Newsletters

Here at Lipsitz & Ponterio, it is our mission to ensure that each injured worker, or the family of a deceased worker, is treated fairly and reasonably by the insurance company under the Workers’ Compensation Law.

A power of attorney is an essential document in planning for the possibility of physical or mental incapacity.

Where occupational disease is merely suspected and has not yet been diagnosed, an autopsy may be critical in proving the case and, without it, there may be no basis to go forward with a claim.

If you or a close family member are suffering from an occupational disease like mesothelioma, the fact that you are no longer living in Western New York is no obstacle to the successful prosecution of your case.

It is with great sadness that we wish to advise our clients that Diane Felser passed away on January 16, 2003.

Childhood lead poisoning is a huge public health problem, especially in old urban centers such as Buffalo, the City of Tonawanda, and Niagara Falls, where most homes were built before 1978 when lead paint was used on interior and exterior surfaces.

We are pleased to announce that attorney Kathleen A. Burr has joined our firm.

We wish to announce to our clients that we have closed our office in Niagara Falls.

When Clarence Borel filed a law suit in Texas in 1969, he was the first person suffering from asbestosis and mesothelioma to place his case before a jury in the United States of America.

Because of the bankruptcy of so many manufacturers and producers of asbestos products, we have turned our attention toward the responsibility of companies which engaged in selling and installing asbestos products.

Tragically, the number of documented mesothelioma cases arising from exposure at Durez has been rising at an alarming rate.

Our client Jean was followed by the Occidental screening program and by her own doctors. In 1998, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent extensive surgery for the removal of a portion of her lung.

Our office represented a security guard who suffered multiple fractures to both of her legs when the van she was riding in was hit by an NFT Metro bus.

Sadly, some corporations make money by engaging in financial frauds, while others preserve profits by sacrificing the health of workers.

The right to control and protect your assets and preserve your dignity to the fullest extent possible is one of the major benefits of advance planning.

Our client’s child, age two, of Buffalo, New York, was exposed to high levels of lead dust in his bedroom due to negligent work done by outside contractors removing lead paint.

As we approach the sixth anniversary of the founding of our firm, we are mindful of the importance of recognizing hard work and maturity of judgment. It is with this in mind that we are proud to announce our new partners.

There are now tens of thousands of lawsuits pending in state and federal courts against a relatively small number of former manufacturers and producers of asbestos products.

Recently, attorneys at Lipsitz & Ponterio uncovered internal correspondence from 1960 revealing that a prominent local seller and installer of asbestos knew that asbestos dust caused death in exposed workers yet failed to warn its own employees and customers.

The insurance industry and construction companies have combined together to weaken or eliminate your legal protections under Labor Law Section 240.

Making a will, health care proxy, and power of attorney is one of the wisest investments of your life and after.

If your spouse or parent dies of a disease caused by toxic exposure at work, including lung disease and cancer, you are entitled to file a claim for death benefits under the New York State Workers’ Compensation Law, provided that your claim is filed within two years of the date of death.

As part of the legacy of heavy industry in Western New York, there will be many more cases of occupational disease and death in the years to come.

The Energy Employee Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 may provide compensation for thousands of previously uncompensated workers.

A health care provider must disclose risks of medical procedures.

Donald and Kristiana Gipson and their two children lost their home to a fire on January 14, 2000.

In 1998, our client, an eighty-four year old Niagara Falls resident, was attacked in the lobby of her dentist’s office.

In our last newsletter, we brought you up to date on the latest bankruptcy filings by asbestos companies.

Although many of the asbestos companies responsible for negligently injuring and killing workers throughout the country and all across the globe are headed for bankruptcy, nonetheless the incidence of asbestos disease, especially serious cases involving cancer and death, is holding steady and may even be on the rise.

In our last newsletter, we wrote about chronic disease caused by exposure to beryllium - a metal used in the defense industry, the automotive and aerospace industries, in electronics and in the manufacture of dental and medical equipment and supplies.

Prior to 1975, most of the paint products used to paint the interior and exterior of residential homes and commercial buildings and structures contained dangerous levels of lead.

We are aggressively pursuing construction accident claims for our clients.

When we wrote our last newsletter, the Democrats were in the White House, and it appeared that attempts by Republicans in Congress to enact “tort reform” would face significant obstacles.

Since the 1940's, beryllium, a naturally occurring element, has been used increasingly in various industrial applications in the United States of America.

In early October, some of you may have read an excellent series of articles appearing in USA Today which detailed the problems of family members exposed to a variety of toxic substances, including mercury, radioactive material, beryllium, lead, asbestos, PCBs, pesticides and arsenic.

This year alone three corporations which produced asbestos containing materials or utilized them in the construction of equipment filed bankruptcy petitions.

For the past several years, we have also been representing people injured by means of other than exposure to asbestos, such as automobile accidents, construction accidents, and as a result of personal injuries.

We represented a 40 year old woman who was injured when her car was hit from behind by a tow truck at the I-190 in the Town of Tonawanda.

Attorney Neil J. McKinnon of our office recently received a $400,000.00 cash settlement for our client, a retired worker who suffered broken bones when he was involved in a car accident.

Attorneys Michael Ponterio and John Comerford successfully represented the owner of the Envoy Motor Inn in Niagara Falls, New York against Dryden Mutual Insurance Company.

We currently represent a construction worker who was injured when he fell from an elevated height while working at the Somerset Power Project.

We represent Jean, whose husband worked at Durez, North Tonawanda, between 1961 and 1980. She didn’t know it at the time, but the process of shaking out and laundering her husband’s clothes released millions of microscopic asbestos fibers into her breathing zone, and contaminated the family home.

Since 1995, our office has represented Mrs. Eleanor Tornabene, whose husband, Samuel W. Tornabene, was a former worker at the Linde Air Products facility in Tonawanda, New York.