"Ira Leesfield"

Published on: January 14, 2025

Concerns Flagged over E-Bikes in Key West at Latest City Commission Meeting. What to Know.

Officials raised concerns about e-bikes in Key West this week at the first City Commission Meeting of 2025.

The concern was flagged by Donie Lee, the City Commissioner and former police chief, who said the issue could not be solved with “more enforcement,” according to reporting from the Key west Citizen. His suggestion was to ban the electronic modes of transport from multi-use pathways to protect pedestrians and traditional cyclists from potential crashes.

Tom Malone, a resident who disagreed with Lee, spoke out during the public comments section of the meeting to share his experience as an avid walker throughout the community. As a pedestrian, he said, these electronic modes of transport present a significant hazard to pedestrians.

Published on: January 14, 2025

Four People Rescued from Sinking Boat off Florida Keys. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

At least four people were rescued from a sinking boat off the coast of Marathon, Florida, Sunday.

Th incident happened about 11 miles off the coast around 5 p.m. when a distress signal reached the U.S. Coast Guard. A crew was sent out to find the 27-foot, sinking vessel and its four passengers.

Additional information including what caused the boat to sink or whether anyone was injured were not immediately available Monday.

Published on: December 26, 2024

New Bill Proposes Stricter Penalties for ‘Boat and Run’ Crashes in Florida. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

Several bills, including one to impose stricter penalties on boaters involved in crashes, have been proposed in the Florida House and Senate ahead of the 2025 start to the legislative session in March; here’s what you should know.

The bill referencing the penalties was proposed by Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Republican in Miami, and would classify fleeing a fatal boat crash as a first-degree felony, meaning this charge could carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, if convicted. Additional penalties can include a $10,000 fine. If a person who is found guilty of this crime was also found to have bene under the influence at the time of the crash, then a mandatory, minimum sentence of four years would be applied.

This bill, SB 58, was filed in response to the 2022 Biscayne Bay boat crash that killed one high school student on board and permanently injured another. The student killed in that incident was 17-year-old Luciana Fernandez who was on the boat being operated by George Pino, a local real-estate developer. Pino was first charged with three misdemeanor charges of careless boating, but those charges were changed to vessel homicide after a witness came forward this year with new evidence in the case.

Published on: December 19, 2024

Tallahassee Woman Dies in Florida Keys While Scuba Diving, officials say.

By Leesfield & Partners

A woman died Tuesday morning while scuba diving with a commercial scuba vessel in the Florida Keys, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

The 56-year-old woman, identified at Andreas Shultz of Tallahassee, was diving at Molasses Reef off Key Lago. Just before 10 a.m., she was found unconscious in the water and was rushed to shore.

Shultz died enroute to shore while others on the boat performed CPR, according to local reporting.

Published on: December 18, 2024

Tractor-Trailer Driver Allegedly on social media Before Fatal Crash that killed woman, 8-year-old son.

By Leesfield & Partners

A tractor-trailer driver who faces felony charges in the August 2023 crash in Nebraska that killed a woman and her young son, 8, is now being accused of using Snapchat as he crashed, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.

Justin Zoerb, 22, was charged with two counts of motor vehicle homicide and one count of reckless driving following the Clay County, Nebraska, crash on Aug. 9, 2023.

The crash happened around 4 p.m., killing 8-year-old Ryker Schlichtman and Nicole Pavelka, 30. Three other children in the family were hospitalized for their injuries but lived.

Published on: December 13, 2024

Key West Hotel Joins Marriott Autograph Collection. A Look Back at Previous Leesfield & Partners Hotel Cases.

By Leesfield & Partners

Following a $35 million renovation, La Concha in Key West has recently joined Marriott’s “Autograph Collection,” a signifier of upscale properties within the Marriot International portfolio.

The 160-room hotel, formerly known as Crowne Plaza La Concha, was under construction since at least October of last year and now features a refurbished bar, hotel lobby and restaurant. Included in the renovation were upgrades to the outside of the hotel, rooms, the pool area and meeting spaces.

While the addition of an upscale lodging property is a positive development for Key West’s thriving tourist economy, which welcomes millions of visitors annually, guests should remain cautious.

Published on: November 4, 2024

This Month in Key West

By Leesfield & Partners

November has remained busy for Leesfield & Partners in Key West events.

Over the weekend in the Keys, Leesfield & Partners attorneys Justin B. Shapiro, Carlos A. Fabano and Evan Robinson attended the career celebration and retirement party for 16th Judicial Circuit Judge Luis Garcia.

Leesfield & Partners at dinner on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, honoring Judge Luis Garcia.

Published on: August 30, 2024

Southwest Florida County Reports Spike in Legionnaires’ Disease with three happening within the same community, neighbors say.

By Leesfield & Partners

About eight cases of Legionnaires’ Disease have been reported recently in Lee County, tallying 48 cases so far this year within the Southwest Florida community.

About three of the eight occurred within the same neighborhood after three women were reported to have pulled weeds in their garden, according to reporting from local news outlets. Two of the women have since died.

Information about how the women were infected was not immediately available.

Published on: June 17, 2024

Leesfield & Partners to launch a college scholarship in honor of a beloved Key West High School teacher

By Leesfield & Partners

Dexter Butler, 38, was a pillar of his community in Key West, positively impacting the lives of his high school students, the young men on his basketball team and all who knew him.

With a planned athletic scholarship to be awarded in his name, Butler will be afforded the opportunity to continue doing just that for his students.

“Coach Dex” and Butler’s Legacy

Published on: July 19, 2020

Fatal Parasailing incident in Key West Underscores Limits of Florida Parasailing Laws

By Leesfield & Partners

This week, a tragic parasailing incident took the life of 36-year-old Nicholas Hayward and critically injured 28-year-old Azalea Silva. This is a very sad reminder that Florida laws regulating – or attempting to regulate – the parasailing industry are still utterly inadequate and do not protect life. A very similar case was handled by Leesfield & Partners in 2007, which resulted in the passage of the very first law of its kind in the state of Florida. Ira Leesfield and Leesfield & Partners have been at the forefront of this issue, and it is time for reform.

The Miami Herald has reported on the latest incident that the commercial boat used to launch tourists up their parasail was operated by Sunset Watersports. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which investigates all boating accidents, has already stated that “severe weather [was] a contributing factor with this boating accident.” The spokesman for FWC, Officer Bobby Dube, described to reporters that the boat was operating in the middle of “harsh weather” when the incident occurred at around noon. Dube added that the incident took place as the duo began their ascent, they apparently fell very quickly and crashed in the water.

Regulation of the Florida parasailing industry is very light. The Amber May Law came into effect on October 1, 2014. It was named after Amber May, a young teenager who perished in a similar parasailing incident in 2007 in Broward County. Amber and her younger sister were also sent in the air as a duo in the middle of severe weather. Neither the small boat nor the rope could resist the high winds, and ultimately the rope snapped. The girls were catapulted against nearby buildings and hotels. Crystal, Amber May’s sister, lost her best friend and sustained a traumatic brain injury in an incident that was 100% preventable. Leesfield & Partners filed suit against multiple defendants immediately and secured a settlement on behalf of the family.