C.G. v. The Department of Education of the City of New York

Background

C.G., an infant represented by his mother, Mayre Gonzalez, brought this personal-injury action against the New York City Department of Education and other defendants. The opinion states that C.G. was a special-needs student who was injured on September 7, 2023, while attending a school operated by the defendants. The alleged injury occurred when school employees attempted to lift him out of his wheelchair. Gonzalez was also named as a plaintiff individually, but her affidavit stated that she withdrew her individual claim.

After a court-ordered mediation, the parties agreed to resolve the action for $125,000, to be paid through a structured settlement. The plaintiffs moved for court approval of the settlement and for approval of attorney fees and litigation expenses.

Legal standard

Because C.G. is an infant, the settlement required court approval. The court explained that it had to consider whether the settlement protected the infant’s best interests and whether the settlement, including fees and expenses, was fair and reasonable. The court’s review was limited; it did not have to decide the merits of the underlying personal-injury claims.

Court’s analysis

The court found that the settlement was fair, reasonable, and adequate. It relied on the parties’ arm’s-length negotiations, the experience of plaintiffs’ counsel, the discovery conducted, and an expert’s review of the matter. The court also considered the parent’s view that the settlement was in the infant’s best interests and concluded that the structured settlement was reasonable.

The law firm Levine & Slavit, PLLC, requested a contingency fee equal to one-third of the gross settlement, or $41,666.67, plus $874.62 in disbursements. The court independently reviewed the requested compensation rather than treating the fee agreement as controlling. It noted that the lodestar—the reasonable hourly rate multiplied by the reasonable hours worked—was $19,920, based on a $400 hourly rate and 49.8 hours. After considering the risks and difficulty of the litigation, the contingent nature of payment, and the favorable result, the court found the requested fee reasonable. It also found the claimed expenses, including filing, records, translation, and expert costs, to be standard litigation expenses.

Disposition

Judge Stewart D. Aaron granted the plaintiffs’ motion. The court approved the proposed settlement, the $41,666.67 attorney-fee award, and the litigation expenses. The court ordered the parties to file a stipulation dismissing the action no later than April 17, 2025. The opinion itself does not state that the stipulation had already been filed or that the action had already been dismissed.