Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A famous American once said: “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country…corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” - Abraham Lincoln, 1864

Years ago, I became familiar with an organization called POCLAD. POCLAD is an acronym for “Program on Corporations, Law & Democracy”. This is a small organization that invites people to engage in this thought: giant corporations actually govern this country. In the Constitution of the United States, they (corporations) are delegated no authority to make our laws and define our culture. In fact, they are not recognized at all. Corporations have no constitutions, no bills of rights. So when corporations govern, democracy flies out the door.

The quote from Lincoln seems as relevant today as it was 145 years ago – maybe more relevant.

Is there any question that Mega-corporations dominate global politics, our lives, our government, our work, our healthcare and our food supply? Media conglomerates set the limits of public discussion, commercialize our national consciousness, and manipulate mainstream public opinion to their own ends. Those of us who pick juries see the results of this manipulation every time we go to the Courthouse for voir dire. The disrespect for the Court and the judicial process didn’t spring out of thin air. A steady diet of this disrespect can be heard on major corporate “news” outlets almost every night. (Although I must admit, it is probably reinforced by some types of attorney advertising).

There is also the issue of ecology – the trendy phrase now is “global warming”. POCLAD makes the argument that the earth’s complex ecology is endangered by corporations since people are exhorted to consume more in the name of “growth” so big companies can get bigger. Ergo, the housing glut fostered by large real estate development corporations raping the land.

Banks that wanted to “expand” without proper limits on loans and investments, and investment corporations that redefined the term “speculation” with a secondary market for mortgage backed securities and “unregulated” insuring of securities’ transactions in London and unrestricted mining and drilling all are contributing to a systemic alteration of the individuals’ role (loss of power) versus the corporate role in the protection of our environment.

Continue reading " Provocative Thought: Should Corporations Have the Same Rights as Citizens? " »

Posted by Richard D. Schuler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Palm Beach County Bar Newsletter

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Negligence and abuse in nursing home cases is a shocking reality for thousands of older Americans, and the ultimate result is often serious and even life-threatening problems for nursing home residents.

It was a very hard decision for this wife of 27 years to have to place her husband in a nursing home, but he had started wandering away from home and at the age of 76, she felt she was unable to keep an eye on him and keep him safe from harm. So, she did the only thing she felt she could do, but she was a frequent companion to her husband while he was in the rehabilitation center and he was the light of her life. Their conversations and time together were one of her reasons for living.

An investigation into this case indicated that the nursing home consistently failed to provide adequate protective and supportive services for this elderly gentleman, and the nursing home knew that it’s facility was in disrepair to the extent that the sliding glass door in this patient’s room was broken and off track and allowed it to remain in the open position, in fact, it could not be closed. The nursing home failed to fix this problem although it had more than six (6) months’ notice of the disrepair.

The nursing home staff was fully aware that this patient was suffering from dementia, a condition which creates confusion and disorientation and was aware that he had previously left the facility, undetected, and wandered about outside the premises without the knowledge of the nursing home staff until found. In fact, the nursing home staff had previously called the patient’s wife thinking that he was at home when, in fact, they had completely lost track of him and didn’t know where he was.

The nursing home claimed to have wrist bracelets which, if used, would have electronically alerted its staff that the patient had left the facility. Unfortunately, despite the facility’s knowledge of this patient’s dementia condition, it did not see fit to use such a wrist bracelet with him and therefore disregarded its own safety device, which was available, under the very conditions it was designed for.

Continue reading " Patient Wanders Away From Nursing Home in Boca Raton, Florida and Drowns " »

Posted by Schuler, Halvorson & Weisser | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Nursing Home Litigation

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I read an article recently where some large law firms in Chicago and Washington, D.C., were laying off (firing) lawyers and support staff. One firm reportedly “asked” ten equity and non-equity partners to leave. The quote from the managing partner was: “we have to watch the bottom line”.

These are scary economic times as we all know. There is always that tension between law as a profession and the “business” side of private practice.

For many of us, this is the life we have chosen. It is not a job but a “calling”. As such, our PBCBA helps us to nurture our professionalism – but also helps with the business side by having CLE seminars on how to manage our practices professionally and how to improve our business efficiency by making mentors available and having training and information available on systems (computers and otherwise) that may aid us to make our practices more efficient on the “business” side.

Ultimately, it “pays” to be optimistic with our clients, our peers, our opponents and even our competitors. They like it, it makes us feel good, it’s more “professional” and it’s good for business. Although pundit and columnist George Will has said: “the nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised”, I prefer the middle ground position of humorist Gil Stern: “Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.”

When it comes to trial lawyers (although I think this is applicable to all of our specialties), Ed Ricci made a great point in a recent article for the PBCJA on “Why Juries Hate Trial Lawyers”. Ed noted a number of scandals where nationally prominent lawyers had been arrested and gone to jail noting that their “Achilles heel” was “the money”. He then referred to the most famous trial lawyers – some real – some fictional – Clarence Darrow, Perry Mason, Atticus Finch and others and asked a rhetorical question about whether these iconic folks were revered for “the money” or because of their skill and devotion to justice. It’s obvious that they were champions of justice.

Optimistically, I would like to think the stories of the above men are not lessons lost in the current business climate.

Posted by Richard D. Schuler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Palm Beach County Bar Newsletter

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More than 8,084 pedestrians were involved in auto accidents in 2004. Out of that number, 504 were killed and 7,551 were injured. And, these numbers are only increasing as each year passes.

In this auto accident case, the victim was a 74 year old grandmother taking a walk one beautiful Saturday morning in Boynton Beach, Florida. As she was passing by a McDonald’s, a bizarre accident occurred.

An 83 year old gentleman was pulling out on to Federal Highway from the McDonald’s driveway and making a right-hand turn with the flow of traffic. According to witnesses, this elderly driver pulled out in front of a pick-up truck traveling down Federal Highway. The pick-up truck hit the elderly man’s car on the left rear panel, spinning the car around 180 degrees, where it struck the median and then continued to accelerate in the opposite direction back toward the sidewalk, where the victim was walking. As the car was accelerating, it hit the sidewalk curb and ran over the victim, then flattened a “Do Not Enter” sign and some bushes, before dragging the victim over a grassy berm and back down the berm’s embankment back toward the McDonald’s building. Glass shattered and metal frames bent as the car crumbled the building’s door and window while literally crushing the victim.

The victim in this case had been married to her husband for 54 years at the time of this accident. Her husband had gone golfing this particular morning and when he returned, he was surprised that his wife had not yet returned from her morning walk. As time passed, he grew concerned and went first to the nearby McDonald’s where she sometimes stopped. The owner of the McDonald’s knew the couple and immediately sat the husband down and informed him what had happened to his wife and that she had been taken to nearby Delray Medical Center.

The victim’s husband was taken to the hospital by police, but his wife was already in surgery and he was informed that she could not be saved, as she had died approximately five hours after she had been crushed.

This auto accident was a case that involved the loss of a love relationship that had existed for decades - a loss so sudden and tragic that the details of it will never be erased from the minds of this victim’s family. This lovely lady was a wife, mother, grandmother and sister. She will be missed and grieved by her entire family.

Thankfully, Richard D. Schuler was able to settle this case with all defendants for the total amount of $1,837,500.00.

Posted by Schuler, Halvorson & Weisser | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Automobile Accidents

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During a quick stop at the grocery store for a couple of items, our 62 year old divorced client in this case was proceeding toward the express lane with groceries in hand, when she slipped on an unknown wet substance, causing her to fall onto her left knee. This unknown liquid was located near the express checkout lane of the store. Although unable to identify the wet substance on the floor, the client stated that it was a clear liquid and was unnoticeable.

Grocery store employees, including the manager, came to this lady’s assistance immediately after her fall and provided the victim with paper towels to clean the liquid from her body and from the floor. It seems the manager of this grocery store completed an incident report, but no copy was given to our client.

No one seemed to know where the liquid could have come from. However, after some investigation into this matter, it was established that buckets filled with water and flowers had been placed at the end of several of the checkout aisles, in the hopes that customers would notice the flowers and purchase them on their way to the cash register. Of course, in the process of choosing the flowers and taking them to the cash register, the flowers would drip water all over the floor, thereby causing a hazardous environment for the customers.

All businesses that anticipate customers moving about their establishment have a duty to maintain a safe and hazard-free environment for their invited guests. This grocery store breached this duty and additionally failed to warn its guests of an existing hazard. As a result of this store’s failure to maintain a safe, clean and hazard-free environment, or warn it’s guests of an existing hazard, this client sustained a permanent injury in this serious slip and fall accident.

After slipping on this liquid and falling onto her left knee, the victim was transported to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, where x-rays revealed a displaced fracture of the left patella. The hospital referred this lady to a specialist for a surgical consultation, and less than two weeks after her fall, she underwent an open reduction and internal fixation of the displaced fracture to her left patella.

For the next eight weeks following her surgery, this client was required to wear a knee immobilizer and remain on protected weight bearing restrictions. She was able to walk without external support after this time, but she continued to have limited range of motion and was required to complete necessary physical therapy for an additional eight weeks.

The surgeon indicated that the internal hardware in this victim’s left knee would need to be removed within the next six months, obviously involving additional surgery and expense.

As you can see,slip and fall accidents, sometimes also referred to as premises liability accidents, can be life altering events. This client missed several weeks of work, has been unable to play with her grandchildren, was forced to rely on others to assist her in required daily activities, and has been forced to make unwanted life changes overall. However, after a three day jury trial, Richard D. Schuler was awarded a jury verdict of $250,000.00 in favor of this seriously injured client and she will now be able to obtain the future surgery she will need.

Posted by Schuler, Halvorson & Weisser | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Premises Liability Litigation

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Our Country’s founders split our government into three parts to protect us from abuses of power. Yet our legislature (2nd branch) appropriates money to support our Courts (3rd branch). The Executive branch appoints new judges and fills vacancies. Yet the Courts are supposed to be apolitical. The founders attempted to protect our courts from political influence so judges could protect our freedom. Courts consider the facts and the law, not politics or religion. As Alexander Hamilton said: “Laws are a dead letter without Courts to expound and define their true meaning and operations.”

Presently, our Court system is under pressure as never before due to State budgetary cuts imposed by the Legislature. Is it too soon to call this a crisis? You need to be the judge of that. However, here are some facts that may be of interest:

1. The State of Florida’s budget for fiscal year 08-09 is $66,199,586,152. That’s down from $71 billion in 07-08.

2. The State Court Systems’ Budget for 08-09 is $438,269,619. That’s 0.7% of the entire State budget.

3. The annual Trial Court Budget for Palm Beach County’s 15th Judicial Circuit for 08-09 is $21,689,144.

4. There are 54 Judges (35 Circuit/19 County) for a land area (Palm Beach County) of 2,500 square miles and a population of 1,300,000 – including operations at 5 Courthouses- West Palm Beach Downtown (Main Courthouse); West Palm Beach Gun Club (next to Jail); North County (PGA Boulevard); West County (Belle Glade) and South County (Delray).

5. Cuts already made in the State’s appropriation for the Courts total $44 million (10%) over the last two years and 280 jobs.

6. In addition to the above reductions, the Governor has ordered a 4% holdback of the cash release for 08-09. The Chief Justice (of Florida’s Supreme Court) has ordered a similar holdback for the Judicial Branch but has reached an agreement with the Legislature to look for other alternatives to the Courts’ salary budget to avoid significant additional immediate staff reductions. There are rumors of a Special Session to further cut the 08-09 Fiscal Year Budget.

Continue reading " Help Our Courts Maintain Our Freedom (It's a Small Price to Pay) " »

Posted by Richard D. Schuler | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Palm Beach County Bar Newsletter

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