How Cuz Wins.

The Cuz Process.

Six steps. Every case. No shortcuts.

1. Intake & Theory of the Case. One of us takes your call personally. Within the first conversation we identify every potentially liable party — driver, vehicle owner, employer, property owner, contractor, manufacturer, municipality — because the more defendants we can name, the more insurance policies we can stack.
2. Evidence Preservation. Surveillance footage gets overwritten in 30 days. Black-box data gets wiped. Witnesses move. We send preservation letters and subpoenas the same week we take the case — before defendants can claim "we don't have that anymore."
3. Medical Documentation. Your injuries are worth what your medical records say they're worth. We coordinate specialist referrals, push for diagnostic imaging that captures the full extent of harm, and document long-term prognosis so the case reflects what you've actually lost — not just the ER visit.
4. Damages Valuation. Past and future medical costs. Lost income. Lost earning capacity. Pain and suffering. Future life-care needs. We build a damages model that no insurance adjuster can dismiss as inflated — every number is tied to a record, an expert opinion, or a Bureau of Labor Statistics projection.
5. Negotiation From Strength. Insurance companies pay based on what they think a jury would award. We approach every negotiation prepared to try the case — and adjusters know it. The settlement leverage comes from having the file ready for trial, not from having "trial-ready" on the firm's website.
6. Trial — If That's What It Takes. Most cases settle. The ones that don't usually involve insurance carriers who underestimated the file. We try cases. Some clients settle. Some go to verdict. The decision is yours, and we make sure you have the information to make it.

How We Maximize Recovery.

The specific things we do that other firms don't.

• Stack every policy New York lets you recover from multiple insurance policies in the same case — your no-fault, the at-fault driver's bodily injury, umbrella policies, employer policies, your own underinsured-motorist coverage. We chase every one. Most firms stop after the obvious one.
• Find the hidden defendants In construction cases, the general contractor and property owner are absolutely liable under New York's Labor Law — not just the immediate employer. In rideshare cases, Uber's commercial policy kicks in based on app status. In premises cases, the management company is a separate defendant from the owner. More defendants = more insurance = bigger settlement floor.
• Push for proper diagnosis A "soft-tissue strain" diagnosed in the ER becomes a "cervical disc herniation with radiculopathy" after the right MRI. Same injury — five-figure case becomes a six- or seven-figure case. We coordinate the medical workup that captures the real injury, not the rushed ER guess.
• Document future damages Most clients undervalue their own case because they think only about today's bills. We work with life-care planners, vocational economists, and physiatrists to project the next twenty years — surgeries that will be needed, work you won't be able to do, household help you'll have to hire. Those future numbers usually dwarf the past medical bills.
• Refuse lowball offers Insurance companies test new firms with insulting first offers, expecting a quick settlement so they can close the file. We send those offers back. The second offer is always meaningfully higher. The third is usually where the real number lives. Most firms settle on the second because they need the fee. We don't.
• Try cases when we have to A firm that won't try cases gets known for it — and gets lowballed on every settlement after that. We've kept our trial calendar active because the leverage is in the willingness, not just the threat. That credibility shows up in every settlement number we get for clients who don't go to verdict.

What Recovery Actually Looks Like.

Every case is different. Settlement value depends on injury severity, treatment, liability clarity, available insurance, and how the case is presented. But here's what we typically pursue across the major case categories:

• Personal Injury Recovery Past and future medical costs, lost wages, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and in catastrophic cases, life-care plan funding. New York doesn't cap most damages. →
• Construction Accident Recovery Workers' comp benefits PLUS a separate third-party lawsuit against the general contractor and property owner. The third-party recovery is usually multiples of the comp benefits — and immigration status doesn't affect eligibility. →
• Medical Malpractice Recovery Past and future medical costs (often substantial in malpractice cases where ongoing care is needed), lost earnings, pain and suffering. Birth-injury cases can reach into life-care plan territory because care needs span decades. →
• Wrongful Death Recovery Lost future earnings, loss of parental guidance, loss of services, conscious pain and suffering before death, and funeral expenses. Distribution goes through Surrogate's Court but the surviving family receives the bulk of the recovery. →
• Tenant Rights Recovery Rent rollbacks, treble-damages overcharge refunds (three times the overcharge, going back six years for rent-stabilized units), repair orders, harassment damages, and attorney's fees often shifted to the landlord. →
• Discrimination Recovery Back pay, front pay, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages where intentional. NYC Human Rights Law is broader than federal law — and unlike federal, there's no cap on damages and attorney's fees shift to the defendant. →
• See all practice areas → Every case type we handle, with the recovery framework that applies. →

A Note on Results.