NY City Accuses Law Firm of Running Injury Claims Fraud Operation
New York City is suing a Manhattan law firm for alleging running a multimillion dollar personal injury fraud scheme by filing as many as 15 injury claims against the city on behalf of people allegedly harmed due to roadway defects.
The city accuses the law firm Asher & Associates, P.C. and its principals of fabricating roadway-defect narratives to make it appear the city was to blame for injuries supposedly sustained in scooter, moped and bicycle accidents, despite medical and emergency response records and other evidence showing the injuries were not caused by road conditions or the city.
The Asher lawsuits have sought tens of millions of dollars from the city and its Department of Transportation. The complaint provides 15 examples of cases where the descriptions of injuries were consistent with assaults, hit-and-run driving accidents or rear-end collisions with stopped vehicles, not roadway defects.
The city maintains that when it or other defendants have confronted Asher & Associates with the contradictory evidence, the law firm has discontinued the cases without explanation.
The law firm’s principals Ryan H. Asher and Roberta D. Asher are named as defendants in the suit filed in federal court along with unnamed parties who are accused of is “substantially” assisting in the scheme. These include “runners” who the city says provide clients willing to stand behind fabricated narratives, and litigation funders that seek to profit from eventual settlements.
Examples of Claims
A number of the Asher lawsuits have sought $3 million. They include one in 2019 involving a client who the firm said suffered a severe hand injury after tripping over a “misleveled” metal sidewalk plate in Brooklyn. However, records from the emergency room at Kings County Medical Center showed the client had actually been beaten with a lead pipe during a fight on Thanksgiving Day.
Asher & Associates also filed a $3 million lawsuit claiming a client suffered severe injuries from a bicycle accident caused by a defective roadway on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn. However, medical records from SUNY Downstate showed the client was injured in a physical fight.
In 2022, Asher & Associates filed sought $3 million in damages claiming that a “ditch” or “hole” in the roadway caused a fall from an electric scooter on Fifth Avenue near West 139th Steet in Manhattan despite hospital personnel describing an automobile accident.
The city’s complaint describes the firm as “routinely commencing parallel suits based on the same false narratives” against utility companies and paving contractors whose past roadway work at the incident site was cited as a cause of the supposed roadway defect, resulting in prolonged litigation.
The city’s is asking for treble damages under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and treble damages and penalties under the city and state false claims acts. The city false claims act imposes $5,000 and $15,000 penalties for each case and treble damages; the state law imposes even larger penalties.
Asher & Associates has not yet responded to the city’s lawsuit.