Why Choosing the Right Wrongful Death Lawyer Matters
A son in Midwood keeps a plastic bag of his father’s hospital discharge papers on top of the refrigerator. His father went home after a short stay, felt worse within two days, and died before a follow-up appointment ever took place. In Borough Park, a daughter reads through months of visit notes from her mother’s rehabilitation facility and notices how often the same pressure wound is described as “unchanged.” A family in Cobble Hill wonders why no one called them when a grandmother stopped eating. Each of these families has questions that only records and qualified medical review can answer, and many begin by looking for wrongful death lawyers in Brooklyn who understand how medical cases are built.
Harm in care settings is more common than many families assume. In a February 2014 report, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General estimated that 22% of Medicare beneficiaries experienced adverse events during skilled nursing facility stays, and that 59% of the adverse and temporary harm events it reviewed were clearly or likely preventable. Not every adverse event is negligence, and not every death after treatment is a legal wrong, which is exactly why careful review matters.
The other side of these cases is well prepared. Hospitals and physicians are usually defended by malpractice carriers or self-insurance programs with risk managers, defense counsel, and their own medical experts. Nursing home operators have insurers of their own. A family may receive a sympathetic letter, an offer to “review the concerns,” or a request to sign a records release, all before anyone on the family’s side has read the chart.
The right attorney can make the difference between:
- A chart that is requested in pieces and a complete record that includes nursing notes, medication logs, and electronic audit trails
- A death treated as an expected outcome and an independent physician’s opinion on whether the standard of care was met
- A deadline counted from the wrong date and one counted from the act, the last treatment, and the death
- A complaint dismissed for a missing certificate of merit and one filed with the required physician consultation
- A nursing home claim framed too narrowly and one that also considers the residents’ rights statute
New York medical death cases run on overlapping clocks. The wrongful death statute counts from the date of death, the malpractice statute counts from the treatment, and both can matter in the same case. Courts also require a physician consultation before a malpractice complaint goes forward. The August 2026 rankings below begin with the firm we place first.
August 2026 Rankings
| Rank | Law Firm | Lead Attorney | Client Satisfaction | Notable Settlements | Years Experience | Specialization Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kucher Law Group | Samantha Kucher, Esq. | 99% | $575,000 Medical Malpractice vs. Major Hospital (Non-Wrongful Death) | 15+ | Wrongful Death & Personal Injury |
| 2 | Finz & Finz, P.C. | Stuart L. Finz, Esq. | 97% | $2,350,000 Medical Malpractice Verdict (Reported by NY Post) | 40+ | Wrongful Death & Personal Injury |
| 3 | Ajlouny Injury Law | Paul Ajlouny, Esq. | 95% | $300,000,000+ Total Recovered | 25+ | Wrongful Death & Catastrophic Injury |
| 4 | Raphaelson & Levine Law Firm, P.C. | Not Stated | 94% | $1 Billion+ Total Verdicts and Settlements | Since 1992 | Wrongful Death & Personal Injury |
| 5 | Cellino Law | Ross Cellino, Esq. | 93% | Not Stated | Not Stated | Wrongful Death & Personal Injury |
#1 Kucher Law Group
Why They’re #1: Families who suspect that a hospital or care facility played a part in a loved one’s death need Brooklyn wrongful death lawyers who also handle medical malpractice claims, and Kucher Law Group offers both within one practice. Its wrongful death page addresses losses caused by negligence or medical malpractice, and the firm’s approved results include a recovery against a major hospital.
Firm Overview
RRK Kucher Law Group PLLC was founded on December 10, 2019, and has grown to a staff of 10 to 19. By its own count, the firm has recovered more than $50 million for clients, including over $20 million in settlements, with a 99% success rate. The Brooklyn office is on Pulaski Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and a Manhattan office sits at 26 Broadway. Consultations are free and available in English, Russian, and Spanish.
Notable Case Results
None of the firm’s approved results is a wrongful death case. The outcomes below are labeled by their actual facts, beginning with the two that involved medical care:
- $575,000 : Medical malpractice claim against a major hospital
- $1,250,000 : Erb’s palsy injury to an infant, settled before trial
- $3,500,000 : Trip and fall on subway stairs, settled at trial
- $2,500,000 : Head-on motor vehicle collision causing a cervical spine injury that required surgery
- $1,400,000 : Construction site fall down stairs
Legal Team Excellence
Michael Roitman is the firm’s primary trial attorney, and in a medical death case his preparation begins with the chart. Physicians’ orders, nursing flow sheets, and medication records must be read in sequence before an expert can say whether something went wrong. Attorney Roitman earned his undergraduate degree at NYU and his law degree at Cooley Law School. He is admitted in the New York and New Jersey courts and in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, was named among the Top 50 Personal Injury Settlements in New York for 2023, and comes from a family that fled Ukraine.
Samantha Kucher joined the New York bar in 2015 after studying at NYU and New York Law School, and she grew up at the Milton Hershey School. Attorney Kucher was a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2020 and has been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 and by NAOPIA in 2024 and 2025. Alex Rybakov, licensed in New York since 2010, has devoted more than ten of his 15-plus years to personal injury work. He holds degrees from NYU and Seton Hall.
What Sets Them Apart
- 24/7 Availability: The wrongful death page states that the firm is open around the clock, so a family can call the night a concern surfaces
- No Upfront Fees / Contingency Only: Expert review can be costly, and the family pays no fee unless compensation is recovered
- Brooklyn Knowledge: The Bedford-Stuyvesant office keeps attorneys within reach of families and the Kings County courts
- Personalized Service: Families are walked through which deadline applies and why, in plain terms and in their preferred language
- Medical Claims Experience: The firm maintains a dedicated medical malpractice practice, and its approved results include a hospital recovery and an infant birth injury settlement
Client Testimonials
This review comes from a personal injury client, not a wrongful death or medical malpractice matter. It speaks to how the firm explains an unfamiliar process:
“I was fortunate enough to be represented by Kucher Law Group for my personal injury case. I had no idea what my rights were, or if I even had any. Kucher Law Group educated me, sourced all the required documentation, and secured a settlement in a timely manner. Their team was very responsive, respectful and utmost professional. I highly recommend Kucher Law Group for anyone seeking a personal injury attorney.” Marina Chalik, Google Review
Why Choose Kucher Law Group
When a death follows medical care, a family needs answers grounded in the records rather than in assumptions. Kucher Law Group pairs wrongful death and medical malpractice experience with trial preparation, contingency fees, and round-the-clock access. Its clients have rated the firm 4.99 out of 5 across 81 Google reviews. A free consultation can clarify which deadlines may apply before any of them run out.
Contact: (929) 563-6780 | 463 Pulaski St #1C, Brooklyn, NY 11221
#2 Finz & Finz, P.C.
Why They Made Our List: Finz & Finz, P.C. brings more than forty years of New York injury practice to its Brooklyn office on Spencer Street, and its published results include a medical malpractice verdict reported in the press.
Firm Overview
The firm’s Brooklyn office is located at 31 Spencer Street, Suite 1202. Its Brooklyn wrongful death page explains that a personal representative appointed under EPTL §5-4.1 brings the action and that the general filing period is two years from the date of death. The page also addresses the 90-day notice of claim required before suing a municipality, which may become relevant when a death involves a public facility.
Notable Achievements
The firm reports these outcomes and distinctions on its website, citing media coverage for its individual results:
- $2,350,000 : Medical malpractice verdict, as reported by the NY Post
- $18,800,000 : Settlement with Philip Morris, as reported by the LA Times (not a wrongful death matter)
- The firm states that it obtained four of the top 20 personal injury settlements in New York in 2020
Recognitions listed on the site include Lawyers of Distinction 2024, Super Lawyers, the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, National Trial Lawyers Top 100, America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators (2021), an AV Preeminent rating, and NADC recognition (2023).
Lead Attorney / Team
Stuart L. Finz and Leonard L. Finz are named among the firm’s attorneys, along with Cheri Finz, Todd M. Rubin, Jacquelin Finz, and Brandon S. Finz. A roster of that size can be helpful in medical cases, where record review and expert coordination take sustained attention over many months.
Service Approach
The firm’s wrongful death page lists lost earnings, the value of household services, funeral and burial costs, medical expenses, and loss of parental guidance among recoverable damages. Medical expenses deserve particular attention in a death that followed a long hospitalization or nursing home stay, since those bills can be substantial. Families can request a free consultation through the Brooklyn office or the toll-free line, 855-TOP-FIRM.
Contact: (718) 957-2407 | 31 Spencer St, Suite 1202, Brooklyn, NY 11205
#3 Ajlouny Injury Law
Why They Made Our List: Ajlouny Injury Law has represented injured New Yorkers for more than twenty-five years from its office on Court Street in Brooklyn and offers advice at any hour.
Firm Overview
The office is located at 26 Court Street, Suite 1104. The firm’s wrongful death page explains that the estate’s personal representative files the claim, that most claims must be brought within two years, and that a 90-day notice of claim is required before suing a municipality. It also describes which family members typically share in a recovery.
Notable Achievements
- The firm states that it has recovered more than $300,000,000 for clients across its practice areas; individual amounts are not listed on the page, so the figure is an aggregate total
- Lost financial support, funeral and burial costs, and loss of parental guidance are among the recoverable losses the page describes
Lead Attorney / Team
Paul Ajlouny founded the firm, and Michael Levitz is also named among its attorneys. Families can expect to know who is responsible for their matter from the start. The page does not list awards or professional honors.
Service Approach
Ajlouny Injury Law works on a contingency basis, with no fee unless the family recovers. Its page distinguishes the wrongful death claim, which addresses the survivors’ losses, from the survival action, which addresses what the decedent endured before death. In a medical case, that second claim can cover a period of declining health in a hospital or facility.
Contact: (516) 535-5555 | 26 Court St #1104, Brooklyn, NY 11242
#4 Raphaelson & Levine Law Firm, P.C.
Why They Made Our List: Raphaelson & Levine Law Firm, P.C. has served New York clients since 1992 and holds current 2026 recognitions for its personal injury work.
Firm Overview
The firm does not list a Brooklyn office. It practices from 14 Penn Plaza in Manhattan and from offices in Woodbury and Flushing, and its Brooklyn wrongful death page states that it serves Brooklyn families. It reports more than $1 billion in combined verdicts and settlements and works on a “no fees unless we win” basis.
Notable Achievements
Recognitions listed by the firm include Best Law Firms in New York City for personal injury (2026), Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch” (2026), the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Top 100 National Trial Lawyers, and Super Lawyers.
Lead Attorney / Team
The wrongful death page does not name individual attorneys, so families may wish to ask who will be assigned when they first call.
Service Approach
The page notes the two-year filing period from the date of death, links to EPTL §5-4.1, and lists lost wages, loss of support, funeral costs, and loss of parental guidance among recoverable losses. Consultations are offered in English, Spanish, and Mandarin.
Contact: (212) 268-3222 | 14 Penn Plaza, Suite 1718, New York, NY 10122 (Manhattan; no Brooklyn office listed)
#5 Cellino Law
Why They Made Our List: Cellino Law maintains a Brooklyn office on Fulton Street and explains New York’s wrongful death statute in accessible language.
Firm Overview
The Brooklyn office is at 1409 Fulton Street, Suite 101. The firm’s wrongful death page cites EPTL §5-4.1 and states that the estate’s personal representative brings the claim within two years. The firm describes serving Brooklyn clients for decades but does not give a specific number of years.
Notable Achievements
The wrongful death page does not publish case amounts. It identifies medical bills, funeral expenses, and lost wages as recoverable damages.
Lead Attorney / Team
Ross Cellino and Timothy Cellino are both named on the page, so families know which attorneys lead the firm when they make a first call.
Service Approach
Cellino Law offers a free initial consultation through its Brooklyn line and its toll-free number, 888-888-8888. That gives families a no-cost way to ask early questions about timing, which can matter when a death followed treatment months earlier.
Contact: (347) 756-4245 | 1409 Fulton Street, Suite 101, Brooklyn, NY 11216
Understanding Brooklyn Wrongful Death Cases
A death that follows medical care is rarely obvious as a legal matter. The patient was already ill, the records are long and technical, and the providers may sincerely believe nothing went wrong. Building a claim means reconstructing what happened hour by hour and asking a qualified physician whether it fell below accepted practice.
Missed Diagnoses After a Midwood Emergency Visit
When a patient from near Kings Highway or Coney Island Avenue is sent home from an emergency department with chest pain or a severe headache and dies days later, the family may have a claim if tests that should have been ordered were not. Triage notes, vital signs, and imaging orders usually tell the story.
Medication and Post-Surgical Errors Near Fort Greene
For families along DeKalb Avenue and Myrtle Avenue, questions often involve a wrong dose, a missed drug interaction, or a post-operative infection that went untreated. Medication administration records and pharmacy logs show what was given and when.
Nursing Home Neglect in Borough Park
Families near 13th Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway with relatives in long-term or rehabilitation care may see warning signs such as worsening pressure wounds, repeated falls, dehydration, or sudden weight loss. Care plans, turning schedules, and staffing records can show whether a resident’s needs were actually met.
Discharge and Transfer Failures in Cobble Hill
When a patient moves from hospital to home or to a facility near Court Street or Henry Street, critical instructions can be lost. Discharge summaries, transfer forms, and follow-up orders reveal whether the next caregiver was told what mattered.
Who Can Be Held Liable
- Physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who made treatment decisions
- Hospitals, which generally answer for the conduct of their employed staff
- Nursing homes, their operators, and management companies
- Staffing agencies that supplied nurses or aides
- Pharmacies that dispensed the wrong medication or dose
- Public hospital systems, subject to notice of claim rules
Critical NYC Requirements
- Two clocks, one case: EPTL §5-4.1 requires a wrongful death action within two years after death, but only against a defendant who would have been liable to the decedent had death not occurred. CPLR §214-a gives malpractice claims two years and six months from the act, omission, or end of continuous treatment. In Perez v Baez (2020), the Appellate Division, Second Department, measured that look-back from the date of death: if the patient’s own claim was still timely when the patient died, the family has two years from death for the wrongful death claim, and CPLR §210(a) can extend the survival claim to one year after death.
- Certificate of merit: CPLR §3012-a requires the plaintiff’s attorney to certify consultation with at least one physician and a reasonable basis for suit. The certificate may follow within 90 days when a deadline is imminent, or within 90 days after requested treatment records are produced.
- Nursing home residents’ rights: Public Health Law §2801-d lets a resident, or the resident’s estate, sue a facility for depriving the resident of a right or benefit, with remedies cumulative with other tort claims.
- Classification matters: Whether a nursing home claim sounds in malpractice or ordinary negligence affects the limitations period and whether a certificate of merit is required.
- Public hospitals: General Municipal Law §50-e generally requires a notice of claim within 90 days, which in wrongful death actions runs from the appointment of the estate’s representative.
Selection Criteria
Every firm in this edition was evaluated on the same factors, using only material it publishes. Because this month focuses on deaths that follow medical care, we paid particular attention to how firms present medical cases and expert review.
Case Results and Recovery Amounts. Each result is shown with its actual case type, and career totals are labeled as totals. We noted where firms publish medical malpractice outcomes, since those cases rely on the same records and experts as a medical death claim. No result from another practice area was presented as a wrongful death recovery.
Client Satisfaction. Public ratings and written reviews show how clients describe respect, patience, and follow-through during a long process. We looked for consistency across many reviews rather than isolated praise, and we did not treat any rating as a prediction of a future outcome.
Legal Experience and Expertise. Medical death claims require fluency in two limitation statutes, the survival claim extension, and the certificate of merit rule. Years of practice, a sustained injury focus, and accurate statements of New York law on a firm’s own pages all informed this factor.
Trial Readiness. Hospitals and their carriers often defend medical cases through trial with experts of their own. Firms that describe trial preparation and publish verdicts were considered better prepared to meet that resistance and to present complex testimony to a jury.
Brooklyn Community Connection. A nearby office makes it easier for families to deliver boxes of records and meet in person. We listed every firm’s offices exactly as published, including firms that serve Brooklyn from elsewhere.
Professional Recognition. Awards and ratings offer an outside view of a firm’s reputation among peers. We recorded the year of each honor where available, considered who issued it, and did not present older honors as current.
Accessibility and Communication. Families often need several conversations to understand a medical timeline that stretches across admissions, discharges, and transfers. Round-the-clock contact, multilingual consultations, and patient explanations counted favorably.
Fee Structure and Transparency. Physician reviews and expert testimony carry real costs, sometimes well before a case is filed. Firms that state contingency terms clearly, so families avoid upfront expense, scored well, and we noted where terms were not published.
Innovation in Practice. Electronic health records now carry audit trails showing who viewed or changed an entry and when. We credited firms that describe gathering complete records, preserving that metadata, and working with qualified medical experts.
Moving Forward
Losing someone after a hospital stay or a period in a nursing home leaves families with grief and, often, with unanswered questions. Families in Borough Park, Midwood, Fort Greene, and across Brooklyn can ask for a careful review of what happened without committing to anything. A review may confirm that care was appropriate, and that answer has value too.
Because the wrongful death and malpractice deadlines run from different dates, and because a certificate of merit requires physician consultation, it is wise to seek guidance well before any deadline approaches. Most firms in this ranking offer a free consultation. Bringing the death certificate, discharge papers, any facility correspondence, and a list of the providers involved can help that first conversation, although no family needs every document before calling.
About Our Rankings: Copetti’s monthly rankings recognize excellence in specialized practice areas. Our evaluation process examines case results, client satisfaction, professional experience, and community impact. Rankings are based on verified data and are updated monthly to reflect current performance. Enhanced profiles are available but not required for ranking consideration.
For Attorneys: To nominate yourself or a colleague for future rankings, please email editor@copetti.net.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Each case is unique, and results depend on specific facts and circumstances.
Zach Pintaro serves as Editor-in-Chief of Copetti News, where he leads the digital-first publication’s mission to deliver innovative, impactful journalism for the modern era.
