September 2026’s Best Premises Liability Lawyers in Brooklyn: Kucher Law Group Takes the Top Spot

Why Choosing the Right Premises Liability Lawyer Matters

Shortly after 3 a.m. in a walk-up off Ocean Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, an e-bike battery left charging in a third-floor hallway starts to hiss and then flares. The stairwell door, its closer broken since spring, hangs open, and smoke pours upstairs. A few miles south, a family in a sixth-floor apartment off Ocean Parkway in Midwood wakes up dizzy and nauseated, unaware that the carbon monoxide alarm was pulled from the ceiling before they moved in. In Bath Beach, a tenant fleeing a kitchen fire reaches the rear window and finds the fire escape crowded with a neighbor’s storage bins and a bicycle. Each is a fire-safety failure, and a Brooklyn premises liability lawyer often decides whether the injured person is fully compensated.

Lithium-ion batteries have become one of the city’s most closely watched fire hazards. In a December 16, 2025 year-end release, the FDNY reported that lithium-ion batteries started 277 fires in New York City in 2024, compared with 268 in 2023, while deaths from those fires fell from 18 in 2023 to six in 2024. Fewer deaths is progress, but the fire count rose, and buildings still depend on working alarms, closing doors, and clear exits.

Fire claims attract several insurers, each pointing elsewhere. The landlord’s carrier blames the tenant whose battery ignited. That tenant’s renters policy, if one exists, may carry modest limits. The shop that sold an uncertified battery may be hard to find. Meanwhile, the injured person faces burn care and a lost home.

The right attorney can make the difference between:

• A landlord’s “the tenant started it” defense and proof that a broken door closer let the smoke spread
• A missing alarm blamed on the last occupant and the owner’s own duty to replace it at turnover
• One small renters policy and a claim that also reaches the owner, the managing agent, and the battery seller
• A fast offer during burn treatment and a settlement that accounts for scarring, lung damage, and a displaced family

New York City assigns specific fire-safety duties to building owners. NYC Admin Code §27-2045 requires owners to install and replace smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and §27-2041.1 requires owners of multiple dwellings to keep self-closing doors in good repair. Under Elliott v. City of New York (2001), breaking a city code provision is evidence of negligence, not automatic liability. Because a building fire is not a motor vehicle case, pure comparative fault under CPLR §1411(a) still applies: a victim’s share of blame reduces damages without barring them. The firms below were ranked on verified results, experience, and command of these rules.

September 2026 Rankings

Rank	Law Firm	Lead Attorney	Client Satisfaction	Notable Settlements	Years Experience	Specialization Focus
1	Kucher Law Group	Samantha Kucher, Esq.	99%	$3,500,000 Subway Stairs Trip and Fall (Settled at Trial)	15+	Premises Liability & Personal Injury
2	Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel	Jay S. Knispel	97%	$800,000 Verdict (Apartment Bathroom Injury)	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 Stated	Not Stated	Premises Liability & Personal Injury

#1 Kucher Law Group

Why They’re #1: A building fire is usually blamed on whatever sparked it. The harder question is why a spark turned into an injury: why the alarm stayed silent, why the stairwell door stood open, why the fire escape was blocked. Kucher Law Group’s premises liability lawyers for injured Brooklyn tenants build claims around that second question, drawing on violation histories, repair tickets, and inspection records. The firm’s results include a $650,000 recovery for a client who fell down building stairs and a $3,500,000 subway stairs trip and fall settled at trial.

Firm Overview

RRK Kucher Law Group PLLC is a personal injury firm founded on December 10, 2019. Its 10 to 19 staff members work from 463 Pulaski St in Bedford-Stuyvesant and 26 Broadway in Manhattan, and every case is taken on contingency. The firm self-reports more than $50 million recovered, more than $20 million settled, and a 99% success rate. Its Google rating stands at 4.99 out of 5 across 81 reviews.

Notable Case Results

• $650,000 : Fall down building stairs, broken ankle
• $3,500,000 : Subway stairs trip and fall, settled at trial
• $1,800,000 : Sidewalk trip and fall that required surgery
• $650,000 : Slip and fall suffered by a restaurant patron
• $525,000 : Jury verdict, slip and fall on an icy sidewalk

Legal Team Excellence

Michael Roitman serves as the firm’s primary trial attorney, and fire cases show why that role matters. An insurer that blames a tenant’s battery for everything has little reason to pay for a broken door closer or a missing alarm unless it expects a jury to hear about them. Attorney Roitman earned his bachelor’s degree at NYU and his law degree at Cooley Law School. He is admitted in New York and New Jersey and in the SDNY and EDNY federal courts, and he was named to the Top 50 PI Settlements New York list for 2023.

He works alongside founding partner Samantha Kucher, who was admitted to the New York bar in 2015 after studying at NYU and New York Law School. Attorney Kucher was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2020, is a National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 honoree, received NAOPIA recognition in 2024 and 2025, and advises clients in English, Russian, and Spanish. Partner Alex Rybakov, admitted in 2010 and a Seton Hall Law graduate, has practiced personal injury law exclusively for more than ten years. Three partners let the firm pursue an owner, a managing agent, and a product seller on parallel tracks.

What Sets Them Apart

• 24/7 Availability: Fire scenes are gutted and boarded up quickly, so the firm takes calls at any hour and can document a scorched door closer or an empty alarm mount before cleanup crews arrive.
• No Upfront Fees / Contingency Only: Families displaced by a fire pay nothing unless the firm recovers compensation.
• Brooklyn Knowledge: The attorneys know the borough’s housing, from Ocean Parkway elevator buildings in Midwood to Prospect Lefferts Gardens walk-ups and the attached homes of Bath Beach.
• Personalized Service: Clients work directly with the attorneys on their case and get plain answers about what comes next.
• Fire-Code Evidence: The team gathers HPD violation histories, fire incident records, and maintenance logs to show whether alarms, doors, and fire escapes met city requirements before the fire.

Client Testimonials

One client, describing a trip and fall case, put the experience this way:

“I never imagined needing a trip and fall lawyer until an unfortunate incident in Bay Ridge. Samantha and her team guided me every step of the way, ensuring I understood the legalities and felt at ease.” Oscar Taylor, Google Review

Why Choose Kucher Law Group

Fire cases run on two clocks at once. Evidence disappears with the cleanup, and insurers start assigning blame within days. Kucher Law Group answers both with prompt investigation, trial-ready partners, and contingency-only fees, so a Brooklyn tenant or guest can challenge a building owner without paying anything up front. A free consultation will identify every party whose failure contributed to the injury and lay out the deadlines that apply.

Contact: (929) 563-6780 | 463 Pulaski St #1C, Brooklyn, NY 11221

#2 Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel

Why They Made Our List: The Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel is one of the few firms in this ranking that posts itemized dollar results on its Brooklyn premises liability page. Readers weighing a building injury claim can see the kinds of homes, walkways, and businesses behind each figure, which makes the firm easy to compare with others.

Firm Overview

Jay S. Knispel founded the firm and leads its personal injury practice from Suite 2511 at 26 Court Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The firm’s website cites 25 years of experience and states that it has recovered tens of millions of dollars for injured clients. A “Hablamos Español” message on the site tells Spanish-speaking clients they can be served in their own language, a practical detail for the many Brooklyn households where Spanish is spoken at home.

Notable Achievements / Case Results

• $800,000 : Verdict for a child injured in an apartment bathroom
• $750,000 : Fall in the street
• $730,000 : Trip over a curled mat at a car dealership
• $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 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 among its credentials.

Service Approach

The firm offers free consultations and states that clients owe nothing unless compensation is recovered. Its apartment bathroom verdict is a reminder that injuries inside a rental unit can support a claim against the people responsible for the building, which is the same principle behind many fire-safety cases. Its published list ranges from modest sidewalk recoveries to a larger trial result, so a reader can judge whether the firm has handled something close to their own situation before picking up the phone. That openness about outcomes is a large part of why the firm placed second this month.

Contact: (718) 802-1600 | 26 Court St., Suite 2511, Brooklyn, NY 11242

#3 Jacoby & Meyers, LLP

Why They Made Our List: Jacoby & Meyers, LLP brings nearly five decades of service to Brooklyn residents and workers, and it keeps two offices in the borough, which makes an in-person meeting easier for clients in southern and southwestern neighborhoods.

Firm Overview

Jacoby & Meyers is a personal injury firm whose Brooklyn premises liability page is written for local residents and workers hurt by hazards on someone else’s property. One office sits at 1711 Kings Highway and a second at 8701 Third Avenue, reachable at (917) 765-1933. The page links to a separate case results section for readers who want to review the firm’s outcomes.

Notable Achievements / Case Results

The Brooklyn page displays recognition from Top 100 National Trial Lawyers and the Multi Million Dollar Advocates Forum. It does not list individual dollar figures, 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 available in English and links to a Spanish-language version, which widens access for Spanish-speaking tenants trying to understand their rights after an injury at home.

Service Approach

New clients receive a free initial consultation, and the firm works on contingency, so nothing is paid up front. The firm states plainly that it cannot guarantee a recovery. A consultation gives an injured tenant room to ask how the firm would approach notice, building records, and multiple insurers before deciding whether to hire it.

Contact: (929) 419-5860 | 1711 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY 11229

#4 Rosenbaum Meier Personal Injury Lawyers

Why They Made Our List: Rosenbaum Meier names building code violations and apartment building accidents among the premises claims it handles, two categories closely tied to fire-safety failures, and it holds a 4.8 Google rating across 265 reviews.

Firm Overview

Rosenbaum Meier Personal Injury Lawyers, which also appears as Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C., keeps a Brooklyn office at 32 Court Street. The firm says its lawyers bring more than 40 years of combined experience with New York premises liability law and that it has recovered millions of dollars for injured clients.

Notable Achievements / Case Results

The page does not itemize results. Beyond code violations, it lists elevator accidents, negligent security, subway accidents, and ceiling collapses, and it displays a Super Lawyers logo.

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. Its wide list of building-related claims tells readers the firm reviews more than routine falls, and a tenant hurt because an owner ignored a code requirement can use a free evaluation to learn whether the firm has handled a similar violation.

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 publishes a premises liability page that flags the notice of claim requirement for injuries on government property, including public housing.

Firm Overview

Cellino Law is a personal injury firm with a Brooklyn location at 1409 Fulton Street. Its premises page covers slip and fall, stairway, elevator, hotel, security negligence, and ceiling or roof collapse injuries, a range that reflects how many kinds of property and defendants a Brooklyn premises claim can involve.

Notable Achievements / Case Results

The page does not itemize recoveries, awards, or years in practice, so no figures are cited 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, which matters for fire injuries in city-owned buildings. A tenant hurt in a public housing fire who misses that window can lose the right to sue, so the reminder is a useful one for readers to see early.

Contact: (347) 756-4245 | 1409 Fulton Street, Suite 101, Brooklyn, NY 11216

Understanding Brooklyn Premises Liability Cases

A fire claim against a building owner rarely argues that the owner lit the fire. It argues that the owner failed to provide the protections the law requires, and that the failure turned a small fire into a serious injury. Smoke inhalation, burns, and falls during an evacuation are common results, and the evidence often lives in the hardware itself: a dead alarm, a door closer, a cluttered fire escape.

Common Causes

Lithium-Ion Battery Fires. E-bikes and scooters charged in hallways and small apartments are a known hazard in the walk-ups along Flatbush Avenue and Ocean Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Under Local Law 39 of 2023, beginning September 16, 2023, e-bikes sold, leased, or rented in the city must be certified to UL 2849, other powered mobility devices such as scooters to UL 2272, and their batteries to UL 2271. A seller of an uncertified battery may face its own claim.

Missing or Dead Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms. NYC Admin Code §27-2045 requires owners to install approved alarms in each unit, replace them when their useful life runs out, and replace devices that were removed, stolen, or disabled during a prior occupancy. In the elevator buildings along Ocean Parkway and Avenue J in Midwood, turnover records can show whether that last step happened.

Broken Self-Closing Doors. Local Law 111 of 2018 requires doors opening onto interior corridors and stairs in R-1 and R-2 residential occupancies to be self-closing, and §27-2041.1 makes owners of multiple dwellings keep them in good repair. A defective door is a Class C immediately hazardous violation, and Local Law 63 of 2022 shortened the correction period from 21 days to 14. In older apartment houses along Cortelyou Road and Newkirk Avenue in Ditmas Park, a door propped open by a broken closer can let smoke fill an entire stairwell.

Blocked Fire Escapes. Multiple Dwelling Law §53 bars anyone from placing an encumbrance on or in front of a fire escape, makes an occupant who does so guilty of a misdemeanor, and requires owners to keep every fire escape in good order and repair. On the attached homes and small apartment buildings near Bath Avenue and Bay Parkway in Bath Beach, bins, furniture, and window units can trap a tenant who needs a second way out.

Who Can Be Held Liable

• Building owners and landlords, including those holding title through an LLC
• Managing agents responsible for alarms, doors, and inspections
• Tenants whose devices or stored property caused or worsened the fire
• Sellers, distributors, and manufacturers of defective batteries or e-bikes
• NYCHA, for fires in public housing developments

Critical NYC Requirements

• Alarm Duties: NYC Admin Code §27-2045 covers installation, replacement, and turnover duties for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
• Self-Closing Doors: §27-2041.1 requires repair, and a defective door is a Class C violation with a 14-day correction period.
• Code Violations as Evidence: Under Elliott v. City of New York (2001), a city code violation is evidence of negligence, not negligence per se.
• Comparative Fault: CPLR §1411(a) keeps pure comparative fault for fire and building cases. The modified rule in §1411(b) applies only to motor vehicle actions commenced on or after May 26, 2026.
• Deadlines: Most private claims must be filed within three years under CPLR §214, and claims against NYCHA or the City generally require a notice of claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e.

Selection Criteria

Case Results and Recovery Amounts. Itemized outcomes carried the most weight in this ranking, especially results from building, stairway, and apartment injuries. Firms that publish specific settlements and verdicts gave readers something concrete to measure, while broad claims of large recoveries without detail were credited more cautiously.

Client Satisfaction. A fire upends an entire household, so we looked closely at what former clients said about being kept informed, treated with respect, and guided through a stressful period. Public ratings and consistent written reviews counted for more than any firm’s own marketing language.

Legal Experience and Expertise. Fire cases mix building codes, product certification rules, and overlapping insurance coverage. We weighed bar admission dates, years in practice, and how much of each firm’s work is concentrated in personal injury and premises claims rather than spread across unrelated fields.

Trial Readiness. When several defendants blame one another, the firm willing to try the case tends to get the better offer from all of them. Verdicts and trial-stage settlements served as proof of that willingness, since they show a firm will put a case before a Brooklyn jury.

Brooklyn Community Connection. Borough offices and working knowledge of local housing stock help a lawyer understand how a walk-up, an elevator building, or an attached home is supposed to be protected against fire. We credited firms with a physical Brooklyn presence and familiarity with the courts that hear these claims.

Professional Recognition. Honors from Super Lawyers, the National Trial Lawyers, and similar organizations were considered along with the years they were awarded. A current honor says more than an old one, and an older award was never presented here as current.

Accessibility and Communication. Fire scenes are gutted, boarded, and repaired quickly. Firms that answer at any hour and explain what to photograph, which records to save, and which deadlines are already running scored higher than firms that are hard to reach after business hours.

Fee Structure and Transparency. Families who have just lost a home are rarely in a position to pay a retainer. Contingency arrangements, free consultations, and plainly stated fee terms all counted in a firm’s favor, and clear language about costs earned additional credit.

Scope of Services. A single fire claim can reach a building owner, a managing agent, a neighbor, and a battery seller at once. We favored firms whose published practice covers building defects, code violations, and product-related injuries as well as ordinary slip and fall cases.

Moving Forward

If you were hurt in a building fire, or by smoke or carbon monoxide at home, start preserving evidence as soon as you are safe. Photograph the alarm mounts, the stairwell doors, and the fire escape, keep copies of any complaints you made to the landlord or to 311, and get medical care even for injuries that seem minor, since smoke damage to the lungs can surface later. Avoid giving a recorded statement to any insurer until you have spoken with counsel.

Whether the fire began in a Prospect Lefferts Gardens hallway, a Midwood apartment, or a Ditmas Park walk-up, a free consultation can explain who may be responsible and which deadlines apply. Each firm on this list offers one. Compare them on results, experience, and communication, then choose the team you trust to stand up to a building owner and its insurers.

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@newtension.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.