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.
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.
The Haggard Law Firm’s Michael Haggard and Adam Finkel obtained a $2.35 Million settlement in a case involving an infant child who drowned in a pond. Specific details of the case are confidential.
The infant child was under his mother’s care when he walked out of the opened front door of his apartment and walked to the back of the property towards a retention pond. Eventually, the infant boy entered the pond and drowned.
Miami, FL – The Haggard Law Firm’s Michael Haggard and Adam Finkel have obtained a $5 Million pre-suit settlement in a negligent security case involving the catastrophic injury suffered by a father of four who was with his children when he was shot outside his home.
On December 20, 2019, 33-year old Paul Barry-Austin returned home from a long day of work. It was a nice day so his wife was enjoying the weather outside with their children. The day drastically turned when she noticed a few unknown men roaming the Alhambra Cove Apartment complex’s parking lot. She noticed the men more than once, roaming suspiciously, and expressed concern to Paul. Worried for the safety of his family and aware that the property owners and managers did nothing to prevent or curtail the many burglaries, car thefts, and assaults on the property, Paul walked through the parking lot to make sure the men were not near his home. Soon after, Paul’s wife heard gunshots, and Paul was found lying in the parking lot in a puddle of blood. He had been shot in the back—likely by the very criminals that roamed the property.
The Haggard Law Firm’s Adam Finkel and Michael Haggard held a press conference to announce the $5.5 Million settlement with Spitzer Autoworld in the wrongful death case of 3-year-old Anthony Rojo De Leon.
The child was killed on Valentine’s Day when the General Manager of the dealership recklessly drove a vehicle off the road.
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.
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.
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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.
On April 6th of this year, I celebrated my 1 ½ year KIDNEYVERSARY!! How did I celebrate? By preparing for Trial….that was awesome!!! I could only do that due to God’s grace, my prayers were answered and my brother-in-law, Major Allen Buckhalt (US Army Blackhawk Pilot and Iraq/Afghanistan war Veteran) was a match to donate me a kidney and save my life!! As all of you know (BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN THERE FOR ME AND MY FAMILY THIS WHOLE TIME), I have Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) a genetic, life-threatening and incurable disease. There are only two treatments, DIALYSIS or a KIDNEY TRANSPLANT. Most PKD patients have to go on Dialysis and suffer the debilitating effects. The PKD Foundation is changing all that as we march towards TREATMENT and a CURE!!!!
It is not lost on me, that I am now 100% back to normal and Allen is proudly serving us overseas once again!! Living Kidney Donation is phenomenal and we need to encourage everyone to GIVE LIFE!! However, the PKD patient community is on the verge of something amazing—-Through all the $$$$ you have raised with us, we are on the verge of the FIRST EVER PKD DRUG to be released to market!!!!! Not to mention, all the clinical trials still ongoing to develop not only a Treatment but a CURE!!!
As most of you also know the curse of this disease is also the blessing!! It is genetic…….Both Maddie and Carson each have a 50% chance of inheriting this disease……and as you can imagine that “haunts” me each night! But even if you told me tomorrow Maddie and Carson were in the clear, we would never stop fighting this fight. All you have to do is see the devastating effects of PKD on families. I have lost my maternal grandmother, uncle and mother to this disease and I intend on beating it out of existence! Because it is genetic we have made advances that have never been accomplished in other disease research—-because we can isolate the Gene!!!!
This year we are hosting our 8th ANNUAL PKD KIDNEY CASINO FOR A CURE!!! Last year we raised well over $100,000 for the PKD FOUNDATION and this year WITH YOUR HELP, we hope to surpass that Goal!!! WE HAVE CHANGED LOCATIONS this year and are going to Host the event at the University of Miami’s UM Newman Alumni Center at 7 pm. It is a phenomenal venue and we know all of our Friends and Family will enjoy!!!
Bekki and I have recently agreed to Chair the PKD FOUNDERS COUNCIl–where we are accelerating all efforts to have every DOLLAR raised go immediately into PKD Research!! Over $10 Million has been raised in this effort!! With your incredible help the past decade we have raised an additional $600,000 which has funded multiple PKD research projects!!! We will find a cure for PKD in my lifetime!!! I have been given a Second Chance at Life and I will not waste it……I know you will help us with our goal. Many of you have donated in the past and we desperately need your help again!!! Please do what you did last year or if you possibly can—-DO EVEN MORE!!! We want all of you to come to the event, but if you cannot please look at the sponsorship levels and consider being there in spirit with us!!!
I cannot thank each of you enough for your past support and hope that you will continue to support our efforts this year. If you cannot join us on Saturday, May, 19th, you can still donate to our cause. NO donation is too small. Checks should be made payable to the PKD Foundation and can be mailed directly to The Haggard Law Firm, 330 Alhambra Circle, Coral Gables, FL 33134. ATTN: Sibyl Fernandez. The attached document also allows you to RSVP, sponsor a table, purchase tickets or donate directly to the PKD Foundation. The Kidney Casino Night is live on the PKD Foundation’s website so you can RSVP and register online using a credit card!! Visit http://bit.ly/kidneycasinoforacure
Please consider Becoming a Sponsor
Platinum All in Presenting Sponsor: $10,000 (The Haggard Law Firm)
Diamond “Double Down” Sponsor: $5000 – Includes 12 tickets to the event (each event ticket includes 2 complimentary drink tickets and “fun money” for the casino), prominent listing on invitation & website and signage at the event
High Roller Sponsor: $2500 – Includes 6 tickets to the event (each event ticket includes 2 complimentary drink tickets and “fun money” for the casino), prominent listing on invitation & website and signage at the event
Lucky 777 Sponsor: $1000 – Includes 4 tickets to the event (each event ticket includes 2 complimentary drink tickets and “fun money” for the casino), prominent listing on invitation & website and signage at the event
Full House Sponsor: $500 – Includes 2 tickets to the event (each ticket includes 2 complimentary drink tickets and “fun money” for the casino), listing on invitation & website and signage at the event
Single tickets: $125.00 or $200.00 per couple PRE-SALE, $125.00 each ticket at the door – Each event ticket includes 2 drink tickets and “fun money” for the casino
Thanks again and I really hope to see you on SATURDAY MAY 19TH!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Haggard says he wanted to become a trial lawyer thanks to the example set by his father Andy Haggard and what he watched his father do to help clients effected by tragedy.
Haggard has established himself as a powerful force in the South Florida Legal Community as the Managing Partner for The Haggard Law Firm. After spending time as a Public Defender and working with a small personal injury firm before joining The Haggard Law Firm, Haggard was named a partner in 2001, secure in the belief that every case holds equal importance and could mean the opportunity to award a family resolution to a devastating incident.
He soon captured national headlines as the only plaintiff’s personal injury attorney to secure three separate $100 million dollar verdicts on behalf of individual clients. Haggard secured two consecutive $100 million verdicts on behalf of children involved in pool accidents. Several years later, a third $100 million verdict was awarded by a jury in a negligent security case, deemed the largest of its kind for that genre of case law.
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”
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