330 Alhambra Circle

Coral Gables, FL 33134

633 S. Andrews Avenue Suite 400
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

(305) 446-5700

(954) 323-4400

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Background Checks: Everywhere and Nowhere

 

By: Christopher Marlowe, The Haggard Law Firm

The background check. Examinations of our past seem so common in every corner of our lives, that on that rare occasion where we are not asked to verify our personal information or consent to an examination of it, the transaction seems either charmingly quaint or mildly suspicious.  Our criminal history, finances, family relations, utilities, medical history, schooling or employment, to name a few, are routinely brought forth and scrutinized (or verified) as a necessary part of routine personal and business operations.

 

The ubiquity of the background check has fomented a public expectation that virtually every person we encounter has been screened for one thing or another.  Certainly, the priest or teacher is screened for child or sexual related offenses. The Uber driver has been thoroughly vetted for traffic offenses.  The apartment manager’s personal finances are in order, such that the proper handling of rents is not in jeopardy.

These expectations, however reasonable, are not subject to uniform regulation and even more rarely are they mandated by law.  The inconsistent handling of sex offender regulations helps highlight our misperception of the efficacy and regularity of background checks.  Society considers itself tough on sex offenders, and lawmakers fashion themselves as protectors of the children and those most vulnerable.  Florida Statute 948.30 is a good example.  If a sex crime victim was under the age of 18, the offender cannot work for pay “or as a volunteer at any place where children regularly congregate, including, but not limited to, schools, child care facilities, parks, playgrounds, pet stores, libraries, zoos, theme parks, and malls.”

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Haggard Set to Speak at Bench & Bar Conference

 

The Haggard Law Firm’s Managing partner Michael Haggard will be a panelist during the 2017 Florida’s Grand Bench & Bar Conference to be held on February 10th. Haggard will join three  judges to discuss the topic titled Insights from the Jury II: A Discussion with Real Jurors  which will be held from 2pm to 3pm. He is the only attorney on the panel that includes  Hon. Eric Hendon, Hon. Rosa I. Rodriguez and Hon. Migna Sanchez – Llorens.

The conference will be held at the Coral Gables Country Club and will begin at 8am and includes more than 40 panel discussions.

Evidence Preservation in Fire Cases

Article By Pedro Echarte, The Haggard Law Firm

When handling personal injury/wrongful death cases resulting from fires, the importance of quickly notifying the property owner of the potential claim and gaining immediate access to the property to the perform a site inspection is imperative.  While in other types of cases (e.g., drowning, automobile, aviation, medical malpractice, negligent security) the evidence required to prove your case is generally preserved, that is generally not the case when it comes to litigation stemming from fires because landowners (whether residential or commercial) generally want to promptly repair their premises after a fire in order to avoid a significant loss of income.  Once the property is altered or repaired, it will be difficult to determine not only the cause of fire, but also what fire safety measures that property had at the time of the fire and whether they operated as intended.

In fire cases that we have handled, we have accomplished early notification to the potential defendant and coordination of a site inspection in one of two ways. Generally, we first attempt to reach the property owner directly, informing them of the potential claim and requesting access to the property.  If we are unable to contact the property owner or if the property owner refuses to give us access to the property, we file the lawsuit along with an emergency motion seeking to enjoin the property owner from repairing the property and requesting access to the property for a site inspection.

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String of Gas Station, Retailer Parking Lot Robberies

In the last week, there have been a string of robberies at gas stations and parking lots of popular retailers in South Florida. A large percentage of the negligent security cases The Haggard Law Firm has litigated in the last decade have included violent incidents involving these types of businesses. Cases like Snell VS Family Food Saver II, CORP which occurred on the property of a gas station and Pilotos v. Ryta Food Corp which was a deadly shooting in the parking lot of a grocery store.

Following the most recent news, Haggard Law Attorney Todd Michaels said:

“Every business owner who holds themselves open to the public has a duty to assess the risk of crime occurring on their property, and to implement adequate security based on that risk.  All too often, we have seen business owners fail to do so, and the result is both tragic and predictable.  Unless business owners are doing their part, there is little that the police or individuals themselves can do to remain safe.”

 

 

FULL ARTICLE ABOUT Palm Beach County crime spree:

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Protecting Employees in High Crime Areas, Employers’ Requirements

Workplace violence tends to grab headlines because the thought of a coworker murdering or maiming colleagues imparts a sense of dread that we do not like to visualize in those around us every working day of the week.  More frequent, however, are those crimes of opportunity facing employees in high-risk environments, such as convenience and liquor stores, fast food restaurants and check cashing businesses.  The nature of their work requires large amounts of cash on hand, and such businesses are frequently located on major highways to increase foot traffic and customer counts.  Those same factors that make the shopping experience easier for the customer help make committing these crimes easier for the would-be robber.  The ability to enter the property in a car, and disappear rapidly into a sea of commuter traffic make apprehension much more difficult for law enforcement.  Signage in the windows offering discounts and sales often blocks the view of passersby into the windows, making the observation of an ongoing crime more difficult.  In the convenience store setting, Florida law acknowledges these realities through F.S. 812.173, the “Convenience Business Security Act.”

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$2.3 Million Fatal Fire Case Featured in DBR

Haggard Law Firm attorney Pedro Echarte was interviewed for a story detailing the recent settlement in the case of a young father who died in a mobile home fire. As the article describes, an inadequate number of smoke detectors was at the heart of the eventual $2.3 million settlement.

 

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‘Most Effective’ Personal Injury Lawyers

Haggard Law Firm attorney Todd Michaels was named a Most Effective Lawyer of South Florida, in the Personal Injury category, by the Daily Business Review.

 

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Haggard Law Firm Attorney Todd Michaels

Today, the periodical published its article detailing the case cited in the announcement of the honor Michaels, a $3.1 million settlement to the family of 21-year-old Charles Lucas, who was shot to death outside a Miami nightclub in 2011 while he tried to diffuse an altercation.

 

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2 Haggard Law Attorneys Recognized among ‘Most Effective Lawyers’

The Daily Business Review has just released its list of 2016 Most Effective Lawyers.

We are proud to report that Haggard Law Firm attorneys Todd Michaels and Pedro Echarte were the only two lawyers in Miami-Dade County recognized in the Personal Injury category. Michaels was  named the Most Effective Lawyer, while Echarte was the only other finalist listed.

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$2.3 Million Result in Mobile Home Fire Death Case

burned-trailer victim-and-son

Jacksonville, FL –  The lack of required smoke detectors in a mobile home was the primary reason 5 year old Caydon Anderson will never see his beloved father Jemarr again. On May 18, 2015, 26-year-old Jemarr Anderson was asleep in a mobile home at 7582 Sonia Drive in Jacksonville when a fire broke out.  The young father died of smoke inhalation in the fire that scorched the home.

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Finding Value in Mediation

The Daily Business Review recently published a guest article written by The Haggard Law Firm’s Christopher Marlowe on mediation. Marlowe’s article, Reassess Expectations: Finding Value in Mediation was included as part of DBR’s special section on arbitration and mediation published November 16th, 2016.

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The full article:  Reassess Expectations: Finding Value in Mediation By Christopher Marlowe

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