Family Law Florida
Christopher P. Mueller has joined Taylor, Day, Currie, Boyd & Johnson in Jacksonville as an associate. Mueller practices in the areas of negligence, construction law and medical malpractice.
Shawn M. Heath has joined GrayRobinson in Tallahassee as a shareholder in the litigation practice group. Heath practices liability law as related to the construction, architectural, and engineering areas.
Kathy L. Yeatter has joined Berger Singerman in Ft. Lauderdale as an associate in the firm’s business reorganization team.
Terrence Russell has been named managing shareholder of Fowler White Boggs’ Fort Lauderdale office. Russell concentrates in civil trial and business litigation.
Donna DiMaggio Berger has become a partner with Katzman Garfinkel Rosenbaum in Ft. Lauderdale, which now is known as Katzman Garfinkel & Berger.
Kenneth A. Gordon has become a named partner of Brinkley, Morgan, Solomon, Tatum, Stanley, Lunny & Gordon in Ft. Lauderdale. Gordon practices in the area of marital and family law.
David K. Black and Iryna Ivashchuk have joined Berger Singerman as associates. Both will practice in the firm’s business, finance, and tax team. Black is resident in the Miami office and Ivashchuk is resident in the Ft. Lauderdale office.
RoseMarie Antonacci-Pollock has become a partner at Falk, Waas, Hernandez, Cortina, Solomon & Bonner in Ft. Lauderdale. She will continue to focus her practice on the representation of physicians and hospitals in malpractice and disciplinary matters.
E. Brooke Panagakos has joined Litchfield Cavo in Ft. Lauderdale as an associate.
Steven W. Marcus has joined Fowler White Boggs in Ft. Lauderdale. Marcus represents clients in areas of business and commercial litigation, including large and small corporations, developers, financial institutions, and property owners.
Clifford Schulman has joined Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske in South Florida. Schulman will be focusing on land use and environmental law.
Lori L. Heyer-Bednar has been named as partner-in-charge of Roetzel & Andress’ Ft. Lauderdale office. Heyer-Bednar replaces Joel D. Mayersohn, who has been appointed co-practice group manager of corporate and business services for the firm. Heyer-Bednar's practice focuses on commercial litigation, creditors’ rights, business litigation and bankruptcy. Mayersohn focuses his practice in the areas of corporate, securities, and business law.
Michael A. Dribin has joined Harper Meyer Perez Hagen O’Connor Albert & Dribin in Miami as a partner. Dribin focuses on litigation, estate planning, probate and trust and guardianship administration.
Darin I. Zenov has been elected to partnership in the Miami office of Foley & Lardner. Zenov practices in the area of tax and individual planning, employee benefits, and estates and trusts.
Oversized vehicles and tractor trailers are often a cause of concern for other drivers on the road. When an oversized vehicle or tractor trailer and a car get into a car accident, the injuries can sometimes be fatal. This was the case in Lee County on December 22, 2004 when a family lost a loved one to a car accident with a tractor trailer. The car accident occurred at approximately 5:40 a.m. on Metro Parkway. The decedent, Michael K. Bandsuch, was traveling southbound in his vehicle when a tractor trailer allegedly stopped in the middle of the road and blocked both lanes of traffic. The driver of the tractor trailer was an employee for Werner Enterprises and was making a delivery at the time of the car accident. In a vehicle next to the decedent was another driver, Ronald Lemaster. Both Lemaster and Bandsuch noticed the tractor trailer, but unlike Lemaster, Bandsuch was unable to avoid the car accident. He struck the tractor trailer and sustained fatal injuries as a result of the collision.
After a nine day trial and eight and half hours of deliberation, a jury in Lee County, Florida returned a verdict of $2,950,000. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the jury’s verdict on April 6, 2010. The defendant driver claimed that the truck he was driving complied with the required amount of reflective tape on the side of the trailer and also claimed that the tractor and trailer had sufficient lighting at the time of the car accident. However, he did not dispute that he was blocking both lanes of southbound traffic. Despite the defendants’ allegations that Bandsuch had medical conditions that contributed to the car accident and could possibly reduce damages, the jury found no negligence on the part of Bandsuch.
If a case like this goes before a jury, many unique factors come into play. Specifically, the testimony of witnesses referred to as “experts” can greatly increase a plaintiff’s chance of recovery. Experts are witnesses who through a showing of sufficient knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, are entitled to give an opinion in a case and testify to scientific or technical matters if it would assist a jury. The attorneys for the Plaintiffs in this case, John Romano and Maureen Martinez-Schwab of West Palm Beach, FL, put on an Accident Reconstructionist and Economist to aid the jury in understanding how the accident happened, and to help the jury to determine the amount of damages. The attorneys at Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes have a great deal of experience with jury trials and specialize in wrongful death cases such as this. Two attorneys at our firm are Board Certified in Trial Advocacy, and all of our attorneys work hard to determine what type of experts are important to your case. If you lose a family member in a car accident such as this, click here to contact us. We see you through.
Tags: car accident, fatal injuries, jury, perenich caulfield avril noyes, tractor trailer, wrongful death
