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LEGAL BRIEF
SEPTEMBER 2023 FriedmanSimon.com 516-800-8000
LABOR DAY GRATITUDE:
APPRECIATION FOR A TEAM THAT POURS THEIR HEARTS INTO SERVING OUR CLIENTS
As we approach Labor Day on Sept. 4, I am grateful for the tremendous contributions that the labor of others has made to my life and to the lives of the people I love. While I can appreciate workers globally, nationally, throughout New York state, and right here on Long Island, the work I am most intensely appreciative of is performed by the amazing people I work with every day. I want to acknowledge each one of them. Marlene Francois graciously welcomes visitors to our office and warmly greets most of the people who call us by phone. She always creates a positive first impression. Ameira Shehata primarily focuses on gathering the voluminous medical records generated in connection with our clients’ medical treatments, which we use to support their injury claims and lawsuits. She is persistent in cutting through red tape to get the job done. Malini Bhashyam, Liz McGoldrick, and Nancy Formica are seasoned litigation paralegals. They are experts in navigating court rules as well as preparing and filing the documents that move a case from inception to trial. Michelle Koncelik, Lillian Arocho, and Jennifer Alvarado are case managers who file documents to get claims started and communicate with clients regularly. They are exceptionally knowledgeable, patient, and compassionate. We are pleased that Damary Corona, a paralegal with years of experience, has recently joined them.
Kim Weigand is a paralegal who concentrates on managing the firm calendar. From claim and litigation medical examinations to court appearances, hearing dates, and more, she is graceful and thorough as she promptly notifies all necessary parties so cases can advance in an orderly way. Syeda Choudhury performs critically important translation services and, along with hard working Jenny Somarriba, provides vital support to the case managers. John Papadopoulos and Michael Mills are associate attorneys who negotiate, litigate, mediate, and arbitrate cases. They are tenacious and relentless in their drive to win the best possible case results for our clients. We look forward to Victoria Noto, an experienced and dedicated personal injury lawyer, joining our firm as an associate attorney this month. Alissa Simon targets operational efficiency, reviewing files to ensure that anything needing attention gets addressed promptly. She is wholeheartedly dedicated to the continuous improvement of our firm. TaraAnne Rosenzweig is meticulous and always cheerful as she ensures every non-digitized document in the office is properly filed. Doreen Psilakis is our intake specialist, who gathers information when a new potential client calls our office. She also works on
addressing liens as cases are finalized and case funding while cases are pending. She will not rest until she knows every detail in a file she’s working on is as it should be. Amy Potenza handles the distribution of proceeds on settled cases, accounts payable, and inventory management. She is diligent and meticulous and performs every task with absolute precision. This summer, Erica Simon, Ari Friedman, and Gabe Friedman were interning with our firm. They are early in their professional lives, and their youthful enthusiasm is uplifting. Alex Papadopoulos, who began law school last month, oversees our ongoing marketing activities. I am confident he will be an excellent lawyer. It is a highlight of my day when I arrive at our office every morning and see this wonderful group working toward our shared goals. This Labor Day, and always, I’m incredibly grateful for them. As our firm grows, I am excited to meet and work with people who will expand
our team and ensure we continue providing our clients with outstanding representation.
–Eddie Friedman
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THE CASE OF THE UNDEPOSITED CHECK Better Late Than Never
“You handled a case for [my relative or friend] years ago, and now …”
That’s how many phone calls to our office begin. Usually, the caller has suffered an injury, and our previous client referred them to us for representation. However, we recently received a call that began that way and went in a direction we didn’t expect. The caller was the mother of a young man we represented approximately 15 years ago. When the young man was a child, he suffered a severe injury due to negligent maintenance at a government housing project. A doorway had been left in a state of disrepair for an extended period at the front of the building. Near the door handle, a broken glass pane sat right at the height that foreseeably made it a curiosity for a child. Our client was that curious child, and he suffered the partial traumatic amputation of a finger when he reached through the broken pane. We sued the governmental agency that owned and maintained the housing complex and won a favorable settlement for our young client. The court ordered the funds deposited in a special bank account until the child was 18. The parents of the child separated around the time of the original settlement, and each parent was mistakenly under the impression that the other parent had taken care of opening the account and depositing the check. However, the original check had just been sitting in a drawer for all those years. In fact, the bank where the court had ordered the funds to be deposited, Greenpoint Savings Bank, no longer existed. The mother had no idea how to proceed. Getting our client his money was more complicated than simply writing a new check. To start with, the case predated the current computerized court system, so we had to bring the case’s filing status up to standard. Then we needed to request that the court modify the original order. When the client, now a strapping young man with a promising future, came to our office with his mother to collect the new check, his smile made navigating all the red tape associated with re-securing the payment worthwhile. While we hadn’t expected to see him again, it was a pleasure to help him a second time.
With AI capabilities growing daily, you need to be even more vigilant against potential scammers. We’ve already heard about AI’s power to create written content and, more recently, use musicians’ voices to sing different songs. So, how does this relate to scammers? Well, TikTok users and other online users have shared a new scam that utilizes AI to drain the bank accounts of their family members called voice cloning. AI Scams: Voice Cloning Could Drain Your Bank Account! Scammers looking to steal thousands of dollars will use AI to replicate the voices of people who’ve posted their voices online via videos like TikTok. They’ll clone a person’s voice and then use it to call their relatives and pretend to be their children or grandchildren who need money as soon as possible. The person on the phone is a scammer, not your family member, even though they sound just like them. Never send money without first verifying whether it is or isn’t your relative. Some online users advise creating secret code words to exchange over the phone to confirm their family member is requesting the money. Always contact your relative and ask if they actually made the call. Remember, anyone who has posted a short clip of their voice can find it cloned with AI and used to scam their families. Stay safe!
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How to Start the Journey to Your Dream Job
We all have goals we want to reach during our careers. But sometimes, it’s challenging to determine how to start down the path to make them a reality. To help you on your journey, here are three tips to consider as you progress in your career. FOCUS ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO RATHER THAN WHAT YOU WANT TO BE. While many of us have talked about what and who we want to be , that isn’t the perspective you should work from. You may be disappointed if your job title or position doesn’t reflect your expectations. Instead, concentrate on what you want to do no matter where you are in your career. That way, even if you aren’t currently in the position you dreamt of, you can still work on developing qualities to be the best you can be. Your boss will notice your impressive work ethic. LEARN HOW TO BE A PROBLEM-SOLVER. People are great at explaining problems and describing what went wrong and why. But assertive people who are the first to volunteer to solve issues are much rarer. One way to stand out and gain your boss’s
attention is by being the person who is willing to problem-solve. This doesn’t mean you have to get everything right all the time, but your boss will notice when you rise to a challenge and volunteer to correct an issue. And they may begin to pay more attention to your brave and confident demeanor. BECOME A LIFETIME LEARNER. Although you may not be in school anymore, that doesn’t mean your education has stopped! You can continue learning no matter how old or what stage of life you’re in. By constantly feeding your mind, you can gain skills, network with others, become more adaptable and develop traits that will help you be better at your job and in all aspects of your life. No matter where you are in your work journey, keep pushing forward! Developing your ideal career will take time, patience, positivity, training, and faith. You have to start with small steps before you take larger ones to get to where you want to be.
Good luck with your future endeavors!
SUDOKU
Walnut and Blue Cheese Tomato Salad Inspired by FeastingAtHome.com
This salad makes a unique side dish and healthy next-day lunch!
Ingredients
• 1/2 cup walnuts • 2 lbs ripe heirloom tomatoes • Kosher salt, to taste • Black pepper, to taste • 1/4 cup smoked blue cheese, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp fresh dill • Chopped fresh Italian parsley, to taste • 3 tbsp olive oil • 2 tbsp red wine or balsamic vinegar • 1 garlic clove, finely minced
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. On a baking sheet, toast the walnuts in the oven for 12–14 minutes. 2. Wash and slice the tomatoes. Place slices on a platter, slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. 3. Scatter toasted walnuts and blue cheese on top, followed by dill and preferred amount of parsley. 4. In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, wine or vinegar, and garlic to make the dressing. 5. Spoon dressing evenly over salad and serve. Directions
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516-800-8000 FriedmanSimon.com
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 2
Appreciation For a Team That Pours Their Hearts Into Serving Our Clients AI Scams: Voice Cloning Could Drain Your Bank Account! How We Revisited a 15-Year- Old Case Turn Your Dream Job Into a Reality! Walnut and Blue Cheese Tomato Salad Tradition vs. Time: The New Standing Ovation Rule in MLB
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TRADITION VS. TIME THE NEW STANDING OVATION RULE IN MLB
When Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record and played in his 2,131st consecutive major league game, fans showered him with a 22-minute- long standing ovation. When Ichiro Suzuki walked off the field in the final game of his career, he, too, received a standing ovation. In his final game with the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez also got a big standing O. Standing ovations are a large part of baseball as fans will spontaneously honor players for stellar careers, broken records, or incredible performances. However, sometimes, like in the 22-minute Cal Ripken ovation, they can consume a lot of game time.
uproar. Although the pitch clock is designed to keep games moving quickly with fewer interruptions and improve the baseball experience, fans were not entertained in this case. In an effort to improve the pace of the game and to include ovations, MLB teams are now required to submit a request 24 hours in advance for potential standing ovations to avoid a pitch clock violation. Now, teams and fans can celebrate these special moments of baseball’s past and present while keeping games on track. While this new rule seems cumbersome, MLB hopes it will help balance sometimes competing aspirations: improving the pace of the game while embracing the sport’s traditions of acknowledging great players.
Early in the 2023 season, Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger received a pitch clock violation because of his standing ovation from
Dodgers fans for returning to the Los Angeles Dodgers stadium (his former team). After the ovation died down, Bellinger was forced to start his batting count 0-1. To be penalized with a strike for an ovation didn’t sit well, and it sent his fans into a complete
Teams will now do their best to predict when drawn-out ovations will occur and submit their requests on time. It’s a balancing act to keep everyone happy, celebrate the players, and honor the game’s history and milestones.
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