David Scher
Partner | Block O'Toole & Murphy
David Scher is a construction accidents, motor vehicle accidents and appellate practice trial lawyer and partner at Block O'Toole & Murphy in New York, New York. J.D., Fordham University School of Law.
Meet David
David L. Scher is a New York personal injury trial lawyer and a partner at Block O’Toole & Murphy in New York City. He represents people seriously injured in construction accidents, commercial vehicle accidents and premises liability cases, and he heads the firm’s appellate practice.
Scher joined Block O’Toole & Murphy in 2003. According to the firm, he was born and raised in Albany, graduated from Fordham University School of Law and worked in the New York State Attorney General’s Office. He also served as a law clerk for New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich.
His appellate work includes a 2011 amicus curiae brief to the Court of Appeals on behalf of more than 5,000 New York trial lawyers, which the firm says led to the decision in Ortiz v. Varsity Holdings, a construction-worker fall-protection ruling. He has also appeared before the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court. The firm credits him with a $65 million settlement for a Brooklyn cyclist injured by debris from a subway construction site.
Scher is a past president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and, in 2023, was selected for the New York court system’s Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence and the Courts. He lectures on litigation practice and has written for the New York Law Journal and the Albany Times Union.
Experience and Expertise
Qualifications
Timeline
- Tufts University, B.A.
- Fordham University School of Law, J.D.
Practice Areas
- New York State Trial Lawyers Association (President, 2024; Co-Chair, Labor Law Committee; Member, Judicial Committee)
- American Association for Justice
- New York State Unified Court System, Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence and the Courts (Member)
- Super Lawyers, New York Metro, 2016-present (per firm site)
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, New York (three years before 2016)
- Best Lawyers, Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs, 2024-present
- City & State New York, Trailblazers in Law (2024)
- Million Dollar Advocates Forum (Member)
- Multimillion Dollar Advocates Forum (Member)
- The National Trial Lawyers, Top 100 Trial Lawyers
- $65 Million Settlement: Settlement for a Brooklyn cyclist catastrophically injured when struck by debris from a subway construction site. The firm credits part of the result to Scher's arguments before the Second Department Appellate Division.
- $15 Million Wrongful Death Settlement: Settlement for the family of an HVAC technician who died installing a cooling unit at a Bronx hospital. The lower court dismissed the case; the Appellate Division reversed after Scher argued the scope of Labor Law 240(1).
- $13.5 Million Settlement: Settlement for a pedestrian struck by a vehicle on Long Island. The firm says Scher won several key motions and believes it is the largest personal injury settlement in Suffolk County.
- $12 Million Settlement: Settlement for a Local 147 union tunnel worker who fell into an open shaft on a Manhattan construction site, causing orthopedic and neurologic injuries.
- $10.3 Million Settlement: Settlement for a worker who suffered an electric shock and fell from a ladder, sustaining traumatic brain injuries.
- $9.95 Million Settlement: Settlement for a Buffalo social worker who lost her leg after being hit from behind by an out-of-control van.
- $8.8 Million Settlement: Settlement for a Queens pedestrian who suffered a traumatic brain injury when struck by a van on the sidewalk. The firm cites the National Law Journal as ranking it the tenth largest settlement in the United States in 2014.
- $9.5 Million Settlement: Settlement for a painter who fell from an extension ladder in Westchester County and sustained a traumatic brain injury.
- $9 Million Settlement: Settlement for a construction worker who suffered severe hand injuries, including amputation of two fingers, while working on a mast climbing platform.
- $8 Million Wrongful Death Settlement: Settlement for the family of a worker who died after falling from an unguarded platform in Brooklyn.
- $7.525 Million Wrongful Death Settlement: Settlement for a family devastated by a fatal Suffolk County auto accident.
- $7.2 Million Wrongful Death Settlement: Settlement for the family of a Brooklyn man killed in an elevator accident.
- $5.8 Million Premises Liability Settlement: Settlement for a woman who suffered a severe ankle fracture at the Museum of Ice Cream in Manhattan and later developed Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome.
- $2.056 Million Verdict: Verdict for a public high school teacher struck by a city bus in downtown Brooklyn.
- $1 Million Settlement Following Jury Verdict: Settlement following a jury verdict in the Bronx for a 14-year-old who had arthroscopic knee surgery after an accident.
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