Practice Area
Defense of general contractors, developers, and property owners against construction site injury, premises liability, and sidewalk claims.
Overview
New York's Labor Law places some of the heaviest liability in the country on contractors and owners. A fall from a ladder, a dropped object, a pedestrian who trips beside the sidewalk shed: each can become a claim that threatens the project, the company, and the people behind it.
In an injury case the real question is who pays. We make sure the answer is not our client.
Brian M. Levine has defended general contractors and developers in numerous Labor Law actions brought by injured laborers, as well as claims by pedestrians allegedly injured on the sidewalk beside a construction site and slip-and-fall claims against property owners, including attempts to pierce the corporate veil and reach the owners personally.
The defense does not stop at the courtroom. In nearly every injury case the real question is who pays, and the firm pursues that question aggressively: tendering claims to carriers, enforcing contractual indemnification, and, when an insurer refuses, litigating the coverage dispute itself. In one matter, a carrier that had disclaimed years earlier was compelled to take over the defense, indemnify the client, and reimburse every legal fee incurred since the case began.
What we handle
Representative matters
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
All representative matters$530K
For: General contractor
Represented a general contractor in a declaratory judgment action commenced by its insurer. The firm forced the insurer to indemnify the client and pay a $530,000 judgment entered against it after trial, and to repay the $20,000 the client had spent on its own defense.
Full defense & fees
For: General contractor
Took over the defense of a general contractor facing Labor Law claims for construction site injuries on a Queens project, after its insurer had disclaimed coverage and left the client to defend itself. Following a thorough analysis of the case and its documents, the firm forced the insurer to withdraw its disclaimer, take over the client's defense, and reimburse the client for all of the legal fees it had already incurred in defending the action.
No liability
For: General contractor
Defended a general contractor that had no insurance coverage for the claim in a Labor Law action over a construction site injury on a major shopping mall project in Flushing, Queens. After trial, the jury found no liability on the part of the client. The plaintiff's claims against the remaining defendants later settled for more than $4 million.
No payment by client
For: General contractor
Defended a general contractor that had no insurance coverage for the claim in an action by a pedestrian who was allegedly struck by an object falling from a building under construction at a major shopping mall project in Flushing, Queens. The firm successfully defended the client until an insurer settled the claim with the plaintiff, and the client paid nothing.
Defense successful
For: General contractor
Successfully represented a general contractor in an action by a pedestrian alleging a slip and fall on the sidewalk adjacent to the project.
Defense successful
For: Property owners
Successfully defended property owners against a slip-and-fall premises liability claim and the plaintiff's attempt to pierce the corporate veil and reach the owners personally.
The matters described on this site are illustrative and do not describe every matter the firm has handled. Each matter turns on its own facts, and the absence of a stated outcome should not be read as a comment on the result. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Related practices
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