Markotsis, James C

My practice has been almost exclusively litigation. The substantive area of law I have practiced more than any other is landlord tenant, both commercial and residential. I have represented both landlords and tenants such as restaurants, family businesses, small stores and offices, co-ops and co-op shareholders. One of my verdicts, in favor of a residential tenant who was being harassed, was for $200,000 in punitive damages,  as reported on the front page of the New York Law Journal.   

I have represented principals in internecine business disputes, as well as many companies in ordinary commercial disputes.

I  represent plaintiffs and defendants in various types of personal injury cases, eg., vehicle liability, products liability, premises liability ("slip-and-fall" etc.) and medical malpractice. I tried a wrongful death medical malpractice case in Supreme Court and lost the trial and appealed. The reversal by the Appellate Division, First Department, was the subject of a front-page article in the New York Law Journal. I won the retrial.

I tried a legal malpractice case in which the defendant was a prominent personal injury firm.  The gravamen of the complaint was that the defendant law firm had settled for a very low amount due to law firm's lack of preparation. Accordingly, I had to try a case within a case. My partner and I won what the presiding judge (the late Justice Altman) called a "difficult case." The trial and verdict was the subject of an article in the New York Law Journal.

I've litigated hundreds of cases, tried hundreds of cases including over 50 jury trials and I've argued about 50 appeals, including appeals to the Court of Appeals, the highest in New York State.