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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 locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
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 2026-10-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 61522: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-07
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
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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
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