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Sacks & Sacks: The New York Firm Whose Founders Wrote the 1969 Scaffold-Law Amendments They Still Litigate Under

Most construction-accident firms in New York litigate under Labor Law Sections 240 and 241(6). Sacks & Sacks helped write them: founding brothers Ira, Melvin, and Stanley Sacks crafted the statutory language the New York State Legislature adopted in 1969, greatly expanding the protections afforded to construction workers — protections the firm has litigated under ever since.

Origin and Background

Sacks & Sacks, LLP practices in Manhattan, confirmed through the firm’s own site and Martindale-Hubbell. The firm was founded in the years after World War II by brothers Ira and Melvin Sacks, both of whom had served with American forces in Europe, with a third brother, Stanley, joining later. Ira’s twin sons Evan and Ken began as interns at the firm in 1982, joined as attorneys after graduating from Hofstra University School of Law in 1989, and built the practice into one of New York’s preeminent construction-worker firms. Evan Sacks is today the firm’s senior partner; his twin brother Ken is deceased.

Practice Concentration

The firm has concentrated on union labor and construction accidents for over 70 years, alongside motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, product liability, and toxic torts. Martindale-Hubbell lists 12 attorneys at the firm’s New York office. See this New York Personal Injury directory for how this construction-specialty practice compares to general plaintiff firms serving the five boroughs.

Notable Work / Track Record

The firm reports a record-shattering $86,000,000 verdict in Orange County and states that some two dozen severely injured construction workers have obtained verdicts or settlements exceeding $10,000,000 through the firm, including five topping $20,000,000 — figures reported by the firm itself. Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Client Voice

The firm’s client base has been anchored in union construction workers since its founding, and its public materials are addressed to the building trades directly. Awesome Attorneys did not identify a pattern of negative public reviews warranting disclosure.

Beyond the Courtroom

Beyond individual cases, Evan and Ken Sacks worked with the New York State Trial Lawyers Association over the years to defend Labor Law Sections 240 and 241(6) against industry-backed proposals to weaken them — continuing the legislative involvement their father and uncles began.

Recognition for This New York Personal Injury Firm

Three of the firm’s attorneys hold Super Lawyers or Rising Stars selections, a peer-influenced, research-driven recognition distinct from paid marketing placements. New York State does not operate a state-run attorney specialization certification program, so Awesome Attorneys does not apply “specialist” language to any New York profile on a state-certification basis.

New York Legal Backdrop

Labor Law Section 240(1) — the “scaffold law” — imposes near-strict liability on owners and general contractors when a worker is injured in an elevation-related accident, and Section 241(6) creates liability for violations of specific Industrial Code safety regulations; both trace their modern form to the 1969 amendments this firm’s founders helped draft. Most other New York injury claims carry a three-year limitations period under CPLR 214(5), with pure comparative negligence under CPLR 1411. None of this is legal advice; a specific construction-accident claim should be evaluated by a licensed New York attorney based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Sacks & Sacks’s clearest differentiator is genuinely unmatched in this category: the firm’s founders wrote the statutory language of the modern scaffold law, and three generations of the same family have litigated under it for over 70 years. The honest trade-off is that this is a construction-and-labor-focused practice built around the building trades — a client with an unrelated injury type, such as medical malpractice, may be better matched with a firm whose signature results sit in that area, and the firm’s largest publicized figures are self-reported rather than independently compiled. For a union or non-union construction worker injured on a New York job site, it is difficult to name a firm with deeper institutional history in exactly that fight.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Sacks & Sacks’s own site and firm-history page, its Martindale-Hubbell office listing, and its Super Lawyers firm profile.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Sacks & Sacks, LLP prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.