"Leesfield and Partners"

Published on: May 12, 2025

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

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: August 13, 2024

Outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease prompts warnings to the public. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

Health officials in New Hampshire are warning the public about Legionnaires’ Disease after five confirmed cases at a single resort.

The five cases are believed to have been contracted between June and July at a resort in the downtown area of Lincoln, New Hampshire. The source of the bacteria, officials told local news outlets, can be linked to water droplets from a nearby cooling tower. The cooling tower is still in operation, leaving health officials to warn the public about a continued risk if they are in the area.

The Centers for Disease Control defines an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease as two or more cases identified within 12 months at the same location.

Published on: August 6, 2024

FDA warns consumers about dangers of this supplement brand after lawsuit blames it for Georgia man’s death in December 2021

By Leesfield & Partners

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to steer clear of Optimized Plant Mediated Solutions (OPMS) Black Liquid Kratom after officials allege the product can be linked to health conditions and death.

The FDA’s announcement comes after an investigation into the product following a slew of reports detailing users’ adverse health events and the death of a 23-year-old Georgia man who died in December 2021. Mitragyna speciosa, or kratom, is a plant that derives from Southeast Asia. Though the product is marketed as “all-natural” and is a plant supplement, it has yet to be approved by the FDA.

Some of the reported health concerns linked to the use of kratom include withdrawals, addiction, increased anxiety, digestive issues and restless leg syndrome. This condition causes patients to feel discomfort in their legs and have a compulsion to frequently move or shift them, especially at night or when resting.

Published on: June 14, 2024

One dead, another injured after being electrocuted in jacuzzi at Mexican resort

By Leesfield & Partners

Police in Mexico are investigating after a man died and a woman remains in serious condition from being electrocuted while inside a resort jacuzzi.

The incident took place around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, according to reporting from CBS. The couple, identified as Jorge Guillen, 43, of El Paso, Texas, and 35-year-old Lizette Zambrano, were in the jacuzzi at the resort when there was a “possible electrical discharge.” Witnesses told the news outlet that they tried to jump in and save the couple who had both been rendered unconscious from the shock but they were zapped themselves when they tried to get in the water. A GoFundMe online fundraiser has been set up by friends of the family to help with funeral and medical expenses.

Zambrano remains in critical condition as of Thursday. Authorities are still trying to determine the cause of the electric failure and the investigation is ongoing.

Published on: June 7, 2024

Police investigate after 8-year-old drowned in neighbor’s Fort Lauderdale pool. These incidents on the rise, the CDC says.

By Leesfield & Partners

While packing a cooler with juice boxes on the way to the community pool, racking their brains to recall if they remembered the sunscreen, drowning is the last thing a parent wants to think about. But, according to the latest available data from the CDC, they should.

In its latest report on accident drownings in the United States, the Center for Disease Control reported that these incidents are on the rise. About 4,500 people drowned in the United States from 2020 through 2022, an increase of approximately 500 people per year since 2019, the numbers show. The CDC pits drowning as the leading cause of death for children ranging in age from 1 to 4 years old. The rate of drowning increased 28% from 2019 and 19% in adults from 65 to 74 years old.

Broward County Incident

Published on: June 4, 2024

Dozens of Miami condo residents hospitalized Tuesday after possible carbon monoxide leak. How often does this happen?

By Leesfield & Partners

About 60 people were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and 22 were taken to the hospital after a possible leak Tuesday at a Miami condominium.

The possible leak was reported just before 5 a.m. at the Hemingway Villa Condominiums in West Miami-Dade, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. By 7 a.m. Tuesday, emergency responders were still searching for the leak.

Additional details were not immediately available Tuesday.

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 & Partners

-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 & Partners, 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 & Partners 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 & Partners 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.

Published on: April 4, 2021

Furniture tip-over incident in Pompano Beach is most painful reminder of furniture industry’s inadequate standards and unacceptable negligence

By Leesfield & Partners

In the recent months, Leesfield & Partners represented a family whose 2-year-old child lost his life in a furniture tip-over incident that occurred in the toddler’s bedroom. Despite the family’s endless love, care, and attention, the tragedy could not have been avoided. Millions of people put their trust in industries to abide by safety guidelines to prevent needless incidents, and yet every single day nearly two children will have to be hospitalized from furniture incidents – and hundreds will lose be fatally injured. It was no different in our case. The manufacturer was trusted by our clients to be a safe and adequately designed piece of furniture. That dresser was even compliant with all the industry standards in effect, but when an industry self-regulates, tragedies seem to repeat themselves.

tip-over-for-fb-300x216 Due to the relentless pursuit of justice by attorneys with the firm, a $17.5 million settlement was secured for clients. Since then, Leesfield & Partners started its own campaign with ‘Anchor it!’, but most importantly the family has pursued legislative change and began funding an awareness campaign nationally to prevent similar tragedies from impacting others. An arduous mission which one day, hopefully soon, will deliver on its promise. Unfortunately, parents do not have the luxury to wait for legislative change, and Leesfield & Partners has had to litigate countless defective product cases on behalf of grieving families who have lost their most precious life.

This week, the firm resolved a long and difficult product liability case on behalf of clients who lost three members of their family, including two small children. Several claims against several manufacturers were litigated, experts in many different fields were retained, legal strategies were developed, weighed against the facts, and ultimately proved to be correct, resulting in an overall 8-figure confidential settlement.

Published on: March 15, 2018

Human Error and Defective Construction Design go largely hand in hand

By Leesfield & Partners

Collapse of Garage on Miami-Dade College Campus in 2012

Whether a developer is trying to make a delivery deadline on a construction project, or cut costs because the project was under-budgeted at inception, or hire fewer workers in the face of safety, typically construction incidents stem from developers, contractors, and subcontractors cutting corners. In recent memory, a garage collapse on Miami-Dade College campus in 2012, which caused injuries to eleven people, including four fatalities, ended in multi-million dollar settlements with the victims and Miami-Dade College. Four years later, the rebuild of the same garage collapsed again, injuring two workers.

In an article titled “Identifying Root Causes of Construction Accidents”, published in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, several causes were discussed and ultimately identified after studying thousands of different cases. The authors concluded that one of the top three causes stems from management procedures which create and fail to identify, rectify and remove unsafe conditions that exist on and around a construction site. The other two causes were linked to workers lacking sufficient training or knowledge.