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Claire Rush

Claire Rush is a trial attorney who specializes in the defense of high exposure personal
injury actions. She has received a Preeminent AV rating of 5.0 / 5.0 from Martindale-Hubbell and has been identified as one of the top personal injury defense attorneys in the Metro New York area by Super Lawyer Magazine, ALM, and Martindale -Hubbell. Ms. Rush has been recognized by the Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers, the New York Times and AVENUE Magazine as one of New York City’s top women lawyers in the area of trial practice.

Ms. Rush has successfully defended public and private entities against bus, truck, auto, railway, construction, premises, elevator, escalator, environmental, security, police and 42 U.S.C. §1983 actions for the last 25 years. She has tried more than 100 jury cases to verdict in New York State.

Ms. Rush began her career at the MTA/New York City Transit Authority in 1984. She was assigned to a trial unit in 1985 and began trying catastrophic injury claims and death actions shortly thereafter. She tried over 75 jury cases to verdict while at the MTA. Ms. Rush was made an Assistant General Counsel in 1989 and served as a supervisor in the Bronx Trial Unit and the Chief of the Major Case Unit in New York County.

During her tenure at the MTA Ms. Rush developed an interest and expertise in the discovery and prosecution of insurance fraud. While at the MTA she commenced a civil fraud action against a prominent New York law firm and obtained a pre judgment attachment thereby securing the recoupment of more than $3,000,000 in fraudulently obtained judgments and settlements.

In recognition of her legal scholarship and advocacy skills, Ms. Rush was frequently called upon to brief and argue appeals at the MTA. As an appellate advocate, she developed an expertise in the area of governmental immunity and was a member of the team that worked on the seminal case of Crosland v. New York City Transit Authority, 68 N.Y.2d 165 (1986).Ms. Rush is frequently called upon by bar associations and private corporations to lecture and publish in the various areas of substantive law and trial practice in which she specializes. These presentations have included:

• Author, Defeating Low-Impact Claims, For The Defense, DRI, October 2013;

• Lecturer, Complex Jury Selection Issues, National Business Institute, 2013;

• Lecturer, Fraudulent Claims - Identification, Investigation and Litigation, Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, Zurich, NA, 2013;

• Lecturer, Assessing and Addressing Insurance Fraud in the Claims Environment, Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, Kemper Insurance Company, 2013;

• Lecturer, Qualifying the Biomechanical Expert, Selective Insurance Company Northeast Regional Claims Conference, 2013;

• Author, Collecting, Preserving and Authenticating Social Media Evidence, Trials and Tribulations, DRI, 2013;

• Lecturer, Negotiating Strategies for Claims Professionals, Claims & Litigation Management Alliance, New York Central Mutual Insurance Company, 2013;

• Lecturer, Identifying and Combating Fraud in Automobile Cases, Lawline, 2013;

• Lecturer, Are You on the Cutting Edge? Defense and Mitigation Strategies for Large Loss Transportation Claims, CLM Annual Conference, 2013;

• Lecturer, The Ethical Use of Social Media in Discovery and at Trial, Defense Association of New York, 2013;

• Lecturer, Current Issues in Construction Law, Turner School of Construction Management, 2012;

• Author, How to Make and Defend Against Batson Challenges, Trials And Tribulations, DRI, 2011;

• Lecturer, The Timing of Expert Disclosure Under CPLR 3101(d), Defense Association of New York, 2011;

• Lecturer, Current Issues In Construction Law, Turner School of Construction Management, 2011;

• Lecturer, Effective Use of Evidence From Investigation Through Trial, National Business Institute, 2010;

• Lecturer, Jury Selection, The Bar Association of the City of New York, 2009;

• Lecturer, Recognizing Automobile Defect Cases and How to Handle Them, National Business Institute, 2008;

• Presenter, The Biomechanical Defense of Soft Tissue Injury Claims, American Transit Insurance Company, 2008;

• Lecturer, Expert Witness Testimony at Trial, National Business Institute, 2008;

• Lecturer, Direct and Cross Examination, Defense Association of New York, 2006;

• Lecturer, Anatomy of a Complex Personal Injury Trial, National Business Institute, 2004.