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.
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.
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.
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.
The power of preparation to stay safe…it’s the topic of our second installment of Haggard’s Helping Hands which airs on Generation Nexxt the local youth football highlight show which Sundays at 6pm on NBC 6
To watch the full video by our Managing Partner Michael Haggard, click here
Today’s issue of the Daily Business Review takes an in-depth look at the recent $10.1 million settlement result in a negligent security case litigated by our Pedro Echarte.
Here is the full text of the article authored by Celia Ampel:
Bryan Perez was just 22 when he was shot and paralyzed while trying to protect his sister, mother and pregnant girlfriend from home invaders.
The 2014 shooting left him in a wheelchair, making it difficult for him to work and to go out alone with his baby.
The Haggard Law Firm’s Managing Partner Michael Haggard has been selected as a Lifetime Achievement honoree among America’s Top 100 Attorneys®.
Selection to America’s Top 100 Attorneys® is by invitation only and is comprised of the nation’s most exceptional attorneys whose accomplishments merit a lifetime achievement recognition. Lifetime Achievement recognition among America’s Top 100 Attorneys® is meant to identify and promote the most outstanding and impactful legal talent currently serving throughout the nation. Only 100 attorneys in each state* will receive this honor and be selected for Lifetime Achievement Membership among America’s Top 100 Attorneys®. Selection is not achieved based on a single accomplishment or a single great year of success, but rather on a lifetime of hard work, ethical standards, and community enriching accomplishments that are inspiring among the legal profession. This honor is not given every year, or every 10 years; it is given but once-in-a-lifetime. To help ensure that all attorneys selected for membership meet the very high standards expected for selection, candidates for lifetime membership are carefully screened through third-party research and statistical analysis based on a broad array of criteria, including the candidate’s professional experience, lifetime achievements, significant case results, peer reputation, and community impact . While selection for any award, honor, or exclusive membership organization is always subjective in nature, we developed our comprehensive multi-phase selection process in an effort to help ensure that only the attorneys whose lifetime achievements extol the legal profession are chosen. With these extremely high standards for selection to America’s Top 100 Attorneys®, less than one-half percent (0.5%) of active attorneys in the United States will receive this honor — truly the most exclusive and elite level of attorneys in the community.
In the article, Marlowe discusses how Wal-Mart is well aware of the frequent crime that takes place on properties across the country. The Haggard Law attorney litigated a case against the world’s number 1 retailer where a woman was kidnapped from a Wal-Mart parking lot and brutally raped in her kidnapper’s vehicle over several hours and miles of driving.
The text of the article as it appears in the Daily Business Review:
The Daily Business Review has just published an article featuring the recent $1.8 million negligent security case settlement delivered by the Haggard Law Firm.
In the article, Haggard Law attorney Douglas McCarron describes how the inaction by the property owners of a Tampa apartment complex who refused to invest in proper security measures despite pleas from property management, directly contributed to the shooting death of a 23-year-old father of three.
To read the full article click the images below or this link
Del Rio Apartment Complex Owners Ignored Multiple Requests from Staff to Increase Security
Tampa – The companies that once owned the Avesta Del Rio Apartment Complex have agreed to pay the family of 23-year-old murder victim Damian Bowie $1.8 million to settle a negligent security lawsuit. The lawsuit filed by Douglas McCarron of The Haggard Law Firm (www.haggardlawfirm.com) alleged that the deadly 2014 shooting that claimed Bowie’s life could have been prevented if complex ownership took action after multiple requests by staff members to better secure the property.
On March 2, 2014, Bowie visited the Del Rio apartments (5013 E. Sligh Avenue, Tampa) to spend time with friends before going to pick up his son Damian Jr. But, shortly before 4 p.m. that day, the father of three was assaulted, shot and killed on the property.
“Through the course of our investigation, which included testimony by the defendant’s property manager, it was clear that the employees at the property were pleading for more security and consistently telling upper management how people’s lives were are risk. Instead of acting responsibly, the defendant simply turned a blind eye” said McCarron.
The lawsuit against 5013 Sligh LLC and Avesta Homes on behalf of the victim’s mother and his three children Damian Jr. (5), Damion (3) and Sincere (2 – born two months after his father was killed), alleged the property’s owners knew the area and property were considered high crime areas. McCarron adds, “unfortunately their inaction allowed this tragedy to occur and now three young boys will never see their father again.”
The lawsuit highlights:
Testimony from a property manager and documented crime statistics that confirm the complex and area that surrounds is a high crime area.
An email sent by Kerrie Richardson, property manager of the complex at the time of the shooting, to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department requesting an off duty police officer (sent six months before the murder) because of the amount of crime
An email from Richardson to corporate for directions on what to do with a tenant that asked for termination of their lease after they were robbed at gunpoint and had their car broken into in just three months.
A request by Richardson to property owners asking for expanded security for daytime hours. Bowie was murdered at 4 p.m.
The victim’s family members hope new attention on this case will help police. No one has been charged in the crime.
It should be noted that the defendants in this case currently do NOT own the Avesta Del Rio Complex.