Why Choosing the Right Medical Malpractice Lawyer Matters
In Brighton Beach, a daughter visiting her father’s nursing home finds a dark, open wound on his heel that no aide had mentioned. In Coney Island, an 84-year-old woman presses her call button overnight, waits, and tries to reach the bathroom alone; the morning shift finds her on the floor with a broken hip. In Prospect Lefferts Gardens, a grandson notices that his grandmother, admitted for pneumonia in the first week of July, is suddenly confused, her lips cracked, the water pitcher beside her bed untouched since breakfast. Families in these situations often begin looking for medical malpractice lawyers in Brooklyn before they know whether what happened was neglect, malpractice, or both.
Harm in post-hospital care is more common than many families expect. In its February 2014 report Adverse Events in Skilled Nursing Facilities, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General estimated that 22% of Medicare beneficiaries experienced an adverse event during a skilled nursing facility stay, and another 11% experienced temporary harm. Physician reviewers judged 59% of those events clearly or likely preventable, citing substandard treatment, inadequate monitoring, and failure or delay of necessary care.
Facilities and their insurers start shaping the story early. A pressure wound becomes unavoidable in a frail resident, a fall becomes the choice of a patient who would not wait, and dehydration becomes natural decline. The staffing schedules and call bell logs that could answer those claims sit in the facility’s files.
The right attorney can make the difference between:
- Accepting that a bedsore simply came with age and learning whether the chart shows the turning schedule the care plan required
- Writing off a fall as bad luck and comparing the resident’s fall risk assessment with the supervision actually provided
- Filing a malpractice claim alone and also pursuing the resident rights claim New York’s Public Health Law creates
- Assuming a short-staffed shift was no one’s fault and measuring the facility’s care hours against the state minimum
- Overlooking a 90-day notice for a City-run facility and protecting the claim from the first week
New York gives these families more than one legal path. Public Health Law §2801-d allows a nursing home resident to sue for the deprivation of rights created by contract, statute, or regulation, and the Appellate Division has applied a three-year limitations period to that claim, longer than the two years and six months CPLR §214-a allows for malpractice. Neglect inside a hospital generally proceeds under negligence or malpractice rules instead, and facilities run by NYC Health + Hospitals add a notice of claim requirement. Our July rankings weigh how well each firm can identify which path fits a family’s facts.
July 2026 Rankings
| Rank | Law Firm | Lead Attorney | Client Satisfaction | Notable Settlements | Years Experience | Specialization Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kucher Law Group | Samantha Kucher, Esq. | 99% | $575,000 Medical Malpractice vs Major Hospital | 15+ | Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury |
| 2 | Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf | Ben B. Rubinowitz, Esq. | 97% | $91,000,000 Verdict (Birth Injury) | Not Stated | Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury |
| 3 | Finz & Finz, P.C. | Stuart L. Finz, Esq. | 95% | $9,200,000 Hospital Negligence Settlement | 40+ | Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury |
| 4 | Rosenbaum Meier Personal Injury Lawyers | Firm Attorneys | 94% | $7,000,000 Medical Malpractice Result | 40+ | Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury |
| 5 | Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel | Jay S. Knispel, Esq. | 93% | Tens of Millions Recovered | 25+ | Personal Injury & Medical Malpractice |
#1 Kucher Law Group
Why They’re #1: When a parent develops a pressure wound in a nursing home or becomes dangerously dehydrated during a hospital stay, a family needs lawyers who can read a care plan as closely as a medical chart. Kucher Law Group’s Brooklyn nursing home neglect and hospital malpractice representation covers claims against nursing homes, hospitals, and the doctors and staff who work in them. The firm has already recovered $575,000 from a major hospital in a malpractice case, and it charges nothing unless it wins.
Firm Overview
RRK Kucher Law Group PLLC was organized on December 10, 2019, and employs a team of 10 to 19. The firm reports recovering more than $50 million for clients, more than $20 million of it through settlements, along with a 99% success rate; all three figures are self-reported. Families can meet attorneys at 463 Pulaski Street in Brooklyn or 26 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, call around the clock, and speak with Samantha Kucher in English, Russian, or Spanish.
Notable Case Results
- $575,000 : Medical malpractice case brought against a major hospital
- $1,250,000 : Erb’s palsy claim on behalf of an infant, settled before trial
- $650,000 : Fall down building stairs that left the client with a broken ankle
- $525,000 : Jury verdict for a slip and fall on an icy sidewalk
- $2,500,000 : Head-on motor vehicle collision causing a cervical spine injury that required surgery
Legal Team Excellence
Nursing home defense lawyers often argue that a resident’s decline was inevitable, and that argument meets its hardest test in front of a jury. Michael Roitman, the firm’s primary trial attorney, leads its work on facility neglect matters. Attorney Roitman earned his BA at NYU and his JD at Cooley Law School, and he is admitted in New York and New Jersey courts and before the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He was named to the Top 50 Personal Injury Settlements New York list for 2023. His family fled Ukraine, and he went on to build his legal career in New York.
He works alongside Samantha Kucher, admitted to the New York bar in 2015 after studying at NYU and New York Law School, who can go over a parent’s care plan and incident reports with relatives in Russian or Spanish. Attorney Kucher’s honors include National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, NAOPIA recognition in 2024 and 2025, and a Super Lawyers Rising Star selection in 2020. Alex Rybakov, a Seton Hall Law graduate licensed since 2010, has practiced personal injury law exclusively for more than ten years.
What Sets Them Apart
- 24/7 Availability: A family that discovers a wound or learns of a fall during an evening visit can reach an attorney that night, while the details are still fresh
- No Upfront Fees / Contingency Only: The firm is paid only from a recovery, so families do not have to finance record reviews and expert opinions on their own
- Brooklyn Knowledge: From Pulaski Street, the attorneys work near the borough’s hospitals, nursing homes, and the Kings County courts
- Personalized Service: Relatives deal directly with their attorneys and can communicate in English, Russian, or Spanish
- Facility Neglect Claims: The firm’s practice page names nursing homes and hospitals among the providers it pursues and lists failing to treat medical complications, failing to perform follow-up care, and failing to consider patient comfort among the errors it handles
Client Testimonials
This review does not say what kind of case the client brought, so we share it as general feedback on how the firm supports people through a difficult stretch:
“5 stars for Kucher Law Group! They turned a challenging period of my life into a manageable experience with their expertise and compassionate approach. I felt valued and supported throughout the entire process. Their guidance was invaluable, and the resolution of my case was beyond satisfactory.” john marks, Google Review
Why Choose Kucher Law Group
Neglect cases often come down to two sets of documents: what the care plan called for and what staff actually recorded. Kucher Law Group can explain whether a resident rights claim under §2801-d, a malpractice claim, or both may apply, and which deadline governs each one. The firm holds a 4.99 out of 5 rating across 81 Google reviews, and an initial consultation costs nothing.
Contact: (929) 563-6780 | 463 Pulaski St #1C, Brooklyn, NY 11221
#2 Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf
Why They Made Our List: Gair Gair’s Brooklyn medical malpractice page reads like a map of the borough’s hospital system, naming ten facilities from SUNY Downstate to Coney Island Hospital, and the firm pairs that local familiarity with the largest published malpractice results in this ranking. It practices from Manhattan, lists no Brooklyn office, and states that its attorneys will travel to clients.
Firm Overview
The firm’s single listed office is at 80 Pine Street in the Financial District. Its Brooklyn page addresses delayed diagnosis, surgical error, birth injury, and wrongful death claims, and the hospitals it identifies include NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, Maimonides Medical Center, NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Interfaith, and Brookdale. Several of those facilities train resident physicians, which makes the firm’s familiarity with them relevant to families concerned about care during the July changeover.
Notable Achievements
Gair Gair reports these results on its own website:
- $91,000,000 : Verdict, roughly $90.9 million in total, for a child with cerebral palsy after a delayed cesarean section at SUNY Downstate
- $60,000,000 : Verdict obtained in Nassau County
- $7,000,000 : 2025 recovery in a case involving a missed stroke
- $4,800,000 : Verdict listed among the firm’s medical malpractice results
- $2,000,000 : 2025 wrongful death recovery
The firm also states that eight of its attorneys appear in Best Lawyers in America for medical malpractice and that it holds a Tier One Best Law Firms ranking in New York for plaintiffs’ medical malpractice.
Lead Attorney / Team
Managing partner Ben B. Rubinowitz heads the firm, and partner Marijo C. Adimey and attorney Richard M. Steigman are also named on its Brooklyn page. Because that page does not give the firm’s years in practice, our table shows Not Stated.
Service Approach
Since it has no Brooklyn office, the firm offers to meet clients where they are, which can matter to a spouse or adult child who spends most days at a loved one’s bedside. A Spanish-language version of the page is available, and the firm explains that New York law regulates contingency fees in malpractice cases.
Contact: 212-943-1090 | 80 Pine Street, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10005
#3 Finz & Finz, P.C.
Why They Made Our List: Finz & Finz reports more than forty years in practice from a Brooklyn office on Spencer Street, and one of its largest published settlements arose from hospital negligence involving a vitamin B1 deficiency, a nutritional failure close to this month’s focus.
Firm Overview
The firm also has offices at 40 Wall Street in Manhattan and in Mineola. Its New York City malpractice content explains the two and a half year limit in CPLR §214-a, the continuous treatment doctrine, the certificate of merit under CPLR §3012-a, and the 90-day notice of claim and one year and 90 day filing deadline that govern public hospitals.
Notable Achievements
- $9,200,000 : Settlement for hospital negligence involving a vitamin B1 deficiency
- $9,750,000 : Settlement after a failure to diagnose necrotizing enterocolitis in a child
- $2,350,000 : Medical malpractice verdict, as reported by the NY Post
The firm lists Super Lawyers, Lawyers of Distinction 2024, the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and an AV Preeminent rating among its recognitions.
Lead Attorney / Team
Stuart L. Finz, the senior trial attorney, works with Leonard L. Finz, Cheri Finz, Todd M. Rubin, Jacquelin Finz, and Brandon S. Finz. Four former New York State judges serve the firm of counsel.
Service Approach
The firm takes malpractice cases on contingency and states that no attorney fee is owed without a recovery. Its pages describe the sliding-scale limits New York places on these fees, and consultations are free.
Contact: (718) 957-2407 | 31 Spencer St, Suite 1202, Brooklyn, NY 11205
#4 Rosenbaum Meier Personal Injury Lawyers
Why They Made Our List: Rosenbaum Meier combines a Downtown Brooklyn office at 32 Court Street with more than forty years of experience and a published list of results labeled medical malpractice.
Firm Overview
Besides Brooklyn, the firm keeps offices at 100 Wall Street in Manhattan and in the Bronx. Its Brooklyn malpractice page references NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn and University Hospital of Brooklyn, and it shows a Google rating of 4.8 based on 265 reviews.
Notable Achievements
The firm lists medical malpractice results without dates or case details, among them $7,000,000, two results of $1,500,000, $1,300,000, $1,100,000, $1,000,000, $900,000, and $800,000. A Super Lawyers logo appears on the page with no year attached.
Lead Attorney / Team
Because the malpractice page names no individual attorneys, our table lists the firm itself. Families should ask which lawyer would handle a nursing home or hospital matter from day to day.
Service Approach
The firm offers a free case review and a Spanish-language version of its page. Fee terms are not described there, so they are worth raising at a first meeting.
Contact: (718) 550-3601 | 32 Court Street, Suite 704, Brooklyn, NY 11201
#5 Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel
Why They Made Our List: Jay S. Knispel brings more than twenty-five years of injury practice to a Court Street office, and the firm states that it has recovered tens of millions of dollars for clients.
Firm Overview
The Brooklyn office is at 26 Court Street, with a Manhattan office at 450 Seventh Avenue. The firm’s malpractice page describes cases against large New York City hospitals but does not publish individual amounts, so we report recoveries only in its own terms.
Notable Achievements
Jay S. Knispel holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and appears among the National Trial Lawyers Top 100.
Lead Attorney / Team
Jay S. Knispel is the attorney named on the firm’s malpractice page, and the practice carries his name.
Service Approach
The firm answers calls at all hours, serves Spanish-speaking clients, and offers free consultations. Its page does not state fee terms, so families should confirm them early, along with who will handle the file.
Contact: (718) 802-1600 | 26 Court St., Suite 2511, Brooklyn, NY 11242
Understanding Brooklyn Medical Malpractice Cases
Neglect cases ask a simpler question than many malpractice claims: did the facility provide the basic care it promised? Turning, feeding, hydration, supervision, and answering a call for help are routine tasks, and the records of whether they happened often decide the case.
Pressure Injuries
Bedsores form when skin over the heels, hips, or tailbone is under pressure for too long. Prevention depends on repositioning, skin checks, and nutrition. A Brighton Beach family visiting a relative off Brighton Beach Avenue who finds a deep wound should note the date, photograph it if permitted, and ask when staff first documented it.
Falls and Unanswered Calls
Residents at high fall risk may need bed alarms, low beds, or help getting to the bathroom. When a Coney Island resident near Surf Avenue falls after waiting for help, the fall risk assessment, call bell records, and staffing sheets for that shift become key evidence. Courts sometimes treat a supervision failure of this kind as ordinary negligence rather than malpractice.
Dehydration and Weight Loss
Older patients may not feel thirst or may need help drinking and eating. Intake charts, weight logs, and dietary notes can show whether a Dyker Heights grandmother living near 11th Avenue lost weight or developed kidney trouble while staff recorded her as eating normally.
Understaffing and the July Changeover
Thin staffing affects every task above. In teaching hospitals, new residents start each July, and a patient from Prospect Lefferts Gardens admitted through an emergency room off Flatbush Avenue may wonder whether timing mattered. The evidence is mixed: a 2011 systematic review by Young and colleagues in the Annals of Internal Medicine examined 39 studies and found that larger, higher-quality studies showed increased mortality and reduced efficiency around the changeover, but most studies had methodological flaws and the degree of harm could not be quantified. The calendar is not proof of negligence; the question remains whether care and supervision met accepted standards.
Who Can Be Held Liable
- Nursing home operators and, in some cases, their management companies
- Hospitals, for nursing care, supervision of residents, and staffing decisions
- Physicians, residents, and nurse practitioners who direct care
- Nurses and certified nurse aides responsible for daily care
- NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, which follow separate notice rules
Critical NYC Requirements
- Resident rights claim: Public Health Law §2801-d makes a nursing home liable for injuries caused by depriving a resident of a right under contract, statute, or regulation, unless it proves it took all care reasonably necessary to prevent the harm. Damages are at least 25% of the daily per-patient rate for each day of injury, punitive damages are available for willful or reckless deprivations, courts may award attorneys’ fees, and any waiver of the right to sue is void.
- Separate deadlines: The First Department held in Zeides v Hebrew Home for Aged at Riverdale (2002) that a §2801-d claim is distinct from malpractice and carries a three-year limit under CPLR §214(2); malpractice claims generally follow the two years and six months of CPLR §214-a.
- Enumerated rights: Public Health Law §2803-c lists nursing home residents’ rights, including adequate and appropriate medical care and freedom from physical and mental abuse.
- Staffing minimum: Public Health Law §2895-b requires nursing homes to provide 3.5 hours of care per resident per day, at least 2.2 from certified nurse aides and 1.1 from licensed nurses.
- Public facilities: General Municipal Law §50-e generally requires a notice of claim within 90 days for claims against NYC Health + Hospitals.
Selection Criteria
Case Results and Recovery Amounts. Results against hospitals and other institutions received the most attention this month. Each figure appears exactly as the firm publishes it on its own website, and where a firm offers only totals or undated amounts, we repeated them without adding detail. A result against a hospital system says more about a firm’s readiness for facility neglect work than a large figure with no context.
Client Satisfaction. Neglect cases frequently involve adult children managing a parent’s care while the claim moves forward. We looked for consistent praise across many reviews for patience and responsiveness, and the satisfaction scale in our table reflects that comparison rather than any single comment.
Legal Experience and Expertise. A firm handling these matters should understand care plans, nursing documentation, and state staffing rules as well as medicine. We credited years in practice, a stated malpractice focus, and clear explanations of the deadlines that apply, including the difference between the malpractice clock and the longer period for resident rights claims.
Trial Readiness. Facility insurers often bet that a family will settle rather than put an elderly relative’s care before a jury. Published verdicts, settlements reached at trial, and a designated trial attorney all counted toward this factor.
Brooklyn Community Connection. Relatives who visit a nursing home daily have little time to travel. We weighed Brooklyn offices and familiarity with the borough’s hospitals and courts, and we said plainly when a firm lists no Brooklyn office.
Professional Recognition. Outside honors add perspective, but only when they are specific. Recognition tied to medical malpractice carried more weight than general listings, and undated badges were noted as such.
Accessibility and Communication. Families often discover a wound or learn of a fall during evening or weekend visits. Around the clock availability, service in more than one language, and plain explanations for relatives who are new to the legal process all counted here.
Fee Structure and Transparency. Nursing and medical expert reviews can be costly before a case is filed. Contingency arrangements, clear statements about New York’s fee limits, and openness about how case expenses are handled were treated as strengths.
Scope of Services. We favored firms that handle nursing homes, hospitals, and public facilities alike, along with wrongful death claims when neglect proves fatal.
Innovation in Practice. Proving neglect means laying staffing reports, care plans, nursing notes, and incident reports side by side on one timeline. We gave credit to firms that describe a structured investigation, work with physician and nursing reviewers, and keep families informed through a process that can last years.
Moving Forward
Discovering that a parent or grandparent was neglected in a place meant to keep them safe is painful, and it often comes while the family is still arranging that person’s care. Families in Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and every other Brooklyn neighborhood can get answers before deciding what to do next.
Most firms in this ranking offer a free consultation where you can describe the facility, the injury, and when you first noticed it. Write down the dates, names of staff you spoke with, and anything you were told about staffing, and keep photographs if the facility allowed them. If the care took place at a City-run hospital or nursing facility, say so at the start, because a 90-day notice period may already be running.
About Our Rankings: NewNoted’s monthly rankings recognize excellence in specialized practice areas. Our evaluation process examines case results, client satisfaction, professional experience, and community impact. Rankings are based on verified data and are updated monthly to reflect current performance. Enhanced profiles are available but not required for ranking consideration.
For Attorneys: To nominate yourself or a colleague for future rankings, please email editor@newnoted.com.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Each case is unique, and results depend on specific facts and circumstances.
Claire Marshall is the dedicated Editor-in-Chief of NewNoted, with a lifelong passion for journalism and a commitment to transparent and responsible reporting. Hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, she brings a love for storytelling, a devotion to ethics, and a deep appreciation for diverse perspectives to her role at the helm of NewNoted.
