Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2024 
With more than 20 years of experience fighting for victims of catastrophic accidents, David L. Scher has earned his reputation as one of New York’s most respected names in personal injury law. A partner at Block O’Toole & Murphy and a past president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA), Mr. Scher has obtained hundreds of millions of dollars for clients, including construction workers injured on the job, auto and pedestrian accident victims, and surviving families in wrongful death cases. In 2024, he played a key role in obtaining a $65,000,000 settlement for a paralyzed cyclist, which is the largest reported individual personal injury settlement in New York history.
Mr. Scher is also the head of Block O’Toole & Murphy’s appellate and complex motions team. He regularly argues before the Appellate Division and has appeared before New York’s Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. A trusted authority on Labor Laws, Mr. Scher has successfully handled several appeals which rank among the most important decisions for construction site safety and workers’ rights in New York. In 2011, he wrote an amicus curiae brief to the Court of Appeals on behalf of over 5,000 New York trial lawyers, resulting in the landmark Ortiz v. Varsity Holdings decision.
In 2024, Mr. Scher was installed as the 56th president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA). As president of NYSTLA, Mr. Scher advocated for the passage of the Grieving Families Act, a bipartisan bill which seeks to update the state’s wrongful death statute by allowing family members to seek compensation for pain and suffering resulting from the loss of their loved one. Today, he continues to sit on NYSTLA’s Board of Directors and several other committees.
Mr. Scher’s expertise is frequently sought out within the legal field. He has authored many articles for the New York Law Journal and other legal publications, lectured to fellow attorneys around the state about handling construction accident cases, and appeared on expert panels about best litigation practices.
In education as in personal injury and trial, he is committed to bringing out the best in those around him and making New York State the best it can be for clients, workers, his fellow attorneys, and all who prioritize justice. “We’re all on a journey here to seek the truth,” he says of his role in relation to others in the courtroom. “That’s our job. We’re in this together.”
As a law student at Fordham University School of Law, Mr. Scher worked for the New York State Attorney General’s Office; served as a law clerk for New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich; and volunteered for a civil rights legal aid clinic.
