New York City has filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against Manhattan personal injury firm Asher & Associates and its attorneys, accusing them of manufacturing bogus slip-and-fall and roadway defect claims against the city and then quietly dropping the cases once confronted with contradictory medical evidence. The complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court, cites 15 allegedly fraudulent lawsuits in which clients claimed they were hurt riding motorcycles, scooters and bicycles over poorly maintained city streets, when city officials say the real causes were physical fights or hit-and-run incidents.
According to Reuters, the city says Asher & Associates dropped its cases without explanation once confronted with contradictory statements. One example cited by the NYC Law Department involves Jermaine Corley, whose 2022 suit sought $3 million over a supposed biking accident on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn caused by a defective roadway — until hospital records showed his injuries actually came from a physical fight. The city says it confronted the firm with those hospital records, after which the suit was discontinued without explanation.
A second case detailed in the same complaint, Boyd-Coggins v. City of New York, alleged an electric scooter fall on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan was caused by a roadway ditch, also seeking $3 million — but emergency room records instead documented an automobile collision, the city says. Officials describe the 15 cited cases as just the tip of the proverbial iceberg and are seeking discovery of other lawsuits filed by the firm.
A Network Of Runners And Litigation Funders
The city’s complaint goes further than the named attorneys, alleging that Asher & Associates operated alongside unnamed John Doe runners who worked as personal injury brokers recruiting claimants, as well as third-party litigation funders who financed lawsuit expenses in exchange for a cut of any settlement, according to Legal Newsline. Civil RICO claims require showing an ongoing enterprise operating through a pattern of racketeering, which is why prosecutors are leaning on that broader infrastructure rather than isolated incidents…