Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A man was awarded $400,000 in damages after his 5 year old disabled daughter drowned at a children's center while taking part in an after school program.The child was found submerged in a mineral pool where she was taking part in hydrotherapy, at a Crippled Children's Center in Desert. The child, who was autistic and legally blind, died the next day from her injuries.Her father filed a wrongful death suit against Crippled Children's Foundation, the School District, the Cerebral Palsy Organization as well as three people who had worked with his daughter. As an experienced trial attorney I have reviewed many cases of wrongful death and have completed same with favorable results. The jury voted to award $40,000 in damages for past loss of companionship and $360,000 for future loss of companionship.
The little girl, who was diagnosed with low-functioning autism, was in a special education kindergarten class in a local Elementary school at the time of her death, which police investigators deemed accidental. Her father's lawsuit claimed that three people affiliated with the program knew his daughter was autistic and blind, yet they did not give her a life vest before she went into the pool.While unsupervised and without a lifesaving vest the victim drowned the suit claimed.
The program was subsequently shut down by the state Department of Social Services.
If a loved one has been the victim of wrongful death please call me now at 800-320-0080 or visit me at one of my conveniently located offices in Rockville or Baltimore.

A County jury has awarded $6.2 million to a former musician who, after drinking at a private party, was paralyzed when he dove into an under filled apartment complex pool in 2005. Jurors determined that the man, was 49 percent responsible for his injuries and the owner of the Apartments was 51 percent liable for failing to close a dangerous pool or warn swimmers that water levels had fallen about 1 1/2 feet.

The division of liability means the plaintiff, left a quadriplegic with limited use of his arms, would receive 51 percent of the $12.4 million in damages if the judgment stands. Jurors returned the verdict Monday night after two days of deliberations and a nine-day trial. "We never, ever contested responsibility for him," said his lawyer. "He admitted he made a mistake -- a momentary, thoughtless mistake."

But swimmers also should be able to expect that an open pool is safe to use and the managers of the apartment complex failed to close the pool even though employees noticed that water levels had dropped and even though state and city laws require under filled public pools to be closed.

In addition, testimony showed that the Management company -- which owned the apartment complex when the plaintiff was injured but sold it in October -- did not have appropriate safety procedures in place,the attorney said. The plaintiff was a guitarist, singer and songwriter for a now-defunct band who had moved with band mates two years before the accident. A videotape, shot by a friend and played for jurors, showed a group roughhousing around the pool at 2 a.m. before the plaintiff, then 23, dove into an area that should have been 4 to 41/2 feet deep but instead was 21/2 to 3 feet deep.

Defendant arguedthe plaintiff was solely responsible for his injury because the pool's depth was obvious, signs prohibited diving at the pool and his judgment was impaired by alcohol. Blood tests after the accident showed his blood alcohol level was 0.09, he said. The legal limit to drive in the state is 0.08. The plaintiff's attorney argued that the apartment complex, marketed to college-age residents, condoned pool parties where alcohol was consumed, yet neglected to plan for associated risks.

But the apartment complex attorneys noted that jurors, answering a separate question, also found the plaintiff to be 51 percent responsible for negligence in causing his injury. "If a plaintiff is more responsible for causing the accident, the plaintiff receives nothing," he said. "So we believe there is a conflicting jury finding that we will appeal." He also will ask District Judge to dismiss or reduce the award before he enters a final judgment, which typically takes about a month. Since the accident,the plaintiff has been living in New York, where Medicaid benefits are more generous, but hopes the jury award will let him return to his home.

If you or a loved one has been injured at a playground or at a swimming pool please call me at 1-800-320-08080 for a free consultation or make an appointment at one of my offices located in Baltimore or Rockville.