"Key West Personal Injury Attorneys" Tag Archives

Published on: December 13, 2024

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

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: September 23, 2024

Florida Divers Break Record in Annual Competition. What to Know About Safe Diving

By Leesfield & Partners

Divers broke records this year in an annual competition to remove invasive lionfish from Florida waters, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission press release.

The 2024 Lionfish Season concluded with a record-breaking 31,773 species being pulled from the water. Just under 300 divers went on over 700 trips throughout the state to retrieve the animals that are dangerous to native fish and coral reefs.

One lionfish can reduce a native reef fish population by over 70%. They also present a risk to humans with their venomous spines which can cause painful stings. In 2022, over 25,000 lionfish were removed from Florida waters in FWC’s annual, summer-long challenge, which began in 2016.

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: August 28, 2024

Teen killed after being struck by boat propeller. What to Know.

By Leesfield & Partners

An 18-year-old died when she was hit by a propeller trying to board a New Jersey boat over the weekend officials say.

The teen was on a raft being pulled by the boat and, when she tried to get on the boat, was hit by the propeller. Additional details were not immediately available Tuesday. The investigation is ongoing.

Officials urged boaters and swimmers alike to be advised of boating safety and propeller safety protocols stating that even when in neutral or at rest, propellers can still present a danger.

Published on: August 22, 2024

Parents of boy killed in St. Petersburg boat crash sue family of minor operating the vessel. What to Know about Florida’s Boater Age Requirements.

By Leesfield & Partners

Two families have filed lawsuits in a March St. Petersburg boat crash that resulted in a wrongful death case of a 15-year-old boy, according to reporting from local news outlets.

The crash happened near Bayshore Blvd in Shore Acres in St. Petersburg after a family get-together in which at least two boys went for an afternoon boat ride. Both boys were thrown into the water after the 18-foot vessel slammed into a concrete dock. They were taken to the hospital where one of them later died from his injuries. The other, the one who was driving the boat that day, had non-life-threatening injuries.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed last week, claims that the parents of the boy who was driving the boat the day of the crash purchased the vessel for him and allowed him to routinely use it without supervision and without ensuring that the teens were not taking alcohol on board. It goes on to allege that the boy told good Samaritans who pulled him out of the water that, at the time of the crash, he was looking down at his phone to change the music.

Published on: August 13, 2024

Florida student hospitalized after mom hits her with car during school drop-off. What to know about start of school traffic safety

By Leesfield & Partners

The first day of school drop-off lines can be particularly hectic with friends waving to one another after months away and frustrating traffic jams but, for one Florida family, the new school year’s drop-off turned tragic when a mother accidentally hit her child with her car.

The incident happened before 8 a.m. Monday during school drop-off when the Sarasota middle schooler was attempting to retrieve school supplies that had fallen underneath the car. The child crawled under the SUV to pick up the pens and markers. The mother, who told police she did not see the girl, hit her.

The girl was airlifted to a hospital in St. Petersburg in critical condition. There was no update on the child’s condition as of Tuesday.

Published on: August 13, 2024

Are You Prepared for Hurricane Season? What to Know

By Leesfield & Partners

A summer chock-full of dangerous floods, prompting iterations of the famed “Florida man” floating down city streets in a canoe to gain traction online are not the only threats to the state during hurricane season.

Hurricane season lasts from June until November each year and while Floridians may poke fun at the situation online, there is always the potential risk of an upcoming storm during these months. The latest system inching near the coast is expected to become Tropical Storm Ernesto, if it continues to gain strength, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service.

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and more than a dozen other islands in the Caribbean are under a tropical storm warning as of Monday as forecasters continue to monitor a system strengthening over the Caribbean. The system, which, if it continues to gather strength, could become Tropical Storm Ernesto, is expected to bring increased rain and flash floods to the islands.

Published on: August 9, 2024

Lobster season is a go! What to know to have a safe and successful lobster season

By Leesfield & Partners

The regular lobster season has officially begun in Florida, marking the long-awaited return of this popular recreational fishing activity.

Below are several important safety tips and rules you should know before you head out on the water.

Legal lobsters weigh about 1 pound and have a carapace shell of at least 3 inches or bigger. In Monroe County, you may keep six lobsters per person per day. It is not permissible to use any device that could harm the exoskeleton of spiny lobsters nor are divers allowed to separate the tail from the body or to take egg-bearing spiny lobsters in Florida waters. Recreational trapping is not allowed.

Published on: July 9, 2024

A slew of injuries reported in the Florida Keys throughout the Fourth of July weekend sets a devastating reminder of the serious consequences of boating accidents

By Leesfield & Partners

About eight people were injured and one person died in three separate incidents in the Florida Keys over the holiday weekend, according to local officials.

The latest of the three incidents happened around 2 a.m. Monday when a Contender boat crashed into the South Pine Channel Bridge, a bridge connecting Middle Torch Key and Ramrod Key in the Lower Keys. At least seven people were injured in the crash including a child. The child and two others were transported via air ambulance while four others were taken to local hospitals. Monroe County Fire Rescue officials told The Miami Herald that the boat was going at a high rate of speed when it crashed.

The second incident took place Saturday around noon in Key West and involved at least one person on a jet ski who was transported to the hospital by helicopter. Additional details, including how the incident happened or whether another watercraft was involved, were not immediately available Monday.

Published on: June 17, 2024

Leesfield & Partners retained in case of 83-year-old woman attacked by neighbor’s pet bird. What happened?

By Leesfield & Partners

An 83-year-old Marathon, Florida, woman retained Leesfield & Partners to represent her after a neighbor’s pet bird attacked her while she folded towels at the community pool.

The woman lives alone in the Marathon community in a two-story condominium and was watching her granddaughter swim in the pool the day of the incident. When she returned to the pool later on to retrieve the beach towels her granddaughter had left, a neighbor came down to the pool area carrying their pet bird whose wings are clipped. As the woman folded the discarded towels, her neighbor put the bird on the fence around the pool near where the woman stood. The bird then reached out and bit the woman on her hand, startling her and causing her to violently fall to the ground. The woman was transported to hospitals a total of three times by ambulance and it was determined she had a broken hip requiring surgery.

Following the bird attack, the woman was left bedridden at the hospital for several weeks and likely has several months of painful recovery and physical therapy still ahead. Due to the incident, the woman “sustained permanent disabling and disfiguring injuries,” according to a lawsuit filed in Circuit Court for the 17th Judicial Circuit in Monroe County.