New York City has filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against Manhattan personal injury firm Asher & Associates and its attorneys, accusing them of manufacturing bogus slip-and-fall and roadway defect claims against the city and then quietly dropping the cases once confronted with contradictory medical evidence. The complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court, cites 15 allegedly fraudulent lawsuits in which clients claimed they were hurt riding motorcycles, scooters and bicycles over poorly maintained city streets, when city officials say the real causes were physical fights or hit-and-run incidents.
According to Reuters, the city says Asher & Associates dropped its cases without explanation once confronted with contradictory statements. One example cited by the NYC Law Department involves Jermaine Corley, whose 2022 suit sought $3 million over a supposed biking accident on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn caused by a defective roadway — until hospital records showed his injuries actually came from a physical fight. The city says it confronted the firm with those hospital records, after which the suit was discontinued without explanation.
A second case detailed in the same complaint, Boyd-Coggins v. City of New York, alleged an electric scooter fall on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan was caused by a roadway ditch, also seeking $3 million — but emergency room records instead documented an automobile collision, the city says. Officials describe the 15 cited cases as just the tip of the proverbial iceberg and are seeking discovery of other lawsuits filed by the firm.
A Network Of Runners And Litigation Funders
The city's complaint goes further than the named attorneys, alleging that Asher & Associates operated alongside unnamed John Doe runners who worked as personal injury brokers recruiting claimants, as well as third-party litigation funders who financed lawsuit expenses in exchange for a cut of any settlement, according to Legal Newsline. Civil RICO claims require showing an ongoing enterprise operating through a pattern of racketeering, which is why prosecutors are leaning on that broader infrastructure rather than isolated incidents.
The lawsuit also alleges that Asher & Associates routinely filed parallel civil suits based on the same false defect narratives against private utility companies and paving contractors that had done past roadway work at the alleged incident sites, per the NYC Law Department. Those third-party suits reportedly led to multi-front litigation against private businesses before being quietly discontinued when challenged, spreading the alleged scheme's costs well beyond city government.
Asher & Associates allegedly generated millions of dollars in legal fees, settlements and judgments based on false narratives, the city claims. Attorneys Ryan Asher and Roberta Asher are both named as defendants, and Reuters reports neither responded immediately to a request for comment.
A Censured Attorney With A Prior Record
Ryan Asher was formally censured in November 2025 by the Attorney Grievance Committee for the First Judicial Department for professional misconduct involving the mishandling and neglect of client matters, including lawsuits brought against NYC agencies, according to Legal Newsline. That 2025 disciplinary proceeding followed a prior admission of similar conduct in 2009, establishing a documented history ahead of the new federal allegations.
Corporation Counsel Steven Banks, who took over the NYC Law Department in early 2026 after being appointed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, framed the case in blunt terms. “Personal injury laws exist to protect actual victims of trauma, not to line the pockets of people looking to make a quick buck off city taxpayers,” Banks said. Banks previously served as attorney-in-chief at the Legal Aid Society, according to the Queens Daily Eagle.
Mike Flynn said fraudulent personal injury lawsuits profit on the misfortune of others while taxpayers bear the burden, according to Reuters' reporting on the case.
Treble Damages And A Growing Legal Trend
The city is seeking damages under the federal RICO statute — a 56-year-old law originally passed by Congress to rein in organized crime bosses, which provides for treble damages if the plaintiff wins. New York is also pursuing damages under the city and state False Claims Act. The complaint says submitting or causing the submission of false claims or supporting documents to municipal officials carries mandatory civil penalties of $5,000 to $15,000 per violation, on top of treble damages.
In May, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed state anti-fraud legislation criminalizing staged motor vehicle accidents, capping non-economic damages, and barring medical providers with misconduct histories from workers' compensation claims, Legal Newsline reports. The city's case arrives amid a wider trend of civil RICO actions against plaintiffs' firms, including similar lawsuits by insurers.
The financial stakes for the city are substantial. The Office of the New York City Comptroller reported that New York City resolved 13,227 claims and lawsuits for $1.45 billion in fiscal year 2023. Before fiscal year 2022, the city paid approximately $1 billion per fiscal year to settle tort and law claims.
The case, The City of New York v. Ryan H. Asher, et al., carries case number 1:26-cv-08753 and is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It was assigned on October 5 to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan, with Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn designated for referral matters, according to PacerMonitor. The NYC Law Department is representing the city, with attorneys Eric Proshansky and Cesar Ruiz handling the matter.
The Asher case comes amid broader scrutiny of alleged litigation fraud by municipal lawyers and insurers.
