Public service providers, such as Police Officers and Firefighters and their families who have been seriously or fatally injured have special rights of recovery under New York's Police Officer and Firefighter Laws. These laws were specifically enacted to provide a right of recovery to public servants in these fields.

Schlemmer & Maniatis, LLP is dedicated to securing of full and just compensation for our clients. Accidents, serious injuries, and the loss of loved ones happen unexpectedly; and while no amount of money can ever replace what has been lost by an injury or death, the significant results obtained by the lawyers of Schlemmer & Maniatis, LLP have provided assistance to our clients in dealing with their loss by providing the means for securing necessary medical treatments, and for rebuilding and easing the lives of our clients and their families.

New York's Police Officer Law

New York's Police Officer Law protects police officers who are injured in the line of duty as a direct or even an indirect result of a violation of law by other persons or corporations. This law was specifically enacted for the benefit of police officers who may become injured in the line of duty, for example, as a result of a building code violation, a violation of traffic laws, or violations of other regulations.

This law applies to any injury sustained by a Police Officer while performing any police officer duty at any time or place, as a result of a violation of the law, and requires the responsible party to pay the injured police officer compensatory damages for their injuries.

The language of New York's Police Officer Law (General Municipal Law § 205-e) specifically states:

General Municipal Law § 205-e. Additional Right of Action of Certain Injured or Representatives of Certain Deceased Police Officers

1. In addition to any other right of action or recovery under any other provision of law, in the event any accident, causing injury, death or a disease which results in death, occurs directly or indirectly as a result of any neglect, omission, willful or culpable negligence of any person or persons in failing to comply with the requirements of any of the statutes, ordinances, rules, orders and requirements of the federal, state, county, village, town or city governments or of any and all their departments, divisions and bureaus, the person or persons guilty of said neglect, omission, willful or culpable negligence at the time of such injury or death shall be liable to pay any officer, member, agent or employee of any police department injured, or whose life may be lost while in the discharge or performance at any time or place of any duty imposed by the police commissioner, police chief or other superior officer of the police department, or to pay to the wife and children, or to pay to the parents, or to pay to the brothers and sisters, being the surviving heirs-at-law of any deceased person thus having lost his life, a sum of money, in case of injury to person, not less than one thousand dollars, and in such case of death not less than five thousand dollars, such liability to be determined and such sums recovered in an action to be instituted by any person injured or the family or relatives of any person killed as aforesaid. (Emphasis added)