Recent Highlights and Representative Matters
Congratulations on Retirement, Tom Hagerty!
Hagerty & Brady announces that one of its founding partners, Thomas V. Hagerty, has decided to retire as of the end of this year. Tom Hagerty is the grandson of a Judge and the son of an attorney, and he has the distinction of being one of the last attorneys in New York State who achieved his legal education through clerking and not through law school.
Tom began his career by clerking for his father, attorney Jim Hagerty, and then eventually became a partner with him at Hagerty & Hagerty. Thirty years ago, in 1989, he and Michael Brady formed Hagerty & Brady.During his decades of practice, Tom successfully navigated both sides of the plate, sometimes defending lawsuits on behalf of individuals and companies, especially in asbestos cases, while at other times representing personal injury plaintiffs in negligence, strict products liability and Labor Law cases. Throughout his career, Tom acquitted himself with hallmark professionalism, empathy, and affability, which he extended to his clients, to the bench, and to his opponents.
In addition to his long legal career, Tom and his wife Amy raised three children, one of whom is a lawyer in Florida.
We wish Tom well in his well-deserved retirement. It has been a fun and rewarding three decades full of challenging cases and clients well served. Thanks and Congratulations Tom!Michael A. Brady and Daniel J. Brady were recently awarded the United States District Court for the Western District of New York’s Pro Bono Award for Outstanding Service to the district in their representation of an indigent client in a prisoner’s rights case. The attorneys put in over 500 hours of work on behalf of their client, who brought claims against the New State Department of Corrections for violations of his Eighth Amendment rights. The case culminated in a weeklong trial before the Hon. William M. Skretny.
We were recently hired to represent municipal defendants in a complex federal lawsuit over a failed municipal housing project. The developer-plaintiffs asserted constitutional violations, contractual claims, and a RICO claim against our clients. Six months after entering our representation, we won summary judgment on behalf of our clients, resulting in the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims for millions of dollars in damages. We then successfully defended the district court’s judgment on appeal. The Second Circuit unanimously affirmed the dismissal of all claims against our clients, finally putting an end to a nearly decade-old lawsuit. You can read the Second Circuit’s decision here.
In a complex commercial dispute, we won summary judgment motion on behalf of our client, an out of state software technology consultant, against a major New York company. After years of litigation, our client went from facing a multi-million dollar demand to being awarded full judgment on its counterclaims. You can read the decision here.
In a recent fee dispute, we represented an attorney and her new firm after she achieved a multimillion dollar verdict on behalf of her personal injury client at trial. She had represented her client for approximately six years at her former law firm, before starting her own firm and going to trial. She represented the client for approximately one year at her new firm. Her former law firm sued her, seeking the majority of the fee. The dispute culminated in a week-long hearing in State Supreme Court, after which her new firm was awarded 80% of the total fee.
In a construction dispute, our client retained us after being sued by a project owner for more than $100,000. The plaintiff had contracted our client to build two barn-like structures on a property in Clarence. After a number of disagreements, and for reasons both sides disputed, our client stopped work on the project. The plaintiff hired replacement contractors and sued our client for damages. We asserted a counterclaim on behalf of our client. After two years of litigation, including a series of successful motions on behalf of our client, the plaintiff agreed to withdraw its entire claim and mutually walk away from the dispute.
We look forward to achieving more successful outcomes for our clients throughout 2019.