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Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

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$1 Million Pre-Suit Settlement in Parking Lot Shooting Case

The Haggard Law Firm’s Kimberly Wald and Michael Haggard have obtained a $1 Million pre-suit settlement in a negligent security case involving a 22-year-old shot outside a pop-up club in Brevard County. Wald successfully resolved this case within the first month of her joining The Haggard Law Firm.

On Halloween night 2021,  Levontay Thomas was in the parking lot of the Bee Hive Lounge, a pop-up club in the Arlington Pines Shopping Plaza.  A group of men began shooting into the crowd in the parking lot and Thomas was one of their victims.  He was shot in his left leg. Since the shooting, Thomas has developed compartment syndrome which is a condition in which increased pressure within one of the body’s anatomical compartments results in insufficient blood supply to tissue within that space. He underwent multiple surgical fasciotomies and had several complications including infections and extensive wound care. He remains at risk of amputation. To date, Thomas has had eight surgeries. 

“This is a life-changing tragedy that could have been prevented if the defendants had taken action after years of notice from a series of consistent violent acts on the same property where Thomas was shot,” says Wald. 

Kimberly Wald, trial lawyer, The Haggard Law Firm
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$2.75 Million Wrongful Death Case Involving Crash Into Tractor Trailer

The Haggard Law Firm’s Todd Michaels has obtained a $2.75 Million settlement in an auto negligence wrongful death case. Per terms of the settlement, the names of the plaintiff and defendant must remain confidential.

Case Background

Plaintiff brought this wrongful death commercial automobile accident case on behalf of her nineteen-year-old son against ABC Corporation and their driver. ABC Corporation was involved in a road construction project in northern Miami-Dade County. On the evening in question, they had sent one of their drivers, John Roe, out driving a flatbed tractor-trailer. Roe was a convicted criminal with a history of careless driving citations. As he was the cousin of the owner of ABC Corporation, he was immediately hired and put to work driving tractor-trailers without the usual training and background check that ABC Corporation performed on most of its drivers.

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$2.8 Million Settlement for Victim Hit By Car Following Fight at Billiard Hall

The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron has obtained a $2.8 Million settlement in a negligent security catastrophic injury case against a billiards hall and shopping center.

As part of the terms of the settlement, the names of the parties involved must remain publicly confidential.

The victim, John Doe, was a customer at a billiards hall at the defendant’s shopping center. On the night of the incident, John Doe observed a man getting physical with his waitress.  Mr. Doe followed the man and waitress outside and asked the man to calm down. The man struck Mr. Doe in the head and a fight ensued.  Bouncers from the hall broke up the altercation within seconds and instructed the other man the leave.  Mr. Doe went back inside. 

Approximately 15 minutes later, Mr. Doe walked outside to wait for a taxi. Unbeknownst to Mr. Doe, the other man remained in the parking lot and was waiting. The other man pulled his truck out of its parking space and started to drive in the victim’s direction. As the truck got closer to Mr. Doe, the man accelerated and drove straight into Mr. Doe.  As a result of the impact, Mr. Doe was airlifted to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a de-gloving injury and an open proximal tibia shaft fracture.  A few days later, the decision was made to perform an above-knee amputation of Mr. Doe’s leg. 

Mr. Doe brought a negligent security case against the billiards hall and the shopping center owner for failing to provide security for its parking lot.  For years, the billiards hall had many issues with violence that often spilled out into the parking lot.  Despite multiple events, there was no manned security in the parking lot.  Instead, there were only bouncers focused on the inside of the business. 

The case settled for the billiard hall’s $300,000 policy limit and $2.5 million from the shopping center owner.

Attorney Douglas McCarron Photo
The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron

$6 Million Settlement in Monroe County Wrongful Death and Personal Injury Case

The Haggard Law Firm’s Adam Finkel and Michael Haggard obtained a $6 Million policy limit, pre-suit settlement in a negligent security wrongful death and personal injury case, involving a shooting near a boat dock in the Florida Keys.


On Monday, June 15, 2020, Jose “Pepe” Clemente returned from a hard day’s work at sea onboard a fishing boat that docked in Safe Harbor – a property owned by the Bernstein Trust and operated by Fishbusterz, a local retail fish merchant. As was the custom, Pepe hung around after work to share a few drinks with friends and play dominoes.

That Monday, between 4 and 5:00 p.m., Pepe was hanging out near some lobster traps in the middle of the property, drinking vodka and socializing with other fishermen, including Iliecer “Amarillo” Noa. At one point, two unknown men (not fishermen) approached and yelled towards Amarillo about the whereabouts of another local fisherman. After Amarillo stated that he was unaware of the person’s whereabouts, an argument ensued. Gunshots followed, and Pepe was killed. Amarillo suffered severe injuries, as well, and was represented by The Mustell Law Firm as co-counsel.

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$4.2 Million Settlement in Wrongful Death Negligent Security Case

The Haggard Law Firm’s Pedro Echarte and Co-Counsel Michael Flanagan of Flanagan & Bodenheimer have obtained a $4.2 Million settlement in a negligent security wrongful death case in Broward County, Florida.

Dwight Higgins

On December 8, 2018, Dwight Higgins was shot and killed at the Lauderhill Point Apartments (f/k/a Driftwood). That evening Mr. Higgins went to the apartment complex with a friend to visit his friend’s girlfriend. Sometime after they arrived, his friend left the complex and Mr. Higgins was outside in the common areas. Four armed assailants approached him in a robbery attempt. Mr. Higgins tried to run away from the assailants. The attackers began shooting at him while chasing Higgins throughout the complex. The 27-year old was shot and was later pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. 

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$2 Million Settlement in Negligent Security Case Against Security Company

29-Year-Old Kemoze Chambers was killed at an Orlando-area apartment complex

The Haggard Law Firm’s Adam Finkel and Michael Haggard have obtained a $ 2 Million policy limit settlement in a negligent security wrongful death case in central Florida.

Late in the evening of August 23, 2019, 29-year-old Kemoze Chambers was inside his apartment, in Orlando, Florida when an unknown person(s) broke inside and murdered him.

The Defendant in this case Asset Overwatch Services, was contracted to provide private security services to the apartment complex where Kemoze lived. Boasting as a premier private security firm in Florida, Asset Overwatch provided vehicle patrols during its nightly security duties and provided the property owners and managers with nightly shift reports detailing their observations and actions taken.

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Negligent Security Case: $3.85 Million Settlement

The Haggard Law Firm’s Pedro Echarte and Michael Haggard have obtained a $3.85 Million settlement in a negligent security wrongful death case. The victim in this case was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting while entering an apartment complex.  

The name of the Plaintiff, Haggard Law’s client, is confidential. The Plaintiff was the Personal Representative of the victim’s estate, who brought the case on behalf of the victim’s two surviving parents.

This was a difficult liability case as the shooting was a drive-by and occurred on a public road.  Although the victim was entering the property where he lived when he was shot, the defendants were going to argue, inter alia, that the shooting was not preventable as it did not occur on the property.

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Safety Questions To Ask Your Landlord

How Safe Is the Apartment You Want to Rent? Key Questions to Ask a Landlord Before Signing a Lease

A sense of security and safety for you and your family is key to making a house feel like a home.

Unfortunately, many landlords don’t provide, and in some cases aren’t legally required to share, crime and safety information to a potential tenant.

“Along with costs and amenities, tenants should be prepared to ask a variety of questions about safety measures before signing a lease and moving into a new apartment or home” says Michael Haggard. Haggard is the Managing Partner of The Haggard Law Firm (www.haggardlawfirm.com) which has made a mark successfully representing tenants who are injured or killed by someone committing a crime that could have been prevented if the landlord of the property where the crime occurs had taken proper security measures.

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Haggard Law Names New Partners

The Haggard Law Firm is proud to announce that trial lawyers Jason Brenner and Pedro Echarte have been named partners.

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Common Conditions that Give Rise to a Premises Liability Case

On August 16th, 2018 The Haggard Law Firm will present Winning Case Strategies in Premises Liability, a FREE CLE Credit Seminar. The event will take place from 1 to 5pm at the Doubletree Jacksonville Riverfront. To RSVP for the seminar, email or call Stacy at slaffere@haggardlawfirm.com   305.446.5700 

This article about premises liability cases was authored by trial lawyer and Haggard Law partner Douglas McCarron who will be one of the presenters at the CLE Seminar

Common Conditions that Give Rise to a Premises Liability Case

by Douglas Mccarron

In my experience, the most common condition in any premises liability case is the lack of guardianship of the property.  In most instances, the property owner and/or manager fails to put in place policies and procedures that ensure that the premises is kept in a reasonably safe condition.  For example, in many negligent security cases it becomes obvious that the owner and management fail to do anything that assesses violent crime occurring at the property.  Without knowing what type of crime is happening, it is nearly impossible to know what type of security measures are needed.  How can the owner make decisions about access control, manned security, and surveillance cameras, if they have failed to gather the crime statistics for the property and the surrounding area?  The answer is simple, they do not know and consequently violent crime continues to victimize the property’s guests and invitees.  In slip and fall cases, many properties fail to ensure that their employees follow the internal policies and procedures to maintain the property in a safe manner.  This leads to dangerous conditions being left on the property for an unacceptable amount of time. 

If property owners simply prepare policies and procedures for their employees to follow and have appropriate supervision to ensure that the policies and procedures are being followed, then the most dangerous conditions would cease to exist.  Obviously, financial considerations come into play for the property owners.  In developing a premises liability case, it is important to discover exactly what property owners are failing to do and why they are failing to do it.  Jurors do not appreciate property owners turning a blind eye and pleading ignorance.  Jurors also do not accept that the owners do not want to put the necessary resources (money) into the property to make it safe.

 

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