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LEGAL BRIEF
MARCH 2023 FriedmanSimon.com 516-800-8000
LUCK OR SOMETHING ELSE?
What makes someone successful? I think it’s a winning combination of hard work and good luck. I can’t deny I was fortunate in many ways beyond my control. I was born to excellent parents who loved me, and they taught me important life lessons along the way. Those facts make me feel very lucky. But success also required perseverance and even a bit of bad luck along the way.
put in long hours, and worked a job they hated for several years to get to their current situation. Luck may have played a role, but their determination and persistence ensured they were ready to strike when luck came into their life. Luck also has something to do with our perspective. Again, take that supposedly lucky person. Having a job you hate certainly doesn’t feel like good luck — working it will generally make you feel very unlucky. But what if that job led to the next big thing? What if that bad experience was the reason they ultimately fulfilled their dreams? I’ve seen horrible circumstances turn into positive ones, particularly after my dad died when I was 18. I felt like the unluckiest person on the planet, and I couldn’t help but ask, “Why me?” Out of everyone, why was I dealt this hand? My family was happy, and now everything was ruined. But my father’s untimely death also changed my plans considerably. A few years after he died, I decided to take a risk by moving to New York — and my luck turned around. I met my future wife here. Later, we married and had children. Had my father lived, everything would have turned out very differently. I would have stayed home to work at his construction business and probably ended up running it. I would never have met my wife, had my kids, or become an attorney. I’d be a different person living a completely different life. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that my father dying was good luck; it was still an awful tragedy. But bad luck ultimately planted the seeds for good luck to appear later. Some things are up to the hands of fate, but we have the power to make the most of them. As you enjoy your green beer and four-leaf clovers this month, remember that luck plays a role, but there’s much more to life. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
In some circumstances, we make our own luck. By setting goals and keeping our noses to the grindstone, we create the conditions to benefit from good luck when it appears. We sometimes describe situations as unlucky when we simply weren’t ready for them. Taking advantage of most opportunities requires preparation, and we miss out when we don’t put in the time and effort. We often point to someone who has things we want and declare they have good luck. Perhaps that’s true. But when we dig down into the situation, we often find more. That “lucky” person went to school,
-Michael J. Mills
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What makes a case winnable is often out of a client’s control. One of the most significant factors determining an outcome is its jurisdiction. The lines on a map that are invisible to us in everyday life can decide whether an injured person receives justice. One such case came through our doors recently. A woman was walking home from work on a rainy day. A piece of sidewalk in her path had a significant chunk missing, and someone had filled in the gap with asphalt. Over time, the asphalt recessed. Filled up with rain, the significantly lower portion of the sidewalk looked level. The client tripped and fell, creating severe scarring on her face that will require plastic surgery. But sidewalk cases can be tricky in New York. Towns have different rules regarding who maintains a sidewalk. For example, some property owners are responsible for clearing snow from public pathways bordering their homes, while others are not. Sidewalk liability can also extend to other forms of sidewalk maintenance. The threshold for holding the government liable when it is responsible for maintenance is incredibly high because protective laws are in place. An attorney will generally need to show someone noticed the defect and provided written notice to the town. Only in those circumstances does the law consider the government negligent if it doesn’t repair the damage. As a result, our client spoke to multiple personal injury attorneys before finding our firm, and each turned her down. Common sense dictated that the sidewalk was in a particular jurisdiction where the government was responsible for sidewalk maintenance. But our client didn’t give up. When she called us, we double-checked the jurisdiction of the faulty sidewalk. The location was not legally in the town the other attorneys thought it was. Thanks to the sidewalk’s actual location, the law shifted responsibility from the government to the property owner. These cases have a significantly lower standard of evidence, requiring only that the property owner should have known about the problem. We were happy to welcome the woman as a client. This story proves how persistence can pay off. While we invite you to make us your first call when searching for effective legal representation if another attorney doesn’t take your case, we urge you to review the matter with us. We will welcome your call, provide an in-depth case analysis and A CRITICAL FACTOR IN MANY PERSONAL INJURY CASES Location, Location, Location
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people who work out of a home office has tripled between 2019 and 2021. This massive increase is mainly due to the pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, it was widely believed that if workers were not in an office setting, they would slack off while working remotely. However, many people believe that the opposite has proven to be true. In fact, some studies show that many employees working from home are overworked as their personal and professional lives start to blend. When their home is also their office, do they ever really transition out of work mode? Work From Home? Tips to Ensure You Aren’t Overworked
If you have adopted the remote work lifestyle, here are some tips to help ensure that you are not overdoing it.
STICK TO A START AND STOP TIME. In an office setting, employees are instructed when to show up and go home. Some even clock in and out, even for lunch breaks. If you are working from home, maintain regular working hours and avoid the urge to “check just one work thing” outside of your set hours. LOG ALL OVERTIME. On that note, if you do end up working after-hours or more than your slotted hours in the day, record it and “flex” your hours on a different day to balance out the overtime hours. Even if you are just putting in an extra 15 minutes on a Wednesday evening, mark it down — this way, you know just how much extra work you put into a particular task or project. BE VOCAL. If and when you become overwhelmed, it’s important to say something. When employees are outside of a traditional office setting and faces and body language can’t be observed throughout the day, it can be difficult to know when someone has too much on their plate and is on the verge of burning out. To bridge this gap, be vocal about your workload!
advise you as to your options. We will be relentless in our efforts to turn the outlook on your case from a negative to a positive and to win a successful outcome for you as we did for our client who fell on the rain-filled broken sidewalk.
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Do You Want Your Business to Thrive? CONSIDER READING ‘GOOD TO GREAT’ BY JIM COLLINS!
strengthen your hedgehog concept? Collins suggests only implementing technology that complements your business. He recommends waiting before jumping onto a new trend, platform, media platform, and technology. Be sure it aligns with your values, goals, and hedgehog concept. What do you do when your business is faced with uncomfortable situations, facts, or data? Great companies and business leaders don’t sweep hard facts under the rug and deny them and great leaders don’t wave the white flag or give up. Instead, great companies and business owners acknowledge hard facts, identify pain points, and implement strategies to help overcome struggles and strengthen abilities. Along with learning tips and strategies from these three lessons, you will also have a chance to learn more about Collins’ case studies, what companies he studied, and the techniques used to create business powerhouses. You can find “Good to Great” online and anywhere books are sold. Happy reading!
“Good is the enemy of great.” This is how Jim Collins begins his book “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t,” which discusses how a handful of companies perfected their business strategies to create great businesses. If you’ve ever wondered why some businesses only last a season while others last 15–20 years, then “Good to Great” is a must-read. Over the past three decades, Collins has analyzed 28 businesses by studying their leadership skills, practices, and business strategies to understand how these companies skyrocketed past their competitors. After conducting dozens of case studies and analyses, Collins outlines several results that make excellent companies stand out. Here are three takeaways from “Good to Great.”
The first key takeaway is determining your “hedgehog concept” — a strategy you can use for many years. This approach is based on Greek philosophy: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” (See here for more: https://www. jimcollins.com/concepts/the-hedgehog- concept.html. ) To find your hedgehog concept, ask yourself these questions: What can your company be the best at? What can you and your colleagues be passionate about? What economic indicator should you focus on? When creating habits and using technology, you don’t need to use everything on the market. There are millions of platforms, software, tools, and technologies to use within your business, but which one will
SUDOKU
Irish Pancakes Inspired by TheKitchyKitchen.com
Start your March mornings off with a seasonal flair by making these traditional Irish pancakes! Thick yet crispy, these pancakes are a sweet way to fuel your day.
Ingredients
• 2 cups all-purpose flour • 1/2 tsp baking soda • 1/2 tsp kosher salt • 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten • 1 cup buttermilk • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
Directions
1. In a bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside. 2. In a skillet, brown 1 tbsp of butter.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the beaten egg, buttermilk, and browned butter. 4. In a constant stream, add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients while stirring. Do not over beat! 5. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Add 1 tbsp of butter, stir until the skillet is coated, and then add a few large dollops of batter (about 3 inches wide) to the pan. Do not overcrowd. 6. Cook 4–5 minutes a side, until golden brown and cooked through. Serve with butter, jam, and syrup.
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The Opportunities and Limitations of Luck How to Avoid Being Overworked Remotely INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 2
Where Your Injury Occurred Matters Have You Found Your Hedgehog Concept? Irish Pancakes Your Rights When Purchasing a Car
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FRESH OFF THE LOT UNDERSTANDING YOUR RIGHTS AS A CAR BUYER
stipulations and can face a lawsuit for not abiding by their own terms and conditions regarding a defective product. Meanwhile, the Uniform Commercial Code entitles consumers to refunds or replacements for “lemon” products. But crucially, it is up to the courts to decide whether or not a product is a lemon. Additional lemon laws exist at the state level that vary in their scope. Most assign a limited time window in which consumers can report problems and get free repairs. Generally speaking, the manufacturer must make several good-faith efforts at repair and then offer a replacement or refund if the problem persists. The buyer can sue those that refuse to comply. But most Americans don’t buy new cars. In 2021, roughly 73% of all car purchases were for used vehicles. Consumers have less stringent rights under these purchases. Dealerships selling used cars must include a “buyer’s
guide” on the car’s side window disclosing important information and buyer’s rights.
But used cars do not necessarily have a warranty. Most states allow “as-is” purchases through dealerships, which means the consumer receives no guarantee that the product will function. Further, all private used car sales operate under an “as-is” rule unless the seller opts explicitly to provide a warranty. Consumers must be cautious in as-is sales, as they have no right to return the vehicle to the seller, even if it breaks down immediately. Always source a vehicle history report before making the purchase. You should also ideally take the car to a mechanic before buying. If the dealership or private seller will not allow a mechanic’s inspection, it is usually safer to find another vehicle. If you make a poor decision about your used car purchase, the law will often not protect you.
Cars are an American way of life, but they don’t come cheap. Motor vehicles are many families’ highest-value assets, second only to their homes. With the high cost of purchasing and repairing a car, many consumers feel comforted that lemon laws are on the books to protect them. Unfortunately, they may not cover as much as you think. At the federal level, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act protects consumers who purchase a new product worth more than $25 that includes a written warranty. Under the law, manufacturers must follow specific
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