The Aporia · Personal injury law firm screwing NYC out of ‘millions’ in bogus lawsuit scheme: ‘The lawyers get richer’

Personal injury law firm screwing NYC out of ‘millions’ in bogus lawsuit scheme: ‘The lawyers get richer’

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Senzamici, P. (2026, October 7). Personal injury law firm screwing NYC out of ‘millions’ in bogus lawsuit scheme: ‘The lawyers get richer’. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/06/us-news/personal-injury-law-firm-screwing-city-out-of-millions-in-bogus-lawsuit-scheme/

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Quick Summary

The New York City Corporation Counsel has filed a lawsuit against personal injury firm Asher & Associates, alleging that over the past decade, the firm scammed millions from city taxpayers by fabricating slip-and-fall cases. The complaint cites 15 specific examples where the firm sought $41 million in compensation for injuries allegedly caused by defective sidewalks and roadways; however, medical records show these injuries were due to unrelated incidents like beatings or car accidents. Representing more than 875 pending cases, Asher & Associates is accused of transforming narratives from emergency room visits into fraudulent claims against the city.

Written by AI on 2026-10-07, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The New York City government has filed a lawsuit against the personal injury law firm Asher & Associates, accusing it of scamming millions from city coffers through phony lawsuits. According to the lawsuit, Asher & Associates fabricated cases where the city was responsible for sidewalk and roadway defects causing injuries, such as tripping accidents. The firm allegedly transformed real but less severe incidents into exaggerated claims, including one case where a client claimed a trip injury but medical records showed they were beaten with a lead pipe.

Over at least a decade, Asher & Associates has secured millions in payouts through settlements and judgments. Currently, over 875 cases are still pending against the city, Con Edison, and other companies involved in roadwork. The lawsuit asserts that this scheme undermines the civil justice system by turning real but minor injuries into exaggerated claims to benefit financially from taxpayers.

New York City Corporation Counsel Steven Banks emphasized that personal injury laws should protect actual victims of trauma rather than facilitating schemes for financial gain at the expense of city taxpayers.

Written for “Lawyer Scams In New York City” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

33%

6 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

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withheld

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66/100

New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

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Crime & Law

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Who wrote this

Peter Senzamici

18 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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Also by Peter Senzamici

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2026-10-22 · New York Post

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2026-10-22 · New York Post

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 18 articles by Peter Senzamici →

Claims (18 extracted, 6 hedged)

A personal injury firm has spent years filing phony lawsuits and scamming millions off New York City taxpayers in a bogus slip-and-fall cash grab, according to a shocking new lawsuit filed by the city. uncertain

firm → spend → city

Asher & Associates wholly invented lawsuits to bilk city coffers — including 15 examples where the firm argued the city was liable for $41 million due to sidewalk and roadway trips, court papers said. asserted

papers → invent → trips

While the injuries may have been real, they weren’t as advertised. uncertain

they → advertise → ?

One person claimed they tripped over a sidewalk metal plate, but they were actually beaten with a lead pipe, according to obtained medical records that were included in the federal lawsuit. uncertain

that → claim → lawsuit

The firm scored “millions of dollars” in payouts through settlements and judgments over at least a 10-year period, court papers said. asserted

papers → score → period

And more than 875 cases are currently pending against the city, Con Ed and various other companies involved in road work across the Big Apple. asserted

cases → pende → Apple

“Personal injury laws exist to protect actual victims of trauma, not to line the pockets of people looking to make a quick buck off City taxpayers,” said New York City Corporation Counsel Steven Banks. asserted

Banks → exist → taxpayers

“This firm undermined our civil justice system by operating an illegal scheme to defraud taxpayers and fabricating personal injury claims against the City and others.” uncertain

firm → undermine → City

Reps from Asher & Associates did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. asserted

Reps → respond → comment

The lawsuit includes over a dozen cases that the city says are “fraudulent,” where medical records directly contradict what attorneys claimed in court. asserted

attorneys → include → court

“In moving from emergency room to courtroom the Asher Defendants’ clients’ narratives undergo a remarkable metamorphosis,” the filing reads, where a “punch in the jaw … an opened car door, or an encounter with a hit and run driver is transformed into that ‘defective, cracked, misleveled, broken … or uneven’ roadway owned or controlled by the City. asserted

punch → move → City

In a 2019 case, Asher claimed in sworn statements that their client’s hand injury was because he tripped over a “misleveled” metal plate on a Brooklyn sidewalk. asserted

he → claim → sidewalk

But the emergency room intake told a different story: The client was in “a fight on Thanksgiving Day and was hit with a pipe across his hand,” according to records the city obtained from Kings County Medical Center. Other medical records show that while doctors were told the injuries were from motorcycle accidents, car crashes and bike spills, Asher & Associates told the court the city was to blame. uncertain

city → tell → court

Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. asserted

Report → start → news

All 15 of the cases filed notices of claim against the city seeking $3 million each. uncertain

15 → file → million

“We’re thrilled to have Mayor Mamdani’s Law Department in the trenches, tackling the legal system abuse that drives up costs throughout the economy, and makes New York less affordable for all,” said Tom Stebbins, executive director at the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York. asserted

Stebbins → thrill → York

“New York City pays out more in lawsuits than the next largest U.S. cities combined,” Stebbins added. asserted

Stebbins → pay → cities

“The lawyers get richer while the rest of us pay more for everything.” asserted

rest → get → everything

Personal injury law firm screwing NYC out of ‘millions’ in bogus lawsuit scheme: ‘The lawyers get richer’

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Claims (18 extracted, 6 hedged)