"Ira Leesfield"

Published on: May 19, 2025

The Road to Motor Vehicle Accident Results: What You Should Know About Seeking Damages

A seemingly mundane trip to the grocery store or a tiring commute home after a long day’s work can quickly turn into a driver’s worst nightmare.

About 400,000 car accident victims discover this annually in Florida with many suffering severe and permanent injuries. As a personal injury law firm with nearly five decades of experience litigating cases just like these, Leesfield & Partners knows that the “road to recovering damages” can be a daunting one.

Here’s a basic guide to what plaintiff’s should know when seeking damages for injuries caused by an accident on Florida roads. For a more in-depth breakdown or for a free consultation, call Leesfield & Partners at 800-836-6400.

Published on: May 14, 2025

Washington Boy, 13, Killed in E-Bike-Related Incident; Leesfield & Partners’ Outspoken History with Micromobility Devices.

By Leesfield & Partners

A family has lost their 13-year-old son after he hit a metal cable in a “freak accident” while riding his e-bike through the neighborhood, according to local media.

Emiliano Munoz, of Everett, Washington, was playing with friends at a neighborhood field on May 2. As he left on his e-bike, he took a shortcut through a yard where he did not see a braided cable strung up between two bollards in the grass.

The boy ran into the cable and cut his vocal cords, a spokesperson for the family told local media.

Published on: May 12, 2025

Woman Dies After Canoe Flips on Florida Alligator. What to Know About Vacationing in Florida.

By Leesfield & Partners

A woman canoeing with her husband this week has died after their vessel flipped on top of an 11-foot alligator and the animal attacked in Kissimmee, Florida, officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.

Cynthia Diekema, of Davenport, has been identified as the woman who was killed in this incident, according to local media. She was 61.

The incident happened around 4 p.m. Tuesday near the mouth of Tiger Creek in Lake Kissimmee, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. The couple was in a 14-foot canoe in a little more than two feet of water when their canoe went over the animal who then thrashed and flipped them. Both husband and wife ended up in the water and the wife landed on the alligator.

Published on: May 7, 2025

More Than 30 People Rescued off Miami Beach Over the Weekend After $4 M Lamborghini Yacht Sank.

By Leesfield & Partners

More than 30 people were rescued Saturday from the waters off Miami Beach after a multi-million-dollar yacht began taking on water, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

Emergency responders were called around 5 p.m. near Monument Island, and 32 people were rescued, according to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard. No injuries were reported.

Photos of the incident showed the assemblage of people, some with life jackets and others without, gathered on the vessel’s bow. Other photos showed the vessel partly submerged with mainly the bow peeking above the water.

Published on: April 30, 2025

Leesfield & Partners Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Woman injured in Seven-Car-Pileup.

By Leesfield & Partners

Leesfield & Partners, a Miami personal injury law firm, filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of a woman who was left as an incomplete quadriplegic following a Lake County tractor-trailer crash involving a Florida Highway Patrolman.

On Feb. 22, 2025, our client was traveling with her family to Orlando, Florida, when their car was rear-ended by a 53,000-pound tractor-trailer.

In all, there were seven cars involved in the crash, including that of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper. In addition to our client, several others involved in the crash were taken to the hospital for treatment. The trooper, however, was not injured.

Published on: April 30, 2025

One Dead, Several Injured Following Hit-And-Run with Clearwater Ferry Boat

By Leesfield & Partners

A ferry with about 45 people on board was ushering families to and from a sand sculpting competition in Clearwater, Florida, on Sunday when it was involved in a terrible hit-and-run crash.

The incident happened around 8:40 p.m. near the Clearwater memorial Causeway Bridge. Another boat came barreling toward the ferry and ignored a crew member’s desperate shouts, witnesses told reporters with CNN.

Good Samaritans with their own boats helped evacuate passengers from the “chaotic scene,” CNN reported Monday. Following the crash, the back of the boat appeared “shattered” and there was a “huge dent,” witnesses said.

Published on: April 30, 2025

Five people Hospitalized After North Miami Beach Boat Crash, Officials Say

By Leesfield & Partners

Five people have been hospitalized, including three children, after a boat collided with a docked vessel Saturday night in North Miami Beach.

The incident happened before 8 p.m. near Maule Lake and was caught on surveillance footage, according to reporting from Channel 10 News. A boat operator with seven passengers struck a docked boat. Everyone on board was ejected.

Good Samaritans rushed to help get people out of the water before first responders arrived, witnesses told local media.

Published on: April 18, 2025

Golf Cart Driver in Tampa Killed After Driver Takes Red Light, FHP says. How Leesfield & Partners has Represented Victims and Families for 48 Years.

By Leesfield & Partners

A 71-year-old golf cart driver died following a crash at a senior living community in which another driver took the red light, according to officials with the Florida Highway Patrol.

The woman died from her injuries around 8 a.m. Wednesday near Sun City Center, a 55+ community with chains in other states such as South Carolina, Texas, Nevada, Georgia and more. The woman had the green light when she was crossing Sun City Center Boulevard, a six-lane road, in a Yamaha golf cart.

A 31-year-old driver in a Ramp ProMaster van did not stop at the red light and hit the woman, causing a fatal T-bone accident, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

Published on: April 18, 2025

Bus Driver Involved in Fatal Miami Gardens Shooting. What to Know About Violence on Public Transit.

By Leesfield & Partners

A bus driver accused in the shooting deaths of two passengers following an argument should never have had a gun on board the day of the incident, officials say.

“Transit operators are not allowed to be armed,” Juan Mendieta, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade’s Department of Transportation and Public Works, told reporters with The Miami Herald.

This rule prohibits drivers from taking firearms with them to work even if they are legally allowed to carry them, reporters said in the article.

Published on: March 17, 2025

Elderly Rhode Island Man Accused of Sexually Abusing Minor at Florida Resort.

By Leesfield & Partners

A 72-year-old from Rhode Island has been accused of sexually abusing a child in a lazy river at an Orlando, Florida, resort, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

William Francis Chatel faces charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 years of age.

The first incident happened on March 9 when the girl said a man, later identified by police as Chattel, came up to the child and assaulted her at least twice over the course of her family’s stay at the resort, reporters said in the article. The child later reported the incidents to a parent who allegedly filmed him attempting to swim up to two other unaccompanied children in the lazy river.