Jonathan Lippman became New York’s Chief Judge in January, 2009. After one year, it is now clear that he is moving the court to a more accepting and expansive point of view when rulling on personal injury claims.

Lippman has already written decisions in several cases dealing with injured workers and, in each decision, has sided with the plaintiff. In one decision, Lippman found that a prior court ruling that prohibited an injured teacher’s right to sue New York City was too restrictive and he expanded the teacher’s avenues for recovery. In another case, he ruled that the trial court had too narrowly construed a law regarding a worker’s right to seek damages from his/her employer.

In sum, Judge Lippman’s track record after his first year on the bench has been to expand plaintiffs’ rights of recovery rather than to follow the narrower rulings that came down over the last 16 years under his predecessor.

Posted by Georgia Stagias.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/nyregion/18lippman.html?scp=1&sq=court%20of%20appeals&st=cse