July 2018 Legal Report
By: Milan Rada, Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. In last month’s Legal Report we discussed how an administrative hearing pursuant to Sec. 207-c of the General Municipal Law (GML) is used to challenge an unfavorable line of duty determination by the Police Department. In that Legal Report, we also mentioned that Deputy Chief Ronald J.… Read More
June 2018 Legal Report
By: Milan Rada, Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. In last month’s Legal Report we discussed how an administrative hearing pursuant to Sec. 207-c of the General Municipal Law (GML) is used to challenge an unfavorable line of duty determination by the Police Department. In that Legal Report we also mentioned that Deputy Chief Ronald J.… Read More
May 2018 Legal Report
By: Milan Rada, Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. You may have heard rumors that the Police Department has begun to schedule “207-c” hearings. The rumors are true. So, what is a “207-c” hearing and why is it important to you? “207-c” hearings are held pursuant to NYS General Municipal Law (GML) Section 207-c, which… Read More
April 2018 Legal Report
By: Milan Rada Esq., with John Hewson, Esq. An incredibly illustrative set of cases was recently decided by New York State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, regarding the issue of “accident” versus “incident” in the realm of disability pension cases. For years, you have read how difficult the Retirement System has made the issue… Read More
February 2018 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada, Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. When a police officer or firefighter, who is a member of the New York State Police and Fire Retirement System, suffers a line of duty career-ending injury, (s)he may be entitled to a disability retirement pension. There are two line of duty disability pensions that… Read More
December 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada Esq., with John Hewson, Esq. With the end of another year comes a time for reflection on what has transpired and changed over the course of just twelve months. We look back at things that have happened in all aspects of our lives including our personal and professional lives. Similarly,… Read More
November 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada, Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. We have written many Legal Reports explaining and describing what constitutes an “accident” so as to qualify an injured police officer for the more generous pension of ¾ of final average salary, tax free for life as opposed to a performance of duty disability pension… Read More
October 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada, Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. With yet again another recent anniversary of the September 11th tragedy, it is an ever-present reminder of the aftermath of those attacks and the injuries, disabilities, and deaths that it has left behind. From respiratory conditions to cancers, the number of conditions that the World… Read More
August 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada, Esq. Labor Day arrives – it’s the end of the summer, teachers, and kids are back to school, PBA Open Meetings resume (3rd Thursday of every month @ 8 PM; September 21 is the next Open Meeting), adults have to get out of vacation mode and get serious and the… Read More
June 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada, Esq. and Joseph S. Bavaro, Esq. HOW THE LAW PROTECTS POLICE OFFICERS INJURED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR DUTIES: General Municipal Law 205-e If a police officer is injured by a third party (someone who is not the employer, someone who is not the agent of the employer or someone… Read More
May 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada Esq., with John Hewson, Esq. As we approach the summer months, we often forget how rapidly these months seem to go by. All of a sudden it’s the fall, and before we know it, we are almost through 2017. A major topic of discussion throughout the end of last year… Read More
April 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada, Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. Working as a police officer is a dangerous and high-risk profession in which injuries are an unfortunate result of simply doing the job. Further, we have seen over the years that very rarely does a police officer with years of service ever go to work… Read More
March 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada, Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. Recently a police officer called to tell us that he tweaked his back getting out of his police car one morning when he lost his footing on some ice. He had an older line of duty aided number for a prior back injury and he… Read More
February 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. We all know the old adage about a tree falling in the forest without no one around. Unfortunately, the same is true of injuries that go unreported. Did the injury actually happen if no one knows about it? It sounds more philosophical than it should… Read More
January 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada Esq., with John Hewson, Esq. There are several recurrent themes that we see over and over again when we do appointments with members. Thankfully, most of these issues are easily dealt with. The troubling part is that several are so important that they continuously warrant discussion and need to be… Read More
January 2017 Legal Report
Legal Report by Milan Rada, Esq. with John Hewson, Esq. At the start of the New Year, we feel it is beneficial to stress the importance of certain fundamental requirements as they relate to line of duty injuries: 1) Per the Department Manual, you MUST report your injury to the Department within seven (7) days of… Read More
Our Police Disability History
In 1988, the newly elected president of the PBA, Gary DelaRaba, brought a brilliant and innovative concept to lawyering for police unions. DelaRaba decided that he would hire expert law firms that concentrated their practice in a particular specialty, rather than have one firm to handle all the union’s business. After conducting an extensive vetting… Read More
