Why Choosing the Right Slip and Fall Lawyer Matters
June pulls Brooklyn outside, and the sidewalks fill with strollers and dog walkers until well past eight. On Argyle Road in Ditmas Park, a jogger catches a toe on a concrete flag that the roots of an old London plane have shoved two inches above the next one. Near Fort Greene Park, a commuter steps off the curb on DeKalb Avenue and drops a foot into a tree pit whose edging has crumbled away. In Windsor Terrace, a grandmother crossing Prospect Avenue stumbles on a corner curb that broke apart years ago. These are trip and fall cases, and the best slip and fall lawyers in Brooklyn treat them as their own category, because the outcome often turns on the shape of a piece of concrete.
The hazard is built into the borough’s streetscape. When City Hall announced in September 2019 that it would stop issuing sidewalk violations to owners of one-, two-, and three-family homes for damage caused solely by city trees, officials cited more than 650,000 street trees citywide, about 50,000 existing violations to review, and roughly 5,500 high-priority damaged sites slated for repair, as reported by The Jewish Press.
The defense in an outdoor trip case follows a familiar script. The owner’s insurer, or the City’s lawyers, will say the defect was too small to matter, that the walker should have seen it in daylight, or that someone else was responsible for that pavement. The proof is fragile, too. A repair crew can grind down a lip or pour a new flag within weeks, and then the original height of the defect may never be established.
The right attorney can make the difference between:
- A snapshot of “a crack in the sidewalk” and photographs with a ruler showing how high the edge stood
- Suing an exempt homeowner and naming the party the law holds responsible
- Losing a City claim over a missed 90-day notice and serving that notice on time
- Accepting the “trivial defect” label and showing why the surroundings made it dangerous
- Paying a lawyer by the hour and owing a fee only if money is recovered
Sidewalk law in New York City is unusually technical. NYC Administrative Code §7-210 makes most owners of property abutting a sidewalk liable for failing to keep it reasonably safe, but it exempts one-, two-, and three-family homes that are owner occupied and used only as residences, which generally leaves those stretches with the City. Tree wells and curbs sit outside the code’s reach, and the state’s highest court has set no minimum height for an actionable defect. The firms below were measured against that framework.
June 2026 Rankings
| Rank | Law Firm | Lead Attorney | Client Satisfaction | Notable Settlements | Years Experience | Specialization Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kucher Law Group | Samantha Kucher, Esq. | 99% | $1,800,000 Sidewalk Trip and Fall | 15+ | Slip and Fall & Personal Injury |
| 2 | David Resnick & Associates | David Resnick | 97% | $1,725,000 Slip and Fall | 20+ | Slip and Fall & Personal Injury |
| 3 | Shulman & Hill Injury Lawyers | Not Stated | 95% | $1,750,000 Construction Site Trip | 10+ | Slip and Fall & Personal Injury |
| 4 | Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel | Jay S. Knispel | 94% | $750,000 Street Trip and Fall | 25+ | Slip and Fall & Personal Injury |
| 5 | Gregory Spektor & Associates | Gregory Spektor | 93% | $500M+ Total Recovered | Decades | Slip and Fall & Personal Injury |
#1. Kucher Law Group
Why They’re #1: A $1,800,000 recovery for a client who tripped on a sidewalk and needed surgery anchors the firm’s record in outdoor defect cases, and the sidewalk trip and slip and fall attorneys at Kucher Law Group bring that experience to every raised flag, root-heaved slab, and broken curb they take on. A $3,500,000 trip and fall on subway stairs that settled at trial shows the same team will carry a defect case into the courtroom. Clients pay no fee unless the firm recovers.
Firm Overview
RRK Kucher Law Group PLLC opened on December 10, 2019, and now fields a team of 10 to 19 people from a Brooklyn office on Pulaski Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant and a Manhattan office at 26 Broadway. By its own figures, the firm has recovered more than $50 million for clients, over $20 million of it in settlements, with a 99% success rate. Google reviewers rate it 4.99 out of 5 across 81 reviews, and the phones are answered 24/7.
Notable Case Results
- $1,800,000 : Sidewalk trip and fall that required surgery
- $3,500,000 : Trip and fall on subway stairs, settled at trial
- $650,000 : Fall down building stairs that broke the client’s ankle
- $1,400,000 : Fall down stairs at a construction site
- $650,000 : Slip and fall by a restaurant patron
Legal Team Excellence
Michael Roitman, the firm’s primary trial attorney, is the partner most likely to face a jury when an owner insists a sidewalk defect was trivial. Because triviality turns on all the facts and circumstances, measurements, photographs, and witness accounts often decide these cases. Attorney Roitman earned his undergraduate degree at NYU and his JD at Cooley Law, and he practices in New York and New Jersey courts as well as the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. His family fled Ukraine, and he was named to the Top 50 PI Settlements New York list for 2023.
Samantha Kucher, admitted to the New York bar in 2015, studied at NYU and New York Law School and grew up at the Milton Hershey School. She was a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2020 and has been honored by National Trial Lawyers (Top 40 Under 40) and by NAOPIA in 2024 and 2025. She counsels clients in English, Russian, and Spanish. Alex Rybakov, admitted in New York in 2010 after NYU and Seton Hall, has more than 15 years of licensed practice and over a decade devoted exclusively to personal injury.
What Sets Them Apart
- 24/7 Availability: A trip on a warm evening can be reported that same night, while the injured person still remembers exactly which flag caught their foot
- No Upfront Fees / Contingency Only: The firm is paid only out of a recovery, so a client never fronts legal costs
- Brooklyn Knowledge: A Bedford-Stuyvesant office, surrounded by tree-lined brownstone blocks, keeps the team close to the kind of pavement these claims involve
- Personalized Service: Clients work directly with the attorneys on their file and get plain answers about ownership, notice, and timing
- Sidewalk Defect Experience: The $1,800,000 sidewalk result and the $3,500,000 subway stair trip reflect real experience with falls caused by uneven walking surfaces
Client Testimonials
“Dealing with a trip and fall situation was new to me, but they made it an insightful journey. They educated me about every step, giving me confidence and peace of mind.” Emma Cruz, Google Review
“Kucher Law Group made my trip and fall case extremely smooth and easy throughout all steps of the process. They are an excellent personal injury firm and I would recommend them to anybody in need of a personal injury firm 10/10 times.” Brandon Beyder, Google Review
Why Choose Kucher Law Group
A sidewalk trip case is won with a tape measure as much as a legal argument. The firm offers a free consultation, works only on contingency, and has partners who have taken fall cases to settlement at trial and to a jury verdict. For someone hurt on a heaved flag, a sunken tree pit, or a crumbling curb, that means a team ready to document the defect before it is repaired and to identify who owns the pavement before a deadline passes.
Contact: (929) 563-6780 | 463 Pulaski St #1C, Brooklyn, NY 11221
#2. David Resnick & Associates
Why They Made Our List: David Resnick & Associates, P.C. claims the second position with more than twenty years of practice, a stated total above $60 million in verdicts and settlements, and four published slip and fall results between $900,000 and $1,725,000.
Firm Overview
Founding attorney David Resnick leads the firm from 450 7th Avenue in Manhattan. Its website says it represents injured people throughout New York City, Brooklyn included, but it does not list a Brooklyn office. The firm advertises a phone line staffed 24/7 and serves clients in English and Spanish. Fee terms were not stated on the page we reviewed, so a caller should ask how the firm charges before signing anything.
Notable Achievements
- $1,725,000 : Slip and fall result
- $1,600,000 : Slip and fall result
- $1,000,000 : Recovery for a person who fell in a building with defective stair lighting
- $900,000 : Slip and fall result
Lead Attorney / Team
David Resnick is the founding attorney, and Philip Monier and Gary Morgenstern are listed as Of Counsel. The website points to an Elite Lawyer profile for Resnick and to Distinguished Justice Advocates, Legal Ambassadors, Leaders of Law, and New York State Trial Lawyers Association affiliations. Morgenstern holds a Super Lawyers listing.
Service Approach
The firm’s published figures do not say whether any of them arose from sidewalk defects, so a Brooklyn resident hurt on a raised flag should ask which of its fall cases involved outdoor pavement and how ownership questions were resolved. What the record does show is a practice with several seven-figure fall outcomes and two decades of handling injury claims throughout New York City. The around-the-clock line is useful in summer, when a stumble on an evening walk may not feel serious until the swelling sets in the next morning. Because the office is in Midtown, it is worth asking whether someone from the firm can inspect the site in Brooklyn and how the firm handles appearances in Kings County courts.
Contact: (212) 279-2000 | 450 7th Avenue #409, New York, NY 10123
#3. Shulman & Hill Injury Lawyers
Why They Made Our List: Shulman & Hill Injury Lawyers places third with a Brooklyn office on Court Street, a stated $1 billion-plus in recoveries, and a $1,750,000 result for a carpenter with back injuries who tripped at a construction site.
Firm Overview
The firm describes just over a decade of experience and lists its Brooklyn office at 26 Court Street. It states that it has recovered more than $1 billion for clients. Its website appears in English and Spanish, and injured people are offered a free and confidential case review on a “No Win, No Fee” basis.
Case Results
- $1,750,000 : Carpenter with back injuries who tripped at a construction site
- $4,900,000 : Plumber’s helper who slipped and fell on a faulty interior surface
- $1,600,000 : Bus driver with knee and shoulder injuries from a fall in a bus lot
Lead Attorney / Team
Alex Shulman is named as the content reviewer on the firm’s Brooklyn slip and fall page, which does not identify other attorneys. Anyone weighing the firm should ask who would handle the file from day to day.
Service Approach
The carpenter’s case is the result most closely tied to this month’s theme, a fall caused by something fixed underfoot rather than something spilled. Trip cases on uneven ground tend to rest on the same proof a sidewalk claim does: the size of the defect, the lighting, and what else was competing for the person’s attention. A Court Street address puts the office within a short walk of the borough’s civil courts. The no-cost review lets an injured person describe the fall and hear options before committing to anything.
Contact: (212) 221-1000 | 26 Court Street, #2216, Brooklyn, NY 11242
#4. Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel
Why They Made Our List: The Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel, LLC ranks fourth with more than 25 years of practice, a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, and a $750,000 result for a client who tripped and fell in the street.
Firm Overview
Founding partner Jay S. Knispel runs the practice from a Brooklyn office at 26 Court St. and a Manhattan office at 450 7th Ave. The firm says it has recovered tens of millions of dollars, charges on contingency with no upfront cost, and offers a free consultation. Its website greets Spanish speakers with “Hablamos Espanol.”
Case Results
- $750,000 : Tripped and fell in the street
- $730,000 : Tripped on a curled mat at a car dealership
Lead Attorney / Team
Alongside the AV Preeminent rating, Jay S. Knispel cites National Trial Lawyers Top 100, Super Lawyers selections from 2023 through 2026, and membership in the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums.
Service Approach
Both published results are trips rather than slips, and the $750,000 street case shows the firm has pursued a claim arising from a fall outdoors on a public roadway. That kind of matter often raises the same ownership and notice questions as a sidewalk case. Clients can reach either the Brooklyn or the Manhattan office, whichever is more convenient.
Contact: (718) 802-1600 | 26 Court St., Suite 2511, Brooklyn, NY 11242
#5. Gregory Spektor & Associates
Why They Made Our List: Gregory Spektor & Associates, P.C. completes the rankings with a deep attorney roster and a stated total of more than $500 million recovered for clients.
Firm Overview
The firm describes decades of experience and states, “You only pay us if you win a slip-and-fall case or receive a settlement.” Its Brooklyn slip and fall page lists an office at 1 Cross Island Plaza in Queens and gives no Brooklyn address. No individual case results appear on that page.
Lead Attorney / Team
Gregory Spektor leads a team whose roster includes Mikhail Ilyaich, Matthew Sullivan, David L. Henderson, Sol Z. Sokel, and Michael Szechter, among others. A bench that large can divide the work when a sidewalk claim requires deed records, contractor permits, and City inspection files all at once.
Service Approach
A toll-free number and a free consultation make the first call simple, and a Spanish-language page is available. Because the listed office is in Queens, Brooklyn residents who want an in-person meeting or a site visit should ask how the firm arranges them.
Contact: 1 (800) 318-8888 | 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 203C, Queens, NY 11422
Understanding Brooklyn Slip and Fall Cases
Summer trip claims rarely involve anything slippery. The hazard is fixed in place: a lifted edge, a hole, a broken lip of concrete. Two questions matter from the first day. Who was responsible for that exact piece of ground, and was the defect large enough, or dangerous enough, for the law to recognize it?
Raised and Cracked Sidewalk Flags
Ditmas Park’s Victorian blocks, from Marlborough Road to Rugby Road, are paved with old flags that settle and split unevenly. A half-inch lip may look minor, but in Trincere v. County of Suffolk (1997) the Court of Appeals rejected any “minimal dimension test” and told courts to weigh the “width, depth, elevation, irregularity and appearance of the defect” along with the “time, place and circumstance” of the injury.
Tree-Root Heaved Sidewalks
Around Washington Park in Fort Greene, mature street trees lift entire slabs. Responsibility depends on the building. An apartment house or storefront owner generally carries the §7-210 duty, while an owner-occupied one-, two-, or three-family home is exempt, and NYC Parks repairs qualifying root damage at such homes through its Trees & Sidewalks program on a priority basis.
Tree Pits
Tree wells on Windsor Terrace blocks off Prospect Avenue often have sunken soil, missing guards, or broken edging. In Vucetovic v. Epsom Downs, Inc. (2008), the Court of Appeals held that a tree well is not part of the “sidewalk” under §7-210, so a fall into one usually points away from the abutting owner unless that owner created the condition or made special use of the area.
Broken Curbs
The definition of sidewalk in NYC Administrative Code §19-101(d) leaves out the curb. A shattered curb at a Dyker Heights corner near 11th Avenue is therefore often a claim against the City, with its prior written notice rule and 90-day deadline. Dyker Heights also has many owner-occupied one- to three-family homes, where the exemption can shift even the flag back to the City.
Measure Before It Changes
Hutchinson v. Sheridan Hill House Corp. (2015) confirmed that a small defect can be actionable when its surroundings “magnify the dangers it poses.” In the companion Adler case, the owners’ photographs were inconclusive because they came without dimensions, and in another, involving a chipped step in a Brooklyn lobby, the Court sent triviality to trial. Photograph the defect with a ruler against the edge, from several angles, and note the lighting.
Who Can Be Held Liable
- Owners of commercial and multifamily buildings abutting the sidewalk, under NYC Administrative Code §7-210
- The City of New York, for curbs, tree wells, and sidewalks beside owner-occupied one-, two-, and three-family homes
- Contractors and utility companies that dug up or patched pavement and left it uneven
- Owners who made special use of part of the sidewalk, such as a cellar door or driveway
Critical NYC Requirements
- Statute of limitations: Suits against private owners generally must be filed within three years under NY CPLR §214(5)
- Notice of claim: Claims against the City require a notice of claim within 90 days under NY General Municipal Law §50-e, and suit within one year and ninety days under §50-i
- Prior written notice: NYC Administrative Code §7-201(c)(2) generally bars sidewalk defect suits against the City unless written notice was given in advance, subject to limited exceptions
- Owner exemption: §7-210 does not apply to one-, two-, or three-family homes that are owner occupied in whole or in part and used exclusively as residences
- No size threshold: Under Trincere and Hutchinson, no minimum height makes a defect actionable; courts weigh all the facts and circumstances
How We Chose June’s Best Brooklyn Slip and Fall Lawyers
We reviewed each firm using the information it publishes and gave no credit for claims we could not find on its own website. This month, every criterion was read through the lens of outdoor trip hazards: raised flags, heaved slabs, tree pits, and broken curbs.
Case Results and Recovery Amounts: Published outcomes remain the most concrete evidence of skill. We gave the most weight to trip and fall results on sidewalks, streets, and stairs, and we did not attach dollar figures to any firm that publishes none.
Client Satisfaction: A strong rating spread across many reviewers says more about responsiveness than any advertisement. Reviews from people who went through a trip and fall claim carried extra weight this month.
Legal Experience and Expertise: Sidewalk cases reward lawyers who know how courts have applied Trincere, Hutchinson, and the §7-210 exemption. Years in premises work suggest a team has seen the trivial defect defense many times and knows how to answer it.
Trial Readiness: Because triviality is so often a question of fact, an insurer’s offer depends partly on whether the plaintiff’s firm will let a jury decide it. Verdicts and settlements reached at trial signal that willingness.
Brooklyn Community Connection: A lawyer who can walk the block soon after a fall can measure the defect and spot a repair before evidence is lost. We recorded each firm’s actual office location, since some serve Brooklyn from Manhattan or Queens.
Professional Recognition: Peer ratings and honors offer outside confirmation of standing. We checked the year of every award so older recognitions were not presented as current ones.
Accessibility and Communication: Long June evenings mean more walking and more falls after business hours. Phone lines that answer at night and staff who speak a client’s language both counted.
Fee Structure and Transparency: Contingency terms and free consultations let an injured person get advice without spending money set aside for surgery or therapy. Firms that state their terms plainly scored higher than those that leave the question open.
Scope of Services: A single sidewalk fall can involve an owner, a contractor, a utility, and the City. Firms that can pursue every responsible party, and file a timely notice of claim when the City is involved, earned credit here.
Innovation in Practice: Speed protects sidewalk evidence. We favored firms that move quickly to document a defect with measured photographs, check repair permits and City records for prior written notice, and keep clients updated without endless phone tag, because a single repair crew can erase the most important proof in an afternoon.
Moving Forward After a Brooklyn Trip and Fall
A raised flag or a sunken tree pit can turn a summer walk into months of recovery. Whether you went down on a Ditmas Park side street, beside a Fort Greene brownstone, or at a Windsor Terrace corner, start with medical care. Then go back, or send someone, to photograph the exact spot with a ruler or tape measure against the defect, from close up and from a distance, before anyone patches it. Note the address, the time of day, and the nearest building.
Next, talk with an attorney soon. Figuring out whether a private owner or the City is responsible takes time, and a claim against the City requires notice within 90 days. Most firms on this list offer a free consultation, so you can learn where you stand and compare options before deciding anything.
About Our Rankings: SoulShare Media’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@soulsharemedia.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.
