Chet Lukaszewski, P.C.


Chet Lukaszewski, after four years with Jeffrey L. Goldberg’s Office as an Accident Disability Pension and Social Security Disability litigator, and three years with the renowned Insurance Defense firm Ahmuty, Demers & McManus, has formed Chet Lukaszewski, P.C. The mission of the firm is to use the extensive experience and knowledge base gained by Mr. Lukaszewski thus far in his career, and to parlay an exemplary level of litigation success, into an aggressive and highly personal level of representation for a client base that will never exceed the firm’s capabilities. Mr. Lukaszewski has learned the value of client contact and interaction and refuses to compromise the firm’s ability to ensure its clients the utmost in personal service. At Chet Lukaszewski, P.C., Mr. Lukaszewski himself will return your call, write your legal papers, and appear with or for you if need be.

While working for Jeffrey Goldberg, Chet Lukaszewski successfully litigated (wrote legal papers and argued before the Court) 45(+) Accident Disability Pension Article 78’s, as well as 2 Appellate Division cases, in the past 3 years alone. * To the firm’s knowledge, no other law office or individual has had as much success in this area of law during this time.

  

Legal Scales
During that period Mr. Lukaszewski also possessed a Social Security Disability record which exceeded the average national success rate. Mr. Lukaszewski’s article on the struggles of 9/11 Rescue Workers in the City pension systems was published in the Nassau County Bar Association’s Literary Journal (read article by clicking on tab to left). While working at first the Long Island and then the New York City office of Ahmuty, Demers & McManus, he worked under the firm’s highest level of partners, including well renowned attorneys such as Mr. William Ahmuty, Mr. Fred Simpson and Mr. James Edwards. During this time he handled a variety of cases, including premises liability, auto accident, construction site litigation and insurance coverage matters.

It is Mr. Lukaszewski’s intent to utilize his pension experience and particularly his litigation success, to demand that his clients are presented with the most fair and thorough evaluation possible within the pension systems. It is the firm’s opinion, that without the power of the Court behind a ‘3/4’s pension’ attorney, they are essentially simply a pension consultant. It is Mr. Lukaszewski belief that based on his proven litigation track record, the City and the Pension Funds will be more hesitant to force his clients into the Courts than those of other firms, thereby presenting them with the greatest chance of success within the pension system. Moreover, there is no substitute for experience in Social Security Disability Law, which Mr. Lukaszewski has gained through years of handling said cases and countless SSD hearings all across New York State (during his final two years at Jeffrey Goldberg’s office, Mr. Lukaszewski appeared at the majority of the firm’s Social Security hearings). In addition, Mr. Lukaszewski has experience in Applicant Disqualification and Civil Service Commission matters, and will continue to handle such cases. Also, his time at A.D.M. and the tutelage he received and experience he gained, will allow Chet Lukaszewski, P.C. to be provide top rate representation to its personal injury clients as well.

 

Recent Items

Mr. Lukaszewski successfully litigated (drafted and argued) in the Appellate Division Second Department (while at former employer J.L. Goldberg), Matter of Gaudioso v. Board of Trustees of the New York City Fire Department, Article 1-B Pension Fund, 40 A.D.3d 638, 835 N.Y.S.2d 396, 2007 N.Y. Slip Op. 03920 (2007)). In Gaudioso, Mr. Lukaszewski successfully demonstrated to the Appellate Division that the FDNY Pension Fund had acted improperly in awarding the petitioner a non-line-of-duty disability pensions rather than a line-of-duty disability pension for a right shoulder condition. In the case petitioner sustained a shoulder injury while on full duty while running into a burning building, and never returned to full duty thereafter. The Court ruled that: “There is no credible evidence in the record to support the Medical Board’s conclusion,” and ordered that, “the matter is remitted to the respondents’ [Board of Trustees] for the granting of petitioner’s [ADR] benefits.” *

Mr. Lukaszewski successfully litigated (drafted and argued) in the Appellate Division Second Department (while at former employer J.L. Goldberg), Stack v. Board of Trustees of the New York City Fire Department, Article 1-B Pension Fund, 832 N.Y.S.2d 55 (2007). In Stack, the Appellate Division held that the FDNY Pension Fund had acted arbitrarily and capriciously in denying the disability pension application of the petitioner, for a spinal condition. Mr. Lukaszewski successfully demonstrated that the Medical Board and Board of Trustees had actually ignored their own expert who appeared to find the applicant disabled. He was also successful in demonstrating to the Court that the pension fund ultimately refused to incur the “minimal cost” of remanding the application to the Medical Board for a clarification. The Appellate Division found the Fund’s decision to be irrational and remitted the matter to respondents’ “for new medical reports and new medical findings by the Medical Board and a new determination by the Board of Trustees.” *

Chet Lukaszewski was recently published in the Nassau Bar Association Legal Journal, The Nassau Lawyer, for his article: The Gap in the Pension Law into which Sick ‘9/11’ Firefighters and other City Rescue Workers are Falling: a Legal Limbo with Devastating and Dangerous Ramifications. *

  
 

* Disclaimer as per disciplinary rules : "prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome."