Experienced and Well-Regarded Manhattan Trial Lawyers

Sean E. Coonerty grew up in West Islip, Long Island, NY. He attended West Islip High School and played Varsity Tennis and Soccer. In his senior year, he was the tennis team's Captain, was named the Most Valuable Player, and his doubles team was undefeated. He graduated in the top 6% of his High School class of over 425 students.

Early in life, Sean began working on the Great South Bay. At 15 years old he was a mate on the fishing boat, Captain Rod, out of the Captree Boat Basin. At 16, he began as a deck-hand at the Fire Island Ferries in Bay Shore. By the time he was 19, he was a Ferry Captain in charge of a crew of 4, and up to 400 passengers aboard vessels up to 85 feet long.

Sean attended college at Binghamton University on an academic scholarship, and received a B.A. in Economics. Following graduation, and after working full time on the Fire Island Ferries for a year, he was offered a scholarship and attended Brooklyn Law School. After his first year in Law School he was a Summer Intern for the Federal Judge, Hon. Denis Hurley, in Hauppauge, NY.

Following his second year in Law School he began as a Summer Associate for Aaronson, Rappaport, Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP, in Manhattan, NY. At the end of that summer, Aaronson, Rappaport, Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP offered Sean a full time position upon graduating Law School. He was the first Associate to ever be hired to the well established, mid-sized firm (over 60 attorneys) directly from Law School. As an Associate at Aaronson, Rappaport, Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP, he was involved in all aspects of medical malpractice defense litigation. He represented and defended physicians of various specialties, and medical institutions such as Brookdale Hospital, Brooklyn Hospital and Methodist Hospital. In addition to preparing high exposure cases for trial (brain damaged infant, wrongful death, etc.), he also sat on steering committees for the Phen-Fen and Breast Implant class actions, as well as co-wrote an article for The New York Law Journal on the Physician-Patient Privilege.

After a couple of years defending doctors and hospitals, and witnessing first-hand the injustices suffered by the plaintiffs, Sean abruptly changed his career path. He knew his true calling was to fight for the victims of negligence, not defend the perpetrators. In February, 2001 he began working as an Associate for Siegel & Coonerty, LLP, and he went on to make partner in January, 2008. Here at Siegel & Coonerty, LLP, he represents a broad range of plaintiff clients in personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death cases, including automobile accidents, construction/workplace accidents, slip/trip and fall accidents, as well as cases in which the Police commit a false arrest or use excessive force. He has controlled hundreds of cases from the initial interview through trial. As a trial attorney he has achieved verdicts in the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Among his most notable trials was a medical malpractice wrongful death case in the Bronx, NY (failure to diagnose colon cancer) which settled during jury deliberation for $775,000.00. He also mediated a construction accident case on the eve of trial in Queens, NY that settled for $1,600,000.00.

In the course of conducting countless depositions, Sean met and fell in love with his favorite Court Stenographer, Ada Luz. Sean and Ada Luz were married in May, 2005.

Sean currently lives with Ada Luz and their two children in Garden City, Long Island, NY. He and his wife are active in various charitable organizations, including The Coalition for Children Against Abuse and Neglect, and Team for Kids. He is an avid tennis player with the U.S.T.A., a runner, a golfer, and a sports enthusiast in general.