South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

In a ruling by New York Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, insurance companies for the City of New York are responsible for legal costs associated with defending the city in World Trade Center cases. A $1 Billion captive insurance fund was set up by the federal government to pay claims, but that money was being used to pay for legal costs as well. The city has had legal expenses of $100 Million.

Plaintiffs lawyer Paul Napoli Jr. has headed a campaign to force the insurance fund to begin making payments to claimants, but lawyers for the city say he and his co-counsel have refused to recognize any cap on liability in the action and have misrepresented the fund as a “pot of money” just waiting to be distributed.

Napoli, other plaintiffs attorneys and members of Congress have criticized the city for using the funds to pay large legal bills rather than compensating 9/11 responders who have incurred respiratory and other health problems as a result of work at the World Trade Center site.

New York City has also been denied immunity from lawsuits by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Thousands of people have fallen ill since the World Trade Center attacks in 2001. It is believed that toxic fumes and substances from the buildings collapsing filled the air and were inhaled by people who responded to the scene.

Rescuers pulled a person from a car that crashed into a Miami canal on Sunday. Authorities said the vehicle went into a canal along the southbound side of Florida’s Turnpike at Okeechobee Road.One person in the car managed to escape. After several unsuccessful attempts to rescue his friend, he flagged down a motorist, who called 911.

Minutes later, rescue crews arrived and pulled the man out.

“We train pretty regularly on just these kind of calls in the canals,” said Capt. Edan Jacobs of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. “It went really smooth. Hopefully the outcome will be positive.”

The victim was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.

Fire department officials say a fireworks malfunction at a Wrestlemania event has left about 40 people with minor injuries.Fans packed the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium for the event Sunday night. Fire officials say the fireworks flew into the crowd.

Officials say all the injuries were minor, although at least three people were taken to a hospital for treatment.

There is no comment yet from the sponsoring WWE. The public relations center office at WWE corporate headquarters has been busy. Stadium officials said they had no comment.

On Sept. 6, 2005, plaintiff Melvin Pace, late 20s, an oil rig roustabout, was being taken by helicopter to an offshore oil rig. There were 10 passengers and two crew members on the Sikorsky 76A rig helicopter, which was owned and operated by Houston Helicopters Inc. About 30 miles offshore from Sabine Pass, one engine caught fire, then the other. The helicopter crashed and sank.The helicopter had emergency floats, but they were partially torn in the impact with the water, and the helicopter capsized and sank shortly after crashing. The copilot believed that he had transmitted a mayday, but Houston Helicopter did not notice the missing flight for several hours, and no electronic location transmitter was on board.

Pace sued Houston Helicopters, alleging that its negligence proximately caused the crash, and that the company failed to properly track and communicate with its aircraft.

The helicopter could not be recovered, and the exact cause of the crash was unknown, but about two months before trial, Houston Helicopter stipulated to liability.

Pace and the other occupants sustained chemical burns from aviation fuel, and rescue was uncertain for about seven hours. Several of the life jackets began to lose flotation, requiring regular reinflation. The emergency equipment included a single bottle of water and no flares, dye, flashlights, strobes or other means of signaling overhead flights.

About an hour after being notified by the well-operating company, the Coast Guard was able to locate and rescue the men.

Pace sustained a herniation at L5-S1, requiring a discectomy and fusion in May 2006. He also claimed flashbacks, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder relating to the crash and time in the water. Around January 2007, he was released for work, with restrictions of lifting no more than 40 pounds and limited repetitive bending, stretching and twisting. Since then, he worked part-time for his brother in a construction business in Mississippi.

Pace claimed that he would need future doctor visits, diagnostic studies and medication for his physical and psychological injuries.

His past medical bills were $65,324.09, much of which was paid by his employer.

He claimed $275,000 in future medical bills; $65,324.09 in past medical bills; $3,033,169 in future lost earning capacity; $10,201 in past lost earning capacity; and unspecified amounts for pain and suffering, physical impairment and disfigurement, all in the past and future.

Houston Helicopter argued that Pace is a young, motivated man who has made a good recovery, adding that he has the support of his family, and intends to return to full-time work.

One of Pace’s retained experts, Robert Voogt, came down with a serious ear and upper respiratory infection that prevented traveling to trial. Voogt appeared via live webcast instead, which is believed to be a first for Brazoria County.

The jury found that Pace’s damages were $2,160,000.

Melvin Pace

$5,000 Personal Injury: Past Medical Cost

$175,000 Personal Injury: Future Medical Cost

$200,000 Personal Injury: Past Physical Impairment

$150,000 Personal Injury: Future Physical Impairment

$110,000 Personal Injury: Past Lost Earnings Capability

$750,000 Personal Injury: FutureLostEarningsCapability

$500,000 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering

$200,000 Personal Injury: Future Pain And Suffering

$50,000 Personal Injury: Past Disfigurement

$20,000 Personal Injury: Future Disfigurement

A pair of Good Samaritans rescued a driver after her car crashed into a North Miami Beach canal Friday morning. It happened on South Glades Drive near Northeast 168th Street.Gachette Ives said he saw the woman lose control of the vehicle and crash into the canal. He and Gerald Laguerre helped pull her from the car and hold her above water until rescuers arrived.

“It was dark,” he said. “The water was cold. It was deep. The water’s over 12 feet deep … but we didn’t think about nothing. We just think about saving her life.”

The woman was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital, but her condition is not known.

It was unclear why she lost control of the car.

Laguerre said the woman owes her life to God and the emergency rescue crews.

Debbie Shank breaks down in tears every time she’s told that her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq.

The 52-year-old mother of three attended her son’s funeral, but she continues to ask how he’s doing. When her family reminds her that he’s dead, she weeps as if hearing the news for the first time.

Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.

It was the beginning of a series of battles — both personal and legal — that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart’s health plan.

Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart’s health and benefits plan.

Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank’s long-term care.

Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank’s medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family’s trust.

The Shanks didn’t notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart’s health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.

The family’s attorney, Maurice Graham, said he informed Wal-Mart about the settlement and believed the Shanks would be allowed to keep the money.

“We assumed after three years, they [Wal-Mart] had made a decision to let Debbie Shank use this money for what it was intended to,” Graham said.

The Shanks lost their suit to Wal-Mart. Last summer, the couple appealed the ruling — but also lost it. One week later, their son was killed in Iraq.

“They are quite within their rights. But I just wonder if they need it that bad,” Jim Shank said.

In 2007, the retail giant reported net sales in the third quarter of $90 billion.

Legal or not, CNN asked Wal-Mart why the company pursued the money.

Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley, who called Debbie Shank’s case “unbelievably sad,” replied in a statement: “Wal-Mart’s plan is bound by very specific rules. … We wish it could be more flexible in Mrs. Shank’s case since her circumstances are clearly extraordinary, but this is done out of fairness to all associates who contribute to, and benefit from, the plan.”

Jim Shank said he believes Wal-Mart should make an exception.

“My idea of a win-win is — you keep the paperwork that says you won and let us keep the money so I can take care of my wife,” he said.

The family’s situation is so dire that last year Jim Shank divorced Debbie, so she could receive more money from Medicaid.

Jim Shank, 54, is recovering from prostate cancer, works two jobs and struggles to pay the bills. He’s afraid he won’t be able to send their youngest son to college and pay for his and Debbie’s care.

“Who needs the money more? A disabled lady in a wheelchair with no future, whatsoever, or does Wal-Mart need $90 billion, plus $200,000?” he asked.

The family’s attorney agrees.

“The recovery that Debbie Shank made was recovery for future lost earnings, for her pain and suffering,” Graham said.

“She’ll never be able to work again. Never have a relationship with her husband or children again. The damage she recovered was for much more than just medical expenses.”

Graham said he believes Wal-Mart should be entitled to only about $100,000. Right now, about $277,000 remains in the trust — far short of the $470,000 Wal-Mart wants back.

Refusing to give up the fight, the Shanks appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But just last week, the high court said it would not hear the case.

Graham said the Shanks have exhausted all their resources and there’s nothing more they can do but go on with their lives.

Jim Shank said he’s disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case — not for the sake of his family — but for those who might face similar circumstances.

For now, he said the family will figure out a way to get by and “do the best we can for Debbie.”

“Luckily, she’s oblivious to everything,” he said. “We don’t tell her what’s going on because it will just upset her.

 Two brothers who were attacked by an escaped tiger at the San Francisco Zoo have filed claims against the city alleging negligence and defamation.

Kulbir and Amritpal “Paul” Dhaliwal are seeking monetary compensation for “serious physical and emotional injuries.” The claims filed this week are a prerequisite for filing a civil lawsuit.

The pair were injured on Christmas Day after a 250-pound Siberian tiger scaled the walls of its enclosure, attacked them and killed their friend, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. The animal eventually was shot dead by police.

The walls of the outdoor enclosure later were found to be lower than recommended by an accrediting agency for the nation’s zoos.

The documents allege the city failed in its duty to provide a safe zoo environment, defamed the brothers by spreading falsehoods about their possible role in provoking the attack and improperly impounded Kulbir Dhaliwal’s car.

“The Dhaliwal brothers’ attorneys have made clear from the beginning that they intended to sue the city,” said Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera.

The claims do not specify a dollar amount for the damages.

The brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, did not return a call seeking comment.

Kulbir Dhaliwal suffered deep cuts and bite wounds on his body, underwent surgery to repair the damage to his knees and has scars from his injuries, the claims said. Paul Dhaliwal suffered bites and cuts that required stitches to his head and left scars, according to the claims.

They also allege that he was defamed by a public relations consultant that the San Francisco Zoological Society hired after the attack and made the target of “intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.”

San Francisco police spent more than a month investigating the maulings while weighing whether to seek criminal charges against the Dhaliwals. The lead investigator said in January the tiger “may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims,” but the department suspended its investigation without recommending charges.

The city has 45 days to respond to the claims with either a formal denial or a settlement offer, Dorsey said. If a formal denial is issued, the brothers would have six months to file a lawsuit, he said.

Dorsey said it was too soon to say how the city would respond. Settlements usually are offered in simple cases such as minor accidents involving government vehicles and “more complex issues typically proceed to litigation,” he said.

A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation.

“I wouldn’t wish this experience upon anyone,” Mandi Hamlin said at a news conference. “My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way.”

Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems.

The female TSA agent used a handheld detector that beeped when it passed in front of Hamlin’s chest, the Dallas-area resident said.

Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The women then called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said.

Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.

She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.

“Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her,” said Hamlin’s attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Liberties.

Hamlin said she heard male TSA agents snickering as she took out the ring. She was scanned again and was allowed to board even though she still was wearing a belly button ring.

“After nipple rings are inserted, the skin can often heal around the piercing, and the rings can be extremely difficult and painful to remove,” Allred said in the letter.

Hamlin filed a complaint, but the TSA’s customer service manager at the Lubbock airport concluded the screening was handled properly, Allred said.

Allred said she might consider legal action if the TSA does not apologize.

On its Web site, the TSA warns that passengers “may be additionally screened because of hidden items such as body piercings, which alarmed the metal detector.”

“If you are selected for additional screening, you may ask to remove your body piercing in private as an alternative to a pat-down search,” the site says.

Hamlin would have accepted a “pat-down” had it been offered, Allred said.

Hamlin was publicly humiliated and has “undergone an enormous amount of physical pain to have the nipple rings reinserted” because of scar tissue, Allred said.

“The conduct of TSA was cruel and unnecessary,” Allred wrote. “The last time that I checked a nipple was not a dangerous weapon.”

TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird said he was unaware of the incident. There is no specific TSA policy on dealing with body piercings, he said, “as long as it doesn’t sound the alarms.”

If an alarm does sound, “until that is resolved, we’re not going to let them go through the checkpoint, no matter what they’re wearing or where they’re wearing it.”

People routinely pass through security wearing wedding rings without problems, and it might take a larger bit of metal to trigger an alarm, Baird said.

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it is investigating a possible link between Merck’s best-selling Singulair and suicide. FDA said it is reviewing a handful of reports involving mood changes, suicidal behavior and suicide in patients who have taken the popular allergy and asthma drug.

Merck has updated the drug’s labeling four times in the past year to include information on a range of reported side effects: tremors, anxiousness, depression and suicidal behavior.

FDA said it asked the Whitehouse, N.J.-based company to dig deeper into its data on Singulair for evidence of possible links to suicide. The agency said it has not established a “causal relationship” between Merck’s drug and suicidal behavior. An agency spokeswoman said the review was prompted by three to four suicide reports it received since last October.

It could take up to nine months before agency scientists can draw any conclusions, FDA said in a posting to its Web site.

The agency recently began notifying the public earlier about possible safety issues. The policy change came after the FDA was criticized for acting too slowly on information about the risks of Merck’s painkiller Vioxx and, GlaxoSmithKline plc’s diabetes pill Avandia.

Merck officials stressed that the FDA’s inquiry is based on reports, not clinical studies – which are the standard tool for evaluating drug safety. The company said none of the 11,000 patients enrolled in 40 Singulair trials has committed suicide.

“We have no indication that anything about the mechanism of Singulair is consistent with these events,” said George Philip, director of research and product development. “But because suicide is a life-threatening event we thought it was important to provide this information in the product label.”

Merck said it recently added reports of suicide to Singulair’s label, which already listed suicidal thinking and behavior as reported side effects.

In clinical trials of asthma patients, the most common side effects were headache, flu, abdominal pain and cough.

With sales of $4.3 billion last year, Singulair is used by millions of patients in the U.S, according to Merck. First approved in 1998, it’s part of a class of asthma and allergy drugs that includes AstraZeneca’s Accolate and Critical Therapeutics’s Zyflo.

FDA said it is also reviewing reports of side effects with those drugs. Their labeling does not contain language about suicide.

“Patients should not stop taking Singulair before talking to their doctor,” FDA said in its statement, adding that doctors should monitor patients for suicidal behavior and mood changes.

Shares of Merck & Co. Inc. rose 8 cents to close at $44.78.