Articles Tagged with Fort Myers premises liability

It was her 8-year-old nephew’s birthday party, and he was thrilled to see her. The boy raced up excitedly to his aunt and tackled her, causing her to catch him as he jumped into her arms and she fell over. The result was a fracture of her left wrist.wrist

Now, four years later, she has been dubbed by some media outlets and commenters as the “worse aunt” after a jury rejected the claims made in her personal injury lawsuit against her nephew, now 12, whom she alleged was negligent in his exuberant greeting.

But there is reason to stop and reconsider. This case was almost certainly not about a beloved aunt trying to collect money from a minor or his father (the boy’s mother, plaintiff’s cousin, died last year). It was an attempt to collect compensation for medical bills from a homeowner’s insurance policy. In Connecticut, as in most states, insurance companies can’t be named as defendants in an initial cause of action. The reason is because courts have found it may prejudice jurors who may more readily find against a defendant who is known to have insurance and therefore the ability to pay. Continue reading ›

Liability waivers are not generally favored by Florida courts because they relieve one party of the obligation to use due care, and further shift the risk of injury to the party likely least equipped to take necessary precautions to avoid injury. For this reason, they are usually strictly construed against the party seeking to be relieved of that liability.vendorballoon

That said, releases of liability will be honored by the courts if it can be shown there was specific language that makes it clear the injured person fully appreciated the implications of that release.

In most of these cases, liability waivers are signed prior to a certain activity. For example, if you’ve ever ridden a rented jet ski, you probably had to sign a liability waiver. Similar releases are usually required for common Florida tourist activities like parasailing, boating or kayaking. However, most liability waivers don’t generally cover activity that occurs prior to signing that release. But that’s what defendants in Peterson v. Flare Fittings, Inc. et al. tried to do. Continue reading ›

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