About

MEMBERS:

Carol G. Stone Esq.

The founder of this law firm, Carol G. Stone, was born and bred in New York City, Bronx County to the son of immigrant parents and the daughter of a midwestern farm girl, who instilled in their daughter, and all of their children, the values of hard work, determination, grit and the pursuit of excellence in all that they do, as well as a down to earth, and kind manner, in the old-fashioned American way. Carol G. Stone who was the academic star, starting early on in school and continuing through law school, where she was the recipient of many academic awards, a Law Review editor, and a graduate with honors in the year 1983. While raising her family of two children, she quickly went to work as a lawyer in Bronx County where she dedicated herself to practicing law in the poorest communities, both in Criminal Court cases and personal injury cases.  It was in the Bronx where Ms. Stone gained much valued trial experience and training. Through the years, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a specialist in medical malpractice law, by first joining the outstanding law firm of Jonathan C. Reiter in a senior role from the year 2001 to 2013, and then venturing out into her own law practice in the year 2013 to present. She has brought passion, the pursuit of excellence, and the utmost compassion to her clients suffering from diseases and injuries which could have been prevented, and to those victims of medical malpractice, in among the following cases:

• A 24-year-old young lady who was victimized by her medical provider’s failure to appropriately and timely diagnose cancer in her breast, allowing the cancer to spread quickly and become a stage III cancer, leading to a complete mastectomy and far more extensive and prolonged cancer treatment; had she been timely diagnosed this treatment would have resulted in a lumpectomy and no cancer drug therapy. The medical provider’s defense, among other factors, was that the young lady was “too young to get breast cancer”, a defense that was completely indefensible according to recent scientific evidence; and the standard of care;
• A 60-year-old married, family man, life- long smoker, who was admitted to a hospital in Bronx, NY for symptoms of a heart attack, which testing for a possible heart attack, resulted in an incidental finding on a chest MRI of a lesion. The report of this very suspicious finding, was placed in the man’s medical file, and never disclosed to him, leading to an 11 month delay in diagnosing lung cancer which ultimately resulted in his death;
• A 22-year-old artist, bicycling in Brooklyn, NY, who was knocked down by a car door opening in her path, a situation known as “dooring” on which extensive case law has been developed in NY courts. This young lady, without any time to avoid the accident, impacted with the car door, and was thrown violently from her bike landing in the roadway, which caused extensive shoulder and knee injuries both of which required surgeries;
• A 54-year-old woman, who went for her yearly mammogram, wherein the radiologist had diagnosed negative for any lesions, when a more careful reading of the mammogram would have revealed the correct diagnosis of breast cancer, delaying a diagnosis of cancer for 18 months, wherein the woman was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, necessitating a complete mastectomy, radiation treatment and chemotherapy, as well as a permanent lymphedema in her right arm caused by the surgery;
• A 50-year-old man who had open heart surgery, in which the surgeon negligently left a surgical sponge in his heart, causing severe and prolonged pain and suffering and resulting in a second surgery to remove the sponge;
• A 52-year-old woman raising 8 children who became ill with pernicious anemia and hospitalized in the Bronx; due to the pernicious anemia this woman could not move in bed or turn her body, leading to the development of stage 4 pressure ulcers (also known as decubitus ulcers) on her back and sacrum, and compression of her lower spinal cord, resulting in weakness, inability to walk without assistance and prolonged pain. She endured extensive surgeries and skin grafts to heal her pressure sores, also known as decubitus ulcers.
• A 20 year old young man returning from work as a stagehand, makes a legal left turn with the green arrow, and collides with a woman traveling through the red light opposite direction. Serious injuries including comminuted fracture of the left hand requiring surgery and implantation of hardware. Ms. Stone received the full value of the insurance policy which was $100,000 within 6 months of being retained.

In litigating these cases, as well as many others, Ms. Stone has called on her extensive medical background, which consists of Bachelor’s degree in the field of pre-medical science from Lehigh University graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1978, which included extensive specialty study in human physiology, and anatomy.  From the age of 17 she was trained and employed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in the area of cell ecology and clinical medical research for a period of 7 years, prior to attending law school at New York Law School from which she graduated in February 1983 with high honors. Her expert legal work in the area of failure to diagnose cancer has called on her expertise gained through her previous work in a cancer laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital.

She also enjoys her volunteer work with the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association, volunteering in the Bread of Life food kitchen in Rye, NY. She is also training to become a Pilates instructor in Rye, NY, which training was interrupted by the 2020 pandemic, but which is currently resuming.

Ms. Stone and her staff have certain empathetic traits for those who are physically and mentally suffering through the ravages of undiagnosed disease, especially cancer, and the victims of medical mistakes. Of the highest values of the law firm, are empathy and compassion for all of those clients who have entrusted us with their complex medical malpractice cases as well as personal injury cases, wherein an accident victim suffers prolonged pain and surgery, fractures and in some cases, lifelong pain and disability.  We never waver in our empathy, kindness or compassion. Our laws provide the compensation for the victims in the only way that is possible, through awards of money judgments or settlements, all the while knowing that no amount of money can bring back loved ones, or truly compensate for the pain they feel for the rest of their lives.  This then, is the basis of our compassion.

Carol G. Stone is also a long-standing member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA), Bronx Bar Association and the Columbian Lawyer’s Association where she has lectured on issues arising in the area of Medical Malpractice law.

Alyce Iavarone

Ms. Iavarone and Ms. Stone met each other in 2002 and worked together as a team in the Law Firm of Jonathan C. Reiter. She is a highly educated, accomplished senior paralegal in the field of medical malpractice and nursing home law, as well as many other areas of law. She has been a paralegal for 40 years. Since 2012 she has worked for Ms. Stone as a senior paralegal. She is the second foundation to this firm, and is always available to lend a helpful hand, to speak and comfort a client, and to bring her outstanding work to the client’s case.

Olivia Lustrin

Ms. Lustrin has worked for this law firm since September 2020, having graduated with a degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware. She has made exceptional strides in becoming a paralegal and legal assistant.

Carol G. Stone Esq. is a wrongful death lawyer, slip and fall attorney, car accident lawyer, pedestrian hit by car lawyer, bike accident lawyer, dog bite lawyer and personal injury lawyer for Brooklyn, Kings County, Queens County, Richmond County, Bronx County, New York County, Westchester County, Rockland County, Putnam County, Orange County and Dutchess County.