Kristen RidleyWhy Choosing the Right Premises Liability Lawyer Matters
School lets out, the weather breaks, and Brooklyn goes shopping and out to eat. On a busy June afternoon at a shopping center in Mill Basin, an escalator lurches to a stop and a father carrying his toddler falls forward onto the metal steps. In Gowanus, a customer reaches for a box in a home goods store and a carton of tile slides off an overstocked top shelf onto her shoulder. That evening in Dumbo, a hotel guest steps through an automatic entrance door that closes on her mid-stride, and a few miles south in Brighton Beach a diner slips on grease tracked out of a restaurant kitchen. These are commercial premises liability claims, and a Brooklyn premises liability lawyer who knows how businesses and their landlords defend them can change how each one ends.
Escalator injuries are more common than most shoppers assume. A study published in the journal Pediatrics, drawing on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, estimated that about 26,000 children and teenagers were treated in U.S. emergency departments for escalator-related injuries from 1990 through 2002, roughly 2,000 a year. Falls caused more than half of those injuries, and entrapment caused another 29 percent.
Businesses do not wait long to protect themselves. A store, restaurant chain, or hotel group usually has a claims department and a liability carrier on call, and the first move is often to pull the incident report, keep the surveillance video in-house, and suggest that the customer simply was not watching. When the business leases its space, the tenant and the property owner may each point at the other, and the injured person ends up caught between two insurers.
The right attorney can make the difference between:
- Security footage that is quietly overwritten and footage preserved by a timely demand letter
- A store blaming the shopper and stocking records showing the shelf was loaded past its limit
- A tenant and landlord trading blame and a lease review that shows who controlled the area
- A garage owner calling an assault random and a history of prior incidents that made it foreseeable
New York does not make businesses insurers of their customers’ safety. An injured visitor generally must show that the business created the hazard or had actual or constructive notice of it, and leased property adds the separate question of whether the owner kept enough control to share responsibility. Escalators and automatic doors bring maintenance contractors into the picture as well. The firms below were ranked on verified results, experience, and their handling of these commercial claims.
June 2026 Rankings
| Rank | Law Firm | Lead Attorney | Client Satisfaction | Notable Settlements | Years Experience | Specialization Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kucher Law Group | Samantha Kucher, Esq. | 99% | $650,000 Restaurant Patron Slip and Fall | 15+ | Premises Liability & Personal Injury |
| 2 | Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel | Jay S. Knispel | 97% | $730,000 (Curled Mat at Car Dealership) | 25+ | Premises Liability & Personal Injury |
| 3 | Jacoby & Meyers, LLP | Andrew Finkelstein | 95% | Multi-Million Recoveries | Nearly 50 | Premises Liability & Personal Injury |
| 4 | Rosenbaum Meier Personal Injury Lawyers | Firm Legal Team | 94% | Recovered Millions | 40+ (Combined) | Premises Liability & Personal Injury |
| 5 | Cellino Law | Ross Cellino | 93% | Not Publicly Itemized | Not Stated | Premises Liability & Personal Injury |
#1 Kucher Law Group
Why They’re #1: A commercial injury claim usually starts with a business that has already written its own version of events. Brooklyn premises liability representation from Kucher Law Group begins by testing that version against the footage, the inspection logs, and the lease. The firm’s record includes a $650,000 recovery for a restaurant patron who slipped and fell, a result that speaks directly to the dining rooms, storefronts, and hotel lobbies at the center of this month’s ranking.
Firm Overview
RRK Kucher Law Group PLLC opened its doors on December 10, 2019. Today a staff of 10 to 19 serves clients from a Bedford-Stuyvesant office at 463 Pulaski St and a Lower Manhattan office at 26 Broadway. The firm self-reports more than $50 million recovered, over $20 million in settlements, and a 99% success rate, and its 81 Google reviews average 4.99 out of 5. All cases are handled on contingency.
Notable Case Results
- $650,000 : Slip and fall by a restaurant patron
- $650,000 : Fall down building stairs that broke a client’s ankle
- $3,500,000 : Trip and fall on subway stairs, settled at trial
- $1,800,000 : Sidewalk trip and fall that required surgery
- $525,000 : Jury verdict for a slip and fall on an icy sidewalk
Legal Team Excellence
Samantha Kucher founded the firm and directs its premises liability work. She was admitted to the New York bar in 2015 after completing her undergraduate studies at NYU and her law degree at New York Law School. Attorney Kucher was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2020, has been recognized among the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, and received NAOPIA honors in 2024 and 2025. Raised at the Milton Hershey School, she now counsels injured clients in English, Russian, and Spanish, which matters in neighborhoods where a restaurant worker or shopper may be more comfortable explaining an accident in a first language.
Commercial claims tend to involve more than one defendant, and Attorney Kucher divides that work with two partners. Michael Roitman, the primary trial attorney, is admitted in New York and New Jersey and in the SDNY and EDNY, and was named to the Top 50 PI Settlements New York list for 2023. Alex Rybakov, admitted in 2010, has spent more than a decade practicing personal injury law exclusively.
What Sets Them Apart
- 24/7 Availability: The firm takes calls around the clock, so a preservation demand for store or garage video can go out before the recording cycle erases it.
- No Upfront Fees / Contingency Only: Clients owe no fee unless compensation is recovered.
- Brooklyn Knowledge: The attorneys know the borough’s commercial corridors, from Dumbo’s waterfront hotels and Gowanus big-box stores to Mill Basin retail and the restaurants of Brighton Beach.
- Personalized Service: Each client deals directly with the attorneys on the case and gets straight answers about progress.
- Lease and Control Analysis: When a business rents its space, the team reviews the lease to identify whether the tenant, the owner, or a contractor was responsible for the hazard.
Client Testimonials
One client turned to the firm after being hurt in a neighborhood store:
“After my accident in a local store, I never thought I’d need a slip and fall lawyer. But I’m so glad I found them. They were always available to answer my questions, and they provided more than just legal help. Their supportive and understanding attitude, along with their expertise, made a tough time much easier.” Marky Cielo, Google Review
“I had a slip and fall accident and they handled my case with utmost care and professionalism. Their attention to detail and empathy made a difficult time much easier. They secured a fair settlement that helped me recover without financial stress.” Moses Walker, Google Review
Why Choose Kucher Law Group
Businesses defend injury claims with trained adjusters and prepared paperwork, and an injured customer deserves the same level of preparation. Kucher Law Group brings trial experience, close attention to leases and maintenance contracts, and contingency-only fees to claims against stores, restaurants, hotels, gyms, and garages. A free consultation will identify who controlled the property, what evidence to demand, and how long you have to act.
Contact: (929) 563-6780 | 463 Pulaski St #1C, Brooklyn, NY 11221
#2 Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel
Why They Made Our List: One of the results on the Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel’s Brooklyn premises liability page comes straight from a commercial floor: a $730,000 recovery for a person who tripped on a curled mat at a car dealership. Entrance mats, display areas, and showroom walkways are exactly the kind of business hazards this month’s ranking examines, and the firm publishes the figures openly.
Firm Overview
Jay S. Knispel founded the firm, which practices from a Court Street office near the borough’s main courthouses. According to its website, the firm has about 25 years of experience and has recovered tens of millions of dollars for injured clients. A “Hablamos Español” message tells Spanish-speaking visitors they can work with the firm in Spanish, a practical point for customers and employees of Brooklyn businesses who prefer to discuss an injury in that language.
Notable Achievements / Case Results
- $730,000 : Trip on a curled mat at a car dealership
- $800,000 : Verdict for a child injured in an apartment bathroom
- $750,000 : Fall in the street
- $650,000 : Slip on snow and ice
- $600,000 : Trip and fall on a broken pathway
- $550,000 : Sidewalk trip and fall
Lead Attorney / Team
Attorney Knispel leads the practice and has been selected to Super Lawyers for 2023 through 2026. The firm also lists the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating, and recognition from New York Top Verdicts & Settlements.
Service Approach
The firm offers free consultations and states that clients owe nothing unless compensation is recovered. Its itemized results give a reader something concrete to compare, including a commercial floor case alongside residential and outdoor recoveries. For someone hurt on a loose mat or a slick showroom floor, that dealership result is a useful reference point, though no past outcome predicts what a future case will bring. The page is a practical starting point for anyone weighing options after an injury inside a business.
Contact: (718) 802-1600 | 26 Court St., Suite 2511, Brooklyn, NY 11242
#3 Jacoby & Meyers, LLP
Why They Made Our List: Jacoby & Meyers, LLP reports nearly five decades of representing Brooklyn residents and workers, and its two offices inside the borough, on Kings Highway and on Third Avenue, put an attorney within reach of shoppers and diners across southern Brooklyn.
Firm Overview
Jacoby & Meyers is a long-standing personal injury firm, and its Brooklyn premises liability page addresses people hurt by unsafe conditions on property they do not control. Premises claims sit within a broader injury practice, and the page directs readers to a separate collection of case results. For an injured customer in Brighton Beach or Mill Basin, the Kings Highway office is a shorter trip than the courthouse district.
Notable Achievements / Case Results
The Brooklyn premises page displays recognition from Top 100 National Trial Lawyers and the Multi Million Dollar Advocates Forum. The page itself does not list individual settlement or verdict amounts, so none are cited here.
Lead Attorney / Team
Andrew Finkelstein is the attorney named on the firm’s Brooklyn premises liability page. The site is offered in English with a link to a Spanish-language version.
Service Approach
New clients receive a free initial consultation, and the firm works on contingency, so nothing is paid up front. It also states that no recovery can be guaranteed. A first meeting is a good time to ask how the firm would identify a store’s corporate owner, its landlord, and its insurer, since commercial claims often involve more than one company.
Contact: (929) 419-5860 | 1711 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY 11229
#4 Rosenbaum Meier Personal Injury Lawyers
Why They Made Our List: Negligent security and parking lot accidents both appear by name on Rosenbaum Meier’s Brooklyn premises liability page, two of the commercial claim types this month’s ranking covers, and the firm holds a 4.8 Google rating from 265 reviews.
Firm Overview
Rosenbaum Meier Personal Injury Lawyers, identified in its site footer as Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C., has a Brooklyn office on Court Street and also serves Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. The firm cites more than 40 years of combined experience with New York premises liability law and says it has recovered millions for clients.
Notable Achievements / Case Results
The page does not itemize dollar results. It lists slip and falls, elevator accidents, subway accidents, and building code violations among its case types and displays a Super Lawyers logo without naming an honoree.
Lead Attorney / Team
The page refers to “our legal team” and does not name individual attorneys.
Service Approach
The firm offers a free consultation and case evaluation, and its website is available in Spanish. Someone assaulted in a poorly secured lot can confirm before calling that the firm lists that kind of claim.
Contact: (718) 550-3601 | 32 Court Street, Suite 704, Brooklyn, NY 11201
#5 Cellino Law
Why They Made Our List: Cellino Law keeps a Brooklyn office on Fulton Street, and its premises liability page lists hotel injuries and security negligence among the claims it handles, both directly relevant to commercial properties.
Firm Overview
Cellino Law is a personal injury firm whose Brooklyn premises page also covers slip and fall, stair, elevator, and ceiling or roof collapse injuries. Clients can meet with its team at 1409 Fulton Street, and the page presents premises liability as a category spanning many property types, from hotels to multi-family buildings.
Notable Achievements / Case Results
The page does not itemize recoveries, awards, or years in practice, so none are stated here.
Lead Attorney / Team
Ross Cellino and Timothy Cellino are the attorneys listed on the page.
Service Approach
The page explains that claims involving government property generally require a notice of claim, often within 90 days. That point matters for anyone hurt in a publicly owned garage or facility, where the deadline arrives quickly and a late filing can end the claim before it starts.
Contact: (347) 756-4245 | 1409 Fulton Street, Suite 101, Brooklyn, NY 11216
Understanding Brooklyn Premises Liability Cases
A business that opens its doors to the public owes its customers reasonable care. That duty covers the shelves, floors, escalators, doors, and parking areas a visitor uses, and it can be shared among the tenant running the business, the owner of the building, and the contractors hired to maintain its equipment. Sorting out who controlled the spot where the injury happened is often the first and most contested question in a commercial case, and the answer usually sits in a lease, a maintenance contract, or a property management agreement.
Common Causes
Falling Merchandise. Overloaded shelves, unsecured displays, and boxes stacked above head height injure shoppers in the large home goods and grocery stores along Third Avenue in Gowanus. Stocking practices, shelf weight limits, and employee training records often show whether a store created the danger itself, which removes the need to prove notice.
Escalators and Automatic Doors. Sudden stops, entrapment at the step edge, and sliding doors with failed sensors cause serious injuries in shopping centers like those in Mill Basin. Inspection reports and service tickets can show whether a defect had been flagged, and the escalator or door maintenance contractor may share liability with the property owner.
Restaurant Floors. Grease, spilled drinks, and mopped floors without warning signs bring down diners in the busy restaurants along Brighton Beach Avenue. Kitchen traffic and cleaning schedules help establish how long a hazard sat before someone fell.
Hotels and Gyms. Wet lobby tile, loose carpeting, broken bathroom fixtures, and poorly maintained fitness equipment injure guests in Dumbo hotels and members of neighborhood gyms. Operators are expected to inspect what they invite people to use.
Negligent Security in Parking Garages. Dark stairwells, broken gates, and unmonitored levels can expose drivers to assault in garages serving Dumbo and other commercial areas. Under Jacqueline S. v. City of New York (1993), the Court of Appeals held that prior crimes need not have occurred at the exact spot or be of the same type to make an attack foreseeable. Foreseeability depends on the location, nature, and extent of earlier criminal activity.
Who Can Be Held Liable
- Store, restaurant, hotel, and gym operators
- Shopping center and building owners
- Out-of-possession landlords, in limited circumstances
- Escalator, elevator, and automatic door maintenance contractors
- Garage operators and private security vendors
Critical NYC Requirements
- Notice: Under Gordon v. American Museum of Natural History (1986), constructive notice requires a defect that was visible and apparent long enough for employees to discover and fix it.
- Out-of-Possession Landlord Rule: An owner that has given up possession generally is not liable unless it kept control or agreed to repair. Under Guzman v. Haven Plaza Housing Development Fund Co. (1987), a reserved right to reenter can create liability for a significant structural or design defect that violates a specific statute.
- Comparative Fault: Under CPLR §1411, a customer’s own carelessness reduces damages but does not bar recovery.
- Statute of Limitations: Most claims against private businesses must be filed within three years under CPLR §214.
- 90-Day Notice of Claim: Claims involving public entities usually require notice within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e.
Selection Criteria
Case Results and Recovery Amounts. Itemized outcomes were weighed above general claims of large recoveries. Results tied to restaurants, retail floors, and other commercial settings counted most, since they come closest to the injuries this ranking covers. A firm that has recovered for a restaurant patron or a shopper understands how businesses document and defend those falls.
Client Satisfaction. Google ratings and written reviews were read for consistent patterns. Comments about responsiveness, clear explanations, and respectful treatment carried weight, particularly from clients whose claims arose inside a business. Isolated praise counted for less than steady themes across many reviews.
Legal Experience and Expertise. We reviewed bar admission dates and how much of each firm’s practice centers on personal injury. Commercial claims raise lease, contractor, and notice questions that experienced attorneys tend to recognize early, often before the first demand letter goes out.
Trial Readiness. Corporate defendants and their carriers settle differently when a jury is a realistic possibility. Verdicts and settlements reached at trial were treated as evidence that a firm will go to court when an offer falls short.
Brooklyn Community Connection. A borough office and familiarity with its commercial corridors help an attorney visit a scene quickly. Knowing which shopping centers, hotels, and garages are owned by one company and operated by another speeds up the search for defendants.
Professional Recognition. Honors from Super Lawyers, the National Trial Lawyers, and similar groups were weighed with their dates. A recent selection counted for more than an older one, and no past honor was described as current.
Accessibility and Communication. Commercial surveillance systems often record over themselves within days. Firms that respond quickly and send preservation demands early earned credit, because that footage can decide a case. Clear updates on what the client should save and when deadlines fall mattered too.
Fee Structure and Transparency. Contingency fees with no upfront cost let an injured customer take on a well-insured business without financial risk. Plainly stated fee terms and free consultations counted in a firm’s favor.
Scope of Services. One incident can involve a tenant business, a building owner, an equipment contractor, and a security vendor. We credited firms whose sites describe claims across retail, hospitality, security, and equipment failures.
Innovation in Practice. Bilingual intake, around-the-clock availability, and plain online explanations of notice and lease issues help injured customers reach counsel sooner. These features were credited only when a firm describes them on its own website, and nothing we could not confirm was rewarded.
Moving Forward
If you were hurt in a store, restaurant, hotel, gym, or garage, act before the business finishes its own investigation. Ask that an incident report be prepared, photograph the hazard, note any cameras, collect witness names, and get medical care. Then speak with a premises liability attorney before giving a recorded statement to the company’s insurer. If the business leases its space, the building owner may share responsibility in some cases.
Whether you were injured on a Mill Basin escalator, in a Brighton Beach restaurant, or at a Dumbo hotel, a free consultation can identify who controlled the property and which deadlines apply. Each firm in this ranking offers a way to start that conversation. Compare their results, experience, and communication, then choose the team you trust to stand up to a business and its insurer.
About Our Rankings: News Tension’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@newstension.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.
Kristen Ridley
