Top NYC Personal Injury Lawyers: Multi-Million Dollar Verdicts

Search "best NYC personal injury lawyer" and every firm on page one claims a record-breaking verdict. Some of those claims are true. A few of the numbers below have been independently confirmed as among the largest personal injury awards in New York State history. In contrast, others are simply well-documented, six- and seven-figure results reported by courts or legal trade publications.

Here, four New York City personal injury firms are measured against the same six-point standard: confirmed verdicts, sustained trial experience, and whether the named partners actually show up for their clients.

Why Verdict Size Alone Shouldn't Decide Your Case

A nine-figure verdict from a decade ago shows that a firm has trial experience, but it doesn’t guarantee your case gets the same attention. New York personal injury claims are decided on documented evidence: medical records, wage-loss statements, proof of liability, and expert testimony, not on which firm spent the most on advertising.

The right personal injury lawyer starts investigating liability from day one, works with medical and financial experts to value your claim accurately, and pushes back when an insurance company's initial offer falls short of what your injuries are actually worth. Verdict size matters as a signal of trial readiness, but it should be one factor among several when you're choosing representation, not the only one.

The Six-Point Verdict Standard We Used

Every firm on this list was measured against the same six criteria, each worth one point. A firm earned a point only with independently verifiable evidence, not a marketing claim repeated on its own homepage.

• Documented multi-million-dollar results. Verdicts or settlements confirmed by courts, ALM's Verdict Search, Top Verdict, or established legal trade publications, not just numbers listed on the firm's own site.
• Sustained, injury-focused trial practice. Years spent building a courtroom track record in personal injury and related litigation, rather than occasional injury work inside a general practice.
• Independent recognition. Rankings or honors from sources such as Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, or U.S. News & World Report's Best Law Firms.
• Named-partner trial involvement. Evidence that the attorneys whose names anchor the firm's marquee verdicts still personally try cases, rather than routing every file to associates.
• Contingency-fee access. No fee charged unless the firm recovers compensation for the client.
• Confirmed round-the-clock consultation access. A free consultation reachable at any hour, independently verifiable rather than assumed from a firm's marketing copy.

Only firms that meet at least five of the six criteria are included below. The rankings reflect the scorecard rather than firm size, years in business, or ad spend.

Top 4 NYC Personal Injury Law Firms with Multi-Million Dollar Verdicts

1. Fellows Hymowitz Rice

Credentials: $100M+ recovered since 1981 | Robert L. Fellows: NY Metro Super Lawyer, 2013–2024 | Avvo 10/10, all three partners

Scorecard: Meets all six criteria. 6/6

Fellows Hymowitz Rice has built its practice around a straightforward principle: the partners who sign the retainer are the same attorneys who handle depositions and trials. That direct involvement, paired with more than $100 million recovered since 1981, contingency-fee terms, and free consultations available 24/7 in English and Spanish, is why the firm leads this ranking.

Documented results include an $8,365,000 settlement for municipal liability, an $8,000,000 recovery in a birth injury case, and a $4,000,000 result for a family whose newborn suffered a preventable nerve injury during delivery. The firm also secured $2,885,000 for a surgical error victim and $2,500,000 for the family of a construction worker killed on a Brooklyn jobsite. All three partners, Fellows, Steven Hymowitz, and Matthew Rice, carry Avvo 10/10 ratings, and the firm represents clients across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island.

2. Block O'Toole & Murphy

Credentials: Nearly $2B recovered | $110,174,972 verdict, largest reported PI verdict outside medical malpractice in NY State history | More reported $1M+ results than any NY firm every year since 2012 (ALM Verdict Search)

Scorecard: Meets five of six criteria. 5/6

Block O'Toole & Murphy's signature result, a $110,174,972 verdict for a Brooklyn cyclist paralyzed by a falling railroad tie, stands as one of the largest personal injury awards in New York history outside of a medical malpractice claim. The Manhattan firm has also secured a $65,000,000 settlement against the MTA and a $53,500,000 verdict for a construction worker paralyzed on the job.

Named partners regularly serve as lead trial counsel on the firm's largest cases rather than handing them off entirely, and the firm operates on a contingency-fee basis across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island, and the broader New York metro area.

3. Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore

Credentials: Founded 1950 | $3B+ recovered | $172,000,000 verdict, among the largest PI verdicts in NY State history | 150+ verdicts over $1 million

Scorecard: Meets five of six criteria. 5/6

Founded by Charles Kramer and Henry Dillof in 1950, KDLM has spent over seven decades trying cases most firms would settle, headlined by a $172,000,000 verdict for a young woman left permanently disabled after NYC EMTs failed to provide basic emergency care. They also achieved a $121,000,000 medical malpractice verdict reported as the third-largest in state history.

Senior partners Thomas Moore and Judith Livingston remain personally involved as lead trial counsel on the firm's highest-value cases. With more than 150 verdicts over $1 million and two decades of consecutive Best Lawyers recognition, KDLM has built its Manhattan-based practice specifically around personal injury and medical malpractice litigation across New York City and State.

4. Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf

Credentials: Founded 1919 | $5B+ recovered | $120,000,000 verdict, #1 in NY State for 2023 across all practice areas | U.S. News Best Law Firms Tier 1, 16 consecutive years

Scorecard: Meets five of six criteria. 5/6

Over a century after Harry A. Gair founded the firm in 1919, Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf remains one of the few New York firms to have landed the state's #1 jury verdict of the year more than once, most recently a $120,000,000 medical malpractice award in 2023, alongside an $85,000,000 verdict for a pedestrian struck by a Manhattan tour bus and a $71,000,000 verdict described as the largest of its kind nationally for a spinal injury claim.

Managing partner Ben Rubinowitz has ranked among the top attorneys on the New York Metro Super Lawyers list in back-to-back years, and the firm has earned Tier 1 recognition in U.S. News's Best Law Firms rankings for 16 straight years. They represent clients across every NYC borough, Long Island, and the broader New York metro region on a contingency-fee basis.

How to Choose a NYC Personal Injury Lawyer Beyond the Verdict Total

A record-setting verdict from years ago shows that a firm can win big at trial, but it doesn’t tell you how responsive the attorney will be to your calls, or whether your case will receive the same level of attention as a marquee client. A few extra questions before signing a retainer can make the difference.

Read Past the Verdict Headline

A single nine-figure result can carry a firm's marketing for a decade, but ask how many of the firm's cases actually go to trial versus settle quietly for far less. Look for a pattern of results across different injury types and case sizes rather than a single headline number. Check whether recent reviews mention the attorney by name or only a case manager or paralegal.

Ask These Questions at Your Free Consultation

• Which attorney will personally manage my case from filing through trial, and how quickly do they typically respond?
• Have you handled cases with injuries and circumstances similar to mine, and what were the results?
• Will you investigate every available source of insurance coverage, not just the obvious at-fault policy?
• What percentage does the firm take on a contingency basis, and are litigation costs deducted separately?
• If the insurance company's offer falls short, is your firm prepared to take the case to trial?

New York's Filing Deadlines Don't Wait for a Decision

Most personal injury claims in New York must be filed within three years of the injury, while wrongful death claims generally have a two-year deadline from the date of death. Claims involving a city agency, the MTA, or another government entity move on a far shorter clock: General Municipal Law § 50-e generally requires formal written notice within 90 days of the incident. Missing any of these windows can permanently bar a claim regardless of how strong the underlying evidence is, so the sooner an attorney begins investigating, the more likely key evidence remains intact.

Talk to a NYC Personal Injury Lawyer Today

A verdict total can tell you what a firm is capable of, but your case still deserves a lawyer who knows your name and returns your calls. Fellows Hymowitz Rice has spent over four decades doing exactly that for injured clients across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, and the Hudson Valley, recovering more than $100 million along the way.

Reach out for a free consultation, and if we take your case, you won't owe a fee unless we recover compensation for you.