Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP

Focus on injury claims

The firm's primary stated area of work is personal injury law. It represents people injured in car, truck, motorcycle and bicycle crashes. Its website also identifies slip-and-fall incidents and construction accidents among the matters it handles.

These claims often begin with an investigation into how the injury happened and who may bear legal responsibility. Police reports, photographs, witness accounts and medical records can shape the early review. Insurance coverage and filing deadlines also affect how a claim proceeds.

Truck and construction cases can involve several parties. A lawyer may need to examine employer records, contracts, vehicle data or job site documents. Motorcycle and bicycle claims often require close attention to road conditions, visibility and the conduct of each driver.

Serious injury and wrongful death matters

The firm also handles nursing home cases and wrongful death claims. Nursing home matters may involve care plans, medical charts, staffing records and communications with relatives. A wrongful death claim usually requires an estate representative to act for the deceased person's estate and eligible family members.

Damages in an injury case depend on the evidence and the governing law. Medical treatment, lost income and the effect of an injury on daily life may all become relevant. In a fatal case, the analysis may include financial loss to qualifying survivors and expenses connected with the death.

Medical malpractice and product claims

Birth injuries and misdiagnosis claims appear within the firm's medical malpractice work. These cases call for a close reading of the patient's medical history and the care at issue. Lawyers commonly consult qualified medical professionals when assessing whether a provider departed from accepted care and caused harm.

A birth injury claim may require prenatal records, labor and delivery notes, fetal monitoring data and later treatment records. A misdiagnosis case may turn on symptoms, test results, referral decisions and the timing of treatment. The sequence of events often matters as much as any single medical entry.

Medical malpractice cases also involve rules that differ from ordinary accident claims. The claimant must connect the alleged medical error to the resulting injury. Courts may require medical opinions, sworn testimony and detailed proof of damages before a claim reaches trial.

Defective devices, drugs and mass torts

The practice areas page identifies defective medical devices, defective drug claims and mass torts. These matters can involve a product used by many patients and a set of alleged injuries linked to that product. Each claimant still needs records that connect the product, the exposure and the claimed harm.

Product records, prescribing information, medical histories and regulatory materials may play a role in this type of case. Some mass tort claims proceed through coordinated litigation when many cases share common factual questions. Courts may group pretrial work while preserving the individual facts of each person's claim.

In my opinion, this mix gives prospective clients a useful picture of the firm's injury work. The listed matters include common vehicle claims as well as cases that depend on detailed medical or product evidence. The website places all of them within the firm's civil litigation work.

Employment matters named by the firm

Wrongful termination and discrimination are among the employment matters identified on the website. These claims often depend on documents created during the working relationship. Employment agreements, policies, evaluations, messages and payroll records may help establish the timeline.

A discrimination claim may involve an administrative filing before a lawsuit can proceed. The proper route depends on the legal basis for the claim and the filing deadline. A lawyer reviewing the matter will usually examine the employer's stated reason for its decision and compare that account with the available records.

Wrongful termination is a broad client concern, but the legal claim must rest on a recognized basis. Protected characteristics, retaliation, contractual rights or statutory protections may affect the analysis. The facts surrounding the termination remain central to that review.

How the legal team developed

The website identifies six attorneys and a support staff of more than 20. Stephen M. Cohen and Stephen B. Tiger hold partner titles. Richard S. Jaffe is the managing partner, while Caitlin McNaughton, Katherine Sawicki and Garrett V. Parnell also appear on the attorney list.

Stephen Cohen grew up in Queens and earned a B.S. from Bradley University in 1971. He received his J.D. from St. John's University School of Law in 1974. After working at a small law firm, he opened a solo office in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and later concentrated on personal injury law.

Cohen's practice later moved to lower Manhattan and Long Island. The website traces its Long Island presence through Great Neck and then New Hyde Park. This history links the current firm to Cohen's earlier solo work without attaching a specific founding year.

Richard Jaffe's role and background

Richard Jaffe first worked as a paralegal with litigators, including Stephen Cohen. He earned his law degree from Touro Law Center in 1995 and joined the firm as an associate. He became a junior partner within five years.

Jaffe now oversees three associate attorneys as managing partner and lead trial lawyer. His background includes work as a firefighter and certified EMT. The website also states that he holds an AV Preeminent rating and has licenses in New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.

Jaffe speaks Spanish fluently, and the firm offers Spanish-language service. That capability may help clients discuss medical care, work events and accident details in the language they use most comfortably. Clear communication can matter when a case depends on a precise chronology and detailed records.

Regional reach and public information

The firm is based in New Hyde Park and maintains a second office in Jackson Heights that operates by appointment. It identifies Long Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County and Queens as service areas. Those locations place the team near the communities named on its website.

The home page displays a 4.9 Google review rating. As a reviewer, that score offers a useful public feedback marker alongside the more concrete information about attorney roles, education and practice areas. The website also links to the firm's Facebook, LinkedIn, X and YouTube accounts.

The published team structure gives clients a sense of how work may be allocated. Jaffe oversees three associates, and the staff includes more than 20 support professionals. The website names six attorneys and identifies New Hyde Park and Jackson Heights as the firm's office locations.

Fee arrangement and reported experience

The firm states that it accepts matters on a contingency basis. Under its published description, the legal fee is a portion of any settlement or verdict. This is the clearest information in the record about how the firm structures payment for its work. It also gives prospective clients a direct point to discuss when reviewing an engagement agreement.

The firm reports more than 100 years of combined experience among its attorneys. That figure describes the collective experience of the legal team rather than the tenure of any one lawyer. It provides another measure of the practice beyond the individual career histories included in the attorney profiles.

Taken together, the contingency arrangement and collective experience figure add useful context about the working relationship the firm presents to prospective clients. One addresses the connection between the fee and a recovery. The other describes the accumulated experience available across the attorney group.

Community service outside the office

Richard S. Jaffe's profile includes an ongoing volunteer role in Brentwood, where he works as a medic. This community activity adds a current service commitment to the professional information in his biography. It is a distinct detail about his connection to the area and his experience responding to people who need medical assistance.

New York courts and the path of a civil claim

Personal injury and malpractice suits in New York generally begin in the state Supreme Court, which is the trial-level court for civil matters despite its name. The county where a case belongs usually depends on where a party lives or where the injury happened. A firm handling matters across the Long Island counties and in Queens may appear before more than one county courthouse, and that setting can shape scheduling and the makeup of a jury pool.

After a complaint is filed, a civil case moves through a discovery period in which each side exchanges records and takes sworn testimony. Motions can narrow the disputed questions before a trial date arrives. Many claims resolve by agreement during this stage, while others continue toward a verdict. A firm that keeps a designated trial lawyer is ready to try a case when settlement talks stall.

Comparative fault in accident cases

New York follows a comparative negligence rule. An injured person can still recover money even when partly at fault, and the award is reduced by that person's share of responsibility. This rule often matters in vehicle collisions, where the defense may argue that the injured driver or rider helped cause the crash.

Motorcycle cases are part of the firm's injury practice, and disputes over fault are common in them. A rider thrown from a bike may face serious harm, and the other driver's insurer may still question who acted carelessly. Careful reconstruction of the moments before impact can affect how responsibility is divided and what a claim is worth.

No-fault insurance in auto claims

New York treats most auto claims under a no-fault system. A driver's own insurer usually pays basic medical costs and part of lost earnings, whatever the cause of the crash. To bring a separate lawsuit for pain and suffering, an injured person generally has to meet a threshold set by state law. That standard turns on the nature and lasting effect of the harm, and it often becomes a contested point in car and truck cases.