Coral Gables, FL 33134
633 S. Andrews Avenue Suite 400
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
(954) 323-4400
Speak with an Attorney
Speak with an Attorney
The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron and Kimberly Wald have obtained a $7,509,000 verdict following a three-day trial in Alachua County, FL.
Continue reading “VERDICT: $7.5 MILLION AWARDED BY JURY IN WRONGFUL DEATH CASE”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.
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.
Continue reading “$1.32 Million Verdict for Injured Model”The Haggard Law Firm’s Todd Michaels and Michael Haggard have earned a $1 Million policy limit settlement in wrongful death negligent security case of 30-year-old Omarie Stephens was shot and killed at the Lauderhill Mall on Easter Day of 2018.
After spending Easter morning with his family, he went to a car show in a park with his brother and friends. After the show, he went to a restaurant located in Lauderhill Mall to eat. When Omarie and his group arrived at the mall there was a large party going on in the parking lot. The car show had relocated to the mall, which was closed (except for a few tenants including the restaurant).
Video surveillance showed thousands of cars and people in the mall parking lot. Evidence also showed that people were drinking alcohol and doing drugs. The mall’s parking lot had basically turned into an open-air unsupervised night club.
The Mall had retained State Security to provide security. After the mall closed (other than the few late-night tenants) security was supposed to perform constant patrols in the lot and remove trespassers immediately. The evidence clearly showed that over a period of hours, revelers descended on the property, and security was nowhere to be found. They made no attempt to remove people from the property or to contact the police as they were ordered.
In a deposition, the security guard claimed that he encountered a police officer on the property and asked him for help as justification for why he decided not to call police. Police records and the surveillance video disapprove this. After being confronted with the evidence, the security guard admitted he had not come to the front of the mall during the three hour period that people were gathering at the property.
During the gathering, two men got into a fight leading to gunshots. Mr. Stevens, and innocent bystander, was shot and killed. Stephens survived by two minor daughters.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OTHER NOTABLE HAGGARD LAW FIRM NEGLIGENT SECURITY CASES
Press Conference Scheduled 12/18/18
Mother of a 12 Year Old Murdered By a Convicted Sex Offender Says Owners/Managers of an Apartment Complex Could Have Prevented the Tragedy
Pensacola, FL – Shantara Hurry, the mother of 12-year-old Naomi Jones, who police say was murdered by convicted sex offender Robert Howard in 2017, is filing a negligent security lawsuit against those responsible for the apartment complex where her daughter was kidnapped.
Jones went missing from her apartment located at 1460 E. Johnson Avenue in Pensacola, Florida on May 31, 2017. The disappearance captivated and mobilized the community to find Naomi. Her remains were eventually found in an Escambia County creek on June 5. Two days later, Howard was arrested and charged with the kidnapping and murder. The 39-year-old convicted sex offender lived in the same complex as the 12-year-old girl and her family.
The lawsuit against the owners of that apartment complex, Aspen Village Acquisition, and the management company, Progressive Management of America, highlights that the two companies should have known or knew that they were allowing a convicted sex offender, Howard, to live in the complex. The lawsuit adds that apartment ownership and management “breached its duty of reasonable care by permitting an unregistered sex offender to reside upon the Premises, thus allowing the offender continual, unfettered access to young children and others upon whom persons with his predilections are known to prey.”
The Haggard Law Firm is representing Jones’ mother in the case. Trial lawyer Christopher Marlowe (email CLM@HaggardLawFirm.com) says for the family the press conference and lawsuit is about holding everyone accountable for this tragic loss and preventing it from happening again.
“Ms. Hurry wants to bring attention to this civil action (lawsuit) in hopes that it will motivate all apartment complex owners and managers to exercise actionable, logical and moral care by never allowing offenders to live in their property, giving them access to children,” says Marlowe.
Press/Media Conference Details
(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)
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.
“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.
Continue reading “Nearly $1.2 Million Verdict For Man Beat & Shot at Popular Restaurant”
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 Bio
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.
Miami Dade County, FL – A gunshot victim who had his kidney, portions of his intestines removed and his colon perforated settles a negligent security lawsuit against northwest Miami apartment complex for $3 million.
On May 3rd, 2014, Dennis Gore and his friend worked together cleaning one of their clients’ business’. After work, Dennis and his friend played flag football and then went to Dennis’ mother’s apartment at Suncoast Apartments (999 NE 167th Street). Dennis would ask his friend to take him to Walgreen’s to get an ace bandage because of a sore knee.
The two of them went downstairs to Dennis’s friend’s car in the parking lot when Dennis realized that he left his wallet upstairs. He told his friend to meet him around the other side off 10th avenue while Dennis went back upstairs to get his wallet. After retrieving his wallet, he took the stairs to a door led directly into the parking lot when his friend to pick him up.
A man standing at the bottom of those stairs simply said “hey”, which made Dennis turn around. The man was brandishing a gun. Dennis attempted to evade the stranger but was met by a second man who tried to grab him. After breaking free and attempting to exit through a doorway, bullets began to fly. He was shot 6 times. Dennis was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he went into emergency surgery.
Haggard Law Firm Trial attorney Jason Brenner and Douglas McCarron litigated the case. Brenner says while the apartment complex did have security in place, it was not sufficient considering the level of crime in the area. The claims made in the case were past and future medical expenses and past and future pain and suffering. “May 3rd was the beginning of a nightmare that Mr. Gore will never wake up from and it may have been prevented if this apartment complex had fully committed to providing the level of security needed to protect residents and guests.”
The Haggard Law Firm has an extensive history of litigating negligent security cases involving apartment complexes, hotels, motels, gas stations and other commercial businesses. Over the last ten years, Haggard Law Trial Attorneys have obtained more than $400 million in results for clients severely injured or the families of those killed due to a property owner or managers negligence.
We are very proud to announce the Haggard Law Firm Trial Attorney and Partner Todd Michaels has been named a recipient of the Florida Justice Association’s 2018 Bronze Eagle Award.
Bronze EAGLE recipients are those members who go to great lengths by contributing time and money to the EAGLE cause which aims to provide resources to power FJA’s mission of:
Bronze EAGLE Award recipients have been very involved in EAGLE over the years and continue to be active in EAGLE.
CLICK HERE TO CONTACT TODD MICHAELS
When asked by the FJA what the FJA and EAGLE program meant to him, Michaels responded “When it comes to protecting the rights of the injured, the aggrieved, and the voiceless, there is no more important organization than the Florida Justice Association. The EAGLE program ensures FJA’s staff and leadership remain focused on protecting our practices and the rights of our clients without distraction.” Michaels has been an active member of the FJA since September of 2009.
He will receive the honor during the FJA’s Presidential Luncheon on Friday June 22, 2018 at The Breakers in Palm Beach.
READ TODD MICHAELS BIO: CLICK HERE
For a free consultation or if you are a referring of co-counsel attorney, call 305.446.5700
The Haggard Law Firm, P.A. represents the rights of people seriously injured or killed through the fault of others. We are passionately committed to our clients and stress the highest level of personal service, professionalism and case preparation.
