Firm News
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 David W. White Explains Legal Steps Ahead for Buyers After Dorchester Building Fire
Attorney David W. White is interviewed by NBC Boston on the next steps ahead for buyers after the Dorchester building fire tragedy.
(June 29, 2017) Attorney David W. White was interviewed by NBC Boston on the potential legal options ahead for buyers of condos destroyed by a massive blaze in Dorchester. The fire went up on Wednesday, just a day before a fire inspection was reportedly scheduled.
The six-story Treadmark building had 83 units, including 32 for home ownership and 51 for affordable rentals. It was located in the Ashmont section of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood.
News outlets report residents planned to move in as early as July and August, but are now left with hard decisions following the tragedy.
“Whenever you have a big fire like this especially when you’re so close to completion, hundreds of lives are turned inside out,” said White, a past president of the Massachusetts Bar Association.
Watch on NBC Boston’s website.
Attorney David W. White Interviewed About Future of Civil Lawsuits Following Aaron Hernandez Suicide
The Metro news website interviewed Attorney David W. White and other legal experts in the wake of Aaron Hernandez’ suicide at Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts this week. Hernandez, a former New England Patriot who once received a $40 million contract extension for five years, had been serving a life sentence in the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. As prosecutors prepared the Odin Lloyd case, they also charged Hernandez with a double murder in Boston in 2012. Hernandez was acquitted on the Boston murder charges just last week in Suffolk Superior Court. As he headed back to prison, his lawyer spoke about hopes for appealing the Odin Lloyd conviction and seeing Hernandez walk free someday.
But Hernandez apparently had no plans for appeal. Come Wednesday morning, he was found hanging from a bed sheet in his cell at the Shirley prison. The state medical examiner concluded the cause of death was suicide by asphyxia from hanging. The football player’s brain will be sent to Boston University researchers who are studying CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease of the brain which can only be diagnosed after death. It has been found in other football players.
The suicide changes everything for Odin Lloyd’s family, who was pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against Hernandez.
During a 2015 trial, Hernandez had been convicted of the first degree murder of Lloyd. Hernandez had an automatic right to appeal to the state’s highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court, but had not completed that appeal. Massachusetts follows a legal doctrine known as abatement ab inito. If someone dies after a conviction but before their appeal is complete, the person’s legal records and convictions are null and void.
“Now that the conviction will be vacated, the family of Odin Lloyd has lost their collateral estoppel claim and they will have to start from scratch to prove he is guilty,” White said in the Metro interview.
Hernandez appeared to have a bright future with the Patriots, then came June 26, 2013. Police arrested him at his North Attleborough home in connection with the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who had been dating the sister of Hernandez’ fiancee. Less than two hours later, Hernandez was released by the New England Patriots, who had signed him to the $40 million five-year contract extension the previous summer. The contract included a $12.5 million signing bonus. On August 27, 2012, The Boston Globe predicted, “The Patriots are going to have the tight end of duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez at least through the 2018 season.”
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.
Attorney David W. White Is Interviewed for NBC Boston Story on Pothole Damage and Car Accidents in Massachusetts
Just as sure as it brings snow, winter in Massachusetts always brings potholes. When drivers hit potholes, their cars can sustain major damage, sometimes totaling in the thousands of dollars. They often want to file a claim against the state or community which maintains the road.
NBC Boston recently aired a story on what rights consumers have if their vehicle is damaged by a pothole (1/24/2017). Attorney David W. White was interviewed and delivered bad news for drivers. Under Massachusetts law, drivers do have 30 days to file a claim against a town or state. But drivers are unlikely to recover any money because the state and towns will claim “contributory negligence.”
“If you are one percent at fault, you get zero percent recovery,” he said.
We encourage you to watch the segment here: http://tinyurl.com/zlt8kvo.
About Breakstone, White & Gluck
The Boston car accident lawyers at Breakstone, White & Gluck are experienced at handling auto accident claims involving serious injury. If you have been injured, learn your rights. For a free legal consultation, contact us today at 800-379-1244 or 617-723-7676 or use our contact form.
Attorney Reza Breakstone Co-Authors Article on Legal Ramifications of Self-Driving Cars in California Lawyers Publication
Attorney Reza Breakstone writes about the legal ramifications of self-driving cars in an article published in the Winter 2016-2017 edition of The Litigator, the official publication of the Capital City Trial Lawyers Association in Sacramento, California. Attorney Breakstone co-authored the article with Attorney Paul Hoybjerg of Roseville, California. In the article, “The Self Driving Car: Science Fiction Becomes Reality, Creating a Legal Quandary,” the authors write the time has come for the self-driving car.
“The self-driving car is no longer a distant dream of an imagined future. It is here, it is now, and it is reality. There already exist automated functions that come standard on vehicles: anti-lock brakes, self-parking, cruise control, and crash avoidance cameras. Automated cars will affect more than simply your ability to tie your tie or apply your make-up on the way to work. They stand to completely change the automotive industry, insurance world, legal market, public transport and city planning, while redefining the American culture of feeling “freedom” behind the wheel.”
The article explains the current levels of automation among vehicles on the market, investments in the industry and ramifications for auto insurers and plaintiffs and defendants in personal injury cases.
“The less thrilling ramifications may be to the bottom line of auto insurers and the plaintiffs’ and defense bars in personal injury cases. Currently, auto insurance premiums account for $200 billion nationwide. The insurance industry, with decreased vehicle ownership and decreased liability issues on the part of the user, will find itself cut out of the equation. Allstate Corp. Chairman Thomas Wilson predicts that driverless cars will have “the most detrimental impact on auto insurance” and one “we don’t want to wait” to figure it out.”
About Attorney Reza Breakstone
Attorney Reza Breakstone joined Breakstone, White & Gluck as an associate in 2015. Learn more about Reza on our website.
Breakstone, White & Gluck Attorneys Named to Top 100 New England Super Lawyer List, Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyer List
Congratulations to attorneys Marc L. Breakstone, David W. White and Ronald E. Gluck for being selected to the 2016 Super Lawyers lists. This is the 13th year our firm has been recognized by Super Lawyers for being among the best in New England at obtaining justice for those who have been injured by negligence in personal injury and medical malpractice cases.. Together, our three partners have over 100 years combined experience practicing law in Massachusetts. Here is how they were honored:
Attorney Marc L. Breakstone
Congratulations to Attorney Breakstone who was named a Top 100 New England Super Lawyer and a Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyer for 2016. Attorney Breakstone specializes in representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice and personal injury cases and has practiced in Boston for 30 years. For the 13th year, Attorney Breakstone was also recognized as as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the area of medical malpractice for plaintiffs (2004-2016). This is his 10th year on the Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list. He was selected as a Top 100 New England Super Lawyer for the fifth time.
Attorney David W. White
Congratulations to Attorney David W. White, who was named a 2016 Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the area of personal injury, plaintiff representation. This is the 13th year he has been recognized for excellence among Massachusetts and New England lawyers. Attorney White has been selected to the Top 100 New England Super Lawyers list three times and to the Top 100 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list seven times.
Attorney White is a past president of the Massachusetts Bar Association and has practiced law in Boston for over 30 years. He has distinguished himself for his advocacy on behalf of his clients and his leadership among Massachusetts lawyers. Attorney White represents clients in all types of personal injury and insurance cases, including bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, motor vehicle accidents, product liability and dog bite cases.
Attorney Ronald E. Gluck
Congratulations to Attorney Ronald E. Gluck, who was named a 2016 Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the area of personal injury, plaintiff representation. Attorney Gluck has been consistently recognized for excellence by Super Lawyers for 11 years. Attorney Gluck has practiced law in Boston for over 35 years and specializes in handling cases involving pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, motor vehicle accidents and motorcycle accidents.
About Super Lawyers
Super Lawyers is a multiphase selection process which rates attorneys in every state. The top 5 percent of attorneys are selected to Super Lawyers lists.
How the process works: Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research by Super Lawyers, which is part of the Thomson Reuters company. Lawyers are evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement on an annual, state-by-state basis. The company’s objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys which can be used as a resource for other attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel.
Super Lawyers listings are printed annually in Boston Magazine and are available on the Super Lawyers website. Read More