Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg

Published on: June 28, 2023

Insights from Leesfield Scolaro: HB 837 and Its Implications on Personal Injury

On June 21, 2023, Attorney Michael Shepherd of Leesfield Scolaro delivered a comprehensive Continuing Legal Education (CLE) presentation concerning HB 837, Florida’s recent tort reform legislation, to the esteemed members of the Coral Gables Bar Association. In his capacity as a newly elected board member of the association, this speaking engagement served as an exceptional opportunity for the attendees to acquaint themselves with Mr. Shepherd and his legal practice. michael-shepherd

During his discourse, Michael provided an insightful analysis of the implications of the new law on his personal injury practice, along with the strategies he employs to overcome potential challenges encountered by Florida personal injury plaintiffs. Notably, he addressed the novel frameworks introduced by section 768.0427 for the calculation of damages, shedding light on pertinent aspects such as changes to negligent security law and the concept of comparative fault.

Furthermore, he elucidated the additional prerequisites for pursuing a bad faith claim against insurance companies as stipulated by the legislation. Of considerable importance, Michael dedicated a significant portion of his presentation to the contentious issue of the potential retroactive application of HB 837, offering the audience two contrasting trial orders that exemplified opposing viewpoints. This engaging session was followed by inquiries from the attendees, including queries pertaining to the inclusion of instructions related to comparative fault in jury deliberations, as well as the prospective impact of HB 837 on litigation costs incurred by injured plaintiffs.

Published on: June 16, 2023

Country’s Leading Carbon Monoxide Law firm Secures Eight-Figure Settlement

By Leesfield Scolaro

Leesfield Scolaro recently represented a couple exposed to carbon monoxide while on vacation in a foreign country. Despite numerous legal obstacles, an eight-figure settlement was secured in less than nine months. This is the latest of several CO exposure cases this firm has handled recently, an area of personal injury that requires creative legal strategizing and extensive legal experience.

What is Carbon Monoxide?

Carbon monoxide poisoning arises when one breathes in carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas devoid of scent, flavor, and hue. Even minimal exposure can have various effects on an individual, leading to fatigue, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. Prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide over a substantial duration can give rise to grave symptoms and health hazards, such as loss of consciousness, permanent brain damage, and fatality.

Published on: April 20, 2023

Leesfield Scolaro seeing an increase in drop-fire cases due to defective pistols

By Leesfield Scolaro

Leesfield Scolaro has represented many clients injured in drop-fire cases against gun manufacturers. One of the many allegations included that the subject pistols had a design defect which caused them to fire without the trigger being pulled. The flawed designs were responsible for the accidental discharges, which caused death or catastrophic injuries to our clients.

One of the common design defects pertains to a crucial component that ignites the gunpowder in the cartridge, which in turn propels the bullet out of the barrel. That component is the firing pin. The firing pin is a small metal rod that is spring-loaded and sits inside the slide of the pistol. When the trigger is pulled, it releases the hammer, which then strikes the firing pin, causing it to impact the primer on the cartridge. The primer contains a small amount of explosive that ignites the gunpowder and propels the bullet out of the barrel.

In past cases, Attorney Thomas Scolaro was able to prove that the design defect was related to the firing pin releasing without the trigger being pulled -that it could happen whether the safety was engaged or disengaged, which is a separate design defect- causing the firing pin to impact the primer and discharge the firearm unintentionally.

Published on: March 3, 2023

Leesfield Scolaro files lawsuit against Airbnb for death of one-year-old exposed to fentanyl during stay at high-end Palm Beach house

By Leesfield Scolaro

MIAMI, March 3, 2023- Boris and Lydie Lavenir’s 19-month-old daughter, Enora, died while staying at an Airbnb in Wellington, Palm Beach County, Florida, in August 2021. The autopsy determined Enora died of Acute Fentanyl Toxicity which established that the toddler came into contact with a lethal dose of Fentanyl left behind at the Airbnb.

On August 6, 2021, Lydie, Boris, and their five children, including 19-month-old Enora, were visiting Florida for a family vacation. The Lavenir family booked a home on Airbnb located in Wellington, Florida. Upon arrival, they were greeted by co-Defendant Timpy who gave them access to the home.

After a quiet evening in the house, Enora spent the following morning playing throughout the house with her siblings. At around noon, Enora and her older sister laid down on the bed they were sharing to take a nap. When Mom checked on Enora later that day, she found her unresponsive, not breathing, with foam on her lips.

Published on: February 1, 2023

Leesfield Scolaro files suit on behalf of bicyclist hit by car in Key Biscayne

By Leesfield Scolaro

Among South Florida bicyclists, Key Biscayne is known for its perfect cycling area with approximately 5 miles of straight scenic roadway. Every day around sunrise and sunset, large groups of cyclists make their way up and down Virginia Key and Key Biscayne, located just two minutes from Downtown Miami.

This is exactly what our client was doing one October morning before a tragic incident with a motor vehicle caused him to sustain permanent injuries and surgery. Our client was lawfully riding his bicycle westbound on the Rickenbacker Causeway in the designated bicycle lane. At the same time, an Officer with Coral Gables Police Department, Officer Robert H. Thomson was driving his police car westbound on the Rickenbacker Causeway in the vehicle lane. Inexplicably and without warning, Officer Thomson cut off our client by making a right turn and crossing over the bicycle lane, which caused our client to collide with another cyclist and fall off his bicycle.

In November, Attorneys Thomas Scolaro and Michael Shepherd filed suit against the City. Litigation is currently ongoing.

Published on: January 19, 2023

Leesfield Scolaro settles back to back Legionnaires’ Disease cases against Resort

By Leesfield Scolaro

Leesfield Scolaro reached two six-figure settlements in Legionnaires’ Disease cases against the same Resort. Ira Leesfield and Michael Shepherd argued that the resort was negligent in failing to properly maintain and sanitize its water systems, including decorative water features, which led to the spread of the bacteria and the infection of guests.

Our two clients, one from Florida and the other from Maryland, did not know each other and their stay did not overlap in time. Nonetheless, both were infected, contracted the disease and experienced a very similar onset of symptoms. First they began experiencing generalized body soreness, extreme fatigue, chills, difficulty breathing, and high fever. They went to the hospital within days of returning from the resort and were admitted with pneumonia and double pneumonia respectively. Infectious disease doctors consulted with both clients and upon further testings, a diagnosis of Legionnaires’ Disease was made.

Maryland and Florida’s Department of Health officials investigated the potential source of the infection and quickly zeroed in on a Florida resort as the potential source. Within days Health officials inspected the resort and found the Legionella bacteria in one of the many decorative water features of the resort. Within ten months of being retained, Leesfield Scolaro secured a six-figure settlement for each client.

Published on: August 25, 2022

$16 million recovery for hotel guest raped and beaten in open hallway while security watched

By Leesfield Scolaro

In just 11 months, Partner Justin Shapiro secured a $16 million settlement for his clients, an elderly couple from New York who was savagely attacked while staying in a South Miami hotel. That day the individual defendant walked into the hotel, through the lobby, straight into an elevator to the 7th floor where he knocked on the couple’s guestroom door. As soon as the husband opened the door, the individual punched him in the face, lunged at him and pushed his way inside the guestroom before biting him on the back of his neck and strangling him. They fought for five long minutes before the assailant turned his aggression to the wife, chasing her outside the hallway, punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

At that time, three hotel and security employees showed up in the elevator. They stood directly in front of the aggressor as he continued to viciously beat up on our client. Our client was crying for help and bleeding profusely, but shockingly the employees did nothing. They let the attacker dragged his victim by the hair onto the elevator, she was helplessly screaming at the top of lungs as the elevator door closed.

Nobody knew on which floor the elevator had stopped but CCTV captured the rest of the most brutal sexual assault that took place five floors below. On the footage, the assailant is seen forcefully dragging the wife out of the elevator as she tried to fend him off. Ultimately he overpowered her, and punched her across the face over 30 times as he stood above her. In utter savagery he bit her face so violently that a large chunk of flesh ripped off her forehead. She was almost lifeless. He then ordered her to perform oral sex on him. She resisted him. He punched her again and again, strangled her, until she had no choice but to do what he said. It lasted several minutes before he forced himself on top of her and raped her in the middle of the hallway. When the police finally arrived to stop the attack, our client had endured the most horrific ten minutes of her life where she was raped, defaced and mutilated.

Published on: June 30, 2022

$95 million verdict – Leesfield Scolaro Obtains Largest Motor Vehicle Accident Verdict in Miami-Dade County’s history

By Leesfield Scolaro

Miami, June 2022 – Partner Adam Rose secured a record-setting verdict on behalf of his clients, a family whose daughter was killed and son incapacitated by a drunk driver who was overserved at a popular Miami bar. While the reading of the jury’s verdict gave the family the satisfaction of knowing that some justice was served, it could do nothing to change the cruel reality of two broken-hearted parents who have lost everything.

While on their way to drop their daughter off at the airport for a flight to medical school orientation, the family car was hit head-on by a drunk driver speeding in the wrong direction on I-95. Their daughter, 23, was killed in the crash, and their son, 21, suffered catastrophic brain and orthopedic injuries, leaving him in a wheelchair, unable to speak, and requiring round-the-clock care for the rest of his life. The drunk driver had spent the night and early morning bar hopping and getting obliterated before making the terrible and fateful decision to get behind the wheel.

At trial, the Miami jury was visibly moved by Dad when he took the stand and tried to explain in his own words the unimaginable agony, grief, and struggle to carry on that he and his entire family wrestle with every day. Dad, who moved to America with his daughter and son when they were 6 and 4, shared with the jury that everything he and his wife did in life from the moment on was to make sure their children had every opportunity possible.

Published on: May 31, 2022

Captain in Fatal Parasailing Incident Charged with Manslaughter

By Leesfield Scolaro

We previously reported it here, Leesfield Scolaro represents the families of two fatally injured victims who died when they were parasailing near Key West in July 2020. The captain was charged with manslaughter for conducting parasailing activities in winds too strong under Florida Law. Early on in our investigation it became clear from the collected weather data and the testimony obtained later in the case that the operator should have cancelled all parasailing activities hours before the incident occurred. All signs of inclement, dangerous weather and gusty winds were present. The other two parasailing tour operators had cancelled their activities, but captain Andrew John Santeiro pushed through and exposed Nicholas Hayward, 36, and Azalea Silva, 29, to a grave peril.

The captain knew at the time that bad weather was coming for having observed a gathering storm on the other side of the island prior to embarking twelve passengers on his boat. Nonetheless, he disregarded the risk and pushed through. He also knew that the anemometer (instrument for measuring the speed of the wind) aboard the ship was broken and that he would have to rely solely on weather apps downloaded on his phone to obtain limited information. Not only does the phone fail to provide real-time reading, it also fails to provide accurate information relative to the precise location of the boat. To add insult to injury, captain Santeiro said he does not even remember checking the weather on his phone before the flight.

So he deployed the chute (wrong-size) with Nicholas and Azalea harnessed to it. Within seconds after sending them up, a gust of wind blew into the chute, almost capsizing the boat. In an instant, the towline broke, releasing the two passengers in flight to be dragged in the water by the inflated chute. At the same time, the towline snapped back into the boat’s propeller, leaving it dead in the water and unable to go rescue the couple stuck under water. Nicholas died at the scene, and Azalea died months later from her injuries.

Published on: May 9, 2022

Miami Resort Injury Attorney Issues Warnings to Travelers After Recent Tragic Deaths at Sandals Emerald Bay in Bahamas

By Leesfield Scolaro

-Miami, FL – Ira Leesfield, a national leader in resort injuries recoveries and Chairman of the American Association for Justice Resort Torts Litigation Group, issued precautions to hotel guests and travelers– “Check out safety protocols online before you book or arrive.” The Miami-based law firm of Leesfield Scolaro, P.A. has represented families and estates in numerous carbon monoxide cases in hotels and public accommodations, resulting from improper ventilation and equipment failure, against resorts in Florida, the Bahamas and Caribbean, including gas leaks and injuries from Legionnaire’s disease. Leesfield recovered a multi-million dollar result for the Schulz family in a gas explosion case at a Caribbean resort.

“We now have pending serious cases from families impacted by Legionnaire’s disease because of negligent maintenance at the resorts, which accompany fatalities from carbon monoxide and gas poisoning,” says Ira Leesfield, Chair of the AAJ Resort Tort Litigation Group. Leesfield Scolaro has a 46-year history of representing injured travelers from Europe and throughout the United States for resort and cruise ship based injuries. The firm serves as co-counsel to numerous out-of-state law firms in serious personal injury cases.

Ira Leesfield is Founder and Managing Partner of Leesfield Scolaro, P.A. with offices in Miami, Key West/Monroe County and Central Florida/Orlando. He is board certified by the National Board of Trial Advocates, focusing his practice on cases involving serious personal injury, wrongful death, resort torts, cruise ship and maritime litigation, motor vehicle accidents, product and premises liability, aviation, negligent security and medical malpractice. He served as President of the Florida Justice Association and The Melvin Belli Society. With more than 40 years of trial experience, he has advanced new practice areas and has been recognized as America’s leading advocate for the victims of resort torts.