Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
The 5-year-old girl who was swept into a Sarasota storm drain on Aug. 24 has died from her injuries, according to hospital and law enforcement officials.
Zaria Miller was playing outside with her brothers on Aug. 24 around 6 p.m. when she was sucked down a storm drain following a water main break. The main break, coupled with recent rainfall, caused a current that pulled Zaria down the drain.
She was carried about 100 yards away from where she was playing, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. She was found in a wooded retention area near a local school.
She was taken to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg where she later died, according to an Aug. 28 news release from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.
The county posted photos on social media on Aug. 25 showing construction crews working to fill in the portion of the road damaged by the water main break. On Aug. 27, a separate
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is a 48-year personal injury law firm with a track record of diligently representing injured clients against corporations, individuals and government agencies. Our skilled trial attorneys have secured record verdicts and settlements throughout Florida. With offices in Miami, Key West and Orlando, Leesfield & Partners has been afforded the opportunity to be a part of numerous historic cases, conveying the compassion and knowledge of the law necessary to deliver the best possible outcome in every case. Previously, Leesfield & Partners has been successful in recovering damages for the victims of accidents caused by the negligence of federal and state employees’ negligence. In the past, the firm has handled an array of cases involving aviation accidents, maritime law, premises liability, and medical malpractice cases at government-owned and military hospitals.
Storm drains, the roads above them and the water main systems are all considered government property in Florida. The city or county in which they are located is responsible for their upkeep and repairing any damage caused by sudden storms, accidents and other incidents. A local government is only liable for injuries or damages if it was negligent in maintaining these systems or failed to repair a known hazard. Sudden weather events, such as flash floods, may limit or prevent government liability.
If a person wishes to bring a slip-and-fall or premises liability claim against the government, strict time limits apply. For wrongful death claims, a plaintiff generally has two years from the date of the incident to file a claim, while individuals who were personally injured typically have three years from the date of the injury. Once a notice of claim is filed, the government has 180 days to investigate. After the investigation, plaintiffs may file a claim or, if necessary, initiate a lawsuit for negligence-related injuries. For wrongful death cases, the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit remains two years from the date of the incident.
Because these deadlines and procedural requirements are strictly enforced, it is essential to consult an experienced attorney when pursuing claims against government entities.
Previous Case
Leesfield & Partners attorneys handled a wrongful death drowning case for a husband and father of two young children following the death of his family due to the negligence of the U.S. Navy. In this case, handled by the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, the U.S. Navy failed to maintain its pier in a safe condition, resulting in the deaths of Mr. Grayson’s wife and his two daughters, a 3-year-old and an infant.
Our client was awarded $2.95 million by a federal judge in this case.
“Ivan Grayson, tormented by the mind-numbing horror of the tragedy that wiped his family from the face of the earth, desperately needs to know why this happened,” said U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King.
Leesfield & Partners represented a grieving family against the Federal Aviation Administration in a private aviation disaster. In that case, handled by Mr. Leesfield and co-counsel Mark A. Sylvester, the FAA was sued for the failure of their air traffic controllers to provide crucial severe weather information to the pilot, who perished in a single-engine airplane crash with his mother on board.
The manufacturer of a component part was named in the suit for a component part that powered the flight instrumentation. Additionally, the firm took legal action against the airplane manufacturer and a service facility.
The firm settled the case for over $2.8 million.
In a medical malpractice case involving a government medical facility, Leesfield & Partners secured a $2 million recovery.
In a similar medical malpractice case, the firm obtained a recovery of over $1.9 million.
A separate Federal Tort medical malpractice case resulted in a $1.9 million recovery.
The firm previously went up against a Florida department in a wrongful death case involving the electrocution death of our client’s loved one. The firm obtained a $1.65 million recovery in that case.
The firm represented a 62-year-old woman who tried to grab a product from an overhead pallet at a warehouse store. The entire shrink-wrapped pallet fell on her as a result and caused severe injuries. While the defendant claimed that it was “obvious” that this was overstock items, it was known that customers regularly reached for these items and the defendant did nothing to warn customers or prevent their access.
A verdict of over $1 million was awarded to our client.
In a tragic case involving a child, a store’s lobster trap display fell and struck a child. The minor suffered brain damage as a result of the incident. Leesfield & partners settled the case for $1 million.
In a civil rights wrongful death case, Leesfield & Partners obtained a $1 million recovery for a grieving family.
In a wrongful death case against a city that involved a police shooting, the firm recovered $900,000 for a family.
Trial Lawyer Bernardo Pimentel II settled a case on behalf of the family of a young lobster diver and father-to-be who was killed during lobster season by a negligent law enforcement officer.
In that case, the officer failed to adhere to divers-down flag laws that call for boaters to operate at idle speed when these flags are present and to keep within a certain distance of these flags. In rivers, inlets and navigational channels, boaters must stay 100 feet away from these flags. In open waters, they should keep a 300-foot distance.
