Demand letter ignored in New York? The firm takes the next step.
Employment, business, tenant and injury matters, handled by the same attorney who signs the letters.
Many of the disputes this firm sees are resolved with a demand letter. Some do not. An employer who fired you the week after you complained, a partner who locked you out of the company's accounts, a landlord who ignored the fourteen-day deposit rule and the letter that followed, a fall from a scaffold. Those need a lawyer in the room. This page explains which matters the firm litigates, how the engagement is priced, and how to start.
Hochman Law PC, New York. Litigation and counsel under a written retainer; flat-fee letters and contracts stated before you pay.
Reviewed by Daniel Hochman, Esq. · Last updated October 15, 2026
Start with the honest question: letter or lawsuit?
Every matter here begins the same way. You describe what happened, the attorney reads it, and you get one of three answers. A flat-fee demand letter will probably resolve it, and here is the one that fits. It needs a lawsuit or an agency filing, and here is what that involves. Or neither is worth your money, because the amount is too small, the other side cannot pay, or the law is not on your side. You hear the third answer as plainly as the first two.
That screening is why the firm sells letters on a separate site and litigation here. The flat-fee demand letters handle the disputes where a signed letter citing the right statute is the right first move. The matters below are the ones where the letter is the opening move, or where the clock and the stakes call for a filing first.
Harassment and false statements about you are the exception that rarely needs a filing first. Most start, and many end, with a cease and desist letter signed by the attorney.
Employment: discrimination, retaliation, termination, severance.
New York State and New York City both have human rights laws that reach further than the federal statute, and the city law in particular is read broadly in favor of employees. Claims include discrimination on the basis of a protected characteristic, harassment, failure to accommodate a disability or pregnancy, and retaliation for complaining about any of it. Retaliation is the claim people miss most often: the original complaint may have been weak, and the firing that followed it is the stronger case.
The firm also reviews severance agreements before you sign them. A severance package is a contract in which you trade every claim you have for a number. Whether the number is fair depends on what you are giving up, and that takes an hour with a lawyer, not a signature on the day they hand it to you. See severance agreement review and employment discrimination and retaliation. Wage claims that outgrow the flat-fee letter, including overtime, misclassification, and pattern violations, are on unpaid wages and overtime.
Business and partnership disputes.
Two people start a company. Three years in, one of them stops answering, changes the bank password, and stops the distributions. New York gives a minority owner real tools: the right to inspect the books and records, fiduciary duty claims against a partner who used the company for himself, and in serious cases a petition for dissolution. The frozen-out partner page walks through the sequence.
Breach of contract, unpaid commercial invoices past the demand stage, and disputes with vendors and customers sit here as well. For invoices, the collections letter comes first; when it is ignored, the firm sues in Civil Court or Supreme Court, depending on the amount.
Tenant and co-op litigation.
A landlord who keeps a deposit after the fourteen-day deadline and ignores the letter is sued in Civil Court, with the letter as the first exhibit. Habitability cases that need rent abatement or a court order to make repairs go to Housing Court. Co-op and condo owners whose boards will not act on a leak, a sublet, or a records request have remedies that begin with a demand to the board and can end in an Article 78 proceeding or a plenary action. The firm handles each stage.
Injury: construction, road, premises, transit.
Injury matters are the one area where the firm never suggests a letter. The insurer on the other side is a professional adversary, the evidence disappears quickly, and the deadlines are short, especially where a city agency or public authority is involved. Construction workers hurt in a fall or by a falling object have one of the strongest claims in New York law under Labor Law 240, which holds owners and contractors liable even where the worker was partly at fault. Where the site was decides which county's Supreme Court hears the case, and the construction page walks through each borough, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx included. A separate page covers people on the sidewalk below who are hit by falling debris. The firm also handles car accidents, slip, trip and fall, subway and bus injuries, delivery worker accidents, lead paint poisoning, nursing home neglect, and wrongful death. Injury matters are handled on contingency under a written retainer.
What it costs, stated before you sign.
Demand letters are a flat fee, shown on the page. Contract drafting is a flat fee, shown on the page. Litigation is priced to the matter: some cases are flat-fee by stage, some hourly against a retainer, and injury cases handled on contingency under a written retainer. Whatever the structure, it is in the written retainer you sign before any work begins, together with the scope. Nothing on this site is a promise about outcome, and no honest lawyer makes one.
How to start.
Use the short intake on this site or call. Send the documents you have: the termination email, the operating agreement, the lease, the accident report. The attorney reads them before the call, so the call is about your options rather than your file. If the answer is a flat-fee letter, you will be sent to the letter that fits and nothing else. If it is a lawsuit, you leave the call knowing the claim, the forum, the timeline, and the fee.
If you are still weighing a letter against a filing, the comparison of a demand letter versus small claims court in New York sets out the dollar limits by court and what collecting a judgment actually takes. And if you want to know who would handle the case, read about Daniel Hochman, the New York attorney who signs the letters and appears in court.
Describe what happened and the attorney tells you whether it is a flat-fee letter, a case worth filing, or neither. Tell us what happened, or start with a flat-fee demand letter if you already know.
Questions people ask us.
Do I have to buy a demand letter before the firm will take my case?
No. The letter is the right first step for most money disputes, and the attorney will say so when it is. Matters that need a filing go straight to a retainer.
How is litigation priced?
It depends on the matter: flat fee by stage, hourly against a retainer, or, for injury cases, contingency under a written retainer. The structure and the scope are written into the retainer agreement you sign before any work begins.
Is there a deadline I should worry about?
Often. Injury claims, claims against public agencies, discrimination charges, and defamation each carry their own limitations periods, and some are short. Contact the firm early rather than late; the first call establishes the clock that applies to you.
Do you handle cases outside New York City?
Yes. The firm is admitted in New York State and handles matters across the state. Court appearances outside the city are discussed at the outset.
Will you tell me if my case is not worth pursuing?
Yes, and early. A case that cannot be won or collected costs you money and the firm its credibility. You will hear that assessment before you sign anything.
Letters, contracts, and the courtroom. One New York attorney.
Tell the attorney what happened, or start with a flat-fee demand letter if you already know that is what you need.
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