Personal Injury

$5 Million Settlement for Attack at Florida Nightclub

September 20, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Headlines made it sound like a barroom brawl, the kind of thing a young man might expect to encounter on a night out. One stated, “Man Gets $5 Million in Miami Club Punch,” as if enduring a simple punch could easily result in such a substantial damage award.

The reality is that punch was unprovoked, at the hands of a bouncer who was much larger than the victim, a 22-year-old college student vacationing from Rhode Island to ring in the New Year. That punch resulted in his skull being cracked on the pavement. He spend three months in a coma. He nearly died. Now, he’s learning how to use the bathroom again. He can’t walk. He is totally reliant on others for basic tasks. His parents, of Morocco, have had to move to the U.S. while he undergoes exhaustive rehabilitation. His doctors say he will likely need medical care the rest of his life.

So for this, yes, there was a $5 million settlement agreement reached with the victim’s father (acting on his behalf) and the company that owns the now-defunct nightclub. This nightclub employed the bouncers, and it was alleged they were improperly trained. Continue reading ›

Jury Awards $4.8M to Victims of Road Rage Shooting

September 6, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Aggressive driving is a serious problem on U.S. roads. The American Safety Council reports 66 percent of all traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving and 37 percent of all aggressive driving incidents involve a firearm.

A jury in Georgia recently awarded $4.8 million to a family who endured a road rage attack in which a CEO fired a gun into their vehicle. Inside was a mother, father and three small children. The man later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and served six months in jail – something the traumatized family called “a slap on the wrist.” Continue reading ›

Uber Sued for Misrepresenting Driver Safety to Public

August 31, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Ride-sharing company Uber, which has usurped local taxi providers in larger cities, has an estimated 160,000 drivers in the U.S. The service promises its users that it conducts thorough background checks of these drivers so that patrons can be as safe as possible.

Now, in an amended complaint that is part of a civil lawsuit filed by two district attorneys offices in California, there is new evidence to refute such assertions by the company.

The lawsuits, filed by district attorneys in San Francisco and Los Angeles, say the background checks conducted by Uber in those two cities failed to uncover serious criminal records of 25 drivers, just in those two cities. Offenses of these drivers range from felony traffic convictions to sex offenses to murder. With this information, the lawsuit focuses primarily on reportedly misleading claims made to consumers, as opposed to any legal violation in Uber’s background check process. Continue reading ›

Alleged Airbnb Attack Raises Legal Liability Questions

August 19, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Airbnb is an online service that allows those with residences to rent them on a short-term basis. Often those who use the service are traveling, and it offers an authentic local experience that is often a cheaper alternative to pricey hotels.

But there is a lot that can go wrong. Horror stories abound, including one recently chronicled in The New York Times.

A 19-year-old from Massachusetts traveled to Madrid in mid-July. He had arranged to stay at a private residence through Airbnb. When he arrived, however, his host locked the door, removed the key and began rattling knives in the kitchen as he pressed the teen to submit to sexual contact, according to the traveler’s account. Continue reading ›

Injury to Sports Fan Prompts Lawsuit Seeking Better Stadium Protections

August 2, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

When it comes to baseball and other spectator sports, courts have generally held that stadium owners have only a limited duty to protect vulnerable sections of fans from flying balls, bats, pucks or other game-related objects. For the most part, it has been found fans assume the risk of injury when they are hit by a foul ball or a hockey puck.

The idea is that if a fan chooses to sit in those closer seats, he or she assumes the risk of being struck by a flying object, and therefore has a duty to pay close attention to what’s happening so as to react quickly and prevent injury to themselves.

But a series of serious injuries suffered to sports fans in recent years has prompted a class action lawsuit that seeks to expand stadium owner duties of care and improve safety for those who patronize professional sports.

Florida Designates Rest Stops, Other Locations as “Safe Phone Zones”

July 28, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Two years ago, a 25-year-old recent University of Florida graduate was fishing on a bridge in Brevard County when he was struck by a vehicle, thrown into the water and drowned.

The driver who struck him had glanced down to check a text message.

His mother, speaking at a recent “Staying Alive on Florida’s Roadways” event lamented, “His life was not meant to be over.”

Doe v. Hartford Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp. – $1M Sex Abuse Verdict Affirmed

July 24, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

There are few figures historically who were trusted more by families than Catholic priests. That may remain true for many. However, over the last three decades, a flood of allegations of sexual abuse and sexual assault by priests began to emerge, with growing evidence that various dioceses and eparchies were more interested in protecting the church than preventing abuse.

The Vatican reports that between 2011 and 2012, it defrocked almost 400 priests connected to sex abuse scandals. Some of the bishops who oversaw those priests have resigned, but many more still remain in their former positions.

In the U.S., at least 17,000 people have come forward to allege sexual abuse as children by priests between 1950 and 2012. These are only those allegations deemed “credible” by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Concert Injury Victim Suing Popular DJ for Broken Neck, Ankle

July 9, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Many performers go the extra mile to engage audiences in a show they will want to always remember. Unfortunately, these may result in injuries some fans can never forget.

A recent personal injury lawsuit was filed against a popular electronic dance music DJ after a concert in San Diego. The DJ reportedly jumped into the crowd while riding an inflatable pool raft. The stunt was performed to massive cheers, but one fan says she got trapped underneath the raft. As a result, she suffered a broken neck and broken ankle.

In addition to the DJ, plaintiff is also suing the venue.

Kent v. City of Columbia Falls – Skateboarding Death Leads to Litigation Against Local Government

June 25, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Suing local government for personal injury or wrongful death is a complex process that involves a number of special rules and procedures and for which damages are likely capped. Many times, you must act very quickly, or else forever lose your right to bring a claim.

Often, before the case ever gets to trial, the government entity will assert sovereign immunity. This is an age-old legal principle that essentially holds the government cannot be held liable for wrongdoing. However, there are instances in which the government grants its permission to be held liable, and in Florida, those instances of waiver of sovereign immunity are outlined in F.S. 768.28.

Still, instances in which a waiver of sovereign immunity is granted are highly case specific. Take, for example, the case of Kent v. City of Columbia Falls, before the Montana Supreme Court. Typically, government entities aren’t responsible for the engineering/design/maintenance of roadways and sidewalk features in private or gated communities. This would generally be the responsibility of the private land-owning association. However, in the Kent case, there was an assertion the government had taken in an unusually active role in the design/engineer/planning for the thoroughfares within a certain gated community where a man had fallen down a steep hill on his skateboard.

Social Media Analyzed in Fort Myers Injury Lawsuits

May 18, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

It’s become common knowledge that police investigators and prosecutors will sift through the social media posts and pictures of people suspected of crimes, searching for evidence that might bolster their case.

What is somewhat less well-known is the fact that personal injury victims are also likely to become the subject of such scrutiny. In fact, it is an increasingly common practice for defendants early on in a case to request access to all of plaintiff’s social media postings within the previous year or more – even if those pages have strict privacy settings. And judges are granting those requests with increasing regularity.

The value of these postings for defendants goes beyond simply trying to find photos of a plaintiff being more physically active than they claim they can be (though there is that). Rather, they are looking for evidence of happiness and quality of life. In many personal injury cases, clients will seek damages not just for medical bills or lost wages, but for things like pain and suffering, loss of life enjoyment and loss of consortium. These elements require an examination of the quality of life and personal relationships one had before the accident or illness that is the subject of litigation, as compared to the quality of life after.
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