The Roslyn Times, Friday, January 22, 2016
RT
Pegalis named top malpractice lawyer By J oe N i k i c A Lake Success-based attorney has been named the 2016 Lawyer of the Year for Plaintiffs’ Medical Malpractice Actions, his law firm announced Wednesday. Steven Pegalis, co-founder of law firm Pegalis & Erickson, said receiving the award came as a surprise to him. “I’m not sure how I won that honor because I didn’t announce my candidacy or participate in any televised debate and I didn’t submit any data to support that election,” he said. “But somehow or another they get feedback from others, I imagine including our adversaries. It’s nice to win such an honor.” Best Lawyers, a peer-review law publication, lists attorneys and law firms for various honors and achievements in law practice. Pegalis’ career in representing patients in medical malpractice cases began in the 1960s when he began to practice law. In what he called the “medical malpractice crisis” in the early 1970s, Pegalis said there were not many attorneys who would handle such cases. “In the early 1970s, there were not that many attorneys who were capable or comfortable in handling medical malprac-
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tice cases for the patient,” he said. “There weren’t that many medical malpractice cases at the time, but after the so-called malpractice crisis, many more people began to inquire as to why was there a bad outcome.” Pegalis, a Kings Point resident, said practicing an aspect of law that was generally unknown helped increase his publicity and eventually led to an increase in medical malpractice lawyers. In 1972, he and Stephen Erickson founded Pegalis & Erickson, which is located at 1 Hollow Lane in Lake Success. Pegalis also teaches at New York Law School, he said. In July, he was named co-director with Dr. Irwin R. Merkatz of the school’s Patient Safety Project initiative, which aims to improve and promote safer health care practices. Pegalis said it is the only law school in the country to partner a physician and attorney to promote safer health care. He also authored a three-volume text book called “American Law of Medical Malpractice,” now in its third edition. Pegalis is married, has three children and seven grandchildren. He said during his free time he likes to spend as much time with his family and Steven Pegalis grandchildren as he can.
Northwell assistant O.W. trustees reveal charged with larceny new village website B y N o a h M a ns k a r A Northwell Health employee was arraigned Saturday for allegedly using corporate credit cards to make more than $50,000 worth of personal purchases. Rosalyn Persaud of Rosedale, 34, had access to six JP Morgan credit cards as an executive assistant for Northwell’s perioperative services division at 1979 Marcus Ave. in New Hyde Park. Persaud allegedly used four of the cards to make purchases for herself without Northwell’s permission between Dec. 1, 2013, and Dec. 11, 2015. She then made false entries into Northwell’s business records to hide the purchases, police said. Persaud was arrested without incident at her home Jan. 15 and charged with second-degree grand larceny and falsifying business records. She is due back in court Jan. 20. Northwell spokesman Terry Lynam said the company discovered some of Persaud’s suspicious purchases on Dec. 11 and reported them to police. She was fired Dec. 14. Lynam said Persaud had worked with Northwell Health, formerly the North Shore-LIJ Health System, for 13
B y : N e g l a h S h a rm a Old Westbury trustees on Tuesday unveiled a new village website and first-ever digital newsletter designed to strengthen communication and preparedness for local residents. “You can sign up for the newsletter or leave your cell phone information which is critically important for emergency purposes,” said Trustee Leslie Fastenberg, who worked with Deputy Mayor Cory Baker and John Zayer of PRMG on the project. Fastenberg, who was elected to the board in September 2015, said the cell phone information would only be used for emergency communication. Old Westbury Mayor Fred Carillo praised Fastenberg for spearheading the project. He said the website and newsletter would streamline communication with residents. “She’s worked very, very hard on it,” Carillo said. Rosalyn Persaud The new website, which was designed years. by PRMG, can be accessed from various Before starting her executive as- mobile devices and platforms, village ofsistant position in September 2013 — ficials said. three months before she allegedly startResidents were encouraged to familed making illegal purchases — she was a iarize themselves with the functions of Northwell unit support associate in Glen the site, which can be accessed on mobile Cove, according to her LinkedIn profile. devices even during a blackout or power
outage. The website can also be read in any language, said Fastenberg, noting that nearly one fifth of the village’s population was born outside the United States. Fastenberg said the website would also be particularly attractive to a village population that includes university students, millennials, and tech-savvy residents of Old Westbury, with 52 percent of the population in the 10-34 age range. “What’s so exciting about this is if you have a down tree, a power outage, a gas leak, or something suspicious, there’s an opportunity on the homepage for a resident to make a notification about that,” she said. Fastenberg said residents will also be able to document potential FAA-related noise complaints that residents may have. Residents were also encouraged to follow The Village of Old Westbury Facebook page for updates and audience analytics purposes, and to increase open communication about local happenings. Fastenberg, a 30-year resident of Old Westbury is no stranger to emergency response and preparedness. She founded and served as CEO of IceQube Preparedness Solutions and collaborated in the past as a coalition member with FEMA.