330 Alhambra Circle

Coral Gables, FL 33134

633 S. Andrews Avenue Suite 400
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

(305) 446-5700

(954) 323-4400

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Michael Haggard Named to 2016 Florida Legal Elite List

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Managing Partner Michael Haggard has been named to the 2016 Florida Trend  Magazine Legal Elite list. Attorneys selected to the list are chosen for recognition by their peers.

Florida Trend invited all in-state members of the Florida Bar to participate. Lawyers were asked to name attorneys whom they hold in the highest regard or would recommend to others.

Haggard is also a member of the Legal Elite Hall of Fame which is comprised of a distinguished group of attorneys who have consistently earned high rankings from their peers in the annual Legal Elite voting.

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Click here to read more about Michael Haggard

All Haggard Law Firm Attorneys Named to 2016 Super Lawyers List

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The Haggard Law Firm’s William Haggard, Michael Haggard, Douglas McCarron, Christopher Marlowe, Todd Michaels and James Blecke have all been named to the 2016 Super Lawyers List.

WILLIAM-ANDREW-HAGGARD    MICHAEL-A-HAGGARD-full  DOUGLAS J. MCCARRON
CHRISTOPHER-L.-MARLOWE  TODD-J-MICHAELS-full  12243034_10154655006347619_4062053992452190268_n
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations.
Click here for Bios of Haggard Law Firm Attorneys
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The Haggard Law Firm’s Jason Brenner and Pedro Echarte were included in the 2016 Super Lawyers Rising Stars list.
JASON-R-BRENNER     PEDRO-P-ECHARTE-III-full

Michaels Selected Chair of FJA Committee

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The Haggard Law Firm’s Todd Michaels has been selected as the Chair of the Florida Justice Association’s Rental Car Committee.

The Committee is responsible for drafting any proactive legislation that the FJA would like to pursue, assist staff in drafting position papers and amendments and to act as an advisory group during the state’s legislative session on issues within the expertise of its members.

Michaels is currently an FJA board member, is on the organization’s executive committee and is the Miami-Dade County Vanguard Chair .

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The FJA is dedicated to strengthening and upholding Florida’s civil justice system and protecting the rights of Florida’s citizens and consumers.

The FJA believes that all Floridians benefit when deserving individuals have a fair chance to seek justice in our state’s courts and that Florida’s consumers are made safer when large corporations and industries are held to a high ethical standard and accept fair responsibility for their actions.

FJA works in the legislative, political and public arenas to ensure that Floridians know and understand the importance of their rights to justice and to make certain that these rights, which are at the very core of what it means to be American, are safeguarded and protected.

 

 

Call For Pool Safety Standards For Cruise Industry After Young Child Nearly Drowns

An 8-year-old boy is in critical condition after nearly drowning in a pool on Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas cruise ship Thursday afternoon.

The Coast Guard said the boy had been in the water for 8 to 10 minutes before cruise officials found him, the Associated Press reports. Medical representatives performed CPR on him before a helicopter landed on the ship to take him to a hospital, company officials told Today.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family that has been changed by this tragedy. We hold public pools, community pools and private pools to high codes and industry standards across the United States. It is time for the cruise lines to be held to the same safety level” says The Haggard Law Firm’s Managing Partner Michael Haggard.

The Haggard Law Firm, has represented a number of families who’ve had to deal with significant injury or death of a loved one in drowning accidents. The Firm’s work representing victims of drownings has spurred changes in state codes and laws governing pool safety.

“The cruise lines are well aware that people come on their ships to let down their guard and take a break from everyday life. They are well aware of the dangers inherent in swimming pools and so many of their activities. The fact that basic pool safety is ignored is simply astonishing” says The Haggard Law Firm’s Todd Michaels.

The cruise industry earns nearly $40 billion* in revenue per year and it is only growing as cruise lines continue to build and sail new ships. The growth will lead to more tragedies if investments into pool safety measures and new standards are not made.

Michaels adds “cruise ships are floating cities with a thousand dangers lurking around every corner. How many people have to die or suffer serious injury before the cruise lines get serious about safety? ”

 

 

* http://www.statisticbrain.com/cruise-ship-industry-statistics/

Haggard Law Conducts Negligent Security Seminar During the FJA Convention

Haggard Law Conducts Negligent Security Seminar During the FJA Convention this Week

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Todd Michaels lead a seminar yesterday during the 2016 Florida Justice Association’s Annual Convention in Palm Beach. Michaels discussed the ins and outs of trying a negligent security case in Florida.

 

The seminar was part of the FJA’s Young Lawyers Seminar Series. Michaels is currently an FJA board member, the Miami-Dade County Vanguard Chair and will begin a term on the organization’s Executive Committee next week.

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Recently, Michaels delivered a $1 million settlement to the family of Miguel Pilotos in a negligent security case. The 71-year-old was gunned down in a supermarket parking lot in 2013.  In the last 10 years, The Haggard Law Firm has handled over 150 negligent security cases and delivered over $340 million in verdicts and settlements in those cases.

Get to know Todd Michaels

 

National Swim Safety Month – Updating/Maintaining Gates, Fencing, Pumps Can Save Lives

Drowning is the leading cause of death for young children in Florida. Communities throughout the state are filled with rivers, lakes, canals and streams.  Waterfront property is attractive, and residential communities everywhere hold out their frontage along a body of water as an asset.  While often mindful of the risks posed by swimming pools, too many residential owners are not aware of the risks associated with other bodies of water.

A residential property owner in Florida will generally not be held responsible for a drowning in a natural body of water that simply is adjacent to the property.

 

However, encouraging the active use of the water could subject the owner to liability, as could facilitating its use to guests or the general community.  If the water is not intended for swimming or other recreational activities, making changes to fencing and barriers is problematic if the barrier is not properly maintained and in accordance with applicable codes and regulations.  Posting warning signage, if permitted by community regulations and applicable ordinances, can increase awareness to others to not enter the water.

If water use is encouraged and intended, as with a lake or river for fishing or waterskiing, the owners along the lake generally will not be liable to others for accidents upon the water, unless a separate act of negligence is related directly to that owner which caused or contributed to the accident.

As with any potentially dangerous condition, think about how that hazard is likely to interact with the people who visit your property.  If water use is not allowed, make sure this fact is communicated to visitors.  If water activities are a feature of the property, have policies in place that ensure the visitors know where, how and when access to the water is allowed, together with prominent notifications that the water is or is not being monitored by life guards.

In January 2003, our firm won a$100 million verdict in the case of a toddler who nearly drowned in her apartment complex pool because she gained access to the pool area through a broken pool gate (Hinton v. 2331 Adams Street Corp).

In August 2003, the firm made history again by attaining a $104 million verdict in a case where a boy got trapped underwater by the suction of a defective and unsafe pool pump (Peterson v. Sta-Rite).

Our attorneys also strive for tightened safety rules for pools in homes, apartments and hotels. Our work representing victims has spurred changes in state codes and laws governing pool safety.

This cases do not have to occur.

CASE RESULT: $3.1 million settlement delivered for family of murder victim in negligent security case

CASE RESULT: Continental Real Estate Companies among defendants in $3.1 million settlement  in negligent security case

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21 year old shot and killed while his first child is born.

Miami, Florida – Bad lighting, broken cameras, and other insufficient security measures have lead a Miami nightclub, Continent Real Estate Companies, and others to settle with the family of a murder victim for $3.1 million in a civil case.

On November 28th, 2011 Charles Lucas, Jr. was trying to diffuse an argument between his friends and several patrons of the Kaffe Krystal Night Club in Miami (2550 NW 72nd Avenue #305, Miami, FL 33122) following a car crash in the Club’s parking lot. Lucas was shot during that argument and later died at Baptist Hospital.

While the 21-year-old was fighting for his life, his first born child was born at a separate hospital. He was trying to leave the club/strip mall after receiving a text message that his girlfriend was going into labor.

Todd Michaels of The Haggard Law Firm and Alan Goldfarb of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. argued that the club, strip mall owners, management company and security company hired to police the property did not take the necessary security steps needed to prevent the shooting despite its location in a well-known high crime area.

Universal Truths Vs. Stereotypes-Dealing with Ours and Their at Trial

Universal Truths Vs. Stereotypes: Dealing with Ours and Their at Trial

(Originally published for the Southern Trial Lawyers Association Newsletter)

By Christopher Marlowe, The Haggard Law Firm

We are all prejudiced, shaped by our interactions with others from birth.  Some experiences are positive, others insulting.  Each, to varying degrees, necessarily changes our perception of others.  This writing is premised on the understanding that we are all susceptible to feelings and beliefs that are not always fair or rational.  It is the recognition of this narrow aspect of the human condition that cautions the trial attorney to acknowledge Universal Truths where they exist, and the Stereotypes that often accompany them.

Having chosen a profession that revolves largely upon judging the behavior and motivations of others, identifying and appreciating our prejudice is a critical component of successfully working within the legal system.  For trial lawyers, the process of moving from an abstract grievance to a concrete solution for our clients begins in earnest with jury selection.

A jury of our peers seems like a simple enough concept.  However, in every jurisdiction with which I am familiar, the peer group is defined only by one commonality: an arbitrarily drawn geographic boundary. The remainder of that which defines your prospective panel is a mystery.  Race, religion, gender, sexual identity and political beliefs all thrive independently behind each of the twenty or thirty faces staring back at you as you begin the process of selecting who, exactly, will stand in judgment of the situation that forced this community of peers to miss work and doctor appointments to perform their civic duty.

Continue reading “Universal Truths Vs. Stereotypes-Dealing with Ours and Their at Trial”