Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
In the case of Beauchamp v. St. Lucie County School District, there was no question the school bus driver was liable for a crash that caused the death of a 9-year-old student and serious injury to several others. In fact, the driver conceded as much in earlier depositions. 
That meant the defense strategy was to limit liability by shifting blame – namely on the semi-truck driver and seat belt manufacturer – in order to reduce the damage award. In the end, jurors awarded $10 million in damages, and assigned 87 percent of the blame to the driver of the bus, and 13 percent to the seat belt manufacturer and the semi-truck driver.
The latter two entities settled claims with the family for an undisclosed sum prior to trial, so they aren’t subject to paying that 13 percent. However, neither will the school district automatically have to pay $8.7 million. There is a $200,000 damage cap on civil awards against a state government entity – which includes a school district. Plaintiffs plan to file a claim with the state legislature, which is the only way a higher damage award against the government may be approved. Continue reading ›
