Finn, Judith A .

For the past 25 years as one of the leading personal injury lawyers in New York City, David Perecman has championed all types of personal injury cases, including commercial and residential construction accidents, premises accidents, automobile accidents and medical malpractice. Mr. Perecman has won millions of dollars for his clients over the course of his career, with $25 million in verdicts and settlements in the past year alone.

From the beginning of his legal practice, Mr. Perecman has proven himself to be a skilled and tenacious New York City personal injury lawyer. He founded the Perecman Firm in 1983 after winning a $600,000 verdict against the now-defunct department store Gimbels for falsely detaining an elderly woman when an antitheft device set off the alarm. Since then, he has taken dozens of personal injury cases to verdict and settled many more mid-trial. Among his more recent victories: a $15 million verdict for a construction worker, plus many other multimillion-dollar recoveries.

Mr. Perecman has become one of the top personal injury lawyers in New York City by combining extensive and relentless preparation with first-class litigation skills to achieve winning results. He starts planning his strategy as soon as a case comes in the door. Whether before a judge or a jury, he spares no expense in employing first-rate experts and cutting-edge technology to great persuasive effect. The personal injury verdicts he obtains are often double or triple-and sometimes many multiples of the settlement offers made by the defense prior to and during trial. "Every case has its weaknesses," Mr. Perecman says. "It is the job of a good personal injury lawyer to ensure that they do not diminish the ultimate value of your claim."

Mr. Perecman, a 1975 graduate of the State University of New York at Albany and a 1978 graduate of Brooklyn Law School, serves on the executive committee and the board of directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA), a prestigious lawyers' association. In 2005, Mr. Perecman was chosen by NYSTLA to be its head New York construction accident lawyer overseeing the committee related to commercial and residential construction accidents. Additionally, Mr. Perecman lectures to other New York City personal injury lawyers and court personnel on construction accident law. He is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, New York State and the U.S. District courts of the Southern and Eastern districts of New York. His credentials also include the role of a commentator on Court TV. He is listed in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the National Register's Who's Who in Executives and Professionals.