At a time when New York City faces over 700 lawsuits stemming from Hurricane Sandy, lawyers from such far-flung locations as Texas and Florida are looking for their piece of the pie, and are setting up shop in the region, Crain’s reported.
One of them is Marty Ged, a New Jersey-born partner at the Boca Raton, Fla., law firm Ellis Ged & Bodden, who now has two offices in New Jersey and another one in the works in Staten Island. Texas attorney Steve Mostyn claimed that he is working on $1 billion in Sandy claims in the Northeast.
The storm-related lawsuits focus on insurance claims, tenant and landlord disputes over rent abatements, and environmental spills, to name a few. The biggest cases come from Fortune 500 companies that suffered business losses and damaged properties during the October storm. However, despite the amount of individuals seeking to file lawsuits, few have reached the courthouse.
The cases predicted to hit the courts are those dealing with commercial and residential tenants suing landlords for rent abatements. One example, as The Real Deal has reported, is a proposed class action launched by three young New York City residents seeking rent refunds for the time their buildings lacked power, hot water and elevator service. [Crain’s] —Zachary Kussin