Zivotov Law | Personal Injury Lawyers
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When Your Future Is at Stake, Put a Masterful Advocate on Your Side.
Your family’s well-being is not a game. But when you’re hurt, an insurance company may treat your claim like one, looking for ways to pay less while you face the consequences.
You need a lawyer who understands what’s at stake for you, thinks many moves ahead, and sees possibilities that insurance companies and other lawyers overlook.
Boris Zivotov has built a career recovering life-changing compensation for injured people and their families, including in cases other lawyers wouldn’t touch.
He brings the independent thinking of a National Chess Master and more than 30 years of personal-injury experience to your side of the table. He takes the time to understand your circumstances, uncover the full consequences of your injuries, and build a case that challenges the insurance company’s assessment.
You don’t need to know chess to make a strong first move for your future. Call Boris.
Strong Cases Deserve Excellent Lawyering.Difficult Cases Depend on It.
After a serious injury, you want a lawyer who sees the full potential of your case and does the work to develop it to maximize the compensation you deserve.
Clear liability and substantial insurance coverage are valuable advantages. Making the most of them still requires understanding the full consequences of your injuries, developing persuasive evidence, and preparing a strong case for compensation.
When the facts are disputed or the path to recovery is less apparent, that same care, experience, and independent thinking become even more important.
At Zivotov Law, we bring that attention to your case from the beginning, whether its strengths are obvious or require a closer look.
Personal attention
What Does That Mean for You?
An injury can leave you dealing with pain, missed work, and uncertainty about your family’s future. You deserve a lawyer who takes the time to understand what you are going through and what you need help with.
We ask how treatment is going, what remains difficult, and whether new problems have appeared. Those conversations matter. Trouble concentrating, difficulty climbing stairs, or pain that changes how you walk may deserve closer medical attention and may affect what your case needs to address.
Alongside that personal attention, we investigate who was responsible, gather the evidence, and look for available insurance. Understanding your life and building your case are parts of the same work.
How we can help
Start With What Happened.
Find information about how you were injured and what you may be facing as you recover:
Motor Vehicle Injuries
Drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, and people injured in commercial-vehicle collisions.
02Construction Injuries
Falls from ladders and scaffolds, unprotected openings, falling objects, and unsafe worksite conditions.
03Slips, Falls & Unsafe Property
Dangerous stairs, ice, slippery surfaces, inadequate lighting, and other hazardous conditions.
04Traumatic Brain Injuries
Changes in memory, concentration, sleep, mood, or daily functioning that deserve careful attention.
05Fractures & Orthopedic Injuries
The initial injury, the course of recovery, and consequences that may emerge over time.
Not sure where your situation fits? Start with a free consultation.
The work behind the verdicts
They Didn’t See What Boris Saw. The Juries Did.
In these cases, insurers and even experienced lawyers saw little prospect of recovery. Boris saw reasons to investigate further, developed the evidence, and brought the clients’ stories before juries.
$9 Million Verdict
A Closer Look at an Attic Fall
An air-conditioning worker fell approximately 20 feet through an attic’s sheetrock ceiling onto the stairs below. Other lawyers turned down the case. They believed he should have known where it was safe to step.
He had never been inside an attic. A Russian immigrant who had lived in apartments, he was new to this job after years repairing small residential air conditioners at Sears. Boris believed those circumstances deserved a closer look.
Boris went to inspect the home himself. Near the closet ceiling, he noticed a light switch hidden from view by shelving. At 6 feet 4 inches, he could spot something the shorter worker would have had to turn and look behind him to see while climbing the ladder. Even the homeowners did not know the switch was there, or that the attic had no plywood floor.
The worker had entered the dark attic with a borrowed flashlight. After changing the air-handler filter, he turned toward the light from the access opening, took a step, and fell.
The question of what he should have known could not be separated from what he had been able to see. The investigation helped tell his side of the story. There had been no settlement offer. The jury awarded $9 million and found the worker 52% responsible. After that reduction, the award still exceeded the $3 million insurance policy. Zivotov Law secured the full $3 million available under that policy.
$14 Million Jury Verdict
Looking Beyond the Police Report
A Russian-speaking car-service driver was blamed in a chain collision. Boris’s own immigrant experience helped him recognize a question the police report left unanswered: how had a driver who spoke no English, with a badly fractured femur and a head injury, supposedly admitted fault to an officer who did not speak Russian? Boris questioned the account and investigated further. The highest settlement offer before the verdict was $250,000. The jury found the rear-ending defendant entirely responsible and awarded $14 million.
$250,000 After a Jury Verdict
A Teenager’s Mistake Deserved a Closer Look
A 16-year-old visiting relatives from Ukraine had never used a lawn mower. An adult cousin showed him how to start it, then left him unsupervised. He did not understand that releasing the control bar would stop it. When the mower slipped off a curb and began throwing sparks, he feared damaging his uncle’s machine and reached underneath to lift it, severely injuring his fingers. Boris helped the jury understand the inexperience and fear behind his reaction. The jury awarded $500,000, reduced to $250,000 because it found him 50% responsible. The settlement offer had been $17,000.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case depends on its facts, evidence, injuries, applicable law, and available coverage.
Results through settlement
Different Cases.
The Same Attention to Detail.
Careful investigation and preparation also make a difference in cases resolved through settlement. These examples show other ways that looking closely at the facts and the injuries helped our clients.
$950,000 Settlement
Challenging Assumption of Risk and a Signed Waiver
A woman seriously injured her knee attempting a jump between two simulated rooftops at an obstacle-course event. Other lawyers turned down her case: she had chosen to participate, seemingly “assumed the risk,” and signed a liability waiver and mandatory arbitration clause.
She had done exactly what the organizers expected her to do. Boris challenged the assumption that agreeing to a physical challenge meant accepting the hidden dangers of a poorly designed obstacle. He wanted to understand why following their instructions had left her badly hurt.
The investigation revealed that the obstacle was poorly designed, rushed into use, and never tested. Videos showed other people falling at the same spot. The event’s medical tent had recorded injuries from that obstacle, and it was closed after she was injured that afternoon.
Boris challenged both the liability waiver and mandatory arbitration clause, including an argument about the small size of the printed terms. Looking closely at the obstacle and the paperwork helped move the case forward. It settled for $950,000.
$2.9 Million Construction Settlement
Recognizing a Missed Brain Injury
A worker first came to Zivotov Law two years after his injury. Boris immediately recognized symptoms that others had missed and referred him for a brain-injury evaluation. Understanding that injury helped explain the worker’s difficulties and became an important part of his case.
$100,000 Policy-Limits Settlement
Taking Her Symptoms Seriously
A single mother had been advised to settle for $12,000. She was struggling with changes in her concentration and wondered whether she was developing ADHD. Boris recognized signs of a possible brain injury in her records and testimony and referred her for evaluation. Zivotov Law obtained the full $100,000 available under the insurance policy, a meaningful difference for her family.
Other selected results: $22 million for a catastrophic brain injury and $5.25 million for a pedestrian whose injuries led to further health problems and lifelong changes.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case depends on its facts, evidence, injuries, applicable law, and available coverage.
Meet Boris Zivotov
Proven Results. Independent Thinking. Personal Commitment.
For more than 30 years, Boris Zivotov has helped injured people secure substantial verdicts and settlements, including multimillion-dollar recoveries in cases other lawyers turned down. His record reflects careful investigation, independent judgment, and a determination to understand what others may have missed. Behind that work is a personal understanding of how much a family can have at stake.
Boris Zivotov arrived in the United States from Ukraine as a 12-year-old refugee. Raised by a single mother in a family struggling with poverty, he was working odd jobs by 14 to help make ends meet. He knows what it means to start over with very little and how much can depend on the next paycheck.
That experience informs his work with injured immigrants. Financial pressure, language barriers, and unfamiliarity with their rights can leave workers exposed to dangerous conditions and afraid to speak up. When someone is hurt and treated as replaceable, Boris sees a person whose health, livelihood, and family deserve to be taken seriously.
He went on to become valedictorian of his graduating class at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, and earned the title of National Master in chess. His achievements reflect the determination and independent thinking he brings to his clients’ cases.
Boris is a former president of the Bay Ridge Lawyers Association and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the nation’s highest court.
As a psychology student, Boris worked as a community liaison for a Brooklyn assemblyman, helping people with problems affecting their daily lives. He went on to work with people living with mental illness at Maimonides. His legal career, which began in 1995, continued that commitment to helping people through difficult circumstances.
That experience shapes the way he listens. What happened to you? What has changed since your injury? What are you worried about that no one has asked?
Boris is deeply opposed to injustice, particularly when someone is blamed before their circumstances are understood. He puts that conviction into practice: asking another question, visiting the scene, challenging an assumption, or helping a client get an overlooked medical concern evaluated.
You don’t need to know chess to make a strong first move for your future. Call Boris.
Call Zivotov Law for a Free ConsultationYour next step
Let’s Talk About
What Happened.
You do not need to decide whether your case is strong, complicated, or worth pursuing before calling us. That is something we can discuss together.
The consultation is free. Getting in touch early gives us a chance to check deadlines and secure evidence before it disappears. We will listen, discuss your options, and explain what the next steps may involve.