Ferry Law’s New Wellness Program

Wellness Ferry Law CT Attorney


Ferry Law is pleased to announce its new Wellness Program. Any client of Ferry Law, both present and previous, is entitled to a free Yoga session with Staff Yoga Teacher, Leslie Gordon. It is Leslie’s belief that Yoga is for EVERY BODY, and her goal is to help you find ways to feel better. We know that being injured in a car accident or other type of situation, or charged of a crime, is stressful. We want to enable you to find ways to relieve your stress that are healthy for your body, mind and spirit. At Ferry Law, we recognize you as an integrated human being, not just a physical body. For those of you who think you cannot do yoga for physical reasons or because your doctor has not given you permission to exercise, Leslie can introduce you to different relaxation techniques that will help you relax, refocus and return to your centered, grounded self. Operating your life from that place will make everything easier.

We are also excited to announce that we will be holding FREE group relaxation sessions for Ferry Law clients. These will be held on the first Monday evening of every month, starting on February 3, at 6 p.m. These one-hour long sessions will be held in the Ferry Law Wellness Studio at 77 Lexington Street, New Britain, in the basement of the Ferry Law Office Building. You must register for these sessions, as space is limited. To register for the relaxation sessions or to schedule your free yoga private, call Karoli at 833-FerryLaw. 

Ferry Law Welcomes Summer Intern

Ferry Law is welcoming a Summer Intern, Sam Martin, into its practice this Summer. He will be working on some projects we’ve been eager to get started. Welcome Sam!

Here is a little about Sam in his own words:

My name is Sam Martin. I am the Ferry Law intern this summer working with the incredibly dynamic team of Kevin Ferry, Monique Foley and Cara Cavallari. I hail from Portland, Maine where I just finished up my first year at the University of Maine School of Law. Prior to returning to Maine, I received my Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs with a focus in Conflict Resolution from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In my career, I hope to pursue social and criminal justice reform by defending victims and the accused with honesty, compassion and integrity.

In my free time, I participate in local government and am a skateboarding/skiing fanatic. I am an avid student of the Mandarin Chinese language, a yogi and a satyagrahi. For a good read, I recommend Calming the Fearful Mind by Thich Nat Hanh and a for a good movie, Mind Game directed by Masaaki Yuasa. I am grateful to the attorneys and paralegal team at Ferry Law for the opportunity to learn the valuable skills of fighting for each individual’s right to pursue justice. I also excited for the many opportunities to practice yoga here at Ferry Law with the guidance of the wonderful Leslie Gordon.

Occupational Lung Disease

This group of work-related injury compensable under workers’ compensation in Connecticut include occupational asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiolitis obliterans, inhalation injury, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and infections. Most lung related work injuries occur within State Government in Connecticut, local government jobs were next highest and utilities third highest. While just 6% of workers’ compensation cases are lung related, the toll that lung injuries take on the body is immense. Medications are very expensive and damage the body over time.

Lung injuries are a particular interest at Ferry Law because Ferry Law understands the connection to our mind, body and soul comes from our breath. Attorney Ferry has been a Yogi for nearly 20 years and has extensively practiced many forms of breath work and meditation centered on following the breath. At Ferry Law we are well equipped to help you with your lung disease case whether in the Workers’ Compensation Commission or in Superior Court.

Lung related allergies may come from mold, pigeon droppings, cat dander, diesel fumes, ammonia bicarbonate, latex, 3 leach, adhesive remover, coolant, kerosene, floor stripping chemicals, and wall paper remover.

It is important to contact a workers’ compensation lawyer to understand time limitations involved with filing a workers’ compensation claim as well as all the benefits you are entitled to if your lung disease claim is causally related to your work. Ferry Law provides a free consultation for all workers’ compensation cases and injury claims. Contact 833-FerryLaw for a free consultation for your case.

Car, Truck, Motorcycle Accident Amputations Are Becoming a Growing Trend

If you or someone you know has had a body part amputated due to someone else’s negligence, please contact an attorney at our Connecticut personal injury office right away. Amputees are becoming a growing population due to severe impacts that occur from distracted motorists failing to pay attention to motorcyclists, pedestrians and others traveling along our busy Connecticut roadways. There are 185,000 new lower extremity amputations each year just within the United States, with an estimated 2 million American amputees. It is projected that the amputee population will more than double by the year 2050. (Source: AdvancedAmputees.com)

Ferry Law handled a case involving a truck versus motorcycle accident in which a helmeted motorcyclist became pinned with his right leg under an 18-wheel truck (owned by a major office supply distributor) after the truck made an improper left turn directly in front of the path he was traveling.

Our client sustained significant injuries including: post traumatic amputation of the right leg secondary to motor vehicle accident; fracture L3; fracture right clavicle, first and second ribs; intracranial punctate bleeds times two; and degloving laceration left thigh and left calf. He also suffered from right leg amputation of 95% below the knee. His injuries required immediate surgery and amputation of the right lower leg. Our office brought claims on behalf of the motorcyclist, his wife for loss of consortium and his three minor children for familial consortium claims based on a recent change in the law allowing loss of consortium claims to be brought by minor children. We settled very quickly with the at-fault party, without having to file a formal lawsuit, for its policy limits of $1,000,000 plus umbrella and excess insurance totaling in excess of $3,000,000.

Please not that there are services available to help amputees:

Hangar Prosthetics provides products and services, including prosthetic devices: WWW.hanger.com

Amputee Coalition provides a number of helpful resources to amputees including education, services and support: https:l/www.amputee-coalition.org

And as always, the personal injury attorneys at Ferry Law are here to help you get through a most difficult and life-changing transition. Please call us, 833-FerryLaw.

Accident Attorneys of FerryLaw to Sponsor Race in the Park 2019

Personal injury lawyers and accident attorneys of FerryLaw are once again a proud sponsor of the CT Breast Health Initiative Race in the Park. Join us On Saturday, May 11, in Walnut Hill Park (right across from our office). Come cheer on our running team, say hello to us at our booth, and take home a packet of seeds to get your garden started! We are thrilled to support this race, and all funds raised stay in CT to raise awareness and help find a cure for this terrible disease.

Attorney Ferry Joins the Holistic Chamber of Commerce

Attorney Kevin Ferry has just been named a member of the Holistic Chamber of Commerce.

Founded in 2010, the Holistic Chamber of Commerce (HCC) is an international trade organization for holistically-minded professionals, practitioners, business owners, and resource providers, as well as a community coming together in support of a cause.

The HCC is member-focused and provides an ever-expanding online presence and network of members and local chapters that make it easier for consumers to learn about and access holistic, natural and eco-friendly products, services and solutions.

Attorney Ferry offers yoga to all his clients and has recently added a yoga studio to his office. He fervently believes in the importance of a personal mindfulness practice and advocates for a practice for all his clients.

FerryLaw Open House

Join us on Friday, March 15, to see our newly renovated space that allows for more conference, file storage and office space. We also have room for yoga and mindfulness practices.

Ethical Rules for Discharged Lawyers-Seems There are None

In a stunning decision by our Statewide Grievance Committee as a result of my first ever grievance filed against an Attorney, I learned that our ethical rules prohibiting a discharged lawyer from contacting his former client do not apply as long as the discharged lawyer claims he was confused and uncertain he had been fired.

The facts of my case are as follows: The discharged lawyer received a letter from me and another from my client, which politely informed him that his client had switched teams and that no further communication with the client should take place. Can you see how confused the discharged lawyer must have been? As if hit by a stun gun from the Star Trek Enterprise, discharged lawyer makes multiple phone calls and speaks with client once…also contacts client’s parents to put more pressure on the young 19 year old to reconsider his decision to discharge the Big Box law firm. In addition to the phone calls, he emails his former client and includes an email from me which he lifted off of the CTLA list serve in violation of our rules of usage for our list serve site. Seems as if this lawyer is certain to be sanctioned by the grievance panel. After all, he has been found to have violated our ethical rules twice already and as a repeat offender, not likely to qualify for the slap on the wrist treatment.

The esteemed reviewing committee who heard the case in Bridgeport found there was no probable cause and dismissed the complaint. However, it did in fact find that he contacted his former client, and it did in fact find that he attempted to win back the client. Its reasoning hinged on the claim the discharged lawyer made that he was confused over being discharged because he was such the right man for the job since he knew the client and his family for years and he had intimate knowledge of the client’s soccer career.

What is the upshot of this decision? As I see it, we are in the wild, wild west. Fake some sort of confusion, call the client, write to the client, beg the client to come back and forget about our ethical rules because those pesky things just get in the way of good old aggressive used car salesman tactics of keeping your customer. A terrible decision. Childish and tortured reasoning.

We need lawyers on the Grievance Committee that actually believe in Rules of Ethics and will uphold them.

FerryLaw is a Proud Sponsor: 6th Annual Craft Sippin’ in New Britain

6th Annual Craft Sippin’ in New Britain
Friday, February 15, 2019

Beat the winter blues and join us for the tasting event of the season! Sample and sip craft beers and enjoy the Museum’s galleries at our 6th Annual Craft Sippin’ in New Britain! The Museum gives thanks to Hartford Distributors for lining up this year’s list of distinguished breweries that will be sure to please every type of beer fan.
Each guest will receive a souvenir NBMAA Craft Sippin’ tasting glass upon entry for unlimited 2 oz. tastings of beer.

This event is generously supported by Ferry Law and Green Man Tattoo.

Participating Breweries
(as of January 30, 2019)
Alvarium Beer Company
Athletic Brewing Co.
Back East Brewing Company
City Steam Brewery
Founders Brewing Co.
Hog River Brewing
Kinsmen Brewing
Labyrinth Brewing Company
Lagunitas Brewing Company
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Relic Brewing Co.
Willimantic Brewing Company
Participating Restaurants
(as of January 30, 2019)
Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ
Pulled Pork or Pulled Chicken Slider 5$
Brisket Chili 6$
Side of Mac and Cheese 4$

Martin Rosol’s Meats

Registration and Ticket Purchasing at nbmaa.org

Admission
$30 Members
$35 non-Members
$20 designated drivers
$5 cash bar

Yoga and Mindfulness for Our Clients

We believe that being injured in an accident or as the result of negligence is one of the most stressful things anyone can experience. That’s why we offer a FREE Yoga Session to any client who would like to learn how to feel better physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Leslie Gordon, our staff Yoga Teacher, is on call for any of our clients who feel they would like to explore how yoga and mindfulness can help them. She can help you feel better, and it is easier than you think. Yoga is for Every Body. Let us show you. If you are a client at FerryLaw, please contact us. Check out Leslie at her website, www.lesliegordonyoga.com.

FerryLaw Holiday Toy Collection

FerryLaw is teaming up with the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to collect toys for children at CCMC. Please consider dropping by the office to say hello and to bring a new, unwrapped toy. Items are especially needed for teens and infants.

Here is a link to the CCMC website with some basic guidelines for the donations:  https://www.connecticutchildrens.org/support-us/donate-toys/

Thank you for joining us in spreading cheer to children at CCMC this holiday season.

Donations are needed by December 18.

Congratulations to Attorney Foley: 2018 Connecticut Rising Star Honors

Congratulations to Attorney Monique S. Foley who has been selected to the 2018 Connecticut Rising Stars list, an honor reserved for those lawyers who exhibit excellence in practice. Only 2.5% of attorneys in Connecticut receive this distinction. You can find her in the following publications and online:

  • New England Super Lawyers Magazine, November 2018
  • Connecticut Magazine, November 2018,
  • The online attorney directory on SuperLawyers.com

Benefits of a Mind/Body Practice

20th century life is fast paced. There is plenty of strife in our world, and whether it’s starving refugees in the Middle East or Democrats and Republicans in the USA behaving poorly, all of it affects us. Add the demands of keeping a roof over your head, providing food for your family, caring for elderly parents, trying to keep your 150 passwords in a place you remember, etc., and we ALL need to hit the reset button often. If you don’t practice being still and being quiet, you risk making yourself sick in ways you probably never imagined.

So, as the old saying goes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away….That’s nice, but how about my saying, “Stillness prevents illness.”

The type A people reading this who blow off steam by going to Cross Fit three days a week or jogging 30 miles a week will find this a bit challenging, but it is no less important for the energizer bunny trying to be still and be quiet. The agony you will endure trying to sit still for 5 minutes is proof positive that you need it, and you need it badly! Your monkey mind is swinging wildly through the branches, and it feels dangerous and impossible to stop. Inevitably, with regular practice, that awful feeling you get from shutting everything off will subside. You are simply a self-energizing generator that has never been turned off. You are inefficient as a servant because no generator can run full time. The parts wear out, and bolts get loose. It’s the same way with people.

I am going to leave this post here. Just to get you used to the idea that mindfulness practice is something you must try. Just let that soak in for now. Next post, I will write about some simple methods to get your started.

Kevin

 

Habitat for Humanity–Public Service Day

Staff members from FerryLaw participated this year in the Habitat for Humanity public service day, May 30, 2018. Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit multi-service agency helping individuals and families obtain housing. 90% of the labor used for projects is volunteer, allowing them to keep costs down so that they are able to provide affordable, simple, decent home-ownership opportunities to low-income families.

The team at FerryLaw rolled up their sleeves and got busy hauling wood, hanging sheetrock and even drilling a few holes in several homes located in Hartford, CT during our last Habitat for Humanity day last fall. This time we helped our friends in our own backyard, New Britain.

If you would like to learn more about Volunteer Opportunities through Habitat for Humanity, visit: http://hartfordhabitat.org/volunteering/other-ways-to-volunteer/ or to donate go to: http://hartfordhabitat.org/donate-now/

FerryLaw Sponsors a Race in the Park 2018


FerryLaw was once again a proud sponsor for this year’s Race in the Park at Walnut Hill Park, May 12, 2018. The Race is one of the largest in the area which funds research for breast cancer and is a fundraiser for the CT Breast Health Initiative. Attorney Cavallari participated in the 5K run, and other members of the FerryLaw Staff volunteered in various other ways during the event. This is an important event, and one very close to our hearts, in the continued fight against breast cancer and  in the awareness this event brings. We hope our contributions help in the ongoing fight against this terrible disease.

What is it Like to be Sued: Who Am I?

Attorney Ferry and Attorney Foley recently defended a claim made against them by Attorney Charles Brower and his client, James McCann, based upon a claim initially brought by the Law Office of Kevin C. Ferry, LLC against Mr. McCann and his company, RSS Consulting Services, LLC. Mr. McCann is the founder of Options Unlimited, a community living arrangement not-for-profit business whom the Law Office of Kevin C. Ferry, LLC sued in 2013 for severe physical, mental and sexual abuse perpetrated by approximately eight employees of Options Unlimited. Mr. McCann is currently being sued by Options Unlimited for fraud.

Attorney Foley and Attorney Ferry spent eight full days at trial defending themselves with the assistance of Kerry Callahan and Valerie Ferdon, both of Updike, Kelly & Spellacy. Attorneys Callahan and Verdon were very prepared and performed admirably at trial. Attorney Foley and Attorney Ferry were called as witnesses by Attorney Brower. Every effort was made to point to Attorneys Ferry and Foley as not having a good faith basis to sue his client. The jury saw through Attorney Brower’s misguided efforts to obtain a payday for his client and quickly returned a Defendant’s verdict on all counts. If the jury decided for the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff was going to be seeking punitive damages under numerous counts, including double damages pursuant to §52-568(1) under two counts; treble damages pursuant to §52-568(2) under two counts; and exemplary damages by way of attorney’s fees claimed to have been incurred defending the lawsuit brought by Law Office of Kevin C. Ferry, LLC.

This was an excellent learning experience that Attorney Foley and I hope to never be put though again; however, we gained valuable insight into the mind of a civil defendant throughout the process, and we also learned several valuable lessons at trial. While it would be going a bit far to thank Mr. Brower for suing us, I can say that your biggest enemies can be your best teachers if you are open to looking at it from that angle. –KCF

Download Kevin’s Accident App

ferry law accident app

Be careful driving this holiday! Download our FREE app for peace of mind. This is your first stop after you’ve been in an accident. Our Accident App tells you everything you need to know when you’ve been in an accident with quick links and easy access to help.

Click link to download for iphone iPhone App

Click link to download for Android Android App

Glastonbury Teen Death – Social Host Liability

            For the Glastonbury family whose daughter was killed in a motor vehicle accident following two nights of teen drinking at a Glastonbury home in 2013, the litigation nightmare is over. The party house in Glastonbury in 2013 was “Finks House”. The Finklestein’s home was where the juniors in High School would gather most every weekend. Every gathering would be an occasion to consume alcohol, smoke pot and have sex. For the 16 and 17 year old Glastonbury kids, a place to play grownup. The end result of the Las Vegas in Glastonbury for the Glastonbury High School students, Class of 2014, is that a beautiful, promising girl, never got the chance to graduate.

            The problem with it is 16 year old kids don’t have the maturity to understand the dangers of alcohol. In fact, our case law says very clearly. In Ely v. Murphy, 207 Conn. 88, 89-90, 540 A.2d 54 (1988), the Court first held that adults could be responsible for serving/providing/purveying alcohol to minors due to their incompetence and inability to understand the specific dangers of drinking while driving.  The law also says that a homeowner is responsible for the results of underage drinking in his home. Relevant case law suggests that homeowners may be liable when they have created a permissive atmosphere of underage drinking. Whether home when the damage is done or not, is irrelevant. In Schwarz v. Piro, No. FSTCV106004487S, 2015 WL 522060, (Conn. Super. Ct. Jan. 9, 2015), the Court held that a defendant may incur social host liability where he or she has provided a venue for consumption of alcohol by minors; see also Reynolds v. McAvoy, Superior Court, judicial district of Danbury, Docket No. CV–02–0346701–S (November 4, 2004) (Nadeau, J.); and Geise v. Gipstein, Superior Court, judicial district of New London, Docket No. CV–09–5010726 (January 25, 2011) (Martin, J.) (holding that “a duty of care exists on behalf of the social host of a party where underage drinking is encouraged, regardless of whether the intoxicated minor consumed alcohol purchased by the social host, or alcohol brought from outside the premises. Whether that duty of care was breached … and the defendant knowingly or negligently provided a venue for his minor guests to consume alcohol, constitutes a genuine issue of material fact …”).  In addition, our Courts have consistently held that most defenses, such as assumption of the risk, are not viable against an underage drinker or victim that is driven by an intoxicated driver.