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The Fabric of Philadelphia: From Broad Street Bullies to Legal Advocacy

The latest episode of The Jeffrey Gross Show begins with a deep dive into the cultural bedrock of Philadelphia: its sports history. Hosts Jeffrey Gross and Joe Dougherty are joined by Jeff Laffey, founder of Laffey, Bucci, Kent & Ryan. The conversation touches on the legendary Broad Street Bullies and the recent passing of Flyers icon Ed Van Impe. They reflect on the unique “liquid compensation” of early hockey stars and the powerful moment of the first preseason game after September 11, where the rivalry with the Rangers was set aside for a moment of national unity.

However, the core of the episode is a masterclass in the intersection of Workers’ Compensation and Personal Injury law.

Defining the Third-Party Claim

While Jeffrey Gross handles the “first-party” side—ensuring injured workers receive their 20% wage benefits and medical coverage—Jeff Laffey specializes in the “third-party” aspect. A third-party claim arises when a worker’s injury is caused by the negligence of someone other than their employer.

In the construction industry, this often involves a “General Contractor” (GC). While a worker may be employed by a subcontractor, the GC is often contractually responsible for site safety. Laffey highlights the “Profits Over Safety” mentality, where oversight is ignored in favor of expediency. Whether it is a “Christmas treeing” beam hanging from a crane or a defectively designed “Baker scaffold,” the expertise required to identify these liable parties is immense.

The “Dabbler” Warning and Firm Resources

The guests emphasize the danger of hiring a “dabbler”—an attorney who attempts to handle complex litigation without specialized knowledge or resources. High-stakes cases, such as those involving degloving injuries or traumatic brain injuries, require high-priced experts. Laffey notes that a firm must have the financial resources to spend $150,000 on engineering tests and crash dummies to secure a multi-million dollar verdict. A lawyer without those resources might settle for a fraction of the case’s value to avoid the expense of trial.

Trauma-Informed Advocacy in Sexual Assault Cases

The conversation takes a serious turn toward civil sexual assault litigation. Laffey, Bucci, Kent & Ryan is a thought leader in this space, employing former sex crimes prosecutors to litigate against institutions like schools, churches, and massage parlors. Jeff Laffey discusses the necessity of being “trauma-informed,” recognizing that victims of institutional abuse often carry decades of trauma and require a sensitive, specialized intake process.

The Future of Law: AI and “Hallucinations”

The episode concludes with a look at the rapidly changing world of Artificial Intelligence. Jeffrey Gross shares a chilling story of a client with a brain injury who used ChatGPT to write a 15-page legal appeal. While the brief “looked the part,” it was fundamentally flawed—an example of “AI hallucination” where the software invents case law. The hosts warn that while AI is a tool for the present, the ethical and responsible use of technology remains the responsibility of the counselor.

Episode Transcript: The Jeffrey Gross Show

Date: May 6, 2025

Host: Jeffrey Gross, Esq.

Co-Host: Joe Dougherty

Guest: Jeff Laffey, Esq. (Founder of Laffey, Bucci, Kent & Ryan)

Joe Dougherty: All right, ladies and gentlemen around the Delaware Valley, welcome to the Jeff Gross Show here on WWDB Talk 860. We’ve got a phenomenal show planned. Jeff Gross, how are you, sir?

Jeffrey Gross: I’m doing great, Joe. How are you?

Joe Dougherty: I am fantastic. I am very excited about our guests. We have—oh, I’m sorry, we’ve got two Jeffs on the program here. Gotta break it up. Jeff Laffey, how are you, sir?

Jeff Laffey: Fantastic. Thank you for having me. It’s a pleasure.

Joe Dougherty: He is the founder of Laffey, Bucci, Kent & Ryan. That’s a mouthful. You got it right?

Jeff Laffey: It is. You know, I was practicing.

Joe Dougherty: Jennifer Keenan Keel is in the house as well. She doesn’t want to get on the mic, so obviously, it’s great to see you, Jen. We have a great show planned. We do start off talking some sports, and we talked a little bit about that. Jeff Laffey, you guys are a sponsor of the Flyers, correct?

Jeff Laffey: Yeah, we’re proud partners with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Joe Dougherty: Fantastic. Where are you originally from?

Jeff Laffey: Born in Juniata, but obviously moved to Bucks County when I was like three and a half, four years old. My memories are in Holland, Pennsylvania.

Joe Dougherty: Guess what? Juniata—the first year I got married, Art’s Food Market was right next door. I was an ironworker. It was wild and crazy. One time I got my paycheck—they used to cash my paycheck—and there was a trail of dollar bills from Art’s Food Market to my house. Art’s son, Jerry, came and said, “You just dropped all your money coming from the house.” But they had the best hoagies around. What year was it that you moved?

Jeff Laffey: 1977.

Joe Dougherty: Okay, I was there in ’85. Jeff Gross, yes—big sports fan. We were just talking about the Flyers before this. Even though they’re kind of in the gutter, we’ve been season ticket holders forever. We all grew up with the Broad Street Bullies. Shout out to Ed Van Impe, who just passed away this week.

Jeffrey Gross: Yes. That’s number two, right? It was number two. Then Van Impe, then Bladon, Barry Ashbee. He had that famous quote when the Flyers played the Russians. He said, “I got out of the penalty box and went on the ice, and that Russian ran into his elbow—his chin ran into it.”

Joe Dougherty: Yeah, it was one of the greats! They were so cool. We used to play for the ironworker softball, and it was Ed Van Impe who ran their charity. We used to play them every year. We got along with them so well that they would come back to the bar. They’d come over to my brother-in-law’s house after the games. One of them was dating my sister-in-law’s best friend. I used to have this real long hair—I was in a rock band—and Rick MacLeish or someone said, “Oh, you got a haircut this year, right?” They were so down to earth. They’re part of the fabric of the city.

Jeffrey Gross: And they didn’t get paid much. No, they got “liquid compensation.” But we all remember back when they won—74, 75.

Joe Dougherty: I was playing hockey outside my house with a puck and a stick because I couldn’t watch against Boston. I couldn’t watch the last three or four minutes until I heard all the neighbors going nuts. Went to the first parade. What do you think the solution is now?

Jeff Laffey: Well, let’s see. I thought that they were poorly run—I won’t name names—about eight to 12 years ago. I think they got into some bad contracts. Some of them are still lingering, but I do quite palpably feel that it is turning the corner with the leadership. People have a lot of negative opinions about Torts, but I thought he was the right guy at the right time. I also think it’s the right time for him to move on because the biggest thing getting in the Flyers’ way is their inability to bring a veteran free agent to the mix, particularly a goal scorer. With Torts’ style—listen, they went from last place in blocked shots to first place in one year because he changed the culture—but the problem is he calls out players publicly. That might not be well-taken for a guy who’s got four years left on his career and is looking for his last contract.

Jeffrey Gross: Yeah, although he probably should have waited to go until after the season so that they would continue to lose, right? Because they won almost every one of the games after he left. Had he waited, they would have gotten a better draft pick.

Joe Dougherty: What is the greatest win or greatest sports moment in Philadelphia history for you?

Jeff Laffey: Oh, mine’s special and has nothing to do with a big win on a big stage. I went to the first preseason game after September 11. It was the Flyers and the Rangers. There were a lot of guys fighting for a spot on the roster. Those first two periods were like a bloodbath; these guys were killing each other. But in the second period intermission, they put up the State of the Union address on the big screen. The entire stadium was glued to the screen. The break was over, and it came time to start playing again, so they shut the screen off and the place went nuts. “Put that screen back on!” All the players were on the ice, and even the players were just looking at the big screen finishing the speech. After the speech, everyone went into USA chants. On a preseason game, they all decided to stop the game right there, and they all shook hands at center ice. I’ll never forget it.

Joe Dougherty: That reminds me of the Osama bin Laden game with the Phillies on a Sunday night. Everyone is looking around, and it gives you chills. One recently that almost brought a tear to my eye was when Trea Turner was in an absolute brutal slump and they gave him that standing ovation. But if I had to look back at the most impacting moment—you can say Flyers Stanley Cups—but when Pete Rose caught that ball that Bob Boone dropped? In almost 100 years, we hadn’t won. Phillies had never won. They bring Pete Rose there. We were one out away from beating the Dodgers, and Manny Mota—a 42-year-old—hits the ball off the left field wall and Greg Luzinski traps it and doesn’t catch it. All those losses, and they bring Pete Rose in as a symbol of “Not today. You’re not going to lose it.” Hopefully, the Flyers will get back there.

Jeffrey Gross: I think they should put Bernie Parent back in. I know he’s 84 years old, but what the hell? GM Danny Briere has got some tough decisions to make regarding coaching. The Flyers have always been very “incestuous.” Ed Snider took care of his guys. Rick Tocchet is my favorite Flyer of all time, and I think he’s a damn good coach. I wouldn’t mind if they pulled the trigger with him. I became somewhat good friends with a guy by the name of Riley Cote. Riley is heavily involved in medical marijuana and concussions. He’s a fantastic guy. At one time, he called me in for a meeting and he wanted to pitch psychedelics to the City Council.

Joe Dougherty: I’m talking to him and trying to play devil’s advocate. All of a sudden he goes into this trance looking at me. I’m like, “Wait a second, I know what it’s like to be wearing a Boston Bruins jersey right now.” We have a running joke that Riley doesn’t like devil’s advocate.

Jeffrey Gross: Well, he’s on the right side of the science. It’s early stages, but it will be used more often to treat traumatic brain injuries. Medical marijuana was an offshoot of the opioid crisis. In the 90s, workers’ comp clients were becoming addicted to opioids after surgeries. Then they started with these compound creams which were unscheduled and they could bill out the wazoo. That became a crisis. They resorted to medical marijuana, which is cheap, efficient, and non-addictive.

Joe Dougherty: Jeff Gross, if you would, remind our listeners a little bit about yourself and the firm.

Jeffrey Gross: I handle all workers’ compensation cases. That’s all I do from the injured worker’s standpoint. I do not represent any employers—only injured workers unable to work as a result of work-related injuries. I take them from the beginning to the end, and I help them with their third-party claims. I would refer someone to Mr. Laffey, for instance, who has a third-party claim that is an offshoot of a work-related injury.

Joe Dougherty: Jeff Laffey, tell us about yourself and the firm.

Jeff Laffey: 27 years representing the “little guy,” so to speak. Much like Jeff, we represent the same clients. We have workers who get injured on the job. Jeff Gross represents them in the context of workers’ comp. If you can prove an injury was work-related and prevents you from returning to work, you should be entitled to benefits. Lawyer like Jeff Gross shepards that and gets full value. Every work injury essentially has a potential workers’ compensation case. You’re entitled to indemnity benefits and medical bills. But not every work accident has a third-party case. It behooves me to investigate and determine if there are viable third parties.

The lion’s share of my cases involves injured union construction workers. If an employee of a subcontractor gets injured because of an unsafe condition created by another company, that other company is a third party. If a general contractor promises to be proactive with safety but ignores an unsafe practice for nine months, that general contractor is also a third party. Then there is product liability. I represented a union carpenter who fell through a “Baker scaffold.” It causes the platform to pop up, and he falls through it like a trap door. Nail guns, kickbacks, forklifts—those are all third-party product liability cases.

Joe Dougherty: How often does someone get injured and have no idea there is a third-party case? Even someone who is sophisticated might not realize it’s a product liability case.

Jeffrey Gross: That happens more than you think. People think there is no third-party case based upon the “exclusive remedy” rule. They think the GC is just an extension of the employer. But a subcontractor and a general contractor are not the same. Sometimes a third party goes undetected without proper investigation.

Joe Dougherty: Jeff Laffey, how much does your creative and investigative mind help figure this out?

Jeff Laffey: Some of my more impactful results have come from a client saying, “You’re my second opinion.” They went to a “jack of all trades” law firm or a divorce lawyer. Someone might exclusively do auto accidents and they don’t have the nuanced understanding of construction. They don’t know that there’s a standard AIA Contract that says the general contractor is responsible for safety. If we can prove notice—that they did something wrong every day for nine months—we ask: where was the intervention? Usually, the reason it wasn’t stopped was because the way they were doing it was the fastest way to do it.

Joe Dougherty: I can give you an example from ironwork. We call it “Christmas treeing.” It’s when they hang five beams in succession from a crane. You put one in, then the next. A lot of times those babies hang up and people don’t make it through that. That’s somebody in a hurry.

Jeff Laffey: Right. Profits over safety. Expediency over safety. A lot of times, a good example is a temporary agency employee who thinks the site they are working at is their employer. In reality, you can’t sue your employer for negligence, but you can sue the third-party site where the temporary agency sent you.

Jeffrey Gross: I had a 15-year-old Cambodian kid, underage, who spoke no English. He was a temp agency employee. They told him how to slide sheet metal into a machine. His whole arm was degloved and crushed. He flipped himself over the machine to extricate his arm. That was a good third-party case.

Jeff Laffey: I have to give a shout out to organized labor. They teach their guys to become skilled journeymen with appropriate training and a real emphasis on safety. Jen and I were at the carpenters’ union apprenticeship open house on Friday and saw state-of-the-art facilities. When you get people off the street who don’t know what they’re doing, and they fall off a building because no one gave them fall protection, everyone runs away. The witnesses aren’t cooperative because they have things like ICE to worry about.

Joe Dougherty: Your father was a labor leader, right? And Jen’s father was a legend with the plumbers’ union. I have scars because of that! It’s like six degrees of being punched by Ed Keenan. I ran into someone today named Rich Godshall. He said to me that his father was in a bad way after an injury and you guys saved him. That inspired him to become an attorney.

Jeff Laffey: That’s amazing. Wow.

Joe Dougherty: Tell me about the firm culture. You handle construction, but you also handle a wide array of personal injury.

Jeff Laffey: We represent a lot of people who have been victimized by sexual abuse at the hands of institutions—the church, Boy Scouts, massage parlors. An unsuspecting woman goes in for a massage and encounters a guy who is way too “handsy.” People would never know there is a civil part to that. You aren’t just suing the criminal; you are suing the institution that made it possible. Often, a bit of digging shows that investigating that person’s background would have prevented them from being hired. There is also a trend in sex trafficking cases where claims are brought against hotels because they knew or should have known what was going on. Profits over safety.

Joe Dougherty: We were talking about Deshaun Watson earlier. If a massage therapist is an independent contractor and is sexually harassed, is that a workers’ comp or personal injury case?

Jeffrey Gross: Most of those therapists are independent contractors, not employees. They get 1099 income.

Jeff Laffey: Allegedly, under that fact pattern, Watson would be a third party that an independent contractor could sue directly. In those worlds, we have former sex crimes prosecutors on the civil side. We are “trauma-informed.” Not every attorney in the office is, but the ones handling sex abuse cases are required to be. It’s a Herculean task to earn the trust of someone who has been traumatized for decades. One false move and you’ve lost that client’s hope.

Joe Dougherty: Jeff Gross, how many people are scared when they call you?

Jeffrey Gross: They are either scared or angry. Neither helps. I have to reassure them that they are within their rights. Often they are angry because they were loyal for years, but now the employer turns a blind eye. You become a statistic.

Joe Dougherty: How does the communication work between you two?

Jeffrey Gross: We exchange discovery. Whatever I receive from my opposing counsel goes to Mr. Laffey and vice versa. It helps the investigation and the valuation of damage purposes.

Jeff Laffey: I’ve had cases too numerous to count where a client calls and says, “I just had my hearing today to approve my workers’ comp settlement.” I’m like, “Wow, thanks for letting me know.” If you settle your comp case, your comp carrier is going to want a lot more money back by way of a lien from the third-party case. Counselors need to provide all information so the client is empowered.

Jeffrey Gross: Many times these compromise and release agreements have a “general release” piggybacked on them that serves to release the very third party my client is suing. I always run those releases by my third-party attorneys to make sure those parties are not being released. The insurance carrier wants the third-party case to continue so they can get their subrogation money back. If the release isn’t carved out properly, that money is gone.

Jeff Laffey: I dealt with a guy who settled his comp case and the language said he was “voluntarily resigning.” Three months later at a deposition, the defense says, “You said you couldn’t work due to injuries, but you resigned voluntarily.” It created a headache.

Joe Dougherty: Let’s talk about the contingency fee agreement. Someone might think they can’t afford you.

Jeff Laffey: It is the “ultimate equalizer.” Johnny Middle Class can pursue a claim against a corporation worth hundreds of millions. We only get paid if we make a recovery for you. We spend months and thousands of dollars investigating. If there isn’t a case, we eat those expenses. If we go to trial and lose $150,000 on experts, we eat that too. Or if a videotape shows the client in a weightlifting competition, the value goes down the toilet.

Jeffrey Gross: In my world, the fee is limited to 20%. You can’t afford not to pursue it. And when we prevail, our costs are reimbursed by the insurance carrier, not the client.

Joe Dougherty: What about firm resources? Why does that matter?

Jeff Laffey: I speak about the “2 Rs”—Reputation and Resources. If you lost your leg in a forklift accident, you want engineer experts who have tested theories with crash dummies. They are expensive. Is it worth spending $150,000 on an expert to get $15 million? Or do you want the law firm that spends $7,500 on a guy who gets attacked for his lack of qualifications?

Joe Dougherty: We only have a few minutes left. AI—where does that fit in?

Jeffrey Gross: I had a client with a major brain injury who sent me a beautiful 15-page appeal document. I asked if he got another opinion. He said, “No, ChatGPT wrote it.” It sounded like a beautiful appeal, but the law was not exactly on point and didn’t overcome the facts. It’s called “hallucinating.” AI makes up cases that look real.

Jeff Laffey: We recently implemented a monthly “Lunch and Learn” on the ethical use of AI. There are law firms with billboards everywhere that have had negative publicity because a lawyer just put a search term into a machine and it made up cases. It will be our future. You talk to a guy with a self-driving Tesla who says, “I’ve had a few drinks, but my car proves I was going 45 miles an hour and wasn’t drifting.” It’s relevant as far as your imagination can take you.

Joe Dougherty: Jeff Laffey, contact information?

Jeff Laffey: www.laffeybuccikent.com or 215-399-9255.

Jeffrey Gross: My cell phone is 215-512-1500 or www.phillyworkerscomp.com.

Jeff Laffey: Any workers’ comp lawyer willing to give out his cell number is special. It tells you everything about the personal touch.

Joe Dougherty: Thank you to Jeff Laffey and Jennifer Keenan Keel. Go Birds.