Premise Liability

April 1, 2016

Baseball Games and Assumption of Risk

Play ball! The weather is finally warming and baseball season is back. With all the excitement that baseball games bring, there are certain legal issues that you should be aware of, such as the “assumption of risk.” This applies to the players as well as the fans. For example, a woman was recently injured while observing a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, MA. She was enjoying the game when suddenly a foul ball powerfully struck her in between her eyebrows. She saw the ball heading in her direction but it was traveling too fast for her to react. The significant blow to her forehead caused her to bleed profusely. Nearby fans provided her with aid and two individuals gave the woman t-shirts to wrap around her head to try and stop the bleeding. Five weeks earlier, another fan was seriously injured when he was struck by pieces of a shattered baseball bat.

In all, injuries to spectators do occur. What you should know is that sometimes you will be held to have assumed the risk of sustaining the injury. When this happens, you may be barred from any recovery. For this reason, to best protect your rights to compensation, it is imperative that you hire an attorney. The Miami personal injury lawyers at Gerson & Schwartz, PA are here to help. Our lawyers have provided high quality legal representation to injured people in Florida for over 40 years. We are dedicated to protecting our clients’ rights and helping them get back on their feet. For a FREE consultation, call (305) 371-6000 or contact us online.

Assumption of Risk

March 25, 2016

Social Guests and Premises Liability in Florida

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Whether it is July 4th parties, graduation parties, summer parties, or parties in general, if you live in Florida, please beware that you may be held liable if someone is injured on your property. A social guest, if injured in your house, may sue you if he or she is injured due to your lack of reasonable care. Though this concept may seem complex at first, this post aims at clarifying Florida’s premises law.

If you or a loved one are injured on the property of another, you may be entitled to substantial compensation. To increase your chances of compensation, it is imperative that you hire an attorney for your case. The Miami personal injury at Gerson & Schwartz PA lawyers are here to help. Our lawyers have provided high quality legal representation to injured people in Florida for over 40 years. We are dedicated to protecting our clients’ rights and helping them get back on their feet. For a FREE consultation, call (305) 371-6000 or contact us online.

Florida’s Premises Liability Laws

January 15, 2016

The Basics of Florida’s Complex Slip, Trip, and Fall Law

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

The winter months are upon us. The winter months bring with them several holidays, including Christmas, that bring about millions of shoppers. People all across the state of Florida flock to stores. With the massive amounts of people out there shopping, personal injury rates significantly increase. This post will focus on one type of personal injury in particular: slip/trip and fall. At Gerson & Schwartz, PA our Miami slip and fall lawyers have more than 44 years of successful experience representing clients who are seriously injured from a slip, trip, and fall and other premises liability accident cases. The attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz, PA obtain the advice from experts who use instruments to test floor slip resistance characteristics and provide further evidence of a property owner’s negligence. Our law firm thoroughly investigates each client’s case and will efficiently prepare a sound legal argument.

Florida Negligence and Premises Liability Laws

Slip and fall claims a form of premises liability laws developed from negligence theories. Under Florida, law negligence is the failure to use reasonable care under like circumstances. Florida’s jury pattern instructions state that negligence is doing what a reasonably prudent person woudl do under like circumstances, or doing something or failing to do something that a very careful person would do under like circumstances.

November 20, 2015

Fourth Settlement Reached Over Negligent Security in Apartment Shootings

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

In November a Miami apartment complex settled its fourth negligent security case in four months. The 9-year-old son of a man shot in April was awarded $1.45 million because the apartment failed to provide adequate security precautions for its residents. If you have been injured or had a loved one killed on a premise with negligent security, contact a Miami Negligent Security Attorney.

This newest settlement was shortly preceded by three other settlements of three men who were shot at a Super Bowl party in the complex and one of the men was killed. The two surviving men and the family of the decedent received a combined $2.4 million settlement.

The lawyer of the case found that the apartment complex owners did not hire security guards or off-duty police officers to patrol the building, there were no security cameras, insufficient lighting and one of the gates meant to restrict access to the complex was missing. These are all serious blunders by the apartment administration that could have made it easier for shooters to gain access to the complex.

May 7, 2015

Recent Case Decides What Your Shoes Have to do With an Injury Lawsuit

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Florida’s liability system is based upon what is known as comparative fault, or comparative liability. What this means is that if you are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, a jury at trial can reduce your award by any amount that you were negligent—that is, the extent that you were responsible for your own injury.

This often comes into play in a slip and fall, where a defendant may claim that you should have been looking where you were going, or in an auto accident, where a defendant may allege that you could have avoided the accident. But a negligent defendant in a recent case argued a novel theory, attempting to prove that the kind of shoes a woman wears allows a court to apportion liability to her.

Woman Slips in High Heels

March 27, 2015

Court Decides What Law Applies to 2005 Slip and Fall Injury Lawsuit

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

It’s not often that a court has to determine what the law was, and what law applied, almost five years previously. But a recent slip and fall case has caused a court to evaluate whether a law changed back in 2010 should apply to an accident that happened in 2005.

Child Falls on Substance in a Mall

A woman alleged that in 2005, her minor son fell on a slippery substance in shopping mall, right near a Chick-Fil-A restaurant. She sued for his injuries, alleging the restaurant negligently allowed the foreign substance to remain on the floor, and knew or should have known it was there, thus creating a dangerous condition.

February 13, 2015

Medical Causation and How It Can Be the Difference Between Winning and Losing a Case

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

In a personal injury action, under Florida law a Plaintiff must show the elements of 1.) Duty 2.) Breach 3.) Causation, and 4.) Damages. When we are injured by the negligence of another, especially when we are injured on the premises or property of a business, it’s common to think that as long as you can prove the other person or business was at fault or negligent, the case is won. But there is still the question of injury or medical causation. If someone’s negligence didn’t actually cause or contribute substantially to the injuries for which you are claiming damages, the law provides that a jury must enter a verdict for the defendant on that issue. This a common defense strategy where there injuries that are considered to be degenerative, or “pre existing” in nature . Florida law does provide for aggravation or acceleration of a per-existing injury. However, this still requires proof of that the prior injury was accelerated but for the harm that was caused. Many defense lawyers and insurance companies often defend cases on these types of arguments. Our Miami injury lawyers are well versed in dealing with and many of other types of affirmative defenses and how to deal with them in the court room.

No Causation in Wal-Mart Negligence Trial

The case involved a woman who said she was injured when an 8.4 oz “squishy” (in the words of the court) pumpkin fell on her at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart admitted they were negligent, but claimed that there’s no way that an object of that size could have ever caused the victim the injuries she said she sustained. Also referred to medical causation, the lawyers argued that even though they were at fault, the element of causation was missing and therefore argued that the jury must find in their favor. The defense hired a medical expert to testify against the victim.

February 4, 2015

Premises Liability or Ordinary Negligence? The Difference Can Make or Break a Case

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

If you’re injured on someone else’s property, you may not give much thought as to whether your case involves ordinary negligence, or premises liability. In fact, the terms sound practically identical in many ways. But legally, and to injury lawyers that specialize in premises liability cases, the distinction can make a big difference as to whether you’re entitled to recover for damages or not.

Recent Case Involves Negligent Security Claim

A recent case has examined the distinction between the two terms. The case involved a victim who was shot in the leg while attending a party at an apartment complex. The victim did not live at the complex.

October 23, 2014

Court Allows Victims to Recover Even if a Condition is Open and Obvious

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

If you are injured in a fall on a business owner’s premises, a crucial question will be whether the dangerous condition was “open and obvious” to you. The open and obvious doctrine can be a difficult hurdle to overcome for injured victims seeking damages for their injuries, but a case earlier this year may have made that hurdle a little lower.

What is Open and Obvious?

As the name implies, an open and obvious condition is one which is out in the open, and readily observable to anyone demonstrating due care. Generally, we all have a duty to look out for our own safety. This includes avoiding dangerous conditions that are open and obvious.

October 7, 2014

WOMAN HIT BY DRUNK DRIVER EMPLOYED BY CLUB LEXX AS AN EXOTIC DANCER

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

On May 16, 2008, plaintiff Alcira Marcella Britt was hit by drunk driver Shanna Clayton who was employed as an exotic dancer at Club Lexx in Miami, Florida. Ms. Britt was obeying the law and driving safely when Clayton’s car crashed into hers, leaving her seriously injured. Britt’s injuries caused her disfigurement and unable to live as she had before. Her injuries were severe that and she has the ability to earn money, as well.

All of Britt’s pain and suffering were due not only to Clayton’s negligence, but also due to the negligence of the owners of Club Lexx. Actually, Club Lexx encouraged Clayton to drink with customers while working and then left her to drive home intoxicated. The defendant, Club Lexx, owed a duty to the plaintiff, Alcira Marcella Britt, as well as to the general public. The club owners failed to supervise their exotic dancers as far as how much alcohol they were consuming while on the job. Furthermore, knowing that their employees, such as Clayton would have to drive home at the end of their shift, this was totally irresponsible.

Club owners have a responsibility to put policies and procedures in place which assist intoxicated individuals to leave their premises at closing time, without having to operate motor vehicles on public roadways. Clubs should never allow employees to leave their premises, if they are intoxicated to the point where their normal faculties are impaired. Obviously, if they do so then they are endangering the public.