‎Practice Areas — Stonberg Hickman & Pavloff LLP

Practice Areas

Premises Liability

We focus on the defense of landlords and tenants in various types of premises liability claims, including sidewalk accidents, stairway accidents, negligent security actions and others. We are well-versed in issues involving risk transfer as well as the representation of franchisees in premises actions.

Labor Law

We routinely represent owners, general contractors and trade subcontractors in actions brought under the New York Labor Law. We routinely evaluate contractual obligations and indemnification/risk transfer issues. We pride ourselves on evaluation of Labor Law liability issues and indemnification issues early in the life cycle of a case and recommend strategies for attempts at early resolution where appropriate. As a result, we regularly achieve early and cost-effective resolution of these claims prior to engaging in full discovery when possible.

Insurance Coverage and Coverage Litigation

Our insurance coverage practice is wide-ranging and diverse, and includes coverage evaluations of general liability insurance, umbrella/excess insurance, business and personal auto insurance, homeowners insurance and more, for labor law cases, construction defect cases, slip and fall claims, personal/advertising injury claims, civil rights claims and many other civil cases. We work closely with our liability defense team on risk transfer to protect both the defendant/insureds and their insurance companies. We provide counsel regarding bad faith claims and represent insurers in active coverage litigation throughout New York in State and Federal courts. We have litigated questions ranging from whether a policy was issued and who are the insureds, to the applicability of the terms, exclusions and conditions of the policies, policy reformation and/or rescission, among many other issues. We actively seek to obtain resolutions early in the life of a matter but will proceed through to trial and/or appeal when necessary.

Product Liability

Our attorneys have decades of combined experience in defending product liability actions over a wide scope, including component automobile parts and consumer goods such as bicycle helmets and other sporting goods and equipment. We are experienced in the defense of manufacturers as well as downstream resellers and retailers in these actions.

Trucking/Auto Accidents and Defects

Our team is well equipped to defend personal and commercial auto claims. We defend minor to catastrophic accident claims involving private passenger automobiles and commercial tractor-trailers in both State and Federal Court. Additionally, we represent insurers in first-party disputes before arbitration panels in both New York and New Jersey. We have also served as on-call counsel for emergency accident response to insurers and have experience on our team in managing commercial auto claims.

Construction Defects

In addition to defense of matters under the New York Labor Law, our construction practice also involves the defense of construction defects and property damage actions throughout the New York City metropolitan area. We routinely represent building owners as well as subcontractors in claims involving property damage from neighboring operations. Our network of construction experts allows us to inspect these premises and evaluate potential exposure early to work in partnership with insurers to formulate early resolution strategies.