Ungaro & Cifuni, Attorneys at Law, proudly serves as General Counsel to the New York City Police Department Superior Officers Council (SOC), and we are disability counsel to the NYPD Captains Endowment Association, the NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent Association and the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association.

The Ungaro & Cifuni law firm represents disabled workers residing in the tri-state area. Both Robert Ungaro and Nick Cifuni have successfully represented thousands of disabled clients seeking financial and medical benefits. The firm is dedicated to providing the highest quality representation and both partners are involved personally and participate in each client's case. If you are disabled and unable to work, Contact us for a no-cost consultation.  We will provide you with a straightforward legal assessment concerning the merits of your case and a candid description of the process.

       
WTC-Zadroga Updates        Client Testimonials
 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

• MAY 23 2013  We are pleased to announce that we will be giving a presentation addressing Disability Pensions and the WTC Zadroga Bill at the Retirement Seminar hosted by the NYPD Captains Endowment Association ("CEA") and the NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent Association ("LBA"). The seminar is scheduled for Thursday, May 23rd at 1800 hours at ANTUN'S 96-13 Springfield Boulevard, Jamaica NY (718) 468-6400.

• NOVEMBER 4 2012 Our thoughts and prayers go to those persons who suffered damage or sustained injuries as the result of hurricane Sandy.
  
  A message to our clients:  Being in lower Manhattan, we had no telephone or power as a result of Sandy.  We reached most of those who had scheduled appointments or hearings.  We apologize to those who could not reach us during the last week.  Luckily we had only one blown out window and will be up and running Monday Morning November 5, 2012.

• JULY 2012 We were deeply saddened to hear that Lieutenants Benevolent Association beloved President, Tom Sullivan passed away.
          See the official Announcement posted on the LBA Website:  http://www.nypd-lba.org/tomsullivan.htm

• JULY 2012 We are pleased to announce that we have been selected as disability counsel to the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association. We are honored by their confidence in this firm and we welcome the opportunity to assist NYC Police Sergeants with their disability matters.
  
  See the official Announcement posted on the SBA Website:  http://sbanyc.net/documents/disabilityCounsel.pdf

• Richter v. Kelly.  On behalf of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association ("CEA") President, Roy Richter and NYPD Police Surgeon Lea Dann, M.D., we successfully challenged a Police Pension Fund decision which refused to recognize the longstanding right of Police Surgeons to protection under the Heart Bill. The Court adopted our argument, citing well established legal and administrative precedent and the clear intent of the legislature, finding Police Surgeons entitled to Heart Bill benefits as a matter of law.  The Court specifically noted that the denial by the NYPD Police Pension Fund was both “arbitrary and capricious.”  Rather than remand the matter back to the Board of Trustees, the Court specifically directed that Police Surgeon Dann be retired with Accident Disability Retirement.  This decision shall protect future NYPD surgeons and other police supervisors from future attempts to deny them the protections under the Heart Bill. Congratulations to CEA President Richter and to Dr. Dann.
• Cruz v. Kelly. The NY County Supreme Court decided in favor of our client, a New York City Police Officer seeking a three quarter disability retirement based upon a World Trade Center disability. The Court’s decision is based primarily on a finding, adopting our argument, that the Police Pension Fund's Medical Board ignored evidence of a long standing WTC condition in favor of a legally insufficient argument which attempted to place the cause of disability on other factors.  The Police Pension Fund was also deemed to have failed to provide the officer with the legal presumption of causality provided by the WTC bill, Administrative Code 13-252.1.
• Betancourt v. Kelly. The NY County Supreme Court decided in favor of our client, a police officer seeking a three quarter disability retirement. The decision is an affirmation of a body of law stemming from the NYS Court of Appeals decision in Tobin v. Steisel which holds that a subsequent accident which causes an aggravation or exacerbation of a pre-existing injury or latent condition is the cause of disability. This decision confirms the principles in Tobin v. Steisel that the Courts can, and will, make judicial determinations requiring that Pension Fund Boards consider disability entitlement in cases where police officers (and other civil servants) suffer accidental injuries which exacerbate or aggravate their conditions. 
• Gorczynski v. Kelly.   The NY County Supreme Court decided in favor of our client, a New York City Police Officer seeking a three quarter disability retirement based upon a World Trade Center disability. The Court’s decision is based primarily on a finding, adopting our argument, that the Police Pension Fund's Medical Board failed to provide the officer with the legal presumption of causality provided by the WTC bill, Administrative Code 13-252.1. The Court also agreed that the Medical Board failed to consider evidence supporting causality between the Police Officer’s WTC exposures and their acknowledged disability. The City has not appealed this judicial decision and thus, it will stand as final and a victory to the police officer and other first responders disabled as the result of their exposures during the World Trade Center rescue and recovery operation.
• Barbuto v. Kelly. The NY County Supreme Court decided in favor of our client, a New York City Police Detective, seeking a three quarter disability retirement. The decision is based primarily on a finding, adopting our argument, that the Police Pension Fund's Medical Board made conclusory statements unsupported by evidence and contradicted by numerous reports by the officer's treating doctors.  The Court further determined that the Medical Board failed to specify evidence to support its conclusion. The City has not appealed this judicial decision and thus, it will stand as final and a victory to the police officer and other first responders disabled in the line of duty.
• Brown v. Kelly.  We are representing a New York City Police officer in an Appellate Division, First Judicial Department case. We are challenging a Supreme Court decision, denying him an accidental disability retirement despite his recognized disability as the direct result of an accidental line of duty shooting.  We believe this decision, which deemed the accidental shooting as merely "incidental," directly conflicts with the body of legal doctrine which defines an accident as a "sudden, fortuitous mischance, out of the ordinary and injurious on impact."
• Seiferheld v. Kelly. Our state's highest court, the NYS Court of Appeals, decided this case in our favor. This is an important, and broad ranging decision from the Court of Appeals, because it affirms, in the strongest possible terms, that pension benefits cannot be terminated without explicit statutory authority and that it is the purview of the Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund, and not the City Law Department, to interpret statute and effect pension actions. Congratulations, Jim. Read the Court's decision.  
• Richter v. Kelly On behalf of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association ("CEA") President, Roy Richter, we successfully challenged a Police Pension Fund Board decision which refused to allow a vote on a resolution President Richter brought before the Board of Trustees on behalf of two CEA members.  The Court, deciding in our favor, held the Board “has no authority to refuse to vote on a resolution, whether that resolution pertains to an individual case or to the interpretation of a statute generally.”  Most significantly, the Judge held that it is the purview of the Board and not the City Law Department to interpret statutes. The Judge specifically noted that “every time the Board votes on an individual determination it is implicitly interpreting statute."  The City has withdrawn its appeal of this judicial decision and thus, it will stand as final and a Victory to CEA President Roy Richter, his police members and to the Boardmembers of the Police Pension Fund.  This case was featured in the September 2011, CEA Newsletter (see page 5).
• Torres v. Kelly. The NY County Supreme Court decided in favor of our client, a police officer seeking a three quarter disability retirement. The decision is based primarily on Tobin v. Steisel and the legal doctrine which treats a subsequent accident which causes an aggravation or exacerbation of a pre-existing injury or latent condition as the cause of disability. What is unusual about this decision is it is not a typical remand to the Police Pension Fund's Board of Trustees, but rather a Judicial Order to retire the police officer with Accident Disability Retirement benefits, retroactive to her retirement date, with interest. We believe this decision sends a strong message that the Courts can, and will, make judicial determinations of disability entitlement in cases where the Board of Trustees does not follow governing law.  On August 23, 2011, this Court rejected the City's rearguement and affirmed in no uncertain terms that the denial of this Police Officer's Three-Quarter retirement was "arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of discretion."
• Walsh v. Scopetta. New York's State's highest court, the NYS Court of Appeals, has decided our case on behalf of Robert Walsh, a NYC firefighter disabled as the result of a line-of-duty assault he suffered when struck with a chair.  The Appellate Court initially denied his claim under the reasoning that the intentional assault was not accidental.  The Court of Appeals in an affirming and abbreviated decision, skirted the main issue which remains undecided by the Court: Willfulness as it relates to first responders assaulted during the performance of duty.  A digest of the facts of the case.

ARTICLES

• Court: Police Surgeon Wrongly Denied ‘Heart Bill’ Disability Pension. See our case featured in the July 30, 2012, issue of The Chief Leader concerning our recent pension win on behalf of NYPD Captains Endowment Association ("CEA") President, Roy Richter and retired New York City Police Surgeon Lea Dann, M.D. Justice Geoffrey D. Wright overturned a determination by the Police Pension Fund’s trustees that a Police Surgeon was not eligible for a three-quarters disability pension under the Heart Bill because Surgeons were not under the same stress as other Police Pension Fund members. Read the full text or see the official article.  See also the Article regarding this case in the August 2012, edition of the Bulletin, the official publication of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association: Page 11.
• Disability Pension Services - Ungaro & Cifuni, Attorneys at Law. See our firm and our disability services prominently featured on page 19 of the June 2012, issue of the LBA NEWS, the Official Publication of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association. 
• WTC Victims Compensation Fund, A Treatise For Lawyers. See our article "Zadroga Act Reopens the Victims Compensation Fund of 2001," published in the February 2011, Brooklyn Barrister (see pages 5 and 10), the official publication of the Brooklyn Bar Association. Also see the full text.
• FDNY Retirees' Corner. See our regularly featured articles in the the official Newsletter of the FDNY Columbia Association: (a) Social Security Disability. Article by John Signorile (see page 7); (b) See our article regarding Three Quarters & Span of Time (page 3); and (c) The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-347) (Zadroga Act), Article by John Signorile (see page 5).
• Brawl-beaten Fireman in New Pension Bid By Philip Messing. See this article in the November 14, 2011,  NY Post, regarding our case Walsh v. Scopetta, which is before New York's State's highest court, the NYS Court of Appeals.  The case concerns Robert Walsh, a NYC firefighter disabled as the result of a line-of-duty assault he suffered when struck with a chair. The issue concerns intentional conduct as it relates to accident disability retirement, and will have ramifications to future first responders who may be assaulted during the performance of duty. Read the Article in the NY Post.
• Police Board Declines to Revoke Disability Pension. See us quoted in the July 19, 2011, issues of The Chief Leader concerning our recent pension win on behalf of retired New York City Police Officer James Seiferheld, the Fund's refusal to ratify an illegal pension revocation and the City's continued refusal to follow Court decisions, the mandates of the Police Pension Fund or abide by governing law. Read the full text or see the official article.
• Seiferheld v. Kelly. See us quoted in the July 12, 2011, issues of the NY Post and Daily News concerning our recent win in the Court of Appeals in connection with the following Police Pension issue. The Police Pension Fund refused to ratify the unlawful revocation of a police officer's three quarter disability retirement. Read the articles in the NY Daily News, and the NY Post.  See the next day's editorials (July 13, 2011) in the NY Daily News, and the NY Post. Read our response.
• Three Quarters and Span of Time. See our article in the June 20, 2011, NYPD Captains Endowment Association Newsletter concerning "Three Quarters and Span of Time." This article addresses the legal hurdles in establishing causality required for accidental disability when long periods of time elapse after a Line of Duty accidental injury, full text.  We will post an official link when this article becomes available on-line. 
• Lawyer: Affirms Fund's Powers Drug-using Ex-Cops Win Stirs Wrath, Pension Flap See the article in the Monday, May 2, 2011, edition of the Chief-Leader by Mark Toor regarding this New York State Court of Appeals determination in favor of our client, James Seiferheld, full text, and official link.
• Cop gets 'bungle' bundle By Philip Messing. See this article in the April 29, 2011, NY Post regarding the favorable decision in Seiferheld v. Kelly, our case before the state's highest court, the NYS Court of Appeals. This is an important decision  affirming that pension benefits cannot be terminated without explicit statutory authority and that it is the purview of the Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund and not the City Law Department to interpret statute and effect pension actions. In addition to being on the front page of the NY Law Journal, this case was featured in the April 29, 2011, editions of the NY Daily News, and the NY Post. See news Follow-up featured in the May 9, 2011,  edition of the NY Post.  
• With Lone Dissent, Court of Appeals Finds Disability Pension Was Improperly Revoked. See this article featured on the front page of the April 29, 2011, New York Law Journal regarding the favorable decision in Seiferheld v. Kelly, our case before the state's highest court, the NYS Court of Appeals. This is an important decision affirming that pension benefits cannot be terminated without explicit statutory authority and that it is the purview of the Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund and not the City Law Department to interpret statute and effect pension actions. In addition to being on the front page of the NY Law Journal, this case was also  featured in the April 29, 2011,  edition of the NY Daily News.
• The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (Zadroga Bill) Our article explaining how the Zadroga Bill may apply to our first responders who have taken ill as the result of their WTC exposures, was published in the April 2011, NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent Association NEWS magazine.
• Victory for Captains Union Mayor Not Your Governor, Judge Tells Police Fund. See the article in the Monday, April 11, 2011, edition of the Chief-Leader by Mark Toor regarding this recent Supreme Court determination in favor of our client, CEA President Roy Richter in Richter v. Kelly: full text, and official link. See also the Article regarding this case in the September 2011, edition of the Bulletin, the official publication of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association: Page 5.
• World Trade Center Illness. See our article (pages 6 and 7) in the February 25, 2011, issue of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association Newsletter concerning the reopening of the WTC Victims Compensation Fund (Zadroga Bill) and how it may apply to persons taken ill as the result of WTC exposures.
• Social Security Disability, A Treatise For Lawyers. See our article "Social Security Disability: What every lawyer should know," published in the February 2011, Brooklyn Barrister (see pages 6 and 7), the official publication of the Brooklyn Bar Association. Also see the full text.
• When Is A Disability Accidental. See our article in the March 2010, issue of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association Newsletter (see page 11) concerning the definition of "accident” within the limited meaning of the Administrative Code section that governs retirement for accident disability.
• Court Sends Disability Spat Back to P.D. Pension Fund. See the article in the February 26, 2010, edition of the Chief-Leader by RICHARD STEIER regarding an Appellate Division, First Judicial Department determination in favor of our client, James Seiferheld in Seiferheld v. Kelly. Full text. Official link.

PRESENTATIONS

• Presentations. Attend our regular presentations on disability issues at the meetings of the NYPD Captains Endowment Association, the NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent Association and the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association.
• MAY 23 2013  We are pleased to announce that we will be giving a presentation addressing Disability Pensions and the WTC Zadroga Bill at the Retirement Seminar hosted by the NYPD Captains Endowment Association ("CEA") and the NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent Association ("LBA"). The seminar is scheduled for Thursday, May 23rd at 1800 hours at ANTUN'S 96-13 Springfield Boulevard, Jamaica NY (718) 468-6400.
• Hundreds of CEA and LBA Members attended our Disability Pensions and Zadroga Bill Update at Antun’s at 96-43 Springfield Boulevard, Jamaica, NY on Tuesday, May 17th @ 1700 hours (718) 468-6400. More details.