colleges in the State University of New York system, and one of only five medical schools in the state north of New York City. Upstate Medical Center (University Hospital) is the largest employer in Syracuse.

The Syracuse personal injury lawyers at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka have handled significant cases against both Upstate Medical center and Syracuse University. In one such case, a micro-drive designed to advance an electrode into a patient’s brain during a pallidotomy operation to alleviate a Parkinson’s patient’s tremors malfunctioned causing paralysis. The hospital denied negligence and refused to settle and the Michaels Bersani Kalabanka attorneys secured a multi-million dollar award in court.

The first New York State Fair was held in Syracuse in 1841 and is the Great NY State Fair’s permanent home. With the huge influx of people attending the NYS Fair injuries are bound to occur. The Team at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka has handled numerous cases arising out of injuries occurring at the Fair and are always ready to come to the aid of anyone injured there.

Much of Syracuse’s economic success is due to the centralized location between Rochester (& Buffalo) to the west and the state capital Albany to the east. Syracuse is about the halfway point between New York City and Toronto. The city has functioned as a major crossroads over the last two centuries. Initially, Syracuse was the artery between the Erie Canal and its branch canals, and later the States railway network.

Today, Syracuse is the hub of several important highways, including Interstates Routes 81 and 690, as well as the New York State Thruway (Route 90). Big rig trucks pass through the area frequently, and Michaels Bersani Kalabanka has handled many trucking accident cases in the area. From a legal standpoint, trucking accident cases are not the same as car accident cases. In car accident cases, whether they occur in Syracuse or elsewhere, to establish the bad driver’s liability, a personal injury lawyer must look almost exclusively to the “rules of the road” as set forth in New York’s Vehicle & Traffic Law (e.g., who had the stop sign or red light, who was speeding). But in trucking accident cases, that same lawyer must go beyond the Vehicle & Traffic law and look at the Federal and State laws regulating trucking. New York has adopted in large part the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations found in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR), Parts 390, 391, 392, 393, 395, 396, and 397 as well as the Hazardous Materials Transportation Regulations found in 49 CFR, Parts 100 through 199 inasmuch as they apply to interstate transportation on highways. These regulations contain a multitude of important regulations which the trucking company or driver may have violated, and which can form the basis of an injury lawsuit.

The weather in Syracuse is, unfortunately, all too conducive to automobile accidents. It has a humid continental climate and is known for its high snowfall. The high snowfall is usually the result of the lake effect of nearby Lake Ontario (of the Great Lakes). An average of 115.6 inches of snow falls in Syracuse. Syracuse frequently wins the Golden Snowball Award, among Upstate cities for the most annual average snow of any metropolitan area in the United States. Its record thus far is 192.1 inches. As a result of the significant snowfall and icy conditions, there are frequent significant weather related motor vehicle crashes in Syracuse and surrounding areas as well as slips, trips and falls. The personal injuries attorneys at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka handle a number of these cases annually in the Syracuse area. Whether it is the result of drivers failing to slow down for the harsh and dangerous roadways and causing a crash or a commercial establishment, landlord or homeowner failing to remove ice and snow causes a slip and fall, the team at Michaels Bersani Kalabanka handle then all.

The Syracuse personal injury attorneys of Michaels Bersani Kalabanka are experienced in all the courtrooms in and around Syracuse. We know the law, we know the judges, we know our opponents. We want to know you. Contact us for a free consultation about your personal injury or malpractice case.