Attorney Marc L. Breakstone
Lexington Minuteman: Attorney Marc L. Breakstone Promotes Safe Cycling
Read an announcement about Attorney Marc L. Breakstone and our Project KidSafe campaign in the Lexington Minuteman. Attorney Breakstone and our bicycle helmet donations in Arlington and Lexington are mentioned.
Photos from Boston’s Bike to Work Festival 2018
Breakstone, White & Gluck was pleased to participate in Boston’s Bike to Work Festival on May 18, 2018. The City of Boston organizes this event each year to encourage and celebrate cycling. Cyclists can ride right into City Hall Plaza and enjoy a free breakfast and vendor tables. Our attorneys have participated in this event for the past few years and it’s always a fun way to close out Bay State Bike Week and Bike Month. This year, we set up our Project KidSafe tent and fit 70 free bicycle helmets for cyclists who needed one.
If you missed this year’s event, you can learn more on the City of Boston’s website. Read more about our Project KidSafe campaign on our website.
Here are a few photos from the event:
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- Attorney David W. White, Becca Wolfson, Executive Director of the Boston Cyclists Union and Attorney Marc L. Breakstone.
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- Blue Bikes. By year’s end, the public bike sharing system is gearing up to be 3,000 bikes strong.
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- From 2019 Bay State Bike Week: Attorney David W. White with Galen Mook, executive director of MassBike and Lee Toma, of Milton Bike.
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- The line for our Project KidSafe bike helmets!
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- Many cyclists rode in on group convoys.
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- Attorney David W. White and Attorney Marc L. Breakstone
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- Attorney Marc L. Breakstone with a cyclist at our Project KidSafe tent.
Breakstone, White & Gluck Kicks Off 2018 Project KidSafe Campaign, Donates Bicycle Helmets to Children at Arlington Elementary School
Attorney Marc L. Breakstone helped deliver new bicycle helmets to Arlington fifth graders this week. He asked them to make a promise: to ride safely and always wear their helmets when riding to prevent head injuries.
“Now I’m not here to scare you. I’m here to inspire you, okay? … I want you all to be safe bicyclists,” Breakstone said.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12SVi3PtvOU]
The bicycle helmets were a surprise gift for the 50 students at Pierce Elementary School’s bike safety training. MassBike, Massachusetts Safe Routes to School and the Arlington Police Department participated.
During his talk, Attorney Breakstone spoke to the students about the impact of concussions and his experience as a personal injury lawyer who has represented cyclists who have suffered head injuries.
“A concussion can affect you for your entire life,” he said.
Tom Francis, of MassBike, also urged students to wear their new helmets. “If it’s in your garage or hanging on the wall, your helmet is not doing any good. It has be to on your head.”
Francis covered a number of safety topics, including riding on sidewalks near pedestrians, hand signals and developing a routine.
“Be predictable when you ride your bike,” he said.
Since 2013, Breakstone, White & Gluck’s Project KidSafe campaign has donated more than 20,000 bicycle helmets to children in eastern Massachusetts. We kicked off the 6th year of our safety campaign in Arlington this week. It was our fifth year supporting Pierce Elementary School, where there are no school buses. Students walk, ride bicycles or are driven by their parents.
Through Project KidSafe, we are committed to helping children and families put on bicycle helmets. From our experience as attorneys and cyclists, we know helmets are critical to preventing concussions, traumatic brain injuries and deaths. We want to prevent injuries. For the next few months, we will be working with community partners throughout the Boston area to donate bicycle helmets and educate families about bicycle safety. Each helmet meets safety standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and will be fitted by one of our attorneys or community partners.
Read about the donation in The Arlington Advocate.
About Breakstone, White & Gluck
At Breakstone, White & Gluck, our Boston personal injury lawyers fight for justice for those who have been seriously injured or killed by the negligence and wrongdoing of others. Please visit our website to learn more about our Project KidSafe campaign and our attorneys, Marc L. Breakstone, David W. White, Ronald E. Gluck and Reza Breakstone.
Photos, left to right: Mary Alice Vallarino, parent and event organizer, Attorney Marc L. Breakstone, Tom Francis of Mass Bike, Nicole Edmonds of Massachusetts Safe Routes to School and Macon Lockery, of The Bike Stop in Arlington.
Attorney Marc Breakstone Reaches $825,000 Settlement for Client Who Slipped on Icy Ramp
Attorney Marc L. Breakstone recently negotiated a settlement for a woman who was seriously injured when she slipped on an icy ramp. The ramp was on a commercial property.
Read about Attorney Breakstone’s work.
Breakstone, White & Gluck’s Partners Recognized on the 2017 Massachusetts Super Lawyers List
Breakstone, White & Gluck is pleased to announce that Marc L. Breakstone, David W. White and Ronald E. Gluck have been selected to the 2017 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list. Our attorneys were recognized for their work for clients in personal injury and medical malpractice cases. We are proud to share this news. It marks the 14th year they have been selected to the list, which only recognizes the top 5 percent of attorneys in the state.
The Super Lawyers selection process evaluates attorneys based on 12 areas, including verdicts and settlements, experience, honors and awards, bar and professional activity, pro bono and community service and other achievements. The selection process includes input from the Super Lawyers research department and peer review from other attorneys.
Marc L. Breakstone
Attorney Marc L. Breakstone has been recognized to the Top 100 New England Super Lawyers and Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyers lists numerous times over his career. He was recognized on the 2017 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list as a top rated medical malpractice attorney, an honor he has received each year since 2004. His settlements and verdicts include a $10.2 million settlement for an infant who suffered severe injuries due to ambulance negligence and $7.5 million for a family who lost a loved one in a propane gas explosion at a construction site. He also won a $7.1 million award for a pedestrian who was hit by an MBTA bus. Attorney Breakstone, a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, has practiced in Boston for more than 30 years.
David W. White
Attorney David W. White has been selected as a Top 100 New England Super Lawyer, a Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyer and Massachusetts Super Lawyer numerous times over his career. He was recognized on the 2017 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list as a top rated personal injury attorney. A past president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Attorney White has practiced law in Boston for almost 35 years. A graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, Attorney White has been recognized for his work on personal injury cases, as well as in insurance law. Attorney White’s settlements and verdicts include $4.35 million for a construction accident victim and $2.5 million for a client who suffered severe burns due to a homeowner’s negligence.
Ronald E. Gluck
Attorney Ronald E. Gluck is an accomplished, widely respected and results-driven lawyer who has obtained multi-million dollar awards for his clients in a range of serious personal injury cases for over 35 years. Each year since 2005, Mr. Gluck has been named a top rated personal injury “Super Lawyer” in Massachusetts. His career has focused on cases ranging from those involving pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists injured or killed by the negligence of others to disasters involving train crashes, truck accidents and medical malpractice causing wrongful death, traumatic brain injury and severe orthopedic injury. Attorney Gluck’s approach is to get the best results in the most efficient and effective manner for his clients while making sure that the responsible party is held accountable for their negligence. Following the attacks of 9-11, Mr. Gluck donated his time and expertise to represent the family of a young professional who was killed while a passenger aboard the American Airlines plane that crashed into the World Trade Center. Awards and settlements for Mr. Gluck’s clients include a $3.75 million award to a motorcyclist who suffered brain injuries; $2.5 million to a businessman who suffered spinal injuries in an 18-wheel truck crash; $2 million to the family of a child with mental health disabilities who died as a result of medical negligence, and a confidential settlement to the family of a physician who was hit and killed by a truck while she was riding a bicycle. Mr. Gluck is widely known and respected for his technical legal skills as well as his compassion and professionalism.
| Our Results for Clients | |
|---|---|
| $10.2 million | Award for an infant injured by ambulance malpractice |
| $7.5 million | Award for family which lost a loved one in a propane gas explosion |
| $7.5 million | Award for an infant who suffered severe brain injury from medical malpractice during and after anesthesia |
| $7.1 million | Award for a woman who was hit by an MBTA bus |
| $5.7 million | Award for the victim of medical malpractice |
| $4.35 million | Award for a worker who fell as a result of a defective railing |
| $3.75 million | Award for a motorcyclist who was hit by a negligent driver |
About Breakstone, White & Gluck
In 2017, Breakstone, White & Gluck celebrated our 25th year of serving clients who have been injured in personal injury, car accident and medical malpractice cases. We represent clients in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Quincy and across Massachusetts. If you have been injured by someone else’s negligence, learn your legal rights. Contact us for a free legal consultation at 800-379-1244 or 617-723-7676. You can also send us a message using our contact form.
Breakstone, White & Gluck Celebrates 25th Anniversary
Friends, family and colleagues helped us celebrate 25 years of serving our clients in June.
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- From left: Ronald E. Gluck, Elizabeth Brody Gluck, Denise Murphy, David W. White, Zhilla Breakstone and Marc L. Breakstone
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- David W. White, Marc L. Breakstone and Ronald E. Gluck
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- Reza Breakstone (left) with Jasmin and Simon Breakstone
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- From left: Scott J. Tucker, Francis Ford and Patrick T. Jones
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- From left: Donna Pierce, Robert Pierce and Alice Braunstein
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- From left: Christopher A. Kenney with John DiNatale
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- From left: Bonnie H. MacLeod, Bronwyn L. Roberts, Julie A. Frohlich and Andrea S. Kramer
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- From left: Elizabeth Ryan Catalano, Leo V. Boyle, Michael F. Mahoney, Jeffrey N. Catalano and Jon M. Jacobs
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- From left: Eric J. Parker, Clyde D. Bergstresser and Russell X. Pollock
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- From left: Stephen Hoffman, Richard E. Brody and Daniel S. McInnis
Photos from the event were published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on August 31, 2017. Subscription required for access.
Attorney Marc L. Breakstone Questions Voir Dire Rule Change in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
Attorney Marc L. Breakstone was recently interviewed by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on the voir dire process.
Requiring attorneys to get pre-approval to question potential jurors is the “wrong approach,” Attorney Marc L. Breakstone said in a recent Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly article.
Breakstone was commenting on a change to the rules for voir dire in Massachusetts. Judges were long responsible for questioning prospective jurors to determine if they could sit fair and impartial in Massachusetts courts. But in 2014, the Legislature approved the introduction of attorney-conducted voir dire. For the first time, attorneys were allowed to directly question prospective jurors.
Last month, the Supreme Judicial Court approved a revised Superior Court Rule 6, which will impose new restrictions on the voir dire process. The new rule will be effective September 1.
Missing from the new rule are several recommendations submitted by the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (MATA). Breakstone, who sits on the MATA Board of Governors, has long advocated for attorney-conducted voir dire and helped draft the MATA recommendations.
For voir dire to be effective, state court studies have shown the lawyer must be able to maintain a conversational tone with prospective jurors, Breakstone said.
“You cannot have a ‘conversation’ with jurors if you are restricted to pre-approved, scripted questions that a judge will not permit counsel to expand on,” he said.
Breakstone said he is concerned that Rule 6 raises the standard for excusing a juror for cause.
“This new [rule] sets the bar too high,” Breakstone said. “The better approach is to err on the side of caution and, if a juror expresses disqualifying bias, whether it’s mild, moderate or severe, that should be sufficient to excuse them from the jury.”
Read more comments in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Subscription access is required.
About Breakstone, White & Gluck
The Boston personal injury lawyers at Breakstone, White & Gluck have over 100 years combined experience representing those who have been injured by negligence and wrongdoing. If you have been injured, learn your rights. For a free legal consultation, contact us at 800-379-1244 or 617-723-7676 or use our contact form.
Attorney Marc Breakstone Teaches Arlington Students His Bike Safety Pledge
Attorney Marc L. Breakstone’s message to fifth graders in Arlington yesterday? Ride safe.
Breakstone, White & Gluck kicked off our 2017 Project KidSafe campaign yesterday, donating 50 helmets to Peirce Elementary School in Arlington. Attorney Breakstone participated in a bike safety training led by Richard Fries, executive director of MassBike. Helmets were distributed to children who needed one after the training.
The training was coordinated by Mary Alice Burke, the school’s parent coordinator of Safe Routes to School programming. Nicole Edmonds, a school outreach coordinator for the Safe Routes to School office in Boston and Arlington Police Officer Corey Rateau also participated.
Launched in 2013, Breakstone, White & Gluck’s Project KidSafe campaign has donated more than 10,000 helmets to children, with a goal of preventing serious head injuries and encouraging safe riding. Under Massachusetts law, all cyclists age 16 or younger must wear bicycle helmets. But all cyclists are strongly encouraged to wear helmets, regardless of age. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, helmets can reduce the risk of head and brain injuries in bicycle accidents by up to 88 percent, making them the single most effective way to reduce head injuries and save lives.
This is the fourth year we have donated bicycle helmets to children in the Arlington community. In Arlington, our helmets support Safe Routes to School bike and pedestrian training in elementary schools. In addition to Peirce Elementary School, we will also donate make donations to the Hardy Elementary School and the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee this year. The Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee will distribute helmets to children who need one at Arlington Town Day in the Fall.
Learn more about our Project KidSafe bike safety campaign.
About Breakstone, White & Gluck
Breakstone, White & Gluck is a Boston personal injury law firm which is committed to the safety of all bicyclists in Massachusetts. We have over 100 years combined experience representing bicyclists injured by the negligence of others. If you, or a member of your family, has been injured in a bicycle incident, please feel free to contact us for a free legal consultation at 800-379-1244 or 617-723-7676 or use our contact form. Thank you and RIDE SAFE!
Can the City of Boston Be Held Liable for Self-Driving Accidents? Attorney Marc Breakstone Interviewed as Legal Expert for Boston Herald Article
Attorney Marc L. Breakstone was quoted as a legal expert in a Boston Herald article titled “In Driver’s Seat With Insurance” (March 31, 2017). NuTonomy, the self-driving car company now testing its hands-free technology in Boston, has taken out a $5 million insurance policy to guard against lawsuits. Earlier this month, a self-driving Uber vehicle was involved in a car accident in Tempe, Arizona. Police found the Uber vehicle was traveling at 38 mph, below the speed limit, when the collision occurred and was not at fault. While there were no serious injuries, the accident has raised concerns.
Attorney Breakstone was asked whether the City of Boston could be held liable if there is an accident involving NuTonomy. He said no, but read his full answer.
Attorney Reza Breakstone has written on the topic of self-driving cars and the legal questions they raise. In 2016, he co-wrote an article titled, “The Self Driving Car: Science Fiction Becomes Reality, Creating a Legal Quandary,” for The Litigator, the official publication of the Capital City Trial Lawyers Association in Sacramento, California.
Breakstone, White & Gluck Receives Nancy King Award for Highest Percentage of Attorneys Participating
Breakstone, White & Gluck has received the Nancy King Award for its 100 percent participation in last year’s annual Walk to the Hill for Civil Legal Aid.
The Equal Justice Coalition, which organizes the annual Walk, recently presented our firm with the award. Attorneys Marc L. Breakstone, David W. Whit
e, Ronald E. Gluck and Reza Breakstone participated last year.
The Walk was held on January 28, 2016 at the State House in Boston. Hundreds of attorneys gathered in the Great Hall to hear from Chief Justice Ralph Gants of the Supreme Judicial Court and Attorney General Maura Healey. Several past presidents of the Massachusetts Bar Association participated, including Attorney David W. White, who served a term from 2007-2008.
The attorneys were then dispatched to speak to state Senators and Representatives and urge them to fund the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation line in the Fiscal Year 2017 state budget.
Last year’s campaign was successful, which should provide good motivation for even more attorneys to attend again this year. Governor Charlie Baker approved $18 million in funding for civil legal aid in the final Fiscal Year 2017 Budget of the Commonwealth. This was a $1 million increase over the prior year’s funding.
With the additional funding, the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation was able to help more low-income people facing homelessness, domestic violence, gain access to health care and other legal services.
To qualify for civil legal aid in Massachusetts, a family must earn no more than 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (or $30,375 a year for a family of four). Despite the increase, the Equal Justice Coalition reports that legal aid organizations are still forced to turn away 64 percent of those eligible because of a lack of funding.
This year, MLAC is seeking a $5 million increase for civil legal aid. To learn more about the event, visit http://equaljusticecoalition.org/.
2016 Walk to the Hill Attendance awards were recently presented to these firms:
• Nancy King Award: Breakstone, White & Gluck (highest percentage of attorneys participating)
• Highest Participation Award: WilmerHale
• Exceptional Support Awards: Foley Hoag and Ropes & Gray