"key west"

Published on: July 31, 2024

Boy hit, tragically killed by boat propeller over the weekend

A 6-year-old boy was hit and killed by a boat propeller after he went overboard into a Missouri Lake, according to reporting from The Miami Herald Monday.

The boy was reportedly knee-boarding on Table Rock Lake in the Ozarks, a man-made lake, around 11 a.m. when he fell in the water. The operator of the boat circled back for the boy and, as he attempted to swim back to the vessel, he was caught by the propeller while the boat was still in reverse. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene by a Deputy Coroner.

A woman in Central Florida who went overboard on a Pontoon boat last week was killed after being hit by the boat’s propeller. Two weeks ago, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued a public notice to alert boaters to safety tips regarding divers-down flags ahead of the start of the lobster mini-season. This comes as boaters and personal watercraft users saw back-to-back incidents on the water in the Florida Keys at the beginning of the month which resulted in the injury of at least eight people including a child and the death of one other person. On July 14, a crash involving a 42-foot boat and a jet ski resulted in the death of at least one person.

Published on: July 26, 2024

Fire Monday at Key West Marina damages boats. Fire Safety Tips to Know to Protect You and Your Family

By Leesfield & Partners

A fire that broke out Monday at a Key West Marina left at least three boats heavily damaged, officials say.

Firefighters were called out to Robbie’s Marina of Key West on 7281 Shrimp Rd. at around 9:30 p.m. and took a little less than four hours to be extinguished. At least three boats, measuring 23, 25, and 40 feet, respectively, were heavily damaged due to the blaze.

No injuries were reported in the incident. Additional details like how the fire got started were not immediately available Wednesday. The State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the incident.

Published on: July 24, 2024

FWC urges boaters to turn off boats completely if someone goes overboard following the tragic death of a woman on the water Sunday

By Leesfield & Partners

A woman died Sunday after she went overboard and was hit by a boat propeller on the Ocklawaha River, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The woman was on a Pontoon boat with at least eight other people around 1:30 p.m. when she went overboard and was hit by the propeller. She was pulled from the water but died en route to the hospital.

This comes after three back-to-back incidents on the water in Monroe County over the Fourth of July weekend and one fatal incident last week in Bay Harbor Islands involving a jet ski.

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: July 3, 2024

Major Florida Highway renamed in honor of famous Leesfield & Partners client almost a year after his death

By Leesfield & Partners

Parrotheads can serenade themselves in traffic about lost salt shakers to their hearts’ content as they drive down State Road A1A, now renamed “Jimmy Buffet Memorial Highway,” thanks to one of two bills signed late last week.

Gov. Ron De Santis, R-FL, signed the bills that will now honor the late singer who passed away last September from a type of skin cancer, according to reporting from CBS Miami. The first bill would name State Road A1A after Buffet and the second would create a “Margaritaville” specialty license plate in honor of his most famous song. Proceeds from the specialty license plate will go to the Singing For Change Charitable Foundation founded by Buffet and initially funded by the earnings of his 1995 summer tour. The bills are slated to take effect starting Oct. 1.

Buffet was among some of the most influential clients represented by Leesfield & Partners, a personal injury and wrongful death law firm that opened its doors in 1976. The law firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, Ira H. Leesfield, spoke about his friendship with Buffet and history representing him as an attorney during an interview with the Two Lawyers Walk Into A Bar podcast hosted by Cooper Knowlton and Lee Bergstein, partners at a New York City-based real estate law firm.

Published on: July 2, 2024

Police investigating after 5-year-old drowned in Miami-Dade pool. What to know to stay safe in the water this summer

By Leesfield & Partners

A 5-year-old boy died Thursday night after drowning in the backyard pool of a home in Miami-Dade County, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

Emergency responders were called out to the home, located on the 14800 block of SW 168th Terrace, just before 8 p.m. Thursday. The boy was taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital for emergency treatment but was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Additional details were not immediately available Friday. The incident is under investigation by the Miami-Dade Homicide Detectives.

Published on: June 20, 2024

A disturbance heading for the state is not a threat to Florida, but that won’t always be the case. How to make sure you’re prepared for the unthinkable this hurricane season.

By Leesfield & Partners

Rain is expected to hit South Florida Friday afternoon due to a disturbance being monitored by The National Weather Service in Miami.

As of Thursday, this disturbance is located about 150 miles east of the northernmost Bahamas and has a 40% chance of becoming a tropical depression over Thursday and Friday. Meteorologists do not anticipate this storm to be a serious threat to the state, according to reporting from The Miami Herald. The disturbance will bring extra rain to the area as it approaches the east coast before heading north.

Meteorologists with NWS in Miami have estimated about a quarter of an inch of rain beginning Friday afternoon. In areas where thunderstorms are predicted, rainfall estimates could be higher.

Published on: May 28, 2024

Driver allegedly asleep at the wheel crashes into two marathon runners in Key West weekend race.

By Leesfield & Partners

Two pedestrians running in a weekend race on U.S. 1 near mile marker 17 in Key West were hospitalized after being hit by a car whose driver had allegedly fallen asleep at the wheel.

The driver, 23, was heading north when officials say she fell asleep at the wheel, eventually hitting two men identified by NBC 6 South Florida as a surgeon named “Matt D.,” and a University of Miami professor named “Gabriel.” The two men were hit around 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18, and were participating in the Keys 100, a 100-mile point-to-point race to benefit The Cancer Foundation of the Florida Keys Inc, which offers various services to cancer patients in the Keys who have to be shuttled to and from Miami for treatment. As the driver fell asleep, her car went out of her lane to the right, hitting the first runner and then the second before stopping on the road’s right shoulder.

The wife of Matt D. said in an interview with NBC 6 that part of her husband’s right arm had to be amputated and he remains in the hospital at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center for treatment. The wife of Gabriel, the other runner injured in the crash, said that doctors expect him to lose some function in his right arm. Both wives claim their husbands to be experienced runners with Gabriel’s wife adding that safety measures like cones and signs to tell drivers that there are runners in the area were missing. Keys 100 officials said in the article that the Seven Mile Bridge is coned, but not other parts of the course and “it [the entire course] never has been [completely coned off.]”

Published on: August 23, 2017

Trial Lawyers support community and celebrate 44 years in Key West

By Leesfield & Partners

Leesfield & Partners continues its community involvement in Key West and Monroe County as it enters its 44th year as personal injury trial counsel.

In 1973, our managing partner Ira Leesfield, tried a wrongful death case on behalf of a Navy family, resulting in a widely known verdict. Since that trial, Leesfield and his partners have been called on to represent local families and visitors from all over the United States and the world.

Leesfield & Partners has noted that our firm has tried to verdict and settled more substantial cases than any firm practicing in Key West. The firm’s $40.5 million verdict in September 2007 is certainly a record. However, the firm has a number of seven figure settlements and verdicts having represented many families and leaders of Monroe County.

Published on: October 13, 2016

Spearfisherman seriously injured in Key West

By Leesfield & Partners

Diver down flag – Courtesy of diveasia.com

Recently, Leesfield & Partners represented the family of a young child who was fatally injured while snorkeling by the propellers of a boat off of Cow Key Channel, in Key West, Florida. Last weekend, a very similar incident took place, this time near Edward B. Knight Pier, formerly named White Street Pier. While boating accidents involving swimmers / divers are statistically down, it remains one of the top 3 concerns in Florida according to the latest boating accident statistics released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (“FWC”).

In this latest tragedy, 29 year old David Corlew was spearfishing approximately 200 yards off the pier with fellow spearfisherman. At around 8:30 a.m., a a twin-engine 32-foot commercial charter Sea Vee vessel operated by Robert Householder struck David Corlew, who was displaying a diver-down flag as required by Florida Law, which caused him to sustain traumatic leg injuries.