Massachusetts Personal Injury Lawyers

Steven H. Schafer & Associates

141 Tremont Street, Sixth Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02111
USA

(617) 423-2447

(617) 695-9798

www.Schaferlaw.com

Contact Steven H. Schafer

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Law Firm Overview

Steven H. Schafer & Associates, founded in 1985, concentrates in serious personal liability cases.

There is an important difference between plaintiff attorneys, who represent the person who has been hurt, and defense lawyers or general litigation firms, who defend wrongdoers who have violated standards of care in injuring others, and their insurance companies.

Unlike many firms, as a matter of philosophy we do not represent insurance companies. We accept only plaintiff cases. We side with people and small businesses 100 percent of the time.

Our firm is committed to keeping families safe by advocating for:

* Quality medical care
* Dignity for seniors in nursing homes and assisted living facilities
* Safer consumer products
* Better design of machinery
* Eliminating hazards in the workplace and in the home
* Security for children in our schools
* Safety on our roadways
* Accountability of corporations that place profits before people

Our firm is AV-Rated® by Martindale Hubbell® the highest rating for legal ability and ethics available by that national lawyers’ directory.

Mr. Schafer has been chosen by his peers for inclusion in Woodward/White’s Best Lawyers in America®. He has also been named a Super Lawyer by Boston Magazine. Most of our clients actually come to us based upon referrals from other attorneys who are familiar with our work.

Our practice has remained small by design, because we believe that every client deserves our full attention and commitment.

For that reason, we limit the number of cases we handle at any one time. If we take your case, you won't be shuffled off to a junior person. You'll get the full attention of our team, and Steven Schafer will personally direct your case.

We do not look for quick settlements, but for fair and adequate resolutions to our clients’ cases. As a matter of practice, we do not entertain settlement until we know the pertinent facts that establish the other side’s responsibility for your accident or injuries, and the full extent of your injuries, economic loss, and future needs.

Year this Office was Established: 1985

Languages: English

Areas of Law

Additional Areas of Law: Delayed Diagnosis of Cancer; Anesthesia Errors; Recreation and Sports Accidents; Multiple Vehicle Collisions; Dog Bite Injuries; Breach of Contract; Dram Shop Cases.

Areas of Law Description

- Product Liability

Product liability cases result from a manufacturer’s negligence—deficient research and development, poor design, defective manufacturing processes, and inadequate testing, inspection and quality control. Sometimes warnings are necessary to alert the operator or consumer of a hidden danger with the product’s function or use, or to remind the operator or consumer of a danger that can be overlooked. Instructions must be provided to tell the operator or consumer the safest and preferred way to use a product. The user or consumer is entitled to clearly written information that states the product’s limitations, and eliminates any inaccurate expectations.

- Nursing Home Negligence and Abuse

Our seniors deserve to be treated with dignity and are entitled to enjoy all of life’s pleasures that still remain available to them. We reject the conception that accidents are inevitable for nursing home residents, the notion that an elderly person’s life is somehow less valuable, or the conception that death is excusable because of a person’s age or medical problems. We have seen how good compassionate care can prolong and enhance a person’s life.

- Medical Malpractice and other Professional Malpractice

Medical malpractice occurs when a patient is injured because a doctor or other health care professional fails to follow generally accepted standards of care. A bad medical outcome alone is not enough to have a medical malpractice case. The doctor or other professional must have acted negligently, or must have failed to act where necessary, and the patient must have suffered a severe injury. Malpractice may occur in the following contexts:

• Birth trauma from delayed Cesarean section, resulting in shoulder dystocia, hypoxic brain injury, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, cognitive difficulties, and physical handicaps
• Misidentifying the mother’s heart rate for the baby’s heart rate
• Obstetrical negligence resulting in injury to the mother
• Delayed diagnosis of cancer
• Surgical errors
• Contraindicated or unnecessary surgery
• Anesthesia errors
• Radiology mistakes in misreading x-rays, CT scans, MRIs and mammograms
• Pathology errors in misreading biopsies and surgical specimens
• Delays in treatment or improper treatment due to miscommunications between physicians
• Medication errors in prescribing, filling or administering medicines
• Infections resulting from poor sanitation or other lapses
• Administrative mistakes

- Construction Site Accidents

As a basic proposition, the general contractor has overall responsibility for safety and must coordinate the activities of subcontractors and others to minimize the risk of injury to all workers at a site. Each subcontractor must also perform its work safely and not place other workers in jeopardy. Suppliers and vendors must provide the appropriate equipment and the right materials so that workers’ safety is not threatened. Work schedules and cost estimates must include time and money for safety. Construction site injuries can happen without proper workplace safety measures:

• Failure to properly coordinate construction operations
• Violations of OSHA and state regulations
• Lack of fall protection equipment including lanyards, harnesses and netting
• Uncovered holes in floors or roofs
• Missing guardrails and toeboards
• Defective elevators and hoisting equipment
• Inadequate shoring of excavations
• Unsafe tools and equipment
• Construction materials not properly stockpiled or tied down
• Insufficient signage
• Lax jobsite housekeeping
• Wet and icy conditions from not protecting work areas from weather
• Lack of traffic controls

- Premises Liability

A landowner or person in control of property has a responsibility to act reasonably to keep the property safe for lawful visitors. Maintenance and repair companies similarly have to act reasonably in performing their work. We have handled premises liability cases involving the following hazards that led to otherwise preventable accidents on property:

• Floors and walks made dangerous by uneven, wet, or slippery surfaces, worn carpeting, cracks and defects
• Stairs with broken stair treads, non-uniform risers, or missing handrails
• Changes in elevation camouflaged by homogenous colors and materials
• Inadequate lighting
• Lack of security
• Lack of safety glass
• Elevators that have not been properly maintained
• Elevators with inaccurate rating capacities
• Escalators with exposed or accessible parts that can catch clothing and body parts
• Unexpected housekeeping operations without warnings having been posted or pedestrian traffic diverted to other areas
• Renovations and repairs conducted without informing tenants, and without diverting tenants and visitors to other locations
• Uncontrolled traffic and unsafe traffic patterns in busy parking lots
• Driveways, entrances and exits lacking adequate sight lines for motorists
• Defective heating systems leading to poisonous fumes and fires
• Defective wiring leading to electrocutions and fires
• Lack of depth markers and no-diving signs at swimming pools
• Broken playground equipment
• Lack of protective mats on gymnasium walls

- Recreation and Sports Accidents

Parents who enroll their children in recreation and sports programs have a right to expect that trained instructors and staff will teach their kids the skills necessary to play a sport well and safely, that their kids will be monitored and spotted during practices, games and meets, and that the equipment and facilities will be in good condition.

- Automobile and Trucking Accidents

In Massachusetts, 417 people died from motor vehicles collisions in 2007, a 2.8% decrease from 2006. As a densely populated, Northeastern state with many old, narrow and congested roadways – and a culture that has long viewed lack of driving etiquette as a tolerable quirk among our drivers – Massachusetts families are particularly at risk for accidents whenever we drive, whether on a trip to the corner store or an excursion from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. Our roads are particularly ill-suited for large trucks, tractor-trailers and double semi-trailers. Steven H. Schafer & Associates has litigated automobile and trucking accident cases since the inception of the firm.

• Multiple vehicle collisions
• Pedestrian knock-down cases
• Trucking accidents
• Bus accidents
• Collisions caused by unsafe or hazardous roadway, parking lot and driveway configurations or nuisances created by adjacent landowners

- Wrongful Death

Steven H. Schafer & Associates helps people exercise their rights when a family member has died due to negligence and carelessness. No amount of money could ever replace a parent, spouse, sibling or child, but justice requires that wrongdoers be held accountable and that action be taken to prevent other families from suffering similar losses. Wrongful death claims can fall under one of the following areas of personal injury law:

• Automobile and trucking accidents
• Accidents at work, including construction-site accidents
• Medical malpractice and malpractice by other professionals, like negligence by an architect or engineer
• Nursing home negligence and abuse
• Sports and recreation accidents
• Product liability involving unsafe and defective products

- Dog Bite Injuries

Massachusetts law holds a dog owner strictly responsible for injuries caused by the dog, as long as the person injured was not a trespasser or was not teasing, tormenting or abusing the dog. In the case of a child under the age of 7, the law presumes that the child was not trespassing, or teasing, tormenting or abusing the dog. This is often called the law of “strict liability.”

- Dram Shop Cases

Fortunately, through the actions of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and others, attitudes towards alcohol have changed in recent years. Bartender training courses now teach that alcohol is a drug. Some corporations in the food and entertainment industry have developed standards that require the responsible service of alcohol to prevent a patron from becoming intoxicated in a bar, restaurant, hotel, or club, and then driving off while under the influence of alcohol. Under Massachusetts law, anyone serving alcohol to a person who is already visibly intoxicated can be held responsible for the injuries caused by the intoxicated person to himself or to others.

- Food Poisoning

Cases of food borne illness have reached epidemic proportions as Americans consume greater quantities of mass produced, processed and packaged food. The meats and produce we purchase at our supermarkets and consume in restaurants are no longer locally grown, but shipped great distances and sometimes from sources outside the United States. The federal government’s inability to inspect our food supply has come under criticism as outbreaks of food poisoning have been publicized. The processors and sellers of food containing bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella, and Listeria can be held responsible for the injuries and deaths caused by ingestion of contaminated foods.

- Civil Litigation and Business Litigation

Many small businesses cannot, or prefer not to pay an attorney on an hourly basis, regardless of the outcome. To this extent, the contingent fee system provides the small business, entrepreneur or individual with the keys to the courthouse, and the ability to exercise their rights instead of surrendering a claim.

Contingent fee agreements typically provide that the attorney is entitled to a fee only upon the condition or “contingency” that money or something of value is recovered for the client. The attorney will generally receive a percentage of the client’s award or settlement, in addition to case expenses. Contingent fees work well for both parties in a variety of cases:

• Breach of contract, such as unpaid real-estate brokerage fees
• Breach of insurance contracts where an insurance company refuses to pay disability, medical or death benefits
• Breach of employment contracts
• Property damage claims
• Sub-standard construction of houses or commercial buildings
• Environmental damage from oil or gas contamination by abutters
• Copyright or trademark infringement
• Claims for defective software or inadequate IT services
• Investment, financial planning and brokerage malpractice