Lake County Personal Injury Law Blog

You may remember our blog reporting about the collapse of a South Florida parking garage that injured or killed a total of nine construction workers. The wrongful death civil suit in that case has concluded, with relatives of the four deceased workers receiving settlements in connection with the case. The five injured workers also benefitted from the financial compensation offered by defendants, Ajax Building Corp., and several other subcontractors. The terms of the settlement are confidential.

Authorities report that the concrete garage at Miami-Dade College's west campus collapsed on the workers during October 2012. The accident was so severe that one worker's body could not be recovered for a full week; the debris pile was too unstable for recovery teams to enter. The collapse of the five-story, $20 million garage had wide-reaching impacts, forcing the 8,000 students at the campus to attend classes at other locations until after the new year.

The infamous Florida case surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin has reached a small conclusion, with the boy's family settling a wrongful death suit that named the homeowners' association of the subdivision where the boy died as defendants. Martin was killed just feet away from his father's house in February 2012. Reports out of Orlando show that the family has agreed to accept a set amount of money from the community group.

The case garnered national media attention after area police departments wavered about their decision to charge the neighborhood watchman who reportedly gunned down the victim. The watchman, George Zimmerman, was charged with second degree murder. His trial is still pending. Zimmerman contends he shot the youngster only after he was attacked first, according to news reports.

Two men are dead following a sky diving accident in Florida in which their parachutes reportedly failed to open, according to the company that oversaw the jumps. Police have yet to confirm parachute failure as the cause of the deaths, however, and are currently awaiting the results of autopsies. Investigators will also likely examine footage from the divers' helmet-mounted camera to learn more about what may have prompted the fatal accident.

The two victims were foreign sky divers visiting Florida on vacation. Unlike car or motorcycle accidents, where usually a driver is at fault, sky divers are typically considered liable for any accidents that occur while jumping, meaning that victims should have been required to sign waivers purging the sky diving facility from liability. While they would not be entitled to liability insurance coverage, the victims' families could potentially seek damages from the facility, the manufacturer of the faulty parachutes or another party with a wrongful death lawsuit.

Two women visiting from out-of-state are dead following an auto accident in the Florida Panhandle. Authorities say that at least seven other people, including the victims' two friends, were injured in the two-vehicle crash, which happened shortly after 11 a.m. Police say the victims and their two friends, all females, were college students returning home after spending their spring break in the state. It is unclear whether any individuals involved in the wreck will face criminal charges or civil lawsuits. Investigators say they have ruled out alcohol as a potential factor in the crash.

Troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol say the serious car accident occurred when one of the victims lost control of her vehicle for an unknown reason, causing it to drift across the center lane and into oncoming traffic. The woman then reportedly jerked the car back into the proper lane, over-correcting and causing the vehicle to spin out and enter the path of a nearby pickup truck. The two vehicles then violently collided, killing the two 21-year-old students. The FHP reports that both women were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.