As per the settlement agreement, the names of the parties involved in this case are confidential. The victim, in this case, was a father who was shot at a Tampa, Florida apartment complex with a history of crime.
The shooting occurred very early in the morning as the victim, The Haggard Law Firm’s client, was on his way to work. The gates at the apartment complex (defendant) were not operational at the time of the shooting. The front gate was wide open, allowing criminals to freely enter the property.
The Haggard Law Firm’s Todd Michaels, Shelby Walton, and James Blecke earned a $1.32 Million verdict in the negligent security/personal injury case involving Wiley Lowe.
From left to right: Haggard Law’s James Blecke, Shelby Walton, Todd Michaels with client Wiley Lowe
On January 31, 2016, Lowe was a guest at the Elysium Hotel in Ft Lauderdale. Elysium was part of a larger group of hotels known as North Beach Hotels. The hotels were comprised of 15 separate hotels over a 1.5-mile square area.
Congratulations to trial lawyers Michael Haggard and Pedro Echarte for obtaining a $1.5 million wrongful death negligent security case in Miami-Dade County.
Some details of the case have been withheld due to terms of confidentiality. What we can report is that the victim was shot during an attempted armed robbery after leaving an automated teller machine (ATM). The victim was an adult and left behind his elderly mother, who he lived with and was the sole survivor to the claim.
If you or your loved one have been a victim of a crime on a commercial property or at a business, you may have a negligent security case. Contact us at 305.446.5700 or click here
Over the years The Haggard Law Firm has earned more than $500 million in verdicts and settlements in this area of personal injury law practice. Negligent security cases are often referred to our firm by lawyers from around the country. Click to see notable cases
The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron has obtained a $1 Million settlement for a gunshot victim who was rendered a paraplegic.
It was September 1, 2016 when the victim in this case, 37-year-old Twyaun Jones, was relaxing outside of his Miami-Dade apartment home after a long day of work as a tire technician.
As he was walking back inside to his apartment, an individual came from behind and shot him.
A day earlier the victim had told a known drug dealer to stop conducting business on the property of the apartment complex. Attorney McCarron uncovered evidence (police reports & calls of service) highlighting that the property had a continuous problem with drugs. Multiple police reports described the apartment complex as a “high crime and drug-prone” property. The managers of the property did not provide an adequate amount of security to prevent a tragedy like this one from occurring.
Family of Local Librarian Murdered in ATM Robbery to Announce Negligent Security Lawsuit Against Credit Union
Reward For Information Leading to Killer(s) Increases to $23,000
Miami Gardens, Fla – The family of Jaime Humet, who was killed on December 10th, 2018 while leaving the ATM of the Dade County Federal Credit Union located at 20645 NW 2nd Avenue in Miami Gardens, says the business did not have sufficient security measures in place to prevent the tragedy that claimed the life of their beloved Jaime.
Humet’s mother Pilar and brother Nick will be joined by their attorneys Pedro Echarte of The Haggard Law Firm and Angel Diaz of Kirschner, Groff & Diaz for a press conference on Wednesday March 27th at 11am just off the property of the Credit Union (attached picture of location). The family and their attorneys will discuss what security measures should have been taken long before the murder of the 47-year-old Miami-Dade County librarian whose mother describes as an “angel.” It was “a foreseeable crime considering the nature of the business and its location in a notoriously high crime area” says Echarte.
The family will also plead for the public’s help to assist the Miami Gardens Police Department catch those responsible for taking their loved one’s life. Miami-Dade, Florida Keys Crime Stoppers has increased the reward for information leading to the capture of the killer(s) to $23,000 (flyer attached to email).Attached to email:
According to a report by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, employees at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were “tragically unprepared” to best protect students on the day of the mass shooting that killed 17 people and injured 17 others. The newspapers reports that the lack of preparation was due to “inadequate training and unclear procedures in the school district.”
The lack of a coherent, uniform policy is one of the major failures identified by a state commission investigating the Feb. 14 massacre.
The paper learned that district officials were unsure as to whether a “Code Red” meant an “active killer”. It does not.
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.
(Pictured Above from Left to Right, Following Thursday’s Verdict: Haggard Law’s Todd Michaels, Champion Legal’s Dan Karanikis, Client Nick Pastor, co-counsel Robert Solomon of Saban and Solomon, Haggard Law’s James Blecke)
Broward County Jury Blames Longtime Las Olas Hotspot for Shooting and Beating of Patron, Orders Business to Pay Victim Nearly $1.2 Million
Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Following a 9 day trial, a Broward County jury agreed that management of longtime Las Olas hotspot Mangos could have prevented the beating and shooting of a man if it had adequate security measures in place. The victim (plaintiff) Nicolas Pastor, was awarded $1.182 Million for the injuries he says altered the course of his life.
The incident occurred March 24, 2012. Pastor was alongside a couple of friends waiting for a table at Mangos in Ft. Lauderdale. The manager of Mangos told the police that night that Pastor was aggressively grabbed by a man inside the restaurant who began viciously beating him along with two other men.
March 24th, 2012 – The scene outside of Mangos Restaurant and Lounge following the beating and shooting of Nick Pastor.
“Mangos had no security and no security procedures to deal with this fight. According to their manager, their only concern was pushing their customer who had been attacked out into the street with his attackers,” says Todd Michaels of The Haggard Law Firm.
Michaels tried and built the case with co-counsel Robert Solomon of Saban and Solomon.
Once the fight was in the street, one of the assailants pulled out a pistol and shot Pastor. The then 32-year-old man was rushed to Broward General Hospital where doctors completed emergency lifesaving procedures including an exploratory laparotomy and a thoracotomy. During the trial, Michaels and Solomon made clear that six years later the attack on their client shattered his life-limiting his ability to work, to sleeping, and restricting his ability to play with his son.
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.
Attorneys Representing Parkland Shooting Victims’ Families To Hold Media Conference, Will Be Joined by Parents of Shooting Victim Joaquin Oliver
Ft. Lauderdale, FL – In response to court records that indicate the Broward County School Board aims to minimize its responsibility in the shooting deaths of 17 people at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida February 14th, a press conference will be held on Friday, April 27th, 2018 at 10:30 am outside the Broward County School Board building.
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (click to review article ), court records show that The School Board “is portraying the mass murder as one incident with many victims.” Michael Haggard and Todd Michaels of The Haggard Law Firm, which represents the families of two victims, will be joined by 17-year-old victim Joaquin Oliver’s parents Manuel and Patricia.
Trial attorney Michael Haggard of The Haggard Law Firm says “the school board is watching its financial best interest instead of that of the families it has publicly claimed it would continuously support.” Haggard, whose law firm represents the Oliver family in this case, adds “The School Board should be ashamed. Each of these families are suffering. We have successfully litigated against School Boards in the past and will take this matter to Tallahassee if needed.”
The Haggard Law Firm represented the family of Juan Carlos Rivera, who was stabbed to death at Coral Gables High School in September of 2009. In that case, Haggard filed a claims bill in the State Legislature to finalize the $1,875,000 settlement agreed upon with the Miami-Dade County School Board.
Media Conference Details
Location: Broward County Public Schools Building, 600 SE 3rd Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Along sidewalk outside of the building
Date: Friday, April 27th, 2018
Time: 10:30am (EST)
Speaking Attending:
Manuel and Patricia Oliver – parents of Parkland Shooting Victim Joaquin Oliver
Michael Haggard – Managing Partner, The Haggard Law Firm
The Haggard Law Firm has litigated nearly 200 cases involving the failure to provide adequate security resulting in the victim suffering severe injuries and/or death. Since 2007, The Firm has handled over 175 negligent security cases and delivered over $400million in verdicts and settlements in those cases.
Establishments such as bars, restaurants, flea markets, shopping centers, nursing homes, banks, hotels and apartment buildings have all been subjects of successfully litigated negligent security claims. By representing individuals permanently injured in cases stemming from negligent security, we take an active role in making the community safe for the public.
In 2017 and 2016 TopVerdict named two different Haggard Law Firm cases as the #1 inadequate security (negligent security) verdicts in Florida each respective year.
