The more than 22,000 security professionals from around the world attending this year’s American Society For Industrial Security (ASIS) Conference will have three opportunities to learn how to avoid finding themselves on the wrong end of a negligent security lawsuit.
The Haggard Law Firm’s Michael Haggard and Todd Michaels are leading three different seminars/presentations during the 4-day conference in Las Vegas.
On Monday, September 24th, Haggard and Michaels will present “The Nightmare that Won’t End: A Negligent Security Mock Trial.”
Tuesday, September 25th, Haggard will lead the seminar “Security Protocols and Procedures: Tips on How to Avoid Losses in the Courtroom.” Later that day Haggard joins Michaels in presenting “Top 10 Tips to Prevent a Negligent Security Lawsuit on Your Property.” The ASIS conference is the largest gathering of security professionals in the world.
ASIS/GSX International was founded in 1955 as a global community of security professionals and practitioners. It attracts members from almost every industry in the private and public sectors. The security conference is expected to address the comprehensive and diverse nature of modern security while creating an integrated experience for security professionals that will help them understand and alter the industry landscape where necessary.
Congratulations to Haggard Law Firm trial lawyer Todd Michaels for being named a Fellow of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. The Florida Justice Association’s Fellows program recognizes individual accomplishments as a trial lawyer and contributions to the mission of the FJA. Michaels was voted into the exclusive and distinguished program by his peers.
To qualify, members of the Fellows program must be past presidents of the Florida Justice Association, a current voting member,a board member for at least 5 years, a recipient of the Crystal EAGLE Award, and an Eagle Patron.
About Florida Justice Association
The Florida Justice Association (FJA), formerly the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers (AFTL), is dedicated to strengthening and upholding Florida’s civil justice system and protecting the rights of Florida’s citizens and consumers.
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.
Todd Michaels Esq, a lifelong Miami-Dade resident, joined The Haggard Law Firm in 2009. In May 2014, he was named partner at the firm. Todd handles a wide array of the firm’s cases involving wrongful death and catastrophic personal injury, representing clients who were injured through the negligence of others. His practice primarily involves negligent security throughout the State of Florida and nationwide. Todd has been a frequent speaker on various aspects of negligent security law to different Legal and Security industry groups throughout the country, and has had articles relating to negligent security cases published. Click to read full bio
VIDEO
Michaels discusses how trial lawyers must always be focused on trial, not a settlement.
Every trial lawyer understands the significance of creating and developing a strong, clear theme for their case at trial. The theme of your case initiates a tone towards your Case-in-Chief and if powerful enough, it will dictate which fork in the road, favorable or unfavorable to your client, the jury takes.
Opening Statements
Opening statement is the second opportunity the trial lawyer has to begin planting the seed of bias in favor of his or her client—seasoned and skilled trial lawyers understand voir dire is really the first opportunity. It is critical to communicate to the jury and ingrain within each member of the jury a persuasive and powerful theme. Why? Once your theme is etched into the minds of the jury, each juror will begin to look for evidence that supports that theme. If a particular piece of evidence contradicts that theme they will likely discard that piece of evidence or they may not associate as much credence with it as they would have had it fit with your theme. This is vital to the outcome of your case. The theme essentially summarizes your case for the jury. Whether it is a short phrase or one word, the theme should capture the case theory, tone and the area of focus for the jury. The theme should be simple and easy to understand. I can share with you a case example in a recent trial of The Haggard Law Firm—the case of Trinard Snell.
Our firm tried the negligent security case against a gas station owner and operator, which resulted in a $5.7 million dollar verdict on behalf of the deceased Plaintiff and his survivors. Understanding the importance of a clear theory and a memorable, persuasive theme, we began opening statement with our theme— inadequate security on a crime-ridden property.
The case theme was presented to the jury at the very beginning of opening statement, repeated throughout the entire opening statement and reiterated at the end. Why? A concept in psychology—primacy, and recency—tells us that order is important! The primacy effect is described as the ability of an individual to recall information better that was presented earlier rather than later. The recency effect is described as the ability of an individual to remember information presented most recently to them better than information that was presented earlier. When you combine the two, optimal information recollection is achieved. Therefore, at minimum, the jury must here your theme at the beginning and at the end of your presentation.
Haggard Law Firm trial lawyer and Managing Partner, Michael Haggard email MAH@HaggardLawFirm.com
Testimony and Evidence Presented
After your jury has been indoctrinated with the theme of your case through voir dire and opening statement, you must keep the jury on that same track during the presentation of the oral testimony and physical evidence. Depending on the length of the trial, the jury will hear days to weeks of testimony. It is their job to sort through the evidence presented and make a just decision at the end of the trial. After weeks of testimony, jurors often become overwhelmed with the volume of information and evidence presented. It is the trial lawyer’s job to organize this testimony and evidence presented to the jury in a manner that diminishes this information overload. I use the analogy of a train on a train track to best describe this concept. The theme is the locomotive. Your jury represents the passengers on the train. The trial lawyer must keep his or her passengers onboard throughout the entire trial until arriving at destination “Favorable Verdict.”
One way to ensure your train passengers are not disembarking is to reiterate your theme and theory of your case throughout each segment of the trial. Your theme should be clear, concise and easy to recognize. The theme is the lens through which your jury will view the case. It is imperative that the lens you provide to the jury is the correct diopter—representing a powerful and persuasive theme. An incorrect diopter will result in a hazy, unclear view of your case and perhaps an unfavorable verdict. Mock trials and jury focus groups are a great way to gauge the lens diopter your jury will need.
WE INVITE REFERRAL ATTORNEYS AND CO-COUNSEL TO CONTACT US AT INFO@HAGGARDLAWFIRM.COM or 305.446.5700
As simple as this may sound, many lawyers have a difficult time successfully implementing these techniques. Through our years of law school and demanding casework at our prosperous law firms, our legal minds are trained to analyze the complexities and minutiae of the law, creating sophisticated legal arguments for opposing counsel and the court. The basic techniques of persuasive communication are often neglected due to the lawyer’s engrossment with the complexities of the legal issues of their case and their own familiarity with legal terms and attitude of simplicity. For example, the trial attorney that uses the theme of “Negligent Actions” will be rudely surprised by the jurors’ varying definitions of negligence. Despite the lawyer’s familiarity with the term “negligence” and its rudimentary elements, it is not so easily nor correctly defined by the jury. Through juror focus groups and mock trials, the lawyer can clear out the fog and rework the case theme prior to trial. During the deliberations at mock trials, I often hear jurors begin an explanation with “Personally, I feel that…” or “To me, this means…” These phrases are indicative of “information gap-filling.” Jurors will pull from their personal experiences to fill in the gaps. Those gaps are either areas where the jury is confused or has simply forgotten the information presented. Regardless of the reason for the existence of the gap, the juror will instinctively try to fill that gap in order to make sense of the legal questions they are tasked with answering. This illustrates why trial lawyers cannot forget the basics and cannot neglect the importance of simplifying and effectively communicating those complex issues to the members of the jury. The skilled trial lawyer will be mindful of this. The skilled trial lawyer will have an engaging theme.
Late Friday, a Ft. Myers jury awarded long haul trucker Steve Long $907, 211 for the injuries he sustained from a 2014 beating by several people in the parking lot of a Waffle House.
The Haggard Law Firm’s Todd Michaels co-counseled the negligent security case along with Dave Mishael of the Law Offices of David B. Mishael and Steven N. Kassner of Steven N. Kassner, PA.
The team of attorneys explained to the jury that for the 3 years before Long was attacked on April 19, 2014, , there were 24 significant crimes committed on the property. Those crimes included multiple fights (one involving nearly 100 people) and three incidents involving gun shots.
Haggard Law’s Todd Michaels explains “all of the crime and danger occurred in the 3rd shift, nonetheless, there was nothing done about it, IE: no security in the parking lot, no outside security cameras, poor lighting and no manned security.”
In a move that most would call a surprising, members of a Florida Senate Committee pulled a bill that would allow human trafficking survivors to sue Florida hotels and other businesses where they were sold for sex. The partnering House bill had already passed two committees and was headed to the House floor.
“This was a chance for our state leaders to take a stand against modern day slavery and they chose the hospitality lobby” says Haggard Law Firm Managing Partner Michael Haggard.
Haggard, who is the current president of the National Crime Victim’s Bar Association, added “to say this is disappointing is a vast understatement. Florida ranks as the third worst in number of human trafficking cases in our country. Studies show that the majority of trafficking victims, primarily for sexual exploitation, are abused in hotels and motels.”
The NCVBA has a long-standing commitment to civil justice for victims. As President, Haggard plays an intricate role in advising and setting the annual agenda on what issues the organization will focus on in support of crime victims. This year Haggard has earmarked support of human trafficking victims as a primary goal.
The Orlando Sentinel reported: “…ex trafficking survivors spoke tearfully of betrayal by Florida lawmakers Friday as bills that would have allowed the hotel industry to be sued for willfully ignoring the problem came to a puzzling halt this week…”
The legislation would hold business owners liable if they “knowingly or in willful blindness” facilitate trafficking crimes.
“With or without state leadership, The Haggard Law Firm is 100% committed to using the tool of the civil justice system to hold business owners accountable for their negligence due to ignorance and those who choose to profit on trafficking by seemingly turning a blind eye to this multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise conducted on their property” says Haggard.
Multiple media outlets reported that the hospitality industry, namely The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and Disney, had been lobbying hard against it behind the scenes,
“As crime victim trial attorneys we know civil court remedies will effect change on a wide scale while helping victims pick up the pieces of their life and start a new”
Tis the season for the holiday shopping surge. Unfortunately with the increased traffic experienced by most stores, malls and gas stations comes a rise in crime at those commercial properties. While some malls take responsible steps to increase security measures, too many businesses are negligent in providing the adequate security needed to protect you and your family from harm.
The Haggard Law Firm has litigated hundreds of negligent security & premises liability cases. It’s with that vast experience of investigating what security measures some business owners or property managers fail to do that we bring you Holiday Shopping Safety Tips.
The Haggard Law Firm has been named to The Us News & World Report’s 2018 Best Lawyers® 2018 “Best Law Firms” List.
Firms included in the 2018 “Best Law Firms” list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.
When the market-leading information resource serving the security industry needs insight on how property owners and managers can avoid million dollar negligent security verdicts, it asks The Haggard Law Firm.
Haggard Law Firm Managing Partner Michael Haggard wrote an article for SourceSecurity.com titled: Securing Premises To Avoid Million Dollar Verdicts. In it, Haggard kays out the elements of negligence elaborate on risk-management practices and the importance of security as a responsibility.
Haggard Law has litigated more than 250 negligent security cases that have resulted in more than $300 million in verdicts and settlements for our clients.
Here is the article as it appeared on SourceSecurity.com:
The Memorial Day Weekend was marred by violence in Jacksonville. 14 people were shot, 4 of those died in 9 separate incidents of violence during the 3-day span.
Several of the shootings occurred at apartment complexes in the area.Todd Michaels of The Haggard Law Firm, which represents several victims of previous violence at the Eureka Gardens Apartments (click for more details), says many of the weekend shootings are a result of irresponsible property ownership.
