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In the boating injury case of Westfield Ins. Co. v. Vandenberg, the question was raised to the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Seventh Circuit regarding whether the construction company insurance held by a defendant in the injury lawsuit could be liable to pay defendant’s share of damages.

The appellate court answered no.

Plaintiff previously agreed to a $25 million settlement agreement, to be paid through the assignment of claims against defendants’ insurance companies. This decision means plaintiff will have to rely on payments from the other insurers. Continue reading →

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The parents of an infant who died tragically in a hot car that was parked outside a Florida daycare facility for seven hours in the summer will not be able to collect any compensation from the driver’s personal insurance policy.

That’s according to a new ruling by Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal in Bryant v. Windhaven Insurance Co., which is part of a larger case in which the parents are seeking justice from the van driver personally, as well as the day care center (his employer) and the landlord of the property where the incident occurred.

This ruling will only affect the case insofar as it relates to the van driver’s personal liability. He may yet still be found personally liable and obligated to pay, but he will not have his personal insurance company to be responsible for that payment if that happens. Continue reading →

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The attorneys who represented a child severely injured at birth will not be able to receive more than the damage cap put into effect by the state legislature, even though they spent five times that in bringing the case forward.

Beyond just delivering a financial blow to this one law firm, the case could have a stifling effect when it comes to court access. That is, if an attorney knows he or she is going to suffer major losses bringing a case on behalf of severely injured children or other clients, there is less a likelihood those plaintiffs will be able to find representation. That means there is a lesser likelihood there cases will even be filed in the first place, let alone make it to a settlement or trial phase.

It’s disheartening news, especially when you consider that medical malpractice cases such as those brought for birth injuries require meticulous, aggressive and experienced legal representation in order to be successful. Forcing those with the ability to provide this – and ultimately, relief of the enormous financial burden that victims bear – will make it tougher for those who suffer the most to press forward with these cases.

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Last year, the Florida Supreme Court took on the issue of caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice wrongful death cases. The court ruled in Estate of McCall v. United States that capping damages in these cases was unconstitutional.

This was a major victory for those who had suffered the death of a loved one due to the negligent acts of a doctor or health care facility.

Now, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal has taken the issue a step further. In the recent case of North Broward Hospital District et al. v. Kalitan, the court ruled non-economic damage caps for ALL medical malpractice personal injury cases is unconstitutional. In other words, the patient doesn’t have to die in order for damage caps to be lifted.

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In many auto accidents resulting in injury, it is not only the driver and/or his insurance company that may be held liable for damages.

Sometimes, the owner of a vehicle (if different from the driver) can be held responsible, through a doctrine called vicarious liability. If the driver was working, the employer may be held liable via the doctrine of respondeat superior. Alternatively, injured persons could claim negligent hiring, retention or supervision. If the driver was a drunk minor, the establishment that served him alcohol could be responsible under Florida’s dram shop law.

And in some instances, a passenger may in fact be liable as well. Generally, this involves cases where a passenger in some way negligently asserted or assumed control over vehicle operations.

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In 2014, Florida broke the record for the most tourists ever – more than 97 million for the year.

Many hotels reported that for the first time in a long time (and for some, ever), occupancy rates exceeded 70 percent on a steady basis. Some 1.15 million Floridians are employed in the tourism industry, and many of those are in hospitality.

In addition to out-of-town guests, it’s estimated Floridians made a record 20.2 million trips inside state borders that same year. Gov. Rick Scott has vowed to continue marketing campaigns and other efforts to further build on these records and draw a record 100 million people to the state this year.

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When someone takes to the dance floor, they may want to “get down,” but they usually don’t actually mean “on the ground.”

Unfortunately, when bars, nightclubs and other entertainment establishments allow drinks – alcoholic or otherwise – on the dance floor, patrons are at-risk for a slip-and-fall injury.

What started as a night of fun and revelry quickly becomes a trip to the emergency room, and in some cases, an extensive recovery with time off work or worse.

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No one is immune from on-the-job injury. It occurs in virtually every type of workplace and to a wide range of workers. 

Still, we know there are certain risk factors that increase the chances of it. For example, we know the construction industry has one of the highest rates of occupational injury compared to other types of jobs. We also know young workers are often injured more often than their more experienced counterparts. So too are Hispanic workers, particularly migrant workers who may not be able to understand or speak English fluently, and are often relegated to dangerous, labor-intensive posts with inadequate supervision.

When all three of these risk factors are combined, the risk shoots up exponentially.

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Florida’s children under 5 are more at risk of drowning here than in any other state. Every single year, the number of children who drown could fill up three preschool classrooms. 

These deaths are totally preventable, and may be the result of negligence by caregivers and/or property owners.

Just last month, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released new figures showing the number of deaths and injuries resulting from child drownings in both spas and pools continues to be a serious public health and safety risk.

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In a complex medical malpractice case involving the death of a baby born after just 23 weeks of gestation, a jury awarded the child’s parents $4.3 million. 

The case, Dean v. Central Georgia Women’s Health Center, was against two obstetricians alleged to have failed in abiding by the standard of care, given the mother’s medical condition and history of miscarriages. Each doctor was found 50 percent liable for the child’s death, which the parents contended was foreseeable and preventable.

Although jurors listened to mountains of evidence over eight days, including expert witness testimony and extensive medical records, they deliberated just over two hours before reaching a verdict in favor of plaintiffs.

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