What Happens if My Dog Bites Someone?

personal injury attorney dog bite lawyer rafael diaz abogadosAs a personal injury lawyer, I am frequently asked, “What happens if my dog bites someone?”  In Florida, the answer is quite simple: according to Florida Statute § 767.04, “the owner of any dog that bites any person while such person is on or in a public place, or lawfully on or in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, is liable for damages suffered by persons bitten.”

I am the proud owner of a very gentle and non-dog bites pugs violent pug named Daisey. In fact, I don’t think I have ever seen Daisey upset.  Nevertheless, if she bites someone, I am on the hook for the injuries she causes.  Florida law is very different from other states.  Many other states follow what is commonly known as the “one-bite” rule.  In other words, each dog may be entitled to one free bite.  Theoretically, the free bite lets the owner know their dog can be dangerous.  Florida does not follow the “one-bite” rule.  According to Florida law, the owner of a dog is liable for injuries regardless “of the former viciousness of the dog or the owners' knowledge of such viciousness.”  Thus, even though my pug has never been aggressive, I may still be liable if she bites someone.            

Costa Concordia Drama Continues - Potential Cruise Ship Lawsuits

costa concordia cruise ship accident maritime lawyer

There have been reports that many of the passengers aboard the ill-fated Costa Concordia have hired a class action attorney in New York to bring suit in Miami against Costa’s parent company Carnival. Litigation against any cruise line is typically governed by the contract for passage – the cruise ticket. While it is quite common for lawsuits to be brought in Miami against a majority of the cruise lines, it is because the contract for passage elects the venue and the trips originate in the US or touch a US territory.  These venue selection clauses have been upheld as enforceable by both State and Federal Courts. The policy behind the rationale is to concentrate the litigation in the cruise lines place of base operations. This encourages the commercial viability of the industry. On the other hand, cruises that originate overseas and do not touch a US port may be governed by other venue restrictions as set forth in the ticket. In the case of the Concordia it is likely that the ticket places venue in Genoa, Italy and will be subject to the restrictions of the Athens Convention, which limits damages. A suit brought in Miami when the ticket requires it to be brought elsewhere may subject the litigants to sanctions from US Courts. Further, to maintain a class action, the litigants must have suffered like damages. This may be very difficult to establish in the case of the Concordia. Treacherous seas are ahead for those who file in the wrong jurisdiction.

It is prudent to read the entire contract for passage before you purchase a cruise ticket, they are available on the cruise lines’ websites. It is at least necessary to read the contract before travel if not before purchase. The traveler must be familiar with the rights and responsibilities of the parties. Different laws govern different losses. The place of loss is critical as to what law applies in many instances. The limits of liability for personal injury and property losses will be spelled out in the contract. This will give the traveler a guideline as to what to bring on the trip. If the limit for property loss is limited to $10,000, it does not make sense to bring $50,000 of jewelry and the like on board. The passenger would not know these limits without reading them first. Maritime lawyers are well versed in these areas can help navigate through the myriad of obstacles to obtain relief for victims of accidents on cruise ships.

Toyota Auto Recalls

toyota car/auto recalls palm beach personal injury attorneyIn a continuing effort to update our readers on Auto Recalls, Toyota has recalled 210,000 Sienna minivans because their tires and/or rims fail to satisfy the Federal Safety Standards.  The failure to properly rate the load capacity on the Sienna’s display could cause an overload of the car and lead to tires which fail!  Don’t risk crashing.  Get the corrected Sienna information from Toyota by calling Toyota at (800) 331-4331.  You can use NHTSA ID number 11V560000.

Toyota also recalled 420,000 additional vehicles, which include the 2004 Avalon, the 2005/2005 Camry, Highlander and Sienna, 2006 Highlander Hybrid and Lexus models 2004 and 2005 Lexus ES330 and 2006 RX400H.  The recall is due to the power steering pump which can detach from the system.  Only the 1MZ-FE and 3MZ-FE engines were affected by this problem. The recall should start this month with local dealers ready to inspect and repair your Toyota.  Owners may contact Toyota at the number noted above.  You can look up this recall using the NHTSA ID Number: 11V539000.

Costa Concordia Cruise Tragedy Continues to Grow

costa concordia cruise accident attorney palm beachThe Costa tragedy continues to grow. There have been 11 people confirmed dead, several still missing and many more injured. The Italian Coast Guard has released a tape where the Coast Guard was ordering the ship’s Captain back to the vessel after he abandoned ship with passengers still aboard. The cowardly, clueless Captain had no idea regarding the gravity of the situation. After being apprised of same, he still refused to re-board the ship and help the evacuation efforts. He was subsequently arrested and now sits in an Italian jail. He faces prison time for abandoning the ship and may face manslaughter charges for the death of the passengers. As I predicted, the fallout will hurt Costa and its parent company, Carnival, "The World's Most Popular Cruise Line." Carnival’s stock price fell nearly $5 a share yesterday and may go further south as the investigation uncovers more information. Cruise line industry experts say that this event will affect the industry as a whole due to the mounting distrust of the operation of these cruise ships. It’s time for some public relations and damage control. Stay tuned.

 

Photo by Laura Lezza/Getty Images

Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Accident

Cruise Ship Laws Palm Beach County AttorneyA Costa Concordia cruise liner suffered the worst possible of all scenarios last week. One of their ships had run aground, listed, then tipped onto its side causing injury and death to many of its passengers. When it couldn't seem to get any worse, the life boats malfunctioned. Then it comes out that the Captain changed the direction of the ship as a favor to a passenger. This led to the vessel striking the rock that caused the damage.

One has to wonder how this could happen in this day and age of modern technology. The modern cruise ship is outfitted with equipment specifically designed to prevent collisions with submerged or partially submerged objects. Additionally, there is always a crew member assigned as a look out. This accident was a complete fail on the part of the captain and crew. It was unequivocally avoidable. The pure and simple negligence of Costa has caused the ultimate disaster.  The fallout from this incident will be felt industry wide. Carnival, Costa's parent company, will be called upon to explain how something like this could happen. They will pay in lost business, revenues and lawsuit damages. The reputation of the cruise line will be tarnished indefinitely. Most tragedies are avoidable; in this case it was senseless and unjustifiable as well.   

Help End Distracted Driving

personal injury attorney palm beach floridaApril 2012 will be National Distracted Driving Month. Lawyers across the country will be joining in a nation-wide campaign to help end distracted driving.  I am proud to say that I will be one of the many lawyers involved in this mission.  We will be speaking to more than 100,000 students across the nation on the dangers of distracted driving.

What is distracted driving? Simply put, it is any non-driving activity that a person engages in that takes their attention away from focusing on driving.  The most common thought of distraction is either talking on a cell phone or texting while driving. However, distractions can come in many other forms. 

There are both internal and external distractions that can divert a drivers attention. Internal distractions occur inside the vehicle. They can include eating, drinking, talking to other passengers, changing the radio station, reading a map or any other activity inside the vehicle that takes away your focus. 

External distractions occur outside the vehicle.  They can include looking at other motorists, pedestrians, the scenery, trying to read a street sign or even looking at another accident.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, did you know:

  • In 2009, more than 5,400 people died in crashes that were reported to involve a distracted driver and about 448,000 people were injured. 
  • Among those killed or injured in these crashes, nearly 1,000 deaths and 24,000 injuries included cell phone use as the major distraction. 
  • The proportion of drivers reportedly distracted at the time of a fatal crash has increased from 7 percent in 2005 to 11 percent in 2009.

How can you help avoid distracted driving?  As the driver, you must commit to focusing on the road.  Do not allow yourself to be affected by any of the internal or external distractions.  As a passenger, if you see the driver engaging in any unsafe or dangerous behavior, you must speak up.  You have the obligation to tell the driver what he or she is doing is unsafe because if you don’t, then you are only condoning unsafe driving.

Are Major Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Reforms Necessary in Florida?

PIP Personal Injury Protection Insurance Lawyer Palm Beach FloridaOnce again the insurance industry is working at convincing the legislature that major Personal Injury Protection (PIP) reforms are necessary in Florida in order to combat the mass amounts of existing fraud which would supposedly in turn reduce everyone’s insurance premiums. This is far from the first time the insurance industry has attempted to convince the law makers that the PIP statute needs to be substantially amended or even revoked completely.

Currently in Florida, every owner or registrant of a motor vehicle is required to carry PIP insurance for any vehicle operated on the roads and highways of Florida (subject to certain exceptions). This is the only type of insurance that is mandatory in Florida. Your PIP insurance will pay up to $10,000 in benefits for bodily injury, lost wages, or death resulting from a motor vehicle accident regardless of whether you were at fault.

The insurance companies are trying to convince you that there is so much fraud resulting from PIP and that is what is ultimately responsible for driving up the insurance rates in Florida. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is suggesting that Florida should pass legislation involving 4 key elements which would be crucial in fixing PIP:

(1)   Allowing a reasonable amount of time to investigate suspicious claims – i.e. give insurers the ability to deny claims unless doctors sit for examinations under oath

(2)   Eliminate incentives for filing frivolous lawsuits by placing reasonable caps on attorney’s fees – i.e. having the cap on fees be based on the amount at issue in the Complaint without any bearing on the amount of time it may take to settle the case or the loops the insurers will put you through in the process

(3)   Providing greater verification of clinics to ensure that services provided are legitimate- i.e. burdensome registration and inspection requirements for physicians and clinics

(4)   Preventing fraudulent unnecessary treatment- i.e. capping the amount of treatment a person is able to receive in PIP coverage involving certain medical services

What would be the result of these reformations? Total control being placed in the hands of the insurance companies with no consumer protections available. These provisions would serve no purpose other than to add additional burdens on the physicians who are treating people with valid injuries, eliminate the ability to hold insurance companies accountable for wrongfully denying benefits, and eventually drive legitimate physicians out of business as well as attorney’s available to represent them. The government needs to focus on the real issues here and what the very unfortunate result would be to the people if total control gets placed in the hands of the insurance carriers!  

For more information on PIP Suit Litigation or Personal Injury Protection in general, please contact Attorney Tara Kopp at LaBovick Law Group.

Florida Finally Got Serious About Stemming Litigation

Florida finally got serious about stemming litigation.  Not super serious mind you, but at least they are moving in the right direction. On January 1, 2012, the new Supreme Court Civil Procedure Rule 1.720 was put into play. This rule deals with mediation and the mediation process. The mediation process has been used in Florida over the past 20 years. It is efficient and easy and really works when the parties all attend in good faith. 

The problem lies when one party comes to work toward a good faith settlement and the other is simply there to learn about the opposing case and does not try to settle the matter.  Then it is a waste of time and a fraud from the get-go. 

From a public perspective, many people believe the Plaintiffs are causing unnecessary litigation to clog the courthouse.  No amount of data showing corporations and insurance companies are the actual cause of clogged courtrooms has been able to overcome the propaganda from Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the litigation deformation movement.  However, this amended rule will show the public who really wants to litigate and who really wants to settle. 

The new rule was put into place to force insurance companies and large corporations into sending a person to the mediation with actual authority to settle the case.  Before the rule, some insurance companies would send a low level adjuster with low authority and make settlement negotiations a simple waste of time.  The insurance lawyers knew this and would sit through the Plaintiff’s presentation just to learn about the Plaintiff’s case.  In the end they would simply walk away never making a serious attempt to settle the case.  

The new rule redefines who must attend and forces that person to have actual authority to settle the case for the true value of the case or the policy limits.  Now we can finally get the right people to the settlement table and get some of these cases off the court’s docket.

The new language in Sub Section (C ) of the rule says as follows:

(c) Party Representative Having Full Authority to Settle. A “party representative having full authority to settle” shall mean the final decision maker with respect to all issues presented by the case who has the legal capacity to execute a binding settlement agreement on behalf of the party. Nothing herein shall be deemed to require any party or party representative who appears at a mediation conference in compliance with this rule to enter into a settlement agreement. 

See http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2011/sc10-2329.pdf  for the full language of the rule.

Take 2012 Seriously, and Enter with Pride

Cruise Ship Laws Palm Beach County Attorney

2012 promises to be a good one, but don't they all start out that way? Somehow, I really believe it this time. I feel good about our country, the prospects for our economy and the practice of law. There is no logic to my thoughts, just a gut feeling. But there are some things we can all do to better the world we live in. In my world, the law world, we lawyers can strive for ethical excellence without compromising our clients' rights. The citizens that participate as jurors can strive to dedicate themselves to the service of our system. Besides serving in the military, serving on a jury is one of the fundamental duties to our great experiment that we call democracy. Take it seriously. The system requires it and the citizenry deserves it. Anyone lucky enough to be able to serve on a jury will find it intellectually rewarding and knowing that few have the pleasure to assist the perpetuation of our great system. Do it with pride.

Pressing & Thoughtful Cruise Questions Answered

cruise accident attorney palm beach floridaWell you asked for it... I have been remiss in not addressing some pressing and thoughtful cruise questions I've been asked over the years. 

While at sea, the crew does live aboard the ship.

The vessel produces it's own electricity and does not rely on an extra long extension cord from Miami.

The passengers do not get to keep the ice sculptures for souvenirs after they melt.

While cruise ship pools are filled with sea water, that's not why it sometimes gets rough.

The elevators do not go from the back to the front of the ship.

I hope this helps clear up any confusion someone may have had regarding these cruising issues. Happy New Year!

If you have any other questions or concerns regarding maritime/admiralty law, please feel free to contact Mark Hanson, Esq. at LaBovick Law Group.

Should I lend my car to a friend?

car accident lawyer palm beach flAs an accident attorney devoted to helping individuals involved in all types of mishaps, I am often asked whether it’s okay to lend someone your vehicle. The answer depends on whether you are willing to be responsible for the negligence of the person driving your car. That’s right, if the person driving your car crashes, you could be held civilly responsible for the damage(s) and injuries caused by the person driving your car. This concept is known as the dangerous instrumentality doctrine

The dangerous instrumentality doctrine is not a new concept. In fact, the concept derives from the master and servant relationship, which holds the master responsible for the negligence of his servant. Thus, the next time you are considering allowing someone borrow your vehicle, remember you could be exposing yourself to becoming civilly responsible for the harm caused.

For more information regarding the dangerous instrumentality doctrine or any other accident inquiries, contact Rafael M. Diaz, Esq at the LaBovick Law Group.

Are Releases of Liability Enforceable on Cruise Ships?

Cruise Ship Laws Palm Beach County AttorneyThere can be no doubt that today’s cruise ships are more all-inclusive than ever. But before you are allowed to do any of the fun stuff, like rock climbing, ice skating, surfing and boogie boarding, just to name a few, the cruise line will make you sign a release of liability to save them from getting sued when anyone gets injured. With the inclusion of these cool and extreme activities on a moving ship, more injuries are likely to occur. The release is the passenger's pledge that they won't file a lawsuit if they are injured. The question arises whether the release will save the ship from suit when there is an unusual showing of negligence on the part of the ship’s staff.

Recently, a young lady was participating on the FlowRider surfing machine aboard the Royal Caribbean “Oasis of the Seas” when she got injured through the negligence of the instructor. The lower court threw out the young lady’s claim saying the release was enforceable. The passenger appealed and the appellate court overturned the lower court’s ruling saying the release and waiver was void as contrary to federal statute thereby paving the way for her claim to be heard by a jury. This ruling is clearly a departure from the land law of releases and waivers that have been routinely upheld to the detriment of the releasor. An experienced maritime attorney knows the difference, and that difference could mean the success of the case in the end. In this case, justice prevailed, and the passenger is free to continue her case. Nevertheless, the moral of the story is to maintain a careful vigil when cruising. Engage in activities that match the skill, experience and age of the cruiser, and do not push the limits of common sense. Have fun!

Help! My Car Lost Value After an Accident! You Might Have a Diminished Value Claim If...

palm beach florida personal injury attorney abogadosYou recently spent all of your hard earned money to purchase your dream car... In fact, you saved for years to purchase this vehicle, and you love it. Unfortunately, while you patiently wait at a red light, the car approaching behind you is sending a text message. Unbeknownst to you, you will be very unhappy within a few seconds. Without warning, your vehicle is violently smashed by the distracted driver. Getting out of your car to confront the situation, reality sets in -- you are in pain, and your dream car is ruined!  As expected, the negligent driver apologizes and assures you his insurance company will take care of repairing your vehicle. After several weeks of waiting, your vehicle is finished. Quite frankly, you are happy because the repair facility did a great job repairing your dream car, but this happiness will only last until you decide to trade or sell this vehicle. Simply put, your vehicle is not worth the same amount since being involved in an automobile accident.  In other words, your dream car is now damaged goods.

As you can imagine, you will have to disclose your vehicle was involved in an automobile accident when attempting to sell it, and the fact your vehicle was involved in a serious accident will be readily accessible to the general public. In fact, several companies will provide a private buyer or dealership a complete history of your vehicle for a minimal fee.  You should expect the potential buyer to value your vehicle as damaged goods, so it is very important that you recover the difference between what your car was worth before and after the accident.  Can this be done? Yes! Recovering the difference can be accomplished by submitting a diminished value claim.  In my experience, the vast majority of individuals have no idea they may be entitled to recover this difference.  As a result, they will forego recovering money they are rightfully entitled to recover. Know your rights! File a claim if the value of your vehicle has depreciated as a result of an accident.

True Value of Organized Sports

palm beach florida attorneyAs I sit here in between my 11 year old son's lacrosse games, I have come to appreciate the value of organized sports. These boys are learning the worth of teamwork, dedication and commitment. Understanding that practice, sweat and preparation is the recipe for success is invaluable. In a way, they are being prepped for the real world. In an Xbox day and age, young people are getting soft and spoiled. The work ethic of our youth is getting weak. But when I watch these youngsters play this game, I become hopeful that all is not lost. Sports will teach a child the lesson that hard work reaps a reward. It teaches them how to win graciously and how to lose with grace. These are tools that will be priceless for their future in this very competitive world.

11 Years of Defective Motorcycle Brakes Recalled

The other day we warned our readers about a Honda car airbag recall.  Today, we are back looking at Honda again but at the Motorcycle division.  Honda Motorcycles division is recalling 126,000 Goldwing GL 1800 motorcycles due to installation of defective brakes.  The braking system has a major problem in the master cylinder.  The model years affected are from 2001 to 2012  (the 2011 year may be exempt, we are still investigating that year’s defect).  Yes, you read that right. ELEVEN years of defective brakes are being recalled!  The defect can cause the rear brakes to start a brake fire.  This recall is scheduled to start on January 2012 and will be a free fix for Goldwing owners.  Motorcycle owners can call Honda directly at 1-800-784-1870.  The recall is noted as Number S03 and can be found at www.NHTSA.gov under 11V567000.  Make sure, if you own a Goldwing, that you get your brakes fixed.