Vinsko, Brian M.

Mr. Lazar graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975 and received his law degree from Boston University School of Law in 1978. Following a Judicial clerkship with the Honorable Jerome Steinberg, in Civil Court, Kings County, New York in 1980, he began private practice with specialties in insurance law, general liability, product liability and construction litigation. Since then, he has concentrated much of his legal practice on insurance coverage matters and first party property claims. Mr. Lazar has substantial experience defending lessors of heavy equipment and in the enforcement of indemnification agreements. He has represented clients in litigation involving demolition and blasting activities, and in employment discrimination and wrongful termination suits. Mr. Lazar has represented operators of funeral homes and members of the Funeral Industry in diverse legal matters, including administrative hearings, employment disputes and all manner of tort actions. He has represented automobile dealers and self-insureds with regard to warranty claims and consumer complaints. He has been very active in defending interstate trucking entities in tort litigation and has also brought subrogation and property damage suits on their behalf.

Mr. Lazar has litigated many product liability claims both in New York and in New Jersey. These cases have involved heavy machinery, including cranes and forklifts, as well as litigation involving propane systems and allegedly adulterated food products. He has defended many wrongful death actions including a triple wrongful death action in New York Supreme Court, as well as actions involving second and third degree burns, traumatic amputations and injuries from E.coli 0157:H7.

Mr. Lazar is admitted in both the state and federal courts of New York and New Jersey. He is a member of the New York and New Jersey State Bars, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Lazar is a member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI), and the DRI Trucking Law Committee, the New Jersey Defense Association, the National Propane Gas Defense Association and the New York and New Jersey State Bar Associations. He has frequently given topical seminars for clients on negligence, insurance and employment issues and has lectured at industry conventions, including that of the Crane Certification Association of America. Mr. Lazar serves as an appointed arbitrator in the United State District Court for the District of New Jersey.