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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

$1.75 Million Settlement in Duval County Negligent Security Case

The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron has obtained a $1.75 Million settlement in a negligent security case involving the murder of a teenager at a Duval County, Florida apartment complex. Per terms of the settlement, the names of the plaintiff, defendants, and defense attorneys cannot be released. 


On January 31st, 2019 at approximately 8:00 p.m., John Doe (the Plaintiff) and a friend arrived at ABC Apartment Complex (the Defendant) to make a quick stop to visit a friend on his birthday.  Doe was with his friend in the parking lot of the complex when the friend went to meet another person in the courtyard of the property.  After a few minutes, Doe walked toward the courtyard when multiple shots rang out.  The victim was struck in the head and rushed to Memorial Hospital where he later died of his injuries.  To date, no arrests have been made and there is no indication from law enforcement that suspects have been developed.

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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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$2 Million Settlement in Child Sexual Assault Case

Owners of a Key West apartment complex have agreed to pay $2 Million to the family of a minor who was sexually assaulted multiple times by a de facto employee.
The minor child victim was living with his family in a rental apartment in Key West. Over a period of several months, the child was subjected to multiple sexual assaults and batteries at the hands of the de facto property manager while on the premises. The abuse was discovered by the child’s mother, who promptly reported the matter to the police. The criminal offender died before the criminal case was completed and before the suit was filed in the civil matter.
The apartment complex denied that the offender was an employee of the owner, or that he had the level of access to the child’s apartment that the plaintiff claimed in this case. Haggard Law Firm attorneys Christopher MarloweMichael Haggard and co-counsel Chelsie M. Lamie represented the family of the victim. Their investigation revealed that the offender executed many of the duties of a property manager and received a discount on his rent from the owners for the work done.
Several witnesses indicated that the offender had acted inappropriately over the years, albeit not as severely as in this case. The offender was a convicted felon who had no record of convictions for any prior similar crime, but whose qualifications for the job were suspect on multiple levels.
The child victim was an extraordinarily brave and credible young person who wanted to send a message to other property owners to act responsibly so no other children are victimized.

 

 

 

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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The Role Crime Statistics Play In a Negligent Security Case

 

by Jason Brenner, Associate at The Haggard Law Firm

Although each negligent security case may bring about different facts or require ingenuity with your strategy, there are certain elements of your case that remain constant.  One of those elements is crime statistics.  The importance of crime statistics in your case cannot be stated enough.  Not only do these statistics help establish notice and foreseeability to the defendants, they are also a treasure trove of information.

With respect to notice and foreseeability, your crime statistics establish what the defendants “knew or should have known” prior to and at the time of subject incident.  So what should you request?  You begin by requesting the calls for service and all police reports for the subject property.  This needs to be done in one request.  From there, depending on your jurisdiction, you will order up to a mile radius for the calls for service.  Once you receive each respective request, you must synthesize the data.  For example, you will detail the violent and non-violent crimes and their frequency on the property.  This provides a picture of what type of crime was going on at the property.  It provides you with the ability to illustrate to the jury the level of crime occurring and can be used effectively to show that it is an improbability for a defendant to be unaware of the police being called to the property.

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The Truth about Direct and Cross-Examinations

In this article, The Haggard Law Firm’s Jason Brenner discusses a variety of topics including why trial attorneys should always employ a philosophy that every case should be prepared to go to trial. He says it is a mindset that many trial attorneys don’t employ.

Brenner is part of the team that recently obtained a $12 million verdict in a wrongful death, negligent security case following a 5 day trial (click to learn more about the case). Click here to learn more about the case

To learn more about The Haggard Law Firm‘s Jason Brenner, click here

The Truth I Never Knew about Direct and Cross-Examinations

Entering the legal field with the desire to become a trial attorney is a daunting endeavor. There is only one place where a young lawyer can establish himself or herself as a trial attorney—in the courtroom. Trial practice has almost become a misnomer in today’s world. The firm where I have been privileged to practice is made up of an endangered species of the trial attorney. I revel in the “war stories” about them trying a case on Monday and preparing for the next one on Friday. Nowadays, the majority of time spent in court is in motion practice.

The current status of trial practice creates an interesting conflict for young, aspiring attorneys in their attempt to develop trial skills. In the almost six years I have been practicing, I have been trial support on two civil jury trials and second chair on an additional two. The first trial in which I participated as second chair was a stroke of fortune and an eye-opening experience. Once I was in the courtroom in this role, I understood the purpose and importance of direct and cross-examination, but, most important, I understood the difference between direct and cross-examination in discovery and at trial. The primary focus of this article is to illustrate the principles of direct and cross-examination that have been taught to me.

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