Representation

Practice Areas

JL Legal represents individuals, families, and businesses across ten focused practice areas—from Labor Law and construction injury claims through business disputes, coverage litigation, and criminal defense.

Construction Accidents & New York Labor Law

Construction work is among the most dangerous occupations in New York. The firm represents ironworkers, carpenters, laborers, electricians, and other tradespeople who are seriously injured on the job due to unsafe conditions or safety violations.

New York’s Labor Law §§ 200, 240(1) (the “Scaffold Law”), and 241(6) give workers some of the strongest protections in the country—but recovering under those statutes requires precise pleading, fast evidence preservation, and careful handling of Workers’ Compensation issues alongside the third-party case.

Cases we handle

  • Falls from scaffolds, ladders, and elevated surfaces
  • Falling object and material injuries
  • Crane, hoist, and rigging failures
  • Trench and excavation collapses
  • Electrocution and power tool injuries
  • Unsafe work site and PPE violations
  • Industrial Code (12 NYCRR § 23) violations
  • Third-party claims alongside Workers’ Compensation

Construction Contracts

Construction projects generate dense webs of agreements: prime contracts, trade subcontracts, change orders, indemnity provisions, insurance requirements, and lien waivers. A poorly drafted clause can shift hundreds of thousands of dollars of risk onto the wrong party. The firm advises every role on the project—owner, GC, sub, or managing agent—on both the paperwork and the disputes that arise when projects go sideways.

Representation includes

  • Prime contracts & AIA-style agreements
  • Subcontract drafting, review, and negotiation
  • Indemnification and additional-insured clauses
  • Change order and scope dispute resolution
  • Payment disputes and mechanic’s liens
  • Delay, acceleration, and extra-work claims
  • Managing agent and property manager agreements
  • Risk-transfer analysis and insurance requirements

Motor Vehicle & Commercial Trucking Accidents

Commercial trucking cases are not just “big car accident” cases. They involve Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations, Hours-of-Service rules, driver qualification files, maintenance logs, electronic logging devices, and often multiple corporate defendants—the driver, motor carrier, broker, and shipper. Evidence disappears quickly without a proper preservation letter.

The firm also represents drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists injured in standard motor vehicle collisions, including rideshare (Uber/Lyft) and livery crashes, under New York’s No-Fault regime.

Cases we handle

  • Commercial truck and tractor-trailer collisions
  • Rideshare (Uber/Lyft) and livery accidents
  • Multi-vehicle and chain-reaction crashes
  • Pedestrian and bicycle strikes
  • No-Fault (PIP) and SUM/UIM claims
  • Serious injury threshold cases under Insurance Law § 5102(d)
  • FMCSA violation cases (HOS, inspection, maintenance)
  • Wrongful death arising from motor vehicle accidents

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice arises when a healthcare provider departs from the accepted standard of care, causing injury to a patient. These cases require early expert review, detailed chart analysis, and strict compliance with New York’s Certificate of Merit requirement under CPLR § 3012-a.

With a Certificate in Health Law and a practice informed by years of study at the intersection of medicine and law, the firm brings substantive familiarity to the records and the clinical questions these cases turn on.

Areas of representation

  • Surgical errors and retained foreign objects
  • Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis (cancer, stroke, sepsis)
  • Medication and anesthesia errors
  • Birth injuries and obstetrical negligence
  • Emergency room negligence
  • Nursing home and long-term care neglect
  • Hospital-acquired infections
  • Informed consent violations

Products Liability

Products liability law holds designers, manufacturers, distributors, and sellers responsible for injuries caused by defective or unreasonably dangerous products. New York recognizes three primary theories: design defect, manufacturing defect, and failure to warn.

Cases we handle

  • Defective power tools and industrial machinery
  • Auto and auto-component defects (airbags, seatbacks, tires)
  • Unsafe consumer products and household goods
  • Defective medical devices and implants
  • Pharmaceutical injury claims
  • Failure-to-warn and inadequate-instruction cases
  • Recalled product injuries
  • Workplace machinery guard defeat / bypass cases

Personal Injury & Premises Liability

Beyond motor vehicle, construction, medical, and product cases, the firm represents people hurt by unsafe conditions on someone else’s property—slips and falls, inadequate security, staircase and elevator failures, sidewalk defects, and similar premises claims. Personal injury matters are handled on a contingency fee basis: no fee unless the firm recovers.

Cases we handle

  • Slip, trip, and fall accidents
  • Sidewalk defect claims (N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 7-210)
  • Building code violation injuries
  • Elevator and escalator accidents
  • Staircase, handrail, and lighting defects
  • Inadequate security / negligent security
  • Dog bite and animal attack injuries
  • Wrongful death actions
A note on time limits. New York imposes strict deadlines for personal injury claims—including shorter notice-of-claim periods when a government entity is involved. If you have been injured, contact counsel promptly to preserve your rights.

Business & Corporate

The firm advises small and mid-sized businesses on the legal issues that accompany growth, transition, and conflict. The approach is practical: protect what you’ve built, close deals cleanly, and address disputes early—before they become expensive.

Areas of representation

  • Business formation (LLCs, corporations, partnerships)
  • Operating and shareholder agreements
  • Commercial contract drafting, review, and negotiation
  • Vendor, service, and independent contractor agreements
  • Commercial lease review
  • Partnership and member disputes
  • Breach of contract litigation
  • Business dissolution and unwinding

Insurance — Policy Applicability

When an insurer denies coverage, delays a defense, or takes an unreasonable position on the scope of a policy, the stakes can eclipse the underlying loss. The firm represents policyholders—individuals, contractors, property owners, and businesses—in coverage analyses, tenders to additional insureds, and disputes over the applicability of liability, property, and umbrella policies.

Representation includes

  • Coverage opinions and policy analysis
  • Duty to defend and reservation-of-rights disputes
  • Additional insured tenders (construction and premises)
  • Exclusion and endorsement disputes
  • Bad faith and consequential damages claims
  • First-party property claims and denials
  • Commercial General Liability (CGL) coverage issues
  • Priority-of-coverage disputes among multiple carriers

Landlord/Tenant

The firm handles Landlord/Tenant matters in New York City Housing Court and throughout the state—representing both landlords seeking possession or rent, and tenants facing eviction, habitability problems, or improper proceedings. New York’s Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act added layers of procedure that reward prepared counsel.

Representation includes

  • Nonpayment and holdover proceedings
  • Notices to Cure and Notices of Termination
  • Warranty of habitability claims and HP actions
  • Illegal lockout (RPAPL § 713) proceedings
  • Succession and regulated-tenancy disputes
  • Commercial lease disputes
  • Security deposit and surrender claims
  • Post-eviction and restoration proceedings

Criminal Defense

The firm represents individuals accused of misdemeanor and felony offenses in New York criminal court. The work begins at arraignment and continues through discovery, motion practice, suppression hearings, plea negotiation, and—when necessary—trial.

Representation includes

  • Arraignments and bail applications
  • Misdemeanor offenses
  • Felony matters
  • DWI and VTL offenses
  • Assault and disorderly conduct charges
  • Theft and property offenses
  • Sealing and CPL § 160.59 applications
  • Orders of protection and family offense matters
If you have been arrested or contacted by law enforcement. Do not discuss the matter with investigators before speaking to counsel. Call the firm first.

Not sure which practice area applies?

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