Our experienced attorneys fight for your rights

William Pagan is a proud maverick among trial lawyers. His hard driving style in the courtroom, culled from over twenty years experience trying cases in State and Federal court in all boroughs of the City of New York, statewide in New York and pro hac vice nationwide, yields winning stellar verdicts for his clients time and again. His passion for representing injured victims, their families and children is boundless and it shows. William Pagan loves being a plaintiff's trial lawyer. Judges, his adversaries and juries see that in his tireless level of exacting preparation for trial and the way in which he deftly executes multiple trial strategies at court. His philosophy for success on behalf of his clients is simple: preparation leaving no stone unturned. Lawyers know his excellent work and from around the country they refer their own clients with injury cases directly to him to handle at our firm.

 

Mr. Pagan is widely recognized as a highly skilled trial lawyer with a keen acumen for handling highly complex medical malpractice cases, serious injuries from construction, lead paint poisoning, municipal premise and general accident cases. He is well known for skillfully managing challenging evidentiary issues that cause many other lawyers to decline to pursue a case. Over the years, many clients have sought Mr. Pagan's advice and representation when their existing lawyer informed they declined to continue on the case or go to trial because the case "is not winnable or worth it." Mr. Pagan has stepped in, reviewed the case and on several occasions has taken previously rejected cases to trial and obtained multi-multi-million dollar verdicts for those plaintiffs.

 

In one matter several years ago, a woman whose toddler daughter tragically died in a building fire, approached Mr. Pagan after watching him at work in a jury selection part where he was actively engaged in selecting a jury in a case. She explained some details of her own case to Mr. Pagan and that it was scheduled to begin jury selection that day, but her lawyer told her to accept a $25,000 offer of settlement from the building owner because "no jury will ever hold the landlord liable." She explained that if she did not accept the offer to settle her daughter's death claim, then the lawyer would make a motion to stop the trial and be relieved as her attorney. Mr. Pagan spoke to the woman's counsel and verified the accuracy of what she said. Based upon a few more facts that the lawyer explained, Mr. Pagan had a hunch that something was being overlooked and while the claim was difficult, the offer of settlement seemed woefully inadequate in light of the tragic death of the child. Mr. Pagan accompanied the lawyer to obtain a continuance of that matter in order for Mr. Pagan to review the case file and consider whether to take over. Mr. Pagan did so, consulted with fire experts on the case and agreed to be retained. Several months later after Mr. Pagan sought and obtained key missing evidentiary proof in the case as he suspected, he successfully prosecuted the case through jury trial obtaining a million dollar jury verdict and settlement of the death case. This is just one of many examples of Mr. Pagan's sincere empathy with injured victims, keen instincts, willingness to work hard where other lawyers will not and true excellence as a trial lawyer who delivers winning results. More highlighted excerpts of Mr. Pagan's victories at trial are reported in our "Verdicts and Settlements."

 

Mr. Pagan prepares each case he handles armed with an arsenal of investigation and mastery of the facts and technical science related to each case. He consults and retains medical experts, engineers and other specialists nationwide who are top credentialed in their fields. Mr. Pagan and the legal staff assisting him with trial, dedicate countless hours in preparation until the case is resolved and will literally go any distance to prevail on behalf of the client's meritorious claims. In one case, Mr. Pagan and his staff prosecuted a complex three week medical malpractice trial, on behalf of a New Jersey man who became gravely ill from perforated diverticulitis while on vacation in Hawaii and was the victim of serious medical malpractice there. The case was fully litigated by the firm before the United States District Court in Honolulu, Hawaii and Mr. Pagan and his attorney and paralegal trial staff ultimately remained there continuously through the three week trial. They successfully coordinated the long distance appearance of several expert medical witnesses and fact witnesses. The major Hawaiian defense firm representing the defendant surgeon was confident that the local jury there would reject the claims of the New Jersey man. The defense took an "absolutely no pay" position on settlement prior to trial. After opening remarks and Mr. Pagan's presentation of plaintiff's case in chief at trial however, including expert medical witnesses, fact witnesses and Mr. Pagan's surgical style cross-examination of the defendant surgeon himself, a settlement was immediately offered and the case was successfully resolved to the client's complete satisfaction. The terms and conditions of the settlement are confidential and cannot be published.

 

William Pagan is a native New Yorker who grew up in the South Bronx with seven siblings all reared by strong single mother who emigrated from Puerto Rico. He is Spanish bilingual and graduated on scholarship to Fordham University in 1984 where he majored in Political Science. As a young father with one child at that time and working full time, he attended night school at St. John's University College of Law graduating in 1987 with a Juris Doctorate Degree and immediately was admitted to the New York Bar in 1988. He is admitted to practice in the Federal Southern and Eastern District Courts of New York and has been admitted pro hac vice to the United States District Court for the Districts of Puerto Rico and Hawaii. His professional memberships include the American Association for Justice, New York State Trial Lawyers Association, New York County Lawyers Association, New York City Bar Association, and the Bronx, Kings, Queens and New York County Bar Associations.

 

Mr. Pagan is married to his law partner, Tania Pagan, with whom he has two young and adoring children in addition to his grown daughter with a delightful grandchild. He is a licensed SCCA race car driver. When he is not on trial, his daring hard driving style is literally behind the open wheel frequently at Lime Rock Park, Watkins Glenn or Infineon Raceway.