Firm in the News
Welcome to the "Firm in the News" section of our Web site. We hope that you will find our site informative and useful. Our goal is to provide the highest quality legal services to you in a timely and considerate fashion. We welcome the opportunity to talk with you and to discuss how we may be of service.
This section will allow you to view a sampling of the articles written about some of the cases with which we have been involved either directly as counsel or as legal consultants for the media. Please scroll through the list below and click on the links in order to read the full articles.
We have a great deal of experience with every type of media coverage.
Mr. DeFilippis has appeared on all of the local TV news stations, provided commentary for legal TV shows and newspapers. In the event that your case receives or warrants press exposure, we are confident that we will succesfully handle the coverage in a manner most beneficial to your case, yet least intrusive upon your privacy. Our Firm will not in any way publish or cause to be published any information concerning our clients or their cases without their full consent and approval.
Click on an article's title for the full story:
City "Whitewash" for Botched-Op Doctors
[2008-12-04]:
Susan Edelman, Stefanie Cohen and Cynthia R. Fagen [New York Post]
Manhattan lawyer Peter DeFilippis recently reached a settlement with HHC for $675,000 for the family of Robert Asta, 54, who checked into HHC's Coney Island Hospital in 2006 for gastric bypass surgery. Surgeons performed the wrong type of bypass, and left behind a piece of stethoscope that ruptured stomach staples, causing poisonous bile to leak, resulting in his death.
FDNY Hit & Run Settled for 275G
[2008-11-17]:
Susan Edelman [New York Post]
The city is paying a man who hurt his back in a hit-and-run car colllision with a fire truck $275,000, The Post has learned.
Firetruck Crash ID Mystery
[2007-01-21]:
Susan Edelman [New York Post]
In December 2001 FDNY Fire Engine 96 collided with a car at a Bronx intersection resulting in a crash that injured two civilians. The city has never determined who was really driving Engine 96.
Tillie v. NYC - Waiting for $1.9M Pay Day
[2005-04-04]:
Chrisena Coleman [New York Daily News]
A passenger who was injured when the cab he was riding in collided with a fire truck is waiting to collect a $1.9 million verdict.
What a Big Bill!
[2004-10-29]:
Derek Rose, George Rush and Nancy Dillon [New York Daily News]
Bill O'Reilly and the decades-younger producer who claimed he tormented her with unwanted advances reached an out-of-court settlement last night. "Had tapes been produced, I think there would have been a significant backlash of public opinion against [O'Reilly]," said prominent New York litigator Peter DeFilippis. "It's one thing to read the words in a lawsuit and another to hear them played over and over again on the radio and TV."
For Extortion, O'Reilly's Suit Might Not Fit
[2004-10-17]:
Paul H.B. Shin [New York Daily News]
The woman accusing Fox News star Bill O'Reilly of sexual harassment may have asked the popular pundit to pay up, but that's a far cry from extortion, legal experts said yesterday.
Murder Laid Out in Letter - Lawyer
[2004-09-06]:
Ralph R. Ortega [New York Daily News]
The janitor suspected of gunning down a co-worker in the Manhattan hospital where they worked outlined the deadly plot in a letter to the woman's mother, Peter DeFilippis, lawyer for the victim's family said yesterday.
Money talked, Kobe walked: pros
[2004-09-05]:
Tracy Connor [New York Daily News]
A civil settlement in the Kobe Bryant case hasn't been announced, but the young woman who dropped criminal charges against the basketball star must already know how big her payday may be, legal experts told the Daily News. Mr. DeFilippis was consulted and offered his legal opinion.
$1.9M Price for Animal House Crash
[2004-08-25]:
Gersh Kuntzman, Murray Weiss and Heidi Singer [New York Post]
Bronx judge is expected to approve a $1.9 million jury award to a passenger injured in a 1995 crash between a cab and a ladder truck from the scandal-scarred Ladder Co. 33/Engine Co. 75 firehouse in Fordham.
Woman Shot By Ex Dies
[2004-07-31]:
Jose Martinez [New York Daily News]
A woman who was shot by a co-worker died yesterday after being taken off life support, relatives and cops said.
Psycho Analyst
[2003-01-10]:
Kieran Crowley and William J. Gorta [New York Post]
A soft-spoken Long Island psychiatrist, driven into a rage when an affair with a patient, in violation of medical rules, went sour, solicited another patient to help him get a gun and silencer to kill her and five others, authorities said yesterday.
Psychiatrist Threatens Rampage
[2003-01-10]:
Associated Press [From WPVI.Com Action News Channel 6, Philadelphia]
A Long Island psychiatrist who allegedly claimed he planned to kill up to a half-dozen people had become irate after a psychologically vulnerable patient ended their affair, Peter DeFilippis, the woman's lawyer, said.
Ex-Net Could Face Suits 'Accident' Remark Seals Jayson's Fate
[2002-02-24]:
Austin Fenner [New York Daily News]
As former Nets star Jayson Williams awaits likely criminal charges from prosecutors in the death of his limo driver, liability attorneys predicted his lawyer's proclamation that the shooting was an accident dooms his chances in a civil case. Mr. DeFilippis commented upon Williams' reckless conduct.
Puffy Settles '91 Crush Case
[2000-05-25]:
Salvatore Arena [New York Daily News]
Rap impresario Sean (Puffy) Combs agreed yesterday to pay an undisclosed sum to a woman who was badly hurt in a deadly stampede during a 1991 charity basketball game he organized at City College.
Puffy Settles Stampede Suit - Payoff Is Last Chapter Of '91 Tragedy
[2000-05-25]:
Laura Italiano and Eric Lenkowitz [New York Post]
Sean "Puffy" Combs agreed to pay a secret settlement yesterday to a Bronx secretary, represented by Mr. DeFilippis, caught in a stampede at a City College charity basketball game the rap mogul sponsored in 1991.
Judge Nixes Puffy Bid To Halt Negligence Trial
[2000-05-16]:
Salvatore Arena [New York Daily News]
Sean (Puffy) Combs' attorneys failed yesterday to stop a multimillion-dollar negligence case against the embattled rap music mogul from going to trial this week.
Beat the Rap - Will Sean 'Puffy' Combs Pay $2 Million to End His City College Nightmare?
[1999-11-29]:
Robert Kolker [New York Magazine]
After eight years of legal maneuvering, only one final lawsuit from the deadly 1991 City College rap-show riot still plagues Sean "Puffy" Combs. But just as Puff Daddy's annus horribilis is finally winding down -- the wimpy album sales, the cash-hemorrhaging record label, the rumored payoff to stop that nasty assault charge -- this last bit of business could prove more damaging than all the others combined.
Puff Daddy Keeps a Father Waiting
[1999-05-17]:
Matt Fleischer [The New York Observer]
"I think that Puffy Combs has been very, very conservative in terms of settlement negotiations and is really treating this as more of a business situation and less of a human situation," contended Peter DeFilippis, who is representing Nicole Levy, a onetime acquaintance of Mr. Combs now suffering from a thyroid disease said to be triggered by the incident.
Puffy Found Guilty in Stampede Case
[1999-01-12]:
Associated Press [New Jersey Star-Ledger]
Sean "Puffy" Combs and rapper Heavy D are found 50 percent responsible for a stampede at a party that left nine people dead in 1991, a state judge has ruled. Plaintiff's lawyers claim victory.
CCNY Shares Liability In '91 Stampede Deaths
[1999-01-12]:
Associated Press [New York Newsday]
City College of New York was found to be 50 percent liable for the deaths of nine students crushed in a stampede during a celebrity basketball game sponsored by rapper Sean (Puffy) Combs.
Judge Says Rappers and State Share Blame in a Fatal Crush
[1999-01-12]:
Anthony Ramirez [New York Times]
In a blistering decision, a state judge has found New York State and two well-known rap performers equally responsible for a 1991 stampede at a City College gymnasium that killed nine young people and injured 29 others.
Victims' Families Relieved By Ruling
[1999-01-12]:
Bill Hutchinson [New York Daily News]
Loved ones of those who died in the 1991 City College stampede said yesterday's finding that Sean (Puffy) Combs, Heavy D and City University were negligent was long overdue.
Rap Producer Testifies on Fatal Stampede at City College
[1998-03-24]:
John Sullivan [New York Times]
In 1991, Puffy Combs was a largely unknown rap promoter whose celebrity basketball game became forever linked to a horrible event: the stampede that killed nine people at City College.
Puffy Recalls Deadly Benefit - Suit over tragedy at City College
[1998-03-24]:
Associated Press [New York Newsday]
Long before Sean (Puff Daddy) Combs became one of the music industry's biggest stars - before the Grammys, the videos on MTV and the magazine covers - he promoted a 1991 celebrity charity basketball game in which nine people died.
Puff Daddy Gives Testimony Says Stampede Wasn't His Fault
[1998-03-24]:
Salvatore Arena [New York Daily News]
Rap music king Sean (Puff Daddy) Combs says he's not to blame for the 1991 stampede at City College in which nine people were killed and dozens injured at a celebrity basketball game he organized.
Stampede Trial Smokes Puffy's Plan For Oscars
[1998-03-21]:
Salvatore Arena [New York Daily News]
Rap music king Sean (Puffy) Combs' plans to attend the Academy Awards on Monday were scuttled by a judge who threatened to jail him for contempt if he doesn't show up in court.
Best Of '99 Puff Daddy, Heavy D Found Liable For Deadly Stampede. VH1.com [January 12, 1999]
Chris Nelson and Randy Reiss [VH1] Hip-hop producer Sean "Puffy" Combs and rapper Heavy D are equally responsible, along with the City University of New York, for a stampede that killed nine people and injured 29 at a charity basketball game in 1991, a judge has ruled.