11 Facts About Harry Lipsig

Harry Havon Lipsig was born in Warsaw, Poland, on December 26,1901, to David and Rose Lipsig.

The family moved to New York when Harry was six, and his father took up work as a wholesale cigar dealer there.

Harry Lipsig worked as a law clerk and a bank teller during the day and attended Brooklyn Law School at night.

Harry Lipsig graduated in 1926 and subsequently went from one lawyer to the next asking them to give him their most challenging cases to try.

Harry Lipsig argued that a man who had suffered a heart attack had been frightened to death by a car that had rolled onto his lawn; the jury agreed and awarded the man's family $740,000.

Harry Lipsig obtained damages on behalf of a sailor who had been bitten by a mosquito off the coast of Africa and had developed malaria, maintaining that the company had a duty to warn him of the risk.

Some cases in which Harry Lipsig was involved resulted in the development of major legal principles, for instance when he argued that the statute of limitations in medical malpractice cases should run from the point at which the malpractice was discovered rather than the point at which it occurred.

Harry Lipsig lost in two lower courts, but the New York Court of Appeals ultimately ruled in his favor.

Harry Lipsig sued on behalf of a child who had run out from between parked vehicles into the rear wheels of a moving car; his argument that drivers rather than children are expected to be careful proved successful.

Harry Lipsig's hobbies included hosting a law-related talk show on local radio, contributing to the New York Law Journal, karate, and singing.

Harry Lipsig died on August 11,1995, of heart disease in Manhattan.