Premises Liability

Sharon Truax, 62 of Carnesville, Georgia was used to bringing her Chihuahua, Sissy, in for grooming to the Royston Animal Hospital. But one day while picking up her dog, she was directed to the clinic exit in the hospital’s new building. Unfamiliar with the layout, she tripped and fell on a large animal scale that was placed behind a corner. Traux fell badly and broke her femur above the knee. Today she lives with a plate, screws, and pain as a result of the fall. On Tuesday, November 8, Traux was awarded $200,000 by a 12-member jury for her medical bills and pain. Her premises liability claim was brought by Farah & Farah attorney Kevin Elwell from our Brunswick, Georgia office, who used diagrams to show how Traux couldn’t have possibly seen the scale.

“We were able to show graphically that the scale was out of view and she would have had to have been staring at her feet as she walked. The law in Georgia does not say you have to look continuously at your feet to take due care,” says Elwell.

The insurer for the animal clinic, State Farm, did not make any pre-trial offer to settle.

Premises Liability

Property owners, whether it be a homeowner, a business owner, or the owner of a commercial property such as a shopping mall or grocery store, have a duty to make sure the public is safe when visiting the property. In a premises liability lawsuit, also known as a slip and fall, the injured victim will attempt to show their injuries resulted from the negligence of the property owner, because he or she knew, or should have known, the dangerous condition existed and failed to make the necessary repairs or warn the public about the danger. This does not let the visitor off the hook entirely. He or she must still exercise reasonable care when visiting the property.

A business owner owes their visitors the highest level of care. Whether a grocery store, a gym, or a restaurant, the owner must regularly inspect for hazards so they are aware of any dangers that exist.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a slip and fall accident, even if you feel you share in some of the fault, a complimentary consultation with the premises liability lawyers in Florida at Farah & Farah will answer some of your questions and provide you with a direction. Call us at 1(800) 533-3555.

Parental waivers have been standard fare for quite some time and are favored heavily by Florida’s tourism industry – a big industry in Florida that ranges from swimming with the dolphins, horseback riding, or renting a boat.

However, according to a report, a recent state Supreme Court ruling determined that parents do not have the right to release a business from accountability when their children participate in sports, making the waivers basically invalid.

The Florida legislature, with the help of Big Tourism, Disney and SeaWorld, is trying to remedy that.

A controversial bill is making its way through the legislature. It ensures parents that they can sign pre-injury waivers on behalf of their children so they can participate in sports.

Most trial lawyers oppose the bill and for good reason. What if a business is negligent? Don’t you want to be able to hold them accountable if a company has an unseaworthy boat, or has a harness that breaks? Do you want to sign away all of your rights to make them accountable? What happens when accidents occur due to premises liability in Florida?

The proposal is already having an effect.

Imagine – Gatorland has had to raise the age for participating in the “Trainer for a Day” program from 12 to 18. You now have to be 18 to put yourself in harm’s way with a gator.

This highlights just how absurd it is to do away with any incentives that force a business to take the utmost care to make sure that your child is safe in their hands.

If your child has been injured due to the negligence of another person or company, it is crucial for you to seek quality legal representation from Farah & Farah. Our experienced Florida personal injury attorneys understand that personal injuries may include all kinds of physical, emotional, or financial hardships endured as a result of the fault of another group or person. Call us today for a free evaluation.

Florida is a comparative negligence state, and that means you can make a personal injury claim based on the percentage of the other side's negligence.

If they are half at fault, you get 50 percent. If you are 30 percent at fault, you’ll get 70 percent of the value of your case.

From time to time, people ask us, if they are intoxicated and in an accident, say they stumble in the street and are hit by a car, can they make a claim also? The simple answer is NO.

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The Kerr-McGee property in Jacksonville is a polluted Talleyrand waterfront area that once was home to a long desserted plant.  

There from the 1890s until 1978, fertilizers and chemicals were produced. Today the land is vacant, there are no buildings and a builkhead is built over contaminated sediments at the bottom of the St. Johns River that runs through our city. 

How to clean up the site has been a headache but now the area may see state money for community projects to clean up the site.  Under the plan, the site owner, Tronox Inc. would purchase the river bottom as part of a cleanup of the river and the shore.

In return, in an unusual community-spirited project, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection wants most of the proceeds to return to neighborhood projects.  The cost of the river bottom is still undetermined but could run into a six-figure amount.

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Despite a new Florida law that allows employees to bring guns to work, JEA says not here.

The Manager for Security for the utility company, sent a memo last month to employees about the “Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act of 2008.” 

That is a long-winded way of making reference to a law recently passed by the Florida legislature and sign by Governor Charlie Crist.

It allows employees, who have a valid concealed weapons permit, to bring their gun to work and keep it in their car. 

JEA says there are exemptions and they fall into one. JEA employees and contractors doing business with JEA will not be allowed to bring guns to work. 

Exemptions include any bank, church, government office or court, or any place that manufacturers or stores explosives.

JEA is not being explicit as to what exemption they fall under.  Many answering this story say they will bring guns anyway and not tell.

At Walt Disney World in Orlando, employees will not be allowed to keep guns in their cars at company parking lots.

The entertainment giant will make the Orlando parking lots gun-free zones, despite the new state law which took effect Tuesday.

Disney is not making any friends with backers of the law. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” according to state Sen. Durell Peaden, one of the authors of the bill and a Republican from the Florida Panhandle tells the Orlando Sentinel.

But Disney has a long standing policy against guns on the 30,000 acre property which employs 60,000.

Last spring, opposition from Disney and the Florida Chamber of Commerce was trumped by the powerful National Rifle Association. 

The Orlando Sentinel obtained a memo from the Vice President of Public Affairs for Disney World saying that Disney “continues to maintain a zero tolerance policy” for guns.  Bringing one to work could be grounds for termination.

Many readers to this Disney web site also agree with the decision, including comments from gun owners.

The law allows an exemption for a defense contractor, or explosives manufacturer. And a last minute revision to the bill included an exemption for any property leased or owned by an employer who has a permit for explosives. 

Disney has a permit to use fireworks in its theme parks.  

Disney says under that definition all of the theme parks, resorts, cast member parking lots, administrative offices, sports complex, hotels, Celebration and Disney Reservation centers in Orlando and Tampa are exempt. 

Not exempt are Disney Cruise Line’s crew parking lots and some other Disney properties in Florida.

And Universal is joining Disney in claiming an exemption.

Not so at Sea World. The company believes in the rights of employees or visitors to transport legal firearms in their car, according to a spokeswoman. #

Last December 19^th, a chemical plant on the Northside of Jacksonville exploded killing four people inside and leveling the facility. 

The ground shook and that brought out every area haz-mat team in response to the “hellish inferno” which sent pieces of the plant as far as a quarter mile away. Smoke and flames could be seen for miles.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA, has issued its findings on the T2 Laboratory inferno and also announced the federal violations, citations and penalties that will be issued.  

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These are the sorts of stories we hear far too many of in the summer.

This weekend a six-year-old girl drowned at a pool party in the Arlington section of Jacksonville. About a half dozen children were in the pool, which the sheriff’s office reports was “cloudy”.

The girl went under the surface and none of the adults at the home saw her. When they finally did, one person tried to resuscitate the girl but she was pronounced dead after being taken to Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

Unfortunately, Florida leads the nation in young children who drown in swimming pools. Most of the time it happens in the back yard. Most of the children are under the age of five.

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