Family Law

• Child Abuse
  Alyssa Herms is a litigation associate with Farber Brocks & Zane LLP, and concentrates her practice on liability defense matters, as well as, insurance coverage related matters, including the litigation of coverage disputes. Prior to joining Farber Brocks & Zane LLP, Ms. Herms served for eight and a half years as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County and Nassau County District Attorney's Offices, where she tried more than twenty cases to verdict. During her career, Ms. Herms investigated and prosecuted both violent and white-collar crime, including murder, rape, child abuse, and financial fraud.

Criminal Law

• Wrongful Death
  The Appellate Division, Second Department upheld the lower court’s decision which granted summary judgment to our client, construction manager Pami Construction Corp, in a wrongful death/Labor Law action. In Sonia Areli Amaya Serrano v. Sophia Popovic, Pami Construction Corp. v. Baschnagel Brothers, Inc., 91 A.D.3d 626, 936 N.Y.S.2d 254 (2d Dept 2012), the Second Department affirmed the denial by the Supreme Court, Queens County, of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on liability pursuant to Labor Law 200, 240(1) and 241(6).
• Sex Crimes
• White Collar Crimes
• Murder
• Arson
  Mr. Mr. O'Hara is a litigation associate with Farber Brocks & Zane LLP and is well versed in defending insurance carriers and their insureds. He has extensive experience in defending both first-party claims brought against insurance carriers by their insureds and third-party claims brought against the insurance carriers' insureds. He has successfully prosecuted and defended numerous subrogation actions. Mr. O'Hara has also investigated and provided numerous coverage opinions to insurance carriers on claims brought by both individual and commercial insureds. As part of his practice, he has defended and investigated insurance claims arising from losses based upon fire, water, theft, construction, business interruption, adjacent construction and collapse coverage. He has conducted fraud and arson investigations as they relate to insurance coverage. Mr. O'Hara is also well versed in defending insurance carriers against claims of deceptive business practices under GBL section 349. He has handled numerous mediations, arbitrations, hearings and appeals for various clients throughout the State of New York.

Business and Corporate Law

• Business Disputes
  Farber Brocks & Zane, LLP has significant knowledge of Appellate Practice and the Appellate Courts. This knowledge and experience, coupled with our attorneys’ vast litigation experience in areas including Labor Law, Personal Injury, Products Liability, Property Damage, Insurance Coverage, Premises Liability, Professional and Medical Malpractice, Construction and Contract Disputes, allows our firm to offer clients strategic services before a Notice of Appeal is ever filed and, of course, once an appeal is taken.
• Intellectual Property

Employment Law

• Workers Compensation
  The facts from the trial court decision revealed that the superintendent of the building actually witnessed the accident, was aware that a subcontractor's employee had been injured while working at the building and even told the building owner about the accident, yet it neither investigated to determine the severity of the injuries or the reason for the fall, instead assuming that worker's compensation was the injured worker's recourse. In yet another pre-prejudice case, the First Department found that such assumption "demonstrates that [the insured] unreasonably failed to keep itself informed of potential claims for damages arising from the incident" and thus, upheld the insurer's denial of coverage based on late notice.
• Employment Discrimination
  Mr. Bloch is Of Counsel with FARBER BROCKS & ZANE L.L.P., and concentrates his practice on the defense of professional and general liability claims, as well as insurance coverage matters at both the Trial and Appellate levels. Mr. Bloch has substantial experience in several areas, including claims against insurance brokers, real estate agents, architects, engineers and medical providers, employment discrimination and product liability claims.

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
  Mr. Poe concentrates his practice in the representation of insurance companies in disputes arising under commercial general liability insurance policies. He has comprehensive experience litigating complex insurance coverage disputes, in the state and federal trial and appellate courts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, as well as in state and federal courts nationwide. Mr. Poe's practice has included the representation of insurers in disputes concerning additional insured coverage, advertising injury and other intellectual property claims, business torts, environmental pollution claims throughout the United States, and personal injury claims, including the wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits arising out of the September 11 tragedy. Mr. Poe's litigation experience includes complex commercial litigation of commercial torts, intellectual property claims, and commercial real estate disputes, including various contract disputes, ERISA claims, intellectual property and Lanham Act disputes, and environmental liability. Mr. Poe graduated from the University of Notre Dame, and received his Juris Doctorate from Hofstra University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in the courts of the State of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Southern and Northern Districts of New York.
• Premises Liability
  Andrew J. Funk is of Counsel to the firm. He received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School and received his undergraduate degree from Muhlenberg College. After graduating Law School, Mr. Funk served as a Judge Advocate General in the United States Marine Corps, obtaining the rank of Captain. Mr. Funk is a seasoned litigation attorney and has significant experience in litigating cases which involve N.Y. State Labor Law, Bed Bug Infestation, Insurance, Premises Liability, Dram Shop Liability, Products and Security Liability, as well as Automobile, Mold and Toxic Tort. Mr. Funk is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, the United States District Courts for both the Eastern and Southern Districts, as well as the District of Columbia and the State of Connecticut.
• Construction Litigation
  Our attorneys have extensive litigation experience in the areas of professional and general liability defense, automobile claims, construction law and insurance coverage matters. Our attorneys represent their clients in all phases of litigation in the Trial and Appellate Courts at both the State and Federal levels, as well as in various alternative dispute forums.
• Property Damage
  The Appellate Division, Second Department upheld the trial court’s granting of summary judgment to contractor Eastern Construction Developing & Custom Homes, Inc., in a property damage by fire action. We successfully argued that the fire was unrelated to the exterior work performed by our client and that fire protection services is not a duty owed by common-law regardless of whether the contractor is the last one to leave the Premises. Katz v Eastern Constr. Dev. & Custom Homes, Inc., 100 A.D.3d 830, 954 N.Y.S.2d 600, 2012 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7922, 2012 NY Slip Op 7958 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep't 2012)

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  In a case of first impression, Farber Brocks & Zane recently obtained a dismissal of a personal injury lawsuit when the Court determined that an out-of-possession landlord is not liable for injuries sustained on cellar steps upon which the tenant installed a conveyor belt and which lead to a sidewalk vault, on the grounds that such steps are not “interior steps” under New York’s building code. Under the building code, interior stairs are stairs within a building, that serve as a required exit. Justice Sharon Aarons accepted the landowner’s argument that cellar stairs into vaults are commonly used for deliveries of merchandise rather than passage for people looking to exit a building and that it would be illogical to find that stairways leading from basements to locked doors in the sidewalk would serve as required exits. The Court also accepted the landowner’s argument that the effective rearrangement of the staircase to a conveyer belt was neither a structural defect of the stairs, nor can an out-of-possession landlord be responsible for an accident solely due to the arrangement of a premises, absent a structural defect. Bautista v 85th Columbus Corp., 2013 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 5473; 2013 NY Slip Op 23402 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Bx. Cty. Nov. 26, 2013).
• Medical Malpractice
  William MacDevitt concentrates his practice in the defense of civil lawsuits including those involving medical malpractice, premises liability, MVA, and other general liability claims. Mr. MacDevitt has successfully defended various businesses, including medical centers and health care providers in all New York City boroughs, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Nassau and Suffolk counties.
• Auto Accidents

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
  As an associate at Farber Brocks & Zane, Ms. Rothstein concentrates her practice on the defense of premises liability claims and other general liability claims. She has diversified litigation experience representing clients in practice areas which include environmental insurance coverage law, employment law, matrimonial law, medical malpractice law, and bankruptcy law.