FISHING LICENSE You may think that fishing in New York State is as easy as grabbing your rod and tackle box, heading to your favorite waterway, waiting for the nibble and landing that prize catch. Well, that’s part of it.  But before you even think about tuning up your gear, you need to check in…

ROAD RAGE With any discussion of Road Rage, there is a lot to unpack.  Unfortunately there is probably only one thing that will get through to anyone who caves in to Road Rage, and in the process jeopardizes their safety and the safety of others on the open road. And that is the potential loss…

BUYER BEWARE According to Cornell Law School, the words Caveat Emptor “are Latin for ‘let the buyer beware.’…A doctrine that often places on buyers the burden to reasonably examine property before purchase and take responsibility for its condition…Especially applicable to items that are not covered under a strict warranty.” These two simple words, be they…

DO I NEED A WILL? The value of a possession is relative. “The simple answer is, you should have a will,” said attorney Jeffrey Millman, of the Phillips & Millman law firm. According to the American Bar Association, if someone dies without a will, their property will be distributed according to state law.  “…Typically the…

KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT When it comes to run-ins with the law, court appearances, motor vehicle accidents and personal injuries, there are four simple words to keep in mind: Keep Your Mouth Shut.  What you say can be misinterpreted and used against you.  Doing something as simple as saying, “I’m sorry” at the scene of…

DRIVERS LICENSE POINTS Accumulating points is usually a good thing.  Take for instance a backyard volleyball game at a summer barbecue. Whoever scores the most points wins and can brag as loudly as they like, much to the chagrin of everyone else, for the rest of the barbecue. There is one glaring instance, however, where…

CAR MAINTENANCE Not everyone can replace ball bearings on the wheel of a car, install a new headlight or change spark plugs.  But there are some basic automotive maintenance tasks that Bridgestone Tire recommends completing on a regular basis “to maximize the life and performance of your vehicle.” According to the law firm of Phillips…

DWI As laid out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the costs associated with drunk driving are broad and staggering.  “Every day, about 28 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes-that’s one person every 52 minutes. In 2019, these deaths reached the lowest percentage since 1982, when NHTSA started reporting alcohol data-but…

WORKERS COMP RETALIATION It’s bad enough suffering an injury on the job that’s so serious you need to file a workers’ compensation claim.  Just imagine how disturbing it would be to file the claim, then suffer retaliation from your employer because you filed the claim.  According to the the New York City Bar Association:  “Retaliation…

TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES The website operated by the National Football League on Aug. 29, 2013 reported that the professional sports collective had reached a tentative $765 million settlement, regarding concussion-related brain injuries, among its 18,000 retired players.  The NFL agreed to compensate victims, pay for medical exams and underwrite research. “More than 4,500 former athletes-some…

CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENTS   The next time you drive past, or walk beneath a construction site, you may want to keep in mind this description of the construction industry from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, the federal agency known as OSHA. “Construction is a high hazard industry that comprises a wide range of activities…

POST-AUTO ACCIDENT The moments immediately following a motor vehicle accident typically unfold in a blur of rat-a-tat, split-second events that turn time fluid before everything hits a hard stop.  And everything is punctuated by the cries of screeching tires and smashing of glass.  Once everything comes to a stop, your first thought will likely be,…

SAFE BOATING Awareness of and respect for laws that prohibit driving a car while intoxicated are commonplace among most, though certainly not all, people.  But what about drinking alcohol and driving a boat? According to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation:   “No one may operate a vessel on the waters…

MALPRACTICE The New York State Hospital Patients’ Bill of Rights spells out quite clearly that, as a patient in a hospital in New York, you have the right to: “Complain without fear of reprisals about the care and services you are receiving and to have the hospital respond to you and if you request it,…

BANKRUPTCY Crew. Gold’s Gym. Neiman Marcus. JCPenney. Pier 1 Imports. Hertz. These are just a few of the well-known businesses that have been forced to file for bankruptcy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic taking hold, and the ensuing economic freefall. So if these iconic brands got their clocks cleaned by the coronavirus, how…

TRAFFIC VIOLATION New York State law forbids the use of a handheld mobile telephone or portable electronic device while driving.  According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, this includes: Talking on a handheld mobile telephone Composing, sending, reading, accessing, browsing, transmitting, saving or retrieving electronic data such as e-mail, text messages or…

REAL ESTATE Four walls. A bath. A kitchen. A yard. A family. Call it home, sweet home, and stake your claim in the American Dream. Now add a few more walls, two or three floors, two or three more baths, a front yard and a very big backyard with a pool. That’s a more accurate…

MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENTS The COVID-19 pandemic triggered quarantines and lockdowns that kept millions of people home and off the streets.  But according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, some folks took a cue from the pandemic restrictions to hit the road in their vehicles and ignore basic rules while driving.…

PERSONAL INJURY Welcome to the world of personal injury law, an area of in-depth knowledge for attorneys Frank J. Phillips and Jeffrey T. Millman that covers: Automobile accidents Slip/Trip-and-Fall injuries Animal bites Incidents at work and in health care facilities Lead paint poisoning Product liability Strict Liability, according to the American Bar Association, “holds designers…

Innocent until proven guilty If you’re charged under criminal law, there is one very important thing to remember – you are innocent until proven guilty. Your arrest will be overwhelming. You will have a lot of questions. The path forward will, for a while, be quite uncertain. But that’s why you retain experienced attorneys and…