Joseph L. Ciaccio
Senior Associate
Since beginning his career, Joseph has dedicated his practice to the representation of victims of medical malpractice. This includes the representation of children who have suffered birth injuries as well as families who have lost loved ones due to the negligence of physicians and medical facilities.
Since joining our office, Joseph has also applied this experience in our Pharmaceutical litigation department with the representation of clients injured by prescription medications.
As a skilled and dedicated personal injury attorney with experience in medical malpractice litigation, Joseph is one of the top associates on the team currently handling the representation of both families and governmental entities against the manufacturers and distributors of opioid pain medications. He is presently handling the representation of hundreds of counties, cities, and other governmental entities in this litigation.
He has successfully litigated a wide variety of medical malpractice actions, including failures to diagnose cancer, infections, orthopedic negligence, and more.
Joseph has also successfully litigated a wide variety of birth-related injuries including fetal distress, hypoxia, and Erb’s palsy injuries.
- Bar Admissions
- New York
- United States District Court, Eastern District of New York
- United States District Court, Southern District of New York
- Education
Hofstra University School of Law, J.D.
Long Island University, B.S.
- Awards and Honors
America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators®, 2018
National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys: Top 40 Under 40
New York Super Lawyers, Rising Stars, 2017- 2018
The National Trial Lawyers, Top 40 Under 40, 2018 – 2019
- Professional Affiliations
- New York Trial Lawyers Association
- New York Academy of Trial Lawyers
- American Association of Lawyers
- Speaking Engagements
Presenter, “Trial Theme Options”, Opioid Litigation Seminar, American Association for Justice (AAJ) Education (December 6, 2018)
Legal Terms Explained, Standard of Care (Medical Malpractice)
- Media Appearances
Five more counties file lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for opioid epidemic, West Virginia Record (December 17, 2018)
County mulls suing opioid drug makers, Adirondack Daily Enterprise (February 19, 2018)
Niagara legislature will declare opioids a ‘public nuisance’, Niagara Gazette (February 12, 2018)
County sues big pharmacy in opioid crisis, Osceola News-Gazette (February 9, 2018)
Alachua, Osceola counties take aim at opioid manufacturers, Gainesville.com (February 8, 2018)
Alachua County Sues Pharmaceutical Companies Over Opioid Epidemic, Florida’s 89.1 WUFT-FM (February 5, 2018)
At least 14 NY counties and NYC suing opioid companies, pressconnects, Part of the USA TODAY Network (January 30, 2018)
Nashua Becomes Second N.H. City to Take Opioid Companies to Court, New Hampshire Public Radio (December 22, 2017)
York County sues opioid companies, TribLIVE (December 14, 2017)
York County goes after drug makers, distributors, blaming them for opioid epidemic, York Daily Record (Part of the USA Today Network) (December 8, 2017)
Opioid lawsuits may become a trend for local governments, The Anniston Start (October 19, 2017)
Niagara County moves forward with opioid lawsuit, Lockport Union-Sun & Journal (October 17, 2017)
Mora County Joins Lawsuit Suing Opioid Makers Over Damages Caused By Prescription Drugs, Santa Fe New Mexican (September 1, 2017)
Broome will coordinate opioid lawsuit with eight counties, Press & Sun-Bulletin [Part of The USA Today Network] (August 25, 2017)
Two New Hampshire cities may sue big pharma to recoup opioid overdose costs, MassLive.com (August 22, 2017)
Manchester Likely to File Its Own Lawsuit Against Opioid Companies, New Hampshire Public Radio (August 16, 2017)
County considers drug company lawsuit, Observer-Review.com (August 16, 2017)
Parma Suing Opioid Makers, FoxNews8 Cleveland (August 11, 2017)
Nassau County Sues Pharma Companies and Doctors, Verizon FiOS News 1 (June 19, 2017)
- Court Appointments
Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel in the West Virginia Opioid Litigation (Civil Action No. 17-C-248) by the Honorable Judge David W. Hummel, Jr. of the Second Judicial Circuit Court, Division 2 of Marshall County, West Virginia
- Representative Cases and Settlements of Note
Mr. Ciaccio has successfully negotiated millions of dollars worth of settlements for his clients throughout his career. He has also successfully argued cases before the Appellate Division, First and Second Departments.
He is currently working on the opioid lawsuits that Napoli Shkolnik PLLC has filed across the country.
He is the medical malpractice attorney who assisted in obtaining the following:
- $900,000 pharmaceutical settlement was obtained on behalf of a child who suffered a birth defect due to a pharmaceutical drug.
- $750,000 Settlement on behalf of a client administered bupivacaine (general anesthesia) who then fell into cardiac arrest and then a coma
- $650,000 Settlement on behalf of the client who suffered from Tardive Dyskinesia after being prescribed Geodon (a psychiatric medication)
- $525,000 Settlement on behalf of the family of a Queens man who passed away due to a post-surgical hematoma of the neck
- $4.5 Million Settlement on behalf of a child who suffered significant brain damage following the administration of anesthesia for an MRI
- $1.1 Million Settlement on behalf of a child who suffered Erb’s Palsy as a result of negligent delivery
- $1 Million + Settlement for the family of a young mother who passed away after being discharged from the hospital with a brain aneurysm