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Trial Attorney Since 1984
JOSEPH GIARAMITA, ESQ. |
| This law office has been representing clients since 1984. Joseph Giaramita is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and now devotes most of his practice to personal injury law. He also specializes in matters of family law, matrimonial law, real estate, estate matters, criminal law and other civil cases. Joseph Giaramita also accepts referrals from other attorneys and is considered a “lawyer’s lawyer” in the downtown Brooklyn courts with a significant portion of his cases referred from other attorneys in the area. His office is located at 8215 Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and is located near many public transportations and public highways. Admitted to practice in 1984, Joseph Giaramita set up his own practice that same year. Prior to setting up his office, he handled high profile criminal cases. In his own practice since July 1984, he requires a careful examination of each case prior to accepting it. He does not send anyone else to do his court appearances or paperwork because “his hands on” method benefits the clients in the results of their case. Joseph Giaramita is more concerned with the client’s case reaching a favorable conclusion than how much money he can make. As an attorney that also receives referrals from other attorneys, he has seen that poor work can damage a good case and he prefers to handle each case by himself from the time he begins to work on it until its conclusion. Referrals continue to come from other attorneys because they want the best representation for their clients and are pleased with the results. Joseph Giaramita attended Southwestern University School of Law from 1980 to 1983 and was on the Dean’s List for 4 semesters while working full time in law offices in Los Angeles, California. He received certificates of exceptional achievement 3 times for the highest grades in each of those classes. He is a published writer, having had articles published while attending law school and as a lawyer. He has also written for the New York Law Journal about a case he won on appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. His first job in the legal field after college was in that very same Federal Appeals Court and he has been working in the legal field since 1977. Early in his career Joseph Giaramita handled a larger caseload of criminal cases and he set precedent in nearly every case he handled on appeal. He was granted leave to appeal and successfully argued the first case submitted to in the New York Court State of Appeals in People v. Catalanotte, 72 NY2d 641 (1988) (Kaye, dissenting) and, reversed a conviction in United States of America v. Amaury Edward Ramirez, 973 F.2d 102 (Second Circuit, 1992) and either won or made law on other appellate cases: In re Fico, 169 A.D.2d. 832 (2nd Department, 1991), U.S. v. Gobern, 94 F.3d 849 (4th Circuit en banc 1993) (unsuccessfully argued that the crack cocaine statute discriminated against blacks on the basis of race. Years later, Rev. Jesse Jackson and President Clinton changed this law for this exact reason). He won a high profile murder case that has been the subject of numerous articles and 3 books, including one written by Charles Brandt, the famous author of Donnie Brasco. He recently won an appeal that saved the law license of an attorney that was convicted of a felony and was incarcerated for 2 years. See In re Tartir, unpublished (Second Dept., decided February 7, 2012). You can see all of the above cases in our "Cases" section. Presently, our office handles personal injury cases, civil litigation, civil appeals, family law matters, as well as, high profile criminal cases. Joseph Giaramita is also developing an international law practice in the Dominican Republic, representing spouses that need legal help to secure assets in the United States. |
| Civil Litigation Our office handles cases involving business litigation, breach of contract, business dissolution, breach of partnership, fiduciary duties, need for court appointed receivers and real property litigation in the State and Federal Courts. We have handled discrimination matters and other types of Civil Litigation as well. 9/11 World Trade Center Cases Joseph Giaramita handled several cases in the Victim’s Compensation Fund and for several of the clean up workers. He also represented individuals that were injured during the 9/11 and were initially denied compensation for personal injuries by the Victim’s Compensation Fund. He was successful in obtaining substantial awards in all of those claims and is very interested in these clients. He is actively involved in the proposed case against Saudi Arabia by the victims of 9/11. Estate Matters Our office handles small estates to complex trusts. We also do work as a trustee for clients that need help in managing their everyday affairs. Personal Injury Our office handles motor vehicle accidents, falls, construction accidents, civil rights, violations, discrimination, excessive force, false arrest and other personal injuries. Each aspect of the case (paperwork, court appearances and trial) are handled exclusively by Joseph Giaramita and presentation of the lawsuit is therefore more effective than larger law firms which shuffle the case between various attorneys. Criminal Law Our office handles criminal cases in the State and Federal Courts, at trial and appeal. This includes felonies and misdemeanors and we are available at any time to meet the urgent needs of a client facing arrest or investigation. We handle high profile criminal cases (see Articles) and travel internationally if necessary. Joseph Giaramita has defended thousands of criminal cases. He is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd, 4th and 9th Circuits. He has handled Federal criminal cases in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of New York, District of Nevada (Las Vegas) and Newark, New Jersey. He represented a co-defendant in one of the largest Medicare fraud cases in U.S. History - U.S. v. Kazarian (google). He also represented a co-defendant in one of the biggest credit card fraud cases in U.S. History - U.S. v. Quereshi (google). In People v. DeVecchio, the late Justice Gustin Reichbach (a justice that was never reversed by an Appellate Court during his glorious career) claimed at arraignment that this case was to be the worst case of law enforcement corruption in American history. We sought a separate trial and proceeded first, prior to co-defendant DeVecchio. It was a gutsy move as thousands watched, and yet Joseph Giaramita obtained a dismissal based upon a constitutional law violation (People v. Sinagra). The Kings County District Attorney appealed this dismissal to the Appellate Division, 2nd Dept. and after Joseph Giaramita's motion, their appeal was dismissed as well. Family Law Our office handles divorce and family Law cases in the Supreme Court and Family Court and on appeal. This includes matters of custody, visitation, equitable distribution, maintenance and child related matters. We have secured custody for men in several cases where it is appropriate. Joseph Giaramita handles matrimonial matters ranging from uncontested to multimillion dollar divorces. Divorces and Family law cases are sometimes extremely emotional, highly contested and complex. Although Family Court matters are usually for modest compensation, they are the most rewarding where a client receives the justice they deserve in their case. Clients of modest means will fight strenuously in these cases and the hearings can be intense. Since it is frequently to assert rights involving family members, it is some of the most important work for our clients. International Law Our office locates assets for widowed spouses that lived outside the United States who are married to American Citizens. We secure these assets for the client and handle all of the paperwork as well as meet any deadlines that will prevent recovery of the assets to which a spouse or widow is entitled to. We are often required to litigate estate issues because our clients have been wrongfully excluded from the estates of their deceased spouse and their assets have been wrongfully taken by the family members of the deceased spouse. Many of these clients live in poverty and we sometimes handle them without compensation. Automobile and all other motor vehicle accidents make up the majority of cases handled by my office. Over a million Americans are injured and thousands are killed every year . Although not every accident results on a claim, Joseph Giaramita has been told of numerous cases that were not filed because the client “did not believe in bringing a case” and the individual was later disabled as a result without any compensation. While accidents generally have a 3 year statute of limitations in New York, a case against the City of New York has a 90 day filing requirement. Therefore, it is essential to seek counsel immediately after an accident. Insurance companies always take immediate action where there is an accident: they do investigations and assign an attorney to defend it and always seek minimize the amounts they will pay. Joseph Giaramita prefers to bring a lawsuit quickly upon verification of a person’s injury and liability in favor of the client. A critical factor in deciding whether to bring a case is whether a client is at fault in an accident. Passengers are usually never at fault but an examination of the happening of the accident is always required as proper analysis when you bring a case. A lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court is expensive, time consuming and requires attention to a great amount of details. In addition, the clients must go through a detailed examination of their lives by the insurance companies that represent their clients. Insurance companies believe a judge or jury will award less money to people they do not like and therefore place the life of the client on trial. This is an ordeal that a client should to be prepared to face, and irrespective of the magnitude of the injuries and fault of the other driver. Several other factors must be considered in the decision of whether to accept a case. Insurance coverage in New York is required in a minimum amount of $25,000.00. Sometimes the injuries greatly exceed coverage. For this reason, it is crucial that all drivers have uninsured motorists/under insurance coverage on their own cars for much higher amounts (at least $100,000.00) and preferably $300,000.00. This will allow a second case against your own company since you pay for this protection. Believe it or not, your own company will also fight you tooth and nail if you would bring a claim against “your own insurance company”despite having paid premiums for years. It doesn’t matter that they accepted your payment for years when you had no claims. Most people are under a misconception that your own insurance company is on your side and that is not always true. An insurance company is a business and the bottom line is to pay out as little as they have to when a client is injured. As a result, your own insurance company will frequently attempt to cut off medical benefits quickly when you are injured in a motor vehicle accident, even though you still need treatment. Limitation of treatment saves your insurance company money since they pay medical bills, even though you are required by law to pay for this medical coverage in the minimum amount of $50,000.00. It is advisable to increase this to $100,000.00 since additional coverage will be needed for a major injury. Moreover, if you do not properly file the paperwork within 30 days “your” company will not pay any medical bills. For this reason, you need an attorney to help you immediately when you bring a claim and to properly handle the paperwork. Your own insurance company will happily pay much less to an individual, without an attorney, even if you would factor in the legal fee received by my office Joseph Giaramita does not charge the clients a legal fee until the case is completed. All cases are covered by a standard fee agreement whereby the legal fee and expenses are paid at the conclusion of the case from the amount recovered. There are many misconceptions in the mind of the public concerning accidents. For instance, you can be seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident where the vehicle has no physical damage. This is especially true with sport utility vehicles. On January 9, 2006 the New York Times had an article entitled “Pickups and S.U.V.’ s do poorly in whiplash tests.” See Link (Portions of that article are repeated here exactly as it was written). “New crash test results show that four of every five new sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks do not adequately protect occupants from whiplash in low speed rear-end collisions.” The study was released on January 8, 2006 from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “People see S.U.V.’s and they think of them as being much safer cars” said Adrian Lund, president of the institute. “Certainly with regard to head restraints, what our study is showing is many of them don’t provide good protection from whiplash, which you might expect.” “The insurance institute conducted a similar study of cars last year and found that most did not do a good job of preventing whiplash. That study examined 97 types of head restraints and cars sold in the United States, and concluded that three-fourths provided either poor or marginal protection.” “Rear end collisions are among the most common accidents. The insurance institute estimates that at least 2 million occur each year and account for more than $8.5 billion in insurance claims. These kinds of crashes occur all the time. We’re seeing a lot of unnecessary injuries, so we’d like to see these vehicles do a better job of protecting necks, Mr. Lund added.” Misconceptions almost always work in favor of big insurance companies and against the individual fighting with his or her claim. There are constant ads by them showing "you're in good hands" or they are "on your side" or "like a good neighbor, they are there." But you can ask anyone who has suffered in an accident and litigation and they will tell you otherwise. Pain in the lower back occurs to many of us during our lives. The thoracic spine has 12 vertebrae and the lumbar spine is made up of 5 vertebrae. Vertebrae can be crushed or fractured as a result from a fall from a high place or an accident. Discs can tear and protrusion can impinge on the spinal cord causing severe radiating pain in the legs. Diagnostic tests such as an X-Ray or MRI are critical in determining whether a disc is herniated and impinging on the spinal cord or nerve root. These injuries are painful and serious and can result in the need for surgery. The cervical spine starts at the base of the skull and contains seven vertebrae and eight pairs of nerves responsible for controlling the neck, arms and upper body. The joint between the vertebrae are made of a large sponge mass known as a disc. The discs absorb vertebrae from the weight and movement of the head. When a disc becomes herniated in the direction of the spinal cord or nerve root it is a serious injury. It can cause paralysis and frequently causes neck pain which radiates into an arm. In addition the vertebrae can become fractured. Vehicle accidents cause a large portion of neck and back injuries. MRI’s are crucial to determine and identify size, location and severity of a cervical disc injury. Even when an MRI unequivocally confirms a disc herniation, insurance companies have successfully created a public misconception that it is not a serious injury: they call it a soft tissue injury, everyone has one or it’s not related to the accident or it is an injury that existed before the accident. Thousands of people are killed in traffic accidents and a larger number are injured in traffic accidents. Frequently children are the victims in these accidents. Pedestrian accidents involving children frequently need an expert to reconstruct the accident and an experienced lawyer is needed to properly prepare this type of case. Medical doctors and experts are also needed in a case involving a serious injuries. Pedestrian accidents require the injured person to file a claim against the driver’s insurance company within 30 days to receive payment for medical bills. This requires the pedestrian to immediately obtain a police report of the accident, which has the driver’s insurance information. If the paperwork is received by the insurance company in 31 days, it will be considered late and will be rejected and the pedestrian will be responsible for all the medical bills and loss of wages. It is therefore crucial to have an attorney immediately assist you with this paperwork. When you become injured on someone’s property, the owner or occupier of the property may be responsible for failing to keep the property reasonably safe condition or for failure to warn of dangerous condition on the property. When consumers of a business visit a property, the owners may be liable for unreasonably dangerous conditions exist on it. This can be in the form of a broken sidewalk, water damages, debris on staircases, faulty handrails, elevators, parking lots, amusement parks or other portions of the premises that are poorly designed, maintained or repaired. Several factors have to be considered in a premise liability case. Expert testimony is usually necessary and can be costly to determine and prove the cause of the accident. Of course, medicals doctors are also necessary and expensive to prove injuries of the client. Insurance coverage is a factor, as well as, the nature and extent of the injuries suffered by the client. A very important factor is that the insurance company for the landowner must be notified immediately or they can deny coverage. You need the services of an attorney immediately for this reason. The landowner who has control of property is responsible to maintain the property (sidewalk, parking lot, etc.) in a reasonably safe condition. The landowner can sometimes cause and create a dangerous defect by a negligent repair which causes an unreasonable risk of harm. The defect must be more then a trivial or slight defect because the law does not require a landowner to eliminate all defects or deviations on a property. These cases often require the work of an architect, engineer or other expert. The cost of expert testimony must be considered in the presentation of the case for a client. Of course, medical testimony and experts are a significant expense and must be a factor in the decision to bring a case. In New York State there are laws which protect construction workers from their activities since they frequently work in a dangerous setting. These workers face hazards related to height elevation when they are erecting a building. They are sometimes tragically injured in their work as a result of the fault of the property owner or contractor. Workers compensation does not properly compensate a worker for the injuries sustained in this type of accident. The owner and contractor are frequently liable under various sections of the Labor Law. Contrary to the perception of many, the insurance company defend tragic injuries more vigorously than in the smaller accidents. My office has construction experts that are familiar with the laws related to construction accidents. In addition, medical experts and economists may be needed to properly present a case to fairly compensate a victim. Immediate action is needed because the insurance companies rapidly investigate, defend and place reserves on these accidents. Owners and general contractors turn a blind eye to the construction in violation of Labor Laws. A building is constructed much more quickly without proper safety precautions since it is slower and therefore costs more. When a construction worker is injured, they will always defend the case on the ground that the injury is the sole proximate cause of the worker that failed to wear a safety device even though they were aware that this is how the work was conducted. They routinely make sure the workers sign papers indicating they were advised to use safety devices even if they are not in place at the time of an accident. My office has experts in construction that are familiar with the laws related to this field. |
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| AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS |
| LOWER BACK INJURY |
| NECK INJURIES |
| PEDESTRIAN INJURIES |
| PREMISES LIABILITY |
| CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENTS |
| SLIP AND FALL ACCIDENTS |