Home > About Us > C. Michelle Clemmens

C. Michelle Clemmens

Lipsig, Shapey, Manus & Moverman, P.C.
25th Floor
40 Fulton Street
New York,NY 10038-1850

Communication CenterPhone – (212) 285-3300
1 (800) 9-LIPSIG (Toll Free)

Fax – (212) 406-4544

Ms. Clemmens is a 2002 graduate of Syracuse University’s SI Newhouse School of Public Communications, where she received a bachelor of science in Journalism and a bachelor of arts in Political Science. Ms. Clemmens obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law in 2005. Since her admission to the New York State Bar in 2006, Ms. Clemmens has represented hundreds of clients in personal injury matters, focusing in the areas of construction accidents, motor vehicle collisions, premises liability and wrongful death cases. She has litigated and recovered settlements for clients against both private and municipal entities in areas ranging from medical malpractice to wrongful arrest and imprisonment. Ms. Clemmens is a member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. She is admitted to practice in all the Courts of the State of New York, as well as the Federal Courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Associate since 2010

Bar Admissions:
New York, 2006
U.S. District Courts, Southern and Eastern Districts, 2007

Education:
Fordham University School of Law, 2005

Alan M. Shapey
Mark J. Manus
Thomas J. Moverman
Erin K. Hurley
Marc Elliott Freund
James D. Neville
Carmine J. Goncalves
C. Michelle Clemmens

Case Results

Lead Paint Poisoning Case – Won a $50 million verdict for a young child who developed severe brain damage as a result of lead poisoning. The building owner where the child lived was found negligent.

Faulty Traffic Light Case – Won a $39 million verdict for a 12-year-old boy who was struck by an automobile because the City failed to install a traffic light.

Bus Accident Case – Won a $20 million verdict for a Queens woman who lost an arm and a leg and was blinded in one eye after she was struck by a bus in 2009. The jury in Queens Supreme Court found the Metropolitan Transportation Authority liable Wednesday for injuries that have left her a virtual prisoner in her own home.

Bus Accident Case – $17,000,000 Settlement – 57 year old woman struck by a bus causing leg and arm amputations and loss of sight in one eye. We obtained a jury verdict for our client and her case was then settled during the appeal.

Auto Accident Case – $16,000,000 Settlement – 9 year old girl injured in motor vehicle crash due to a defective seat belt design that left her a quadriplegic.

Infant Lead Paint Poisoning Case – Jury Awards $12.72 Million Verdict in Infant Lead Poisoning Case

Subway Accident Case – Lipsig partner Alan Shapey finished a three-week jury trial and the verdict was for almost $10 million for our client, a man who fell on the elevated subway train tracks and was struck by a train on September 3, 2007.

Our presentation of the evidence in the case was complicated since the train operator testified that she first saw something on the tracks as she was already passing it and therefore did not have time to stop.

Through our legal work and investigation, we obtained a copy of the radio and phone log between the train operator, the dispatchers, and other transit employees at the scene that directly contradicted the train operator’s testimony.

In court, Mr. Shapey played a tape recording of the operator’s voice demonstrating that within minutes of the accident she denied her train had struck our client, even though she knew he was alive and lying under the third car of her train and with severe injuries to both of his legs and one arm.

Mr. Shapey was able to obtain numerous police reports from Transit officers and detectives who interviewed the train operator that contradicted her trial testimony.

It was a hard-fought battle that ended in victory for our client.

School Assault Case – Won a $10 million verdict for a young girl who was violently assaulted in the stairwell of a City public school.

Defective Seat Belt – Won a $9.5 million verdict for the family of a woman killed by a defectively designed belt during a low-speed collision at a Bronx intersection.

Subway Accident Case – Won a $9.3 million verdict for a 29-year-old man who lost his left arm and suffered an open skull fracture as the result of being struck by a subway train.

Automobile Accident Case – Won a $7.6 million verdict for a 65-year-old woman who lost her leg as a result of being struck by a vehicle that had skidded on an icy roadway.

Premises Negligence Case – $6,400,000 Settlement – 44 year old fell in mall parking lot hole caused by plow; client’s fractured elbow pain was ignored by hospital and doctors causing compartment syndrome and permanent impaired use of his arm.

Medical Malpractice & Premises Negligence – $6,400,000 Settlement – 44 year old fell in mall parking lot hole caused by snow plow whose fractured elbow pain was ignored for over 24 hours by hospital and doctors causing severe compartment syndrome and loss of use of arm.

Medical Malpractice and Premises Negligence – Settlement $6,300,000, Our client was walking to a movie when he stepped into an uncovered valve box in a parking lot, fell and fractured his elbow. He was sent right to a hospital and promptly seen by the orthopedic surgeon who decided to operate a few days later (to accommodate the doctor’s own schedule). Due to well-known complication of this injury, compartment syndrome, our client felt intense pain and loss of feeling in his hand. Sadly, his repeated complaints of severe pain were ignored by the physicians and nurses for many hours. His condition was neglected for so long that the delay caused necrosis (death of tissue) that destroyed many muscles and nerves in his arm.

In addition, we belieeved that the valve box and cover were damaged by a plow clearing snow in the parking lot. We were able to demonstrate, using two experts and illustrated engineering drawings, that the snow plow caused the damage to the water company’s equipment in the pavement. Our real property management expert helped us prove that the mall’s management failed to properly inspect its own parking lots.

We sued the mall owner, the snow removal contractor, the water company that owned the valve box, the admitting hospital, the orthopedic surgeon and a second hospital that provided the orthopedic residents (who failed to properly monitor the condition of the client’s arm after the surgeon left the hospital).

Intruder Assault and Defamation – Won a $6 million verdict for a woman who was brutally attacked and stabbed in her apartment building due to poor security.

Premises Negligence – $5,347,000 Settlement – 53 year old airport worker right leg was caught in airplane stair that was mechanically lowered as he was walking down the steps.

Premises Negligence – $4,625,000 Settlement – Broadway actor fell through a stage trap door that we proved was defectively designed for safety. He sustained fractures to pelvis, right forearm, ribs, sternum, vertebrae, left foot and needed multiple surgeries. We hired engineers and we built a full-scale version of the stage equipment to prove the dangers for the actors.

Bus Accident – $4,475,000 Settlement, just before trial, for a 14-year old boy who was struck by a bus while he was attempting to cross Rockaway Boulevard in Queens on the first day of school. To achieve this settlement, we conducted seven depositions and hired ten experts to assist us in analyzing both the liability and injury portions of this case and to testify at trial. Those experts included a psychologist, a pediatric neurologist, a neuro-ophthamologist, an audiologist, a life care planner, an economist, a photographer and videographer, a retired member of the NYPD Accident Investigation Squad, a trans por ta tion engineer, and a medical illustrator for court room exhibits to show the jury the nature of the infant clients injuries and his surgery. We overcame evidence taken from street witnesses by the police that the infant client may have been pushed by his younger brother who was “horsing around” on the center median of the street.

Auto Accident – $4,000,000 Settlement – 4 month old infant involved in a motor vehicle accident driven by her father who claimed he was cut off by a phantom car. She suffered a brain trauma requiring surgery and a seizure disorder.

Subway Accident – $4,000,000 Settlement – 50 year old male was struck by a train when he fell on the tracks while intoxicated and suffered amputations of both legs. We obtained a jury verdict in his favor and his case was settled during the appeal by defendant.

Auto Accident – $3,100,000 Settlement – 41 year old working man sustained a neck injury in a motor vehicle accident that required a fusion surgery. We obtained a jury verdict for him and his case was settled during the appeal by defendant.y.

Landlord Negligence – $3,000,000 Settlement – 44 year old man fell due to defective stair edge in his apartment building. After surgery to his fractured right wrist, he developed a well-known complication: compartment syndrome of the right forearm.

Construction Accident – $3,000,000 Settlement – 42 year old roofer who fell from an unsafe ladder fracturing his left leg and requiring 4 surgeries.

Construction Accident – $3,000,000 Settlement – 55 year old laborer who fell from a unsecured ladder and suffered multiple fracture dislocations to his right foot with 3 surgeries.

Construction Accident – $3,000,000 Settlement – Defective apartment house steps caused wrist fractures requiring surgery.

Premises Negligence – $2,700,000 Settlement – 12 year old tripped and fell due to protruding base of scaffold support pole causing him extensive injuries to his left leg requiring multiple surgeries.

Construction Accident – $2,600,000 Settlement – 25 year old construction worker who fell from defective scaffold. He sustained fractured ribs, multiple injuries to his left knee requiring surgery and fusion surgery to his lower back.

Construction Accident – $2,600,000 Settlement – 26 year old construction laborer hurt knee and back due to fall through defective outdoor scaffold at roof renovation project.

Scaffold Accident – $2,600,000 Settlement – Worker at NYC school fell from defective scaffold suffered injuries to his back & knee requiring surgery.

Bus Accident – $2,400,000 Settlement – Female pedestrian hit by NYCTA bus while in crosswalk. Suffered severe leg injuries, fractures & skin wounds requiring surgery.

Bus Accident – $2,400,000 Settlement – 60 year old woman struck by a NYC Transit bus causing deloving injury and fractures of her left leg. She needed multiple surgeries for the wound to the skin of her leg.

Premises Negligence – $2,300,000 Settlement – 37 year old tourist from Guyana fell down a flight of stairs due to a defective handrail and fractured his right leg.

Slip & Fall – $2,300,000 Settlement – Pre-trial settlement for a 37 year old man who fell down on stairs due to a defective handrail after visiting a family member’s building. He fractured his lower right leg and needed surgery. This case was settled and our client received his recovery less than 2 1/2 years after the fall.

Bus Accident – $2,150,000 Settlement – 56 year old woman was dragged by an MTA bus after her coat was caught in the back doors causing degloving injury to left leg and fractures with surgeries.

Auto Accident – $1,975,000 Settlement – 30 year old man involved in a motor vehicle accident with injury to his neck requiring surgery.

Construction Accident – $1,950,000 Settlement – During the second week of trial in Manhattan Supreme Court, we obtained nearly two million dollars for our client, a 46-year-old carpenter who fell approximately three feet from a defective baker scaffold, landing on his feet. The client was diagnosed with a disc/osteophyte complex in his neck and a torn meniscus in his knee in the weeks following his fall.

Car Accident – $1,850,000 Settlement – 62 year old business owner was struck by a motor vehicle backing up over a crosswalk and suffered traumatic brain injury.

Construction Accident – $1,800,000 Settlement – 47 year old construction worker struck by a construction bucket that fell causing him to suffer injuries to his shoulders and back and requiring several surgeries.

Construction Accident – Construction Worker hurt due to fall from unsecured ladder – Case settled just before trial for $1.8 million.

Our client was a 53-year-old Polish-speaking construction laborer who fell onto a concrete floor when an extension ladder slipped out. Under New Yorks Labor Law, we obtained summary judgment from the Court holding that defendants were entirely liable.

Our client was admitted to a hospital for one month for orthopedic surgery of his femur (thigh bone) near his hip. Three years later, he needed lumbar and knee surgeries. He requires pain management including injections and prescription medication. His total medical expenses were about $70,000.

Construction Accident – $1,780,000 Settlement – 31 year old construction worker who fell into a hole and suffered injuries to his back and neck.

Construction Accident – $1,750,000 Settlement – 53 year old construction worker fell from a scaffold with multiple fractures in the pelvic area, traumatic brain injury, fractured fingers and back injuries.

Premises Liability – $1,700,000 Settlement – 37 year old EMT who was injured in an elevator that was defective causing him injuries to both knees and back requiring surgeries. This case only settled during the damages trial in Court.

Premises Negligence – $1,600,000 Settlement – 26 year old male who tripped and fell on a premises defect causing him to fracture his right, dominant hand and back injuries requiring surgeries.

Construction Accident – $1,600,000 Settlement – 50 year old construction worker who fell from a scaffold and suffered back and ankle injuries requiring surgeries.

Slip & Fall – Fall on Defective Pavement at Building Entrance – Lipsig Law Firm obtains$1.6 million settlement – 1 ½ years after injury.

Our client, 26 years old, sustained serious injuries in 2009, when he fell due to a defective condition at the front entrance stairs to an apartment building.

After treatment for injuries to his hand and back at a hospital emergency room, he was treated by an orthopedic surgeon and casted for a fractured hand and examined for worsening lumbar spine pain.

About six months later, after conservative treatment was unsuccessful, he required a lumbar spine fusion surgery. Due to continuing pain, one month later he had a second lumbar discectomy surgery.

Although he was not working at the time of his injury, we projected the future cost of his medical needs including medications.

Premises Negligence – $1,600,000 Settlement – 27 year-old Brooklyn resident who fell on a cracked sidewalk ramp in front of an apartment building and required several back surgeries.

Slip & Fall – $1,600,000 Settlement – 50 year-old construction laborer who fell from a scaffold and suffered back and ankle injuries.

Construction Accident – $1,500,000 Settlement – 50 year-old construction laborer who fell from a scaffold and suffered back and ankle injuries.

Auto Accident – $1,500,000 Settlement – 43 year old bus driver struck in the rear by a commercial truck causing back injuries requiring several surgeries.

Auto Accident – $1,500,000 Settlement – 68 year old women struck by car exiting driveway suffered a fractured elbow with surgery; hardware removed one year later.

Construction Accident – $1,500,000 Settlement – Pre-trial settlement for 50 year old construction worker who fell 5-10 feet from a defective scaffold. Our client sustained injury to his back that required surgery. We overcame the defense that New York’s Labor Law was not applicable to the work site at a large mansion in Westchester County.

Auto Accident – $1,460,000 Settlement – 14 year old female passenger in a motor vehicle accident that caused spinal injuries requiring fusion surgery, facial scarring, brain injury, and right ear detachment.

Auto Accident – $1,460,000 Settlement – High school student, passenger in friends car suffered back injuries. Friend lost control of car in traffic light controlled intersection.

Construction Accident – $1,450,000 Settlement – 31 year old male injured when he fell into an uncovered and unguarded form for a concrete column causing him to endure multiple back surgeries.

Construction Accident – $1,350,000 Settlement – 42 year old man fell through an opening covered with unsecured plywood. He had rib fractures, lower back fractures, tears to knees requiring surgery with a partial loss of use of right arm and right leg.

Lead Poisoning Case – Plaintiff settled a case involving childhood lead poisoning at a mediation, for the sum of $1,300,000. This case involved a young girl who sustained lead poisoning from ingesting lead-based paint that was peeling and chipping from the walls of two apartments in Brooklyn, where her uncle and maternal grandparents lived. The settlement was paid by the two insurance carriers for the two building owners. The settlement will provide substantial payments to the child when she turns 18, and is greater than any reported sustained verdicts for lead poisoning cases in Brooklyn.

Landlord Negligence – $1,200,000 Settlement – Tenant assaulted during burglary, suffered serious neck & back injuries while trying to escape apartment. Lipsig law firm proved that the building management failed to evict the known criminal from premises.

Landlord Negligence – $1,200,000 Settlement – 44 year old electrician who was electrocuted causing him to fall 14 ft. causing clavicle fractures with surgeries and multiple rib fractures.

Landlord Negligence – $1,200,000 Settlement – 41 year old woman who was assaulted by a tenant due to negligent security. She suffered spinal cord injury in neck and had 2 injuries.

Construction Accident – $1,200,000 Settlement – Our client, a 49-year-old electrician fell from a ladder at an office building in September, 2008. Our motion for summary judgment asserting that he was provided an unsecured ladder that violated New Yorks Labor Law 240(1) was pending before the Court. He suffered bilateral clavicle fractures and multiple rib fractures. He needed an arthroscopic shoulder surgery and we established that he had a mild brain injury. We retained an economist to project his future loss of earnings and future medical expenses.

Construction Accident – $1,100,000 Settlement – 44 year old ironworker who tripped and fell on steel plates causing injuries requiring surgery to his left knee.

Construction Accident – $1,100,000 Settlement – At a private mediation, we obtained over a million dollars for another client, a 52-year-old jackhammer operator who fell approximately 15 feet from an elevated train platform, sustaining cervical and lumbar disc herniations that were treated with physical therapy.

Auto Accident – $1,100,000 Settlement – 23 year old female passenger in a motor vehicle who suffered soft-tissue injuries to her neck, shoulder and knees with two arthroscopic surgeries. We tried this case before a jury and received a verdict of over $2 million. The case was settled during the appeal for almost all of the insurance coverage.

Car Accident – $1,000,000 Settlement – With the assistance of a special master at an appellate court, we negotiated a million-dollar settlement on behalf of a 54-year-old client with a history of mental illness, drug and alcohol addictions, who sustained cervical disc herniations as a driver in two-car intersection accident, and underwent surgery, but received no further medical treatment in 2 ½ years before the case was resolved.