Brooklyn Fraternity and Sorority Hazing Lawyer

Mark David Shirian P.C. represents students, former pledges, and families in Brooklyn and across New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County who were hurt, humiliated, or lost a loved one to initiation rituals run by campus organizations. If you are looking for a Brooklyn fraternity and sorority hazing lawyer, the first thing to know is that hazing in New York is not treated as harmless tradition. The Penal Law makes it an offense, colleges carry their own disciplinary and reporting duties, and civil courts allow injured students to pursue money damages from the individuals and institutions that allowed it to happen.

Brooklyn is home to a large student population spread across Brooklyn College, Pratt Institute, NYU Tandon, Long Island University, St. Francis College, and SUNY Downstate, along with many students who commute from other boroughs. Greek chapters, athletic teams, clubs, and cultural organizations all carry a risk of initiation misconduct. The harm is often physical, such as forced drinking, beatings, exhaustion, or exposure, but it can also be psychological and lasting. Hazing cases tend to turn on who organized the conduct, who knew about it, and what the school or national organization did, or failed to do, to stop it.

How New York Law Treats Hazing

New York criminalizes hazing in two tiers. Hazing in the first degree applies when someone, intentionally or recklessly, engages in conduct during another person’s initiation into or affiliation with an organization that creates a substantial risk of physical injury, and that conduct actually causes injury. It is a class A misdemeanor. A class A misdemeanor carries a definite jail sentence of up to 364 days and a fine of up to $1,000, or up to double any gain from the offense where there was one. Hazing in the second degree covers the same risky conduct but does not require that anyone was actually hurt, and it is classified as a violation rather than a crime.

Those criminal provisions matter, but they are only part of the picture. A criminal charge, or the lack of one, does not control a civil claim. Prosecutors in New York have historically treated hazing as a low-level offense, which means many serious cases never result in meaningful criminal accountability. A civil lawsuit is where an injured student or grieving family can seek compensation for medical bills, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and, in a death case, the losses the family has suffered. Consent is not a clean defense either. Pledges are routinely pressured by group dynamics, fear of exclusion, and the authority of older members, and a claimant’s own participation does not erase the responsibility of those who ran the ritual.

On public campuses, additional rules apply. Article 129-A of the Education Law, known as the Henderson Rules, governs public order on college grounds, and CUNY enforces it to prohibit conduct that recklessly or intentionally endangers physical or mental health, including forced consumption of alcohol or drugs, for the purpose of initiation or affiliation. Federal law is moving in the same direction. The Stop Campus Hazing Act requires colleges to report hazing incidents in their annual security reports and to maintain hazing education and prevention programming. A school’s compliance, or its failure to comply, can become important evidence in a civil case.

Why Choose Mark David Shirian P.C. for a Hazing Case

Mark David Shirian P.C. is a litigation firm serving clients throughout New York City, including Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as Long Island, Nassau County, Westchester County, and the wider New York region. The firm handles personal injury, wrongful death, college hazing, and related claims on a contingency basis, so there is no fee unless there is a recovery, and case evaluations are free and confidential. Every case is handled directly by one of the firm’s attorneys rather than passed to a case manager, which matters in a matter as sensitive as hazing, where families are often discussing humiliating or traumatic events for the first time.

Mark D. Shirian, Founding Member, leads the firm’s litigation practice and has obtained multiple seven-figure settlements. He is admitted in New York and in the S.D.N.Y. and E.D.N.Y. federal courts, and he has taken on Fortune 500 companies, school systems, and government entities, the kinds of institutions that frequently stand behind a hazing claim. His recognitions include the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 and the NAOPIA Top 10 Attorney Award, and he is a member of the American Association for Justice, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, and the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. Shawn D. Shirian, Senior Associate, brings more than seven years of litigation experience, including jury trials and dispositive motions, and focuses on areas such as general liability and sexual harassment.

The firm’s results include a $1,500,000 Child Victims Act settlement, a $1,500,000 Transit Authority bus accident settlement, a $1,000,000 wrongful death settlement, and a $500,000 settlement for an injured child in a daycare case. Those outcomes reflect work against institutions that carry insurance and legal departments, which is the same posture most hazing cases take. Client reviews, which have earned the firm an Excellent rating across 96 Google reviews, repeatedly point to honesty, clear communication, attention to detail, and the sense of being treated like family.

Situations That Lead to Hazing Claims

• Forced Drinking and Alcohol Poisoning: Pledges are pressured to consume dangerous quantities of alcohol during “big and little” nights, line-ups, and bid-day events. Alcohol poisoning, aspiration, and falls can cause permanent brain injury or death, and forced consumption is exactly what CUNY’s hazing rules prohibit.
• Physical Beatings and Paddling: Striking, tackling, and other physical punishment inflicted on new members can cause fractures, concussions, kidney damage, and internal injuries. Because the offense of hazing in the first degree turns on risk of injury and resulting injury, medical records are central evidence.
• Sleep, Food, and Exercise Deprivation: Extended physical drills, restricted sleep, and withheld food or water can lead to rhabdomyolysis, collapse, and hospitalization, even when no one is struck.
• Sexualized and Degrading Rituals: Forced nudity, sexual acts, and humiliation tasks cause serious psychological harm and may overlap with sexual abuse and harassment claims, an area where the firm has substantial experience.
• Exposure and Confinement: Being left outdoors in cold, locked in enclosed spaces, or driven to remote locations and abandoned creates risks of hypothermia, accidents, and assault.
• Athletic Team and Club Initiations: Hazing is not limited to Greek life. Teams, marching bands, ROTC-adjacent groups, and cultural or academic clubs have all been the setting for initiation abuse, and the firm also handles sports injury claims.
• Wrongful Death After a Hazing Event: When a pledge dies, family members may bring a wrongful death action against the individual members, the chapter, the national organization, the property owner, and in some cases the school.
• Mental Health Injuries: Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and withdrawal from school are recognized harms. They can support damages when they are documented by treating providers.

What to Do After a Hazing Incident in Brooklyn

Medical care comes first. Go to an emergency department or urgent care, tell the providers what actually happened, including any forced drinking or physical contact, and keep every discharge summary, imaging report, and bill. Providers who document the cause of injury accurately create records that are very difficult to dispute later. If the injury is psychological, see a therapist or physician promptly so the harm is documented in real time.

Preserve evidence before it disappears. Group chats, pledge manuals, text messages, social media posts, photographs, videos, and calendar invitations are often the best proof that an initiation was organized and that leaders knew about it. Screenshot rather than relying on the app, and do not delete anything, even if it seems embarrassing. Write down names, dates, locations, and what each person did while memories are fresh. Resist the urge to confront chapter leaders, sign a statement for the school, or accept a settlement from an organization’s insurer before speaking with a lawyer, because early statements can be used against you.

Timing rules are strict. The general deadline for a personal injury lawsuit in New York is three years from the date of injury. For a person who was under 18 when the injury happened, the clock is tolled and runs for three years from their eighteenth birthday, so the effective deadline is age 21. A wrongful death action must be started within two years of the death, although when a criminal case has been brought against the same defendant over the same event, the family has at least one year after that criminal case ends. Claims against a public entity such as New York City, or in some cases a public college, require a Notice of Claim within 90 days, and in a death case that period runs from the appointment of an estate representative. A late notice requires a special application to Supreme Court, and a court cannot extend the time beyond one year and 90 days. A suit against the City must be started within one year and 90 days of the incident and cannot be filed until at least 30 days after the notice is served.

Civil cases arising in Brooklyn are typically brought in the Kings County Supreme Court Civil Term in Brooklyn, which sits within the Second Judicial District, with appeals going to the Appellate Division, Second Department. Where federal claims are involved, the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn is the relevant federal court. A report to campus public safety or the Brooklyn precinct where the incident occurred can also help establish a record, though a police report is not a prerequisite to a lawsuit.

Who Can Be Held Responsible and How Fault Is Weighed

Hazing cases rarely involve a single defendant. Individual members who planned or carried out the conduct can be sued directly. The local chapter, the national or international organization, and the owner of the house or venue where the event took place may share responsibility, as may a school that knew of prior incidents and did nothing. Evidence of earlier complaints, prior sanctions, or ignored warnings can be what moves a case from an isolated act by students to institutional negligence.

Fault-sharing is a common defense theme. In most non-auto injury and wrongful death cases in New York, pure comparative fault applies, meaning a claimant’s own share of fault reduces the award proportionally but does not bar it. A newer rule that can bar recovery when the claimant’s fault exceeds the defendants’ applies only to claims governed by Article 51 of the Insurance Law, which concerns motor vehicle no-fault matters, and not to ordinary hazing claims. Even so, defendants will argue that a pledge participated voluntarily. Strong cases answer this with evidence of coercion, peer pressure, and the power imbalance inherent in initiation.

Brooklyn Hazing Lawyer FAQs

Is hazing a crime in New York?

Yes. Hazing in the first degree is a class A misdemeanor when risky initiation conduct causes physical injury. Hazing in the second degree, which does not require injury, is a violation. Separate crimes such as assault, reckless endangerment, or manslaughter may also apply depending on what happened.

Can I sue even if I agreed to take part?

Yes. Agreeing to participate does not automatically defeat a civil claim. Under New York’s comparative fault rules, your own conduct is weighed and may reduce damages, but pressure from older members and the fear of losing membership are central to how courts and juries view voluntariness in initiation settings.

How long do I have to file a hazing lawsuit?

Most personal injury claims must be filed within three years of the injury. If you were a minor when injured, you generally have until three years after your eighteenth birthday. Wrongful death claims have a two-year deadline, and claims against government entities require a Notice of Claim within 90 days.

Who can be named as a defendant?

Possible defendants include the members who carried out the hazing, the local chapter, the national organization, the owner of the property where it happened, and, when the facts support it, the college or university.

What damages are available?

Recoverable losses can include medical expenses, future treatment costs, lost earnings or educational opportunities, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. In a death case, the family may recover for funeral costs, lost financial support, and other losses recognized under New York’s wrongful death statute.

Do I need to report the hazing to my school first?

No. A school complaint or conduct investigation is separate from a lawsuit. Reporting can create a helpful record, but you should speak with a lawyer before giving a detailed statement, since school investigators are not working for you.

What if the organization or my parents’ insurer offers a quick settlement?

Be cautious. Early offers tend to be made before the full extent of injuries, including psychological harm, is known. Signing a release usually ends the claim permanently, so have a lawyer review any offer first.

Can a hazing claim be brought against a CUNY or other public college?

It can be possible, but claims against public entities follow special procedures, including a Notice of Claim served within 90 days of the claim arising. Missing that step can seriously damage or end a case, which is why early consultation matters.

Will it matter that the incident happened off campus?

Often it does not. Many hazing events take place in private apartments, rented venues, or remote locations. Location can affect which defendants are involved and whether a school had notice or control, but it does not prevent a claim against the people and organizations responsible.

How long does a hazing case take in Brooklyn?

There is no fixed timeline. Cases involving serious injury or death, multiple defendants, and institutional records often take longer because evidence has to be gathered from the chapter, the national organization, and the school. A case may settle after key evidence is exchanged, or it may proceed to trial in Kings County Supreme Court.

Do I have to pay anything upfront to hire the firm?

No. Personal injury cases are handled on a contingency fee basis, so there is no fee unless there is a recovery, and the initial case evaluation is free and confidential.

Can parents bring the case if the victim has died or cannot act?

Yes. In a death, a personal representative of the estate brings the wrongful death action on behalf of the family. Where a victim is incapacitated, a guardian or representative may be able to act, and the firm can explain how that process works.

Serving Hazing Clients Across Brooklyn and the Region

Mark David Shirian P.C. represents hazing victims and their families throughout Brooklyn, from Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick through Park Slope, Prospect Heights, and Crown Heights. We work with students and families in Flatbush, Midwood, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst, Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, and Fort Greene. Brooklyn clients often attend or live near campuses such as Brooklyn College, Pratt Institute, Long Island University, and St. Francis College.

The firm also serves clients across the other New York City boroughs, including Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, as well as Long Island, including Nassau County communities such as Hempstead, Garden City, Mineola, and Great Neck. In Westchester County, we serve Yonkers, White Plains, Mount Vernon, and New Rochelle, and we accept matters from Suffolk County, Rockland County, and other parts of the greater New York region. Students often attend school far from where they grew up, so families from across the area contact us when a child is hurt at a campus chapter.

Talk With a Brooklyn Hazing Attorney

If you or your child was harmed by a fraternity, sorority, team, or club initiation, a Brooklyn hazing attorney at Mark David Shirian P.C. can review what happened, explain the deadlines that apply, and tell you honestly whether a claim is worth pursuing. Every case is handled directly by one of the firm’s attorneys, and the evaluation is free and confidential. Call to schedule a consultation and learn where your case stands before evidence is lost and filing deadlines pass.