Miami Resort Injury Lawyer Blog

The Federal Government is vigorously working to ensure that seafood, from the Gulf of Mexico, contaminated by the BP oil spill does not cause further damage and reach our dinner tables. It should come as no surprise that the contaminated fish may result in severe food poisoning if consumed.

Many restaurants, and other public establishments, may be serving seafood from the Gulf of Mexico that has been contaminated by the BP oil spill. This contaminated seafood will likely cause many individuals to fall seriously sick.

Food poisoning is the result of eating organisms or toxins in contaminated food. Most cases of food poisoning are from common bacteria such as Staphylococcus or E. coli. The general symptoms of food poisoning generally occur within two to six hours of it being the contaminated food, but in some instances the symptoms may not appear for hours, or days, later.

Food poisoning symptoms include, but are not limited to, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever and chills, headaches, nausea and vomiting, weakness, and other more serious issues such as respiratory arrest, as in the case of botulism.

The seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is not the only food product that can cause food poisoning these days. Indeed, and just recently, many Subway restaurants in Illinois were targeted as a result of a food borne illness outbreak. Many local hotels, and popular dining establishments, have also been the recent sites of increased food poisoning complaints.

Continue reading "BP Oil Spill Contaminating the Food Supply and Causing Food Poisoning" »

Dating back to Independence Day in 1776, when John Adams penned a letter to his wife Abigail saying, "I am apt to believe that this day will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations," fireworks have been a part of our country's history.

More than 100 years later, there were approximately 9,000 fireworks-related injuries, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.

Because more fireworks are used on and around the Fourth of July in the U.S. than in any other celebration in the world, there is a larger concentration of fireworks related injuries during this time of the year. If you, or a loved one, are injured by fireworks while visting a hotel or resort, please contact our office today to discuss your legal rights.

The best thing to do to avoid the tragedy of fireworks accidents is not to use them at all, and to stay as far away from those who do. If you can't resist the joy of fireworkds, however, obey Florida's laws, purchase fireworks from a reputable store, and follow the Consumer Product Safety Commission's guidelines and the advice from the National Safe Kids Campaign.

Our firm wishes you a happy and safe Independence Day.

We recently reported on the rise of sexual assaults at many local hotels, and other public establishments. Additionally, with the economy placing financial pressure on many resorts to cut corners, many hotels and resorts may not have adequate security to properly safeguard against reasonably foreseeable criminal acts, or other acts of negligence.

In Florida, the duty owed to the injured party will depend on the injured party's status on the property at the time of the accident. The general rule in Florida is that a property owner owes a duty to eliminate and protect against reasonably foreseeable intentional acts of third parties. Furthermore, while the general rule in Florida is that a hotel, or resort, is not the insurer of the public safety, they do have a duty to protect guard against a reasonably foreseeable act.

Additionally, hotels and resorts have a non-delegable duty to its guests to ensure that its premises are reasonably safe. One way that a hotel, or resort, may attempt to ensure that its premises are safe is to contract with an outside security company to provide security services on its premises. However, just because the hotel, or resort, may hire the services of a security company, that does not mean that the hotel or resort no longer has a duty to its patrons to keep its premises safe. Quite the contrary, and to repeat, the hotel and resorts have a non-delegable duty to ensure that its guests are reasonable safe from foreseeable harm.

Alvarez & Barbara, LLP has extensive and successful experience representing clients in all areas of negligent security and premises liability claims. It is often helpful to work with an experienced attorney from the early stages of your case in an effort to strengthen the liability theory of your case, and maximize potential recovery.

Continue reading "Negligent Security at Hotels and Other Public Places " »

Florida, and South Florida in particular, attracts thousands of visitors each and every year. Many of those visitors travel to Florida to take advantage of the many fine beaches, lakes, and pools found throughout our great state.

Often times, many hotels, or resorts, advertise that one can participate in certain recreational activities, such as parasailing, while staying on their premises and enjoying their pools, lakes and beaches. And if those activities are unsupervised, unregulated, or just operated in a negligent manner, it could often times lead to serious injuries.

It is therefore critical to consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer if you, or a loved one, are injured while visiting Florida.

In Florida, one who maintains a public resort is required to exercise all proper precautions, skill and care commensurate with the circumstances to put and maintain the place and every part thereof in a reasonable safe condition for the use to which it may rightly be devoted. E.H.P. Corp. v. Cousin, 654 So.2d 976 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1995). In other words, in Florida, if a resort specifically caters to the public at large for its swimming pools, beaches, or other water related recreational activities, then those facts may be sufficient to impose a duty onto the resort to provide for adequate compensation for the injured party.

Beaches, and large swimming pools, are often times a haven for recreational activities that are much too often unregulated by the State and unsupervised by the resort. While the resorts may attempt to distance themselves from these "independent" operators of recreational activities on their property, the resorts very own promotional materials, and advertisements, will often likely be used to demonstrate that the "independent" operator is really nothing more than the resort's agent. This will allow an experienced personal injury attorney to seek adequate compensation for the party that was injured as a result of the "independent" operator's negligence.

Continue reading "Injured Parasailing or Engaging in other Recreational Activities While Visiting a Florida Resort or Hotel" »

What happens, in Florida, when you're injured in an auto accident by the negligent actions of an operator of a rental car? Unfortunately, a relatively new law, commonly known as the Graves Amendment, will likely bar any recovery from the owner of the dangerous instrumentality, i.e. the rental car company.

Before specifically discussing the Graves Amendment, it is important to understand that Florida has long adhered to the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. Indeed, its origins date back to 1920.

In Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson, 86 So. 629, 638 (Fla. 1920) Florida's Supreme Court held that "one who authorizes and permits an instrumentality that is peculiarly dangerous in its operation to be used by another on the public highway, is liable in damages for injuries to third persons caused by the negligent operation of such instrumentality on the highway by one so authorized by the owner." Id. at 638. In other words, a car owner is liable under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine when the negligent operation of the dangerous instrumentality, i.e. car, causes injury to a third party. Rodriguez-Cespedes v. Creative Leasing, Inc., 728 So. 2d 811 (Fla 3rd DCA 1999); Pabon v. Interamerican Car Rental, Inc., 715 So. 2d 1148 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1998); Budget Rent a Car Systems v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Inc., 727 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1999); Almon v. Enterprise Leasing Company, 537 So. 2d 1046 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989). As illustrated by the above line of Florida cases, the dangerous instrumentality doctrine, in Florida, applied to rental car companies too since they are the owners of the dangerous instrumentality, i.e the rental car.

Not long ago, however, a Federal law was passed to help insulate rental car companies, in Florida, from liability for serious personal injuries caused by the rental vehicles. This law is commonly known as the "Graves Amendment."

The "Graves Amendment" is being challenged in courts across Florida. Indeed, our firm is currently handling an appeal before the Third District Court of Appeal on this very issue. Just as important, all attorneys that are currently handling rental car auto accident cases here in Florida, like our firm, are anxiously awaiting a ruling from the Florida Supreme Court on a pending case that may shed some positive light on those injured in auto accidents involving a rental car.

Continue reading "Was the Driver of the Car that Hit You Driving a Rental Car in that Car Accident? " »