Hochul Spurns Victims with Fourth Veto of Grieving Families Act

The Law Offices of Joseph Lichtenstein has been at the forefront of defending the rights of families that have lost loved ones due to negligence and medical malpractice for decades. 

Over 30 years ago, Joseph Lichtenstein published an editorial in The New York Post, urging the Legislature to change the terribly unfair and unjust wrongful death laws that did not allow the recovery of and compensation for grief and the emotional devastation of the loss of a loved one due to negligence and medical malpractice. 

Lichtenstein’s fight on behalf of the families of those suffering from the wrongful death of their loved ones has never stopped. 

Now, for the 4th time, Governor Hochul has vetoed the Grieving Families Act, which would alleviate this terrible injustice, despite overwhelming bipartisan support in the New York Legislature. 

Governor Hochul has continued to yield to the interests of big business and insurance over the underserved and grieving families the bill is intended to protect. “This fourth dismissal is an insulting reminder to victims that New York is prioritizing big business over families who have suffered unimaginable loss,” said Andrew Finkelstein, President of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. “New York needs a system of accountability, a system of oversight, and a system of protection that it lacks, in stark contrast to 48 other states. By denying accountability, our state is abandoning grieving families and adding insult to the ultimate injustice, the preventable death of a loved one. The current wrongful death law functions as a free kill law when negligence causes death to babies, seniors, homemakers, students or anyone else not receiving a paycheck. This creates a second class of citizen and a judicial structure that creates a two tiered reality in which the value of a life is measured not by its meaning, but by its wages” The New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA) said the existing law is “an outlier in the country and continues to deny families a fair chance to hold wrongdoers accountable.  The Grieving Families Act would change this.” See Harlem World, Dec 5, 2025. 

Please call Governor Hochul’s Office and demand that if this bill is brought back before her, that she sign it, if she wants your vote. Call the main New York State switchboard at (518) 474-8390 and ask to be connected to the Governor’s office, use the official contact form, or mail a letter to her at The Honorable Kathy Hochul, New York State Capitol Building, Albany, NY 12224.

We must put pressure on her to sign this bill, so New York can finally allow justice for the families and loved ones of people who are killed through somebody’s negligence or medical malpractice. 

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