Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer - Property Owner's Liability (Slip & Fall)

Three-Year-Old Dies In Lake City Pool As Swim Season Begins

Eddie Farah — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:29:42 GMT

A three-year-old child drowned Sunday afternoon, May 17, in a swimming pool in the back yard of a home in Lake City. He was scooped from the pool and taken to a local hospital where was pronounced dead. The Columbia County Sheriff’s office calls it a tragic accident.

We are sorry for the loss this family must be feeling now and forever.

And now with the Memorial Day holiday here, a federal report by theConsumer Product Safety Commission says nearly 300 children under the age of 5, drown in pools and spas each year. About 3,000 young children suffer injuries related to the pool or spa that require a trip to the emergency room.

Spas and pools are particularly treacherous for toddlers under the age of two, with the majority of drownings occurring in back yard pools and spas.

Florida’s Congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has taken a lead in this issue, held a news conference with Safe Kids USA to urge home pool owners to check the fencing in place to keep youngsters from gaining access to pool areas. Self-closing, self-latching gates prevent kids from entering a pool area. Alarms alert an adult if someone enters the pool area or even the pool accidentally. Some kids even get out by a pet door- so consider that an area to watch.

Newer and safer drain covers prevent entrapment, where children are sucked into the drain with enough force that even and adult would have trouble breaking free.

Virginia Graeme Baker died that way, and it is for her that the Pool and Spa Safety Act has been funded this year. It requires all public pools and spas to have anti-entrapment drain covers and additional systems to prevent entrapment. The state departments of health are enforcing the law.

If you have any questions about what is required visit the CPSC web site www.PoolSafety.gov.

It doesn’t take but a minute for a child to slip out of sight and drown. Let’s have a summer in Florida without any more of these unfortunate reports. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Negligent Property Owners Sued For Death Of Young Man

Eddie Farah — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:06:00 GMT

James and Cheryl Creech would do anything to see their 22-year-old son again. Antonio Creech was visiting his sister at the Eureka Gardens Apartments in Jacksonville, two days before Christmas 2007, when he was shot and killed along with another man.

Now the couple has filed a negligence lawsuit against the property owner, Flagship Property Managers.

To be successful, they must prove that the place was dangerous. That won’t be difficult. There had been seven murders in seven months. Even with the violence, there was no security, no gates, no guard and not enough lighting. There are safer neighborhoods in Baghdad.

It is vital that landowners keep their property safe for tenants. The landlord must screen new tenants. They must warn new tenants about any potential security problems or criminal activities near the property.

A property owner with a problem on their hand, must establish securities policies and procedures and work with law enforcement or independent consultants to ensure the property is as safe as it can be. That certainly would include adequate lighting, gates and security patrols, and security systems including closed-circuit TV and alarm systems.

Antonio had never been in the trouble with the law. He loved playing football and played the trumpet in his high school band. James says about his wife, “I can’t do nothing for her but hold her.”

We wish the family the best as they try to get on with their lives. We are very sorry for the loss of a young man who had his whole life ahead of him. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

State Farm Plans Its Exit From Florida

Eddie Farah — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:32:17 GMT

State Farm is one step closer to pulling its property insurance policies out of the state. Florida’s Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty indicated the insurance giant should go and soon.

“We do not believe that they can maintain trustworthiness and fitness to continue to do business in Florida.”

This messy exit is due to State Farms’ claims that it is operating close to the red and cannot cover 1.2 million policies if a major hurricane were to hit the state. McCarty says State Farm Florida, the state’s property insurance division, must surrender its license to operate within 30 days.

As for the policy holders, State Farm will be required to help them find private policies and not to throw them into the Florida backed Citizens Insurance pool of last resort. At this point it’s uncertain if Citizens could even keep up with all of the policies it has if disaster was to strike.

However, State Farm wants to stay in Florida in the lucrative auto policy business which serves some 2.8 million customers.

As a final exit plan, State Farm Florida must pro-rate refunds to policyholders, according to McCarty. All of this is not yet a done deal.

State Farm can take the next three weeks to decide whether it can abide by these requirements or not, but it’s apparent that the state would like to get rid of State Farm as much as it wants to leave the state. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Florida Insurance Commissioner Tells State Farm "NO"!

Eddie Farah — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:35:01 GMT

State Farm wanted to raise homeowner’s premiums to cover losses from hurricanes by more than 47 percent. Monday, the state insurance commissioner told the insurance giant “No!”

This is not the first time they’ve been turned down. State Farm appealed when Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty denied the increase initially. An administrative law judge also turned them down and sent the hike back to McCarty.

That was bad news for the state’s second largest property insurer, which about this time is thinking that Florida is not such a good bet, especially since hurricane season begins in June.

Look for State Farm to take an appeal to the 1^st District Court of Appeals for another decision.

The other option State Farm is considering is canceling the bulk of the 845,000 property policies in the state it holds.

No doubt, profits and investments for insurance giants were substantially reduced in the first nine months of 2008 to about $4 billion, compared to $50 billion during the first nine months of 2007.

The 92 percent drop was blamed on bad investments and catastrophic losses, according to the industry’s Insurance Services Office (ISO).

But in the American Association for Justice’s "Tricks of the Trade" report on Big Insurance reminds us it is a profit industry.

With assets totaling $3.8 trillion over the last ten years, the property casualty industry has averaged profits of over $30 billion a year. The life and health insurance industry another $30 billion annually. The CEOs of the Top Ten property casualty firms earned an average of nearly $9 million in 2007.

Americans are highly sensitive to bailouts for the "free market" campaigners who enjoyed record profits in their pockets when business was good, and have their hands out to consumers who can ill afford more cost now when business is bad.

Does the old adage about saving for a rainy day apply here?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah