Key Takeaways
- Leav & Steinberg is a New York personal injury law firm that won a serious injury threshold appeal for a car accident passenger in the Appellate Division on October 22, 2026.
- The court let our client’s serious injury claims move forward, even though the defense said her injuries were old and degenerative.
- The defense orthopedic surgeon’s report fell short because it never compared our client’s range of motion to normal function.
- As a passenger, our client was cleared of any fault, and the driver of her car was found negligent as a matter of law.
After a car accident, insurance defense lawyers often argue that a person’s injuries are old and have nothing to do with the crash. Our Leav & Steinberg team of Ricardo Martinez and Daniela Henriques just beat that argument in a unanimous decision.
On October 22, 2026, our team won an appeal in New York’s Appellate Division. The trial judge had refused to dismiss our client’s claims under New York’s serious injury threshold and had granted summary judgment on liability against the driver of the car she was riding in. The appeal kept both rulings in place for our client.
If you’ve been injured in New York, you deserve a team that knows how to take on the playbook of large insurance companies. Read on to see how we moved our client’s case forward, and contact us to find out how we can do the same for yours.
Background: A Rear-Seat Passenger Hurt in a Brooklyn Crash
On September 29, 2020, our client was a rear-seat passenger in a car traveling through the intersection of Stanley and Atkins Avenues in Brooklyn. The driver of her car faced a stop sign. Another driver at the intersection had no stop sign or traffic light. Instead of yielding the right of way, the driver of our client’s car went, and the two vehicles collided. Our client reported injuries to her shoulder, lower back, and right knee.
Both drivers asked the Bronx County Supreme Court to dismiss the case, arguing that she had not suffered a serious injury. In its December 2024 decision (1), the court allowed two of her serious injury claims to proceed and granted summary judgment on liability against the driver of her car. The court also dismissed the claims against the other driver. Leav & Steinberg partner Ricardo J. Martinez handled the motion. The driver of her car appealed, and Leav & Steinberg partner Daniela F. Henriques wrote our winning appellate brief.
The Serious Injury Threshold and Other Laws That Applied
The serious injury threshold is the part of New York law that decides which car accident injuries can support a lawsuit for pain and suffering.
Serious injury threshold: Under Insurance Law § 5102(d) (2), a person hurt in a car accident generally must show a “serious injury” to recover for pain and suffering. This appeal involved two categories: a permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member, and a significant limitation of use of a body function or system.
Stop signs and right of way: Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1142(a) (3) requires a driver to stop at a stop sign, then yield to any vehicle in the intersection or close enough to be an immediate hazard.
This lawsuit was filed years before New York’s 2026 auto insurance reforms, which apply to lawsuits commenced on or after May 26, 2026. To see how those reforms changed the threshold, read our guide to New York’s 2026 car accident law changes.
What the Appellate Division Decided
The court ruled in our client’s favor. It found that her serious injury claims can go forward, so we can keep pursuing compensation for her injuries.
The defense doctor’s report fell short. The court found that the defense orthopedic surgeon failed to compare the degree of our client’s injury against the normal function of the body part, as required by Toure v. Avis Rent A Car Systems.
Our client answered the “degenerative” defense. A defense radiologist blamed her injuries on chronic or degenerative conditions. Our client’s doctor examined her, reviewed her records from this crash and a 2006 crash, and compared MRIs of her lower back and right knee taken after each one. He found new conditions and the worsening of existing ones, and noted that she had been symptom-free and out of treatment for the earlier crash since 2008. The court held that this created a question of fact on causation.
Our client bears no fault. As a passenger, she could not have been at fault under any version of events.
The driver of her car was negligent as a matter of law. He either ran the stop sign or entered the intersection without yielding when it was unsafe to do so. Either way, the court held that he was negligent.
The case against the other driver was reinstated. The liability ruling does not decide whether the other driver may also be at fault, for example, by speeding. The court held that the complaint against him should not have been dismissed.
What This Means for Our Client
This decision is not a final recovery, but it is a big step forward for our client. The driver of the car she was riding in has been found negligent, she has been cleared of any fault, and the defense failed to end her serious injury claims before trial.
The lesson for injured New Yorkers: a prior accident or a “degenerative” label does not automatically end your case. With careful medical proof and a thorough comparison of your old and new records, your attorney can show how the crash actually affected you. We have seen this defense before. In an earlier case, our attorneys defeated a motion on the serious injury threshold for another injured passenger.
How Leav & Steinberg Can Help After a New York Car Accident
Winning a car accident case like this takes attorneys who understand New York’s serious injury threshold, know how to work with medical experts, and are also willing to fight to get clients the settlement they deserve. Our team of attorneys does exactly that, and has won appeals like this in New York courts for more than 25 years. Our car accident lawyers represent injured New Yorkers who are pursuing compensation after a crash.
If you or a loved one has been hurt in a car accident, contact Leav & Steinberg for a free consultation, or call 917-983-7818 to speak with an attorney who can explain your path to recovery.
Resources:
- Williams v Dia, 2024 NY Slip Op 51662(U) (Supreme Court, Bronx County): https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2024/2024_51662.htm
- New York State Senate, Insurance Law § 5102: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ISC/5102
- New York State Senate, Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1142: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/VAT/1142