Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg

Published on: February 14, 2014

Will Florida finally pass regulations of the Parasailing Industry?

Yesterday, the Senate Committee pm Regulated Industries passed Senate Bill 320 by a unanimous vote of 9 to 0. Members of the Senate Committee had just finished hearing from families who have lost loved ones in parasailing accidents in Florida.

Thumbnail image for harness_parasailing.jpg Among them, the family of Amber May White who tragically died in 2007 while parasailing with her younger sister Crystal. Leesfield & Partners represented the family and a confidential settlement was reached out of court. In 2007, as it is true today, the parasail industry is absolutely unregulated. Despite countless voices begging for this activity to be regulated, the industry has been operating completely free of any rules. Parasail operators are self-regulated, which often translates in utter lack of safety and proper training.

While yesterday was the first optimistic step in the right direction, it is 7 years removed from the fatal accident that has changed the family of Amber and Crystal forever. Click here to learn more about the events in that case and the lawsuit that ensued.

Published on: February 10, 2014

Ira Leesfield recognized amidst the release of George Clooney’s The Monuments Men

By Leesfield & Partners

Appointed by President Clinton to investigate and track down looted Holocaust art and cultural treasures stolen during World War II across Europe, Ira Leesfield was recently recognized by the Miami Herald for the role he played in the U.S. Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets from 1998 to 2000.

The release of George Clooney’s latest movie, The Monuments Men, has led many men and women to being honored at various Washington institutions that played major roles in the protection, investigation, and in several cases, rescue of European treasures during and after World War Two.

The Commission made several significant findings, some of which are below:

Published on: November 15, 2013

Ventilator-dependent twin brothers die during power outage

By Leesfield & Partners

In Northern California’s Calaveras County last night, twin brothers Ryan Hall and Joshua Hall died during a local power outage. The two 22-year-old brothers were ventilator dependents and the early investigation revealed that their respective ventilators’ back-up system systems failed when the house lost power.

Ryan and Joshua Hall suffered from muscular dystrophy and relied on their ventilator to breathe for them. Sheriff Gary Kuntz told reporters that the investigation is focused on the reasons why the backup systems failed.

This tragic incident is eerily similar to a case Leesfield & Partners recently handled and successfully resolved after almost three years of litigation, and a $2.5 million wrongful death settlement was reached for the parents and sole caretakers of the 31 year-old man who died.

Published on: October 1, 2013

Florida bans texting while driving – Law in effect October 1, 2013

By Leesfield & Partners

On October 1, 2013, the first law banning texting while driving comes into effect in the State of Florida. This law is a half step in the right direction, but a half step nevertheless.

The Florida legislator has advocated for a ban on cell phone use while driving for several years. The best compromise Tallahassee was able to reach has essentially pulled the teeth of the new law. We described in detail the shortcomings of the new piece of legislation in our previous articles on the topic:

Florida’s ban on texting while driving – A toothless law in need of more bite!

Published on: August 28, 2013

Miami Archdiocese again in the spotlight for more claims of sexual abuse on high school students

By Leesfield & Partners

The Archdiocese of Miami is again making news for the wrong reasons. Three former PACE High School students (Hialeah) have filed a civil lawsuit against the diocese and their alleged abusers, Brother Ken Ward and Father Gustavo Miyares, and, there are more to come.

In the complaint filed this week by Leesfield & Partners, the sexual abuse endured by the three young men is described as occurring repeatedly over several years. Brother Ken Ward was the Dean of Students at PACE High School when the alleged abuse took place. Each student was served several alcoholic beverages by Dean Ward to make them compliant. Ward would use pretexts almost on a daily basis to get the boys in his office, at the time the young men were young teenagers. Ward would ask them to take their clothes off after making sure his door was locked and his blinds were shut. He would observe the students bodies from his desk chair while sipping his alcohol-filled diet coke. Inevitably, Ward would walk to the student standing naked in front of him and began touching his body. The abuse would lead to fondling the student’s genitalia, as well as masturbation and digital penetration, and other unspeakable acts.

According to the three plaintiffs, Ward would repeat his abuse on them on a weekly, if not on a daily basis. One of the plaintiffs was also sexually abused when he was a young child at Immaculate Conception Catholic School, an abuse that lasted from Elementary school through high school. During these early years, he became an altar boy, under the care of Father Gustavo Miyares. The latter slowly groomed the child by inviting him to spend time with the priest. The private meetings turned into a horrific extended-period of numerous unauthorized sexual acts, including touching genitals, and inducement of oral and anal stimulation, even as the plaintiff was a pre-teen child.

Published on: August 14, 2013

Fatal Car2Go Accident downtown Miami

By Leesfield & Partners

At dawn this morning in Miami, a Chevy pick-up truck traveling eastbound on Northeast 15th Street, in downtown Miami, was t-boned by a white Daimler SMART car traveling southbound on Biscayne Boulevard. One of the investigators told the media that it is believed the driver of the SMART car failed to stop at a stop sign or a red light, which was the cause for the two vehicle to collide at such a high rate of speed.

The incident occurred at approximately 4:45am on Wednesday August 14, 2013. The passenger of the SMART car, a young woman in her twenties was fatally injured and died at the scene. The driver of the SMART car was critically injured and rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The condition of the driver of the pick-up truck remain unknown but reporters have shared that there are serious concerns he may have sustained a catastrophic spinal cord injury and may be paralyzed. (Photo on the left courtesy of Miami Herald)

The SMART car involved in this incident, whose driver was supposedly at fault, was a CAR2GO vehicle. According to the company’s website, CAR2GO is a mobility program launched in Austin, Texas back in November 2009. The company provides a fleet of free-floating vehicles distributed all over the city. Individuals who become members of CAR2GO have the ability to use any vehicle from the CAR2GO fleet at any time.

Published on: July 5, 2013

Manager of Aquatic Adventures fights parasailing regulations and hires convicted drunk driver as parasailing boat operator

By Leesfield & Partners

Each and every year, families and friends have to mourn the loss of a loved one or see a loved one sustain life-altering injuries. Each and every year in Florida, it seems that someone will become critically injured in a parasailing accident. The reason for this horrific spectacle is the lack of any laws to regulate the parasailing industry. Floridians and tourists from out of state and from all over the world purchase parasail rides year round. The parasailing industry is a very lucrative business, which is inherently dangerous if practiced in a less than perfect environment.

To that end, Leesfield & Partners have pushed the legislator for regulations at the state-level to prevent preventable parasailing accidents. The incident which saw 17-year-old Sidney Good and 17-year-old Alexis Fairchild sustain catastrophic injuries is the latest of many preventable incidents. As long as Florida does not adopt strict regulations and force parasailing operators to answer to the law, there will be headlines in the news that another person lost their life due to the negligence of a parasailing operator.

Last year was the last attempt of many to pass a law to regulate that business, but the legislator failed, once again, due to the commercial and economic pressures put forth by special interests.

Published on: July 5, 2013

Health of teenagers injured in Panama City parasailing accident improving amidst questions about potential Parasail operator’s negligence

By Leesfield & Partners

According to the latest reports, both teenagers’ health are slowly improving and their respective doctors are expecting both girls to recover from their traumatic injuries. The family of Sidney Renea Good and Alexis Fairchild, 17-year-old girls from Huntington and Roanoke, Indiana, have shared that their daughters have both suffered head trauma and severe lacerations. However they are both communicating with their doctors and close family members with small hand gestures.

Earlier this week, Sidney and Alexis purchased a parasail ride with Aquatic Adventures in Panama City. While both girls were up in the air, the weather deteriorated and strong winds rolled onto the the shore. The rope of the parasail snapped and both girls, who were riding in tandem, were catapulted onto a condominium near the shore, before hitting a power line or a utility pole. They crashed seconds later on top of an SUV in a nearby parking lot. Both girls were breathing at the scene, but one of them was knocked unconscious.

The statement released by the family of the two girls reads as follows: “Alexis has severe back injuries and Sidney has neck trauma. However, we are fortunately seeing some positive signs from both Sidney and Alexis. Sidney has been responsive to caregivers and has been able to use small movements to communicate including a thumbs up for her parents. Alexis had surgery (Wednesday) on her spine and has also been responsive including a small wave at her parents when she returned from surgery. Our families are incredibly touched by all the support we’ve received from friends at home and from many people we haven’t met before who are praying for our girls. While the situation is still critical we are encouraged by these very small signs of progress. We have heard from so many generous people who have offered to help and we are working to establish a fund for the medical care of both Sidney and Alexis. We will have more information on that to come. Thank you again to all who are thinking of and praying for our girls. Your prayers are working!”

Published on: July 3, 2013

Parasail accident in Panama City sends two teenagers to hospital in critical condition

By Leesfield & Partners

On Tuesday July 3, 2013, two teenage girls from Indiana were vacationing in Panama City and purchased a parasail tour. While in the air, a severe storm began to develop and the two rope snapped due to the high winds. The two 17-year-old girls, Alexis Fairchild and Sidney Good, who were riding in tandem, were at the mercy of the winds. Not before long the parasail crashed into the side of a condominium. Seconds later, the girls hit powerlines or a utility pole before plummeting down in a parking lot. According to witnesses, both girls were limp, on the ground. Rescue rushed them to the Bay Medical-Sacred Heart hospital in Panama City. They remain in critical condition.

This incident is the latest of numerous parasailing accidents off the Florida coasts in the last several years. As is customary in shoreline incidents, the Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has taken over the investigation. The investigators released a preliminary statement that seems to corroborate severe weather developing before or during the parasailing activity: “Sidney Renea Good of Roanoke and Alexis Fairchild of Huntington were parasailing in a tandem harness over the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City Beach when an afternoon storm developed with strong winds.”

In 2007, two teenage sisters were also vacationing in Florida when they decided to take a ride up on a parasail. Like Alexis and Sidney, they were both incredibly excited. Several minutes into the ride, strong winds started to build up. The boat was pushed towards the shore line more and more and the two girls were helplessly dangling in the air, above the beach, near the buildings. See the video below:

Published on: June 10, 2013

Three people killed by carbon monoxide in North Carolina hotel room in two months

By Leesfield & Partners

Jeffrey Lee Williams and his mother Jeannie Williams were staying in hotel room 225 at the Best Western in Boone, North Carolina, this past weekend. On Saturday, the hotel staff was alerted by Jeannie’s husband that he could not reach his family and asked to go check on them. When they opened the door, first responders found the dead body of 11-year-old Jeffrey. Next to him was his mother Jeannie, who was still alive, but in a deep state of asphyxia. She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance, and as of today, Jeannie is listed in stable condition, still recovering at Watauga Medical Center.

On Monday afternoon, the Watauga County Health Department in charge with finding the cause of this incident advised that carbon monoxide was found in the hotel room where Jeffrey and his mother were staying this past weekend. Initially, the cause of death of the young boy was asphyxia, which leads to believe that something in the hotel room had caused his death.

Local news station WCNC-TV reports today that the hotel room in which the mother and son were staying was situated directly above the swimming pool of the hotel and the gas heater used to heat the water of the pool. The investigation is ongoing and further testings will be conducted in the next few days.