Why Fellows Hymowitz Rice Takes Cases to Trial

Most personal injury firms in New York settle cases, often for less than the evidence supports. Volume-driven economics or flat-out inexperience push attorneys to go with whatever the insurance company offers first. Fellows Hymowitz Rice is built differently. Every case our skilled Rockland County personal injury lawyers take is prepared from the outset as though it will go before a jury in New York State court. That approach changes what insurers put on the table, frequently before the trial becomes a question at all.

What "Settlement Mills" Actually Cost Clients with Serious Injuries

The term "settlement mill" describes a common business model in the legal industry. High-volume personal injury firms can operate on a throughput model: sign clients, send demand letters, negotiate with adjusters, accept what comes back, collect the contingency fee, and move on to the next file. The model sustains the legal practice, but at the client's expense.

The problem runs deeper than low offers. Settlement mills rarely invest in:

• Expert witnesses or accident reconstruction reports
• Full medical record review
• Depositions of defendants or witnesses
• Trial preparation of any kind

When revenue depends on case volume, spending $25,000 to $40,000 to prepare a case for trial makes no business sense if the case is expected to settle for $100,000 regardless. So the firm does not spend it, and the insurer knows that.

Clients who retain these firms often do not realize the situation until a settlement offer arrives that does not cover their medical bills. By then, the attorney has no leverage. The insurer already knows this firm does not try cases. The reserve set on the file (the internal amount the carrier budgets to resolve the claim) reflects that knowledge from day one.

For clients with catastrophic injuries, permanent disability, or wrongful death claims, the difference in recovery between a settlement mill and a trial-ready firm can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Why Insurance Companies Set Lower Reserves Against Some Law Firms

Insurance defense attorneys and adjusters do not treat every plaintiff's firm the same way. They track verdicts, log settlement patterns, and know which attorneys:

• Take depositions and retain expert witnesses
• File jury demands and follow through
• Walk into courtrooms regularly

When a claims file is initially opened by an adjuster, one of the first assessments is who represents the injured person. A law firm with no trial record receives a lower reserve: less money internally budgeted to pay the claim. A law firm with documented verdicts forces the insurer to account for what a jury might award.

Data from the Insurance Information Institute and the Insurance Research Council show that plaintiffs represented by experienced counsel secure significantly higher settlements in auto injury cases. However, these results depend on a firm's litigation reputation. Attorneys lacking a courtroom record cannot issue a credible threat of trial, whereas those with documented verdicts possess leverage that increases the case's value throughout negotiations.

Rob Fellows, founding partner of Fellows Hymowitz Rice, has a trial record spanning more than 35 years in New York State courts. His presence on a case is what makes that threat credible and the initial offer meaningfully higher.

Why Rob Fellows' 35-Year Trial Record Changes What Insurers Offer

Rob Fellows has practiced personal injury law in New York for over 35 years. He holds New York Metropolitan Area Super Lawyer recognition in personal injury every year from 2013 through 2024, a peer-reviewed designation awarded to fewer than 5% of attorneys in any state. He holds an AV Martindale-Hubbell rating of 4.9 and a 10/10 on Avvo. He was elected President of the Rockland County Bar Association and served in that role from 2022 to 2024.

That bar association presidency is peer-elected, placing Fellows within a community of judges, defense counsel, and opposing attorneys, many of whom appear on the other side of cases the firm litigates. That standing carries into every courtroom and negotiation the firm enters.

Steven Hymowitz has held Super Lawyer recognition from 2014 through 2024. Matthew Rice holds a J.D. from St. John's University School of Law and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business, both of which are directly relevant to calculating present and future economic damages in high-value claims.

Together, the three partners bring over 100 years of combined experience across hundreds of litigated cases, a record opposing parties can independently verify and one that shapes how the firm's cases are valued before trial ever begins.

The Verdicts and Settlements That Come from Preparing Every Case for Trial

Fellows Hymowitz Rice has recovered significant verdicts and settlements across New City car accident claims, construction accident cases across New York, medical malpractice, and catastrophic injury matters throughout New York City and the surrounding region.

• $8.365M serious injury recovery.
• $8M personal injury verdict.
• 100+ five-star Google reviews.
• 40+ years of combined trial experience.

Each reflects a case in which the firm prepared thoroughly, and the insurer had to account for a real trial risk. A firm without a trial record cannot produce these outcomes. The threat of trial carries no weight when the record does not support it.

Three Situations That Push a Case to Trial at Fellows Hymowitz Rice

Most cases at Fellows Hymowitz Rice settle on terms the evidence supports. The firm goes to trial when the insurer's offer does not meet that standard. Three situations typically drive that decision.

• Liability is clear, but the offer is not. When fault is established through police reports, witness accounts, or physical evidence, and the insurer's number still falls short of documented medical costs and lost wages, settlement at that figure is not in the client's interest. The record exists. The offer has to reflect it.
• The injury is permanent. Spinal cord injuries, brain injury cases in New York, amputations, severe burns, and wrongful death cases carry lifetime costs that insurer settlement matrices routinely undervalue. A jury presented with full medical and economic expert testimony can award what the evidence actually supports.
• The insurer is acting in bad faith. When a carrier delays without cause or makes offers that are disconnected from documented damages, litigation under the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules is the mechanism that compels accountability. Fellows Hymowitz Rice uses every procedural tool available when insurers refuse to deal fairly.

In each situation, going to trial is not a last resort. It is the appropriate response to an insurer that will not price the case correctly any other way.

Why Building a Case for Trial Changes the Offer Even Before Trial Begins

The work required to try a case covers discovery, retained experts, depositions, medical record review, and accident reconstruction. It does more than prepare for court. It creates a documented record that increases the insurer's own cost of proceeding, thereby changing the offer before any jury is selected.

1. Expert witnesses retained and disclosed. The insurer must now fund counter-experts at their own cost.
2. Defendant depositions lock the record. The defense narrative weakens in the face of documented testimony.
3. Life care plans document future costs. Future damages can no longer be credibly undervalued.
4. The insurer must match every expert or face the jury. The economics of a lowball offer change entirely.

When Fellows Hymowitz Rice retains a biomechanical engineer for a spinal injury case, the insurer must retain and pay for a counter-expert. When depositions fix the defendant's account on the record, the defense position weakens. When a life care planner documents the full lifetime cost of a permanent disability, the insurer cannot credibly undervalue future damages without risking a verdict that substantially exceeds its last offer.

In a Rockland County construction accident involving permanent spinal injury, the difference between a first offer and a fully-litigated result often reflects months of expert work: biomechanical reports, vocational assessments, and economic projections that a settlement mill never commissions because it never plans to go to trial.

For car accidents on Route 9W or the New York State Thruway, Fellows Hymowitz Rice applies the same standard of preparation. The same holds for wrongful death matters in the Bronx and Manhattan and for jobsite injuries across Rockland County, regardless of case size or venue.

If the Offer Is Wrong, the Case Goes to Trial

The personal injury market in New York sustains firms that never enter a courtroom. Fellows Hymowitz Rice is not one of them. Over four decades of practice, three trial-credentialed partners, and documented recoveries across Rockland County and New York City define one standard: if the offer does not reflect the evidence, the case goes to trial.

Contact us for a free consultation. No fee unless the firm wins your case. Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.