by Spencer Aronfeld | Jul 1, 2020 | Fourth of July Safety, Personal Injury News and Safety Resources
At Aronfeld Trial Lawyers, we are committed to family safety, and we urge our friends, loved ones and clients to leave the fireworks to the professionals this 4th of July. However, if you do plan on setting off fireworks, we strongly recommend you follow these safety tips and heed the advice of the National Safety Council. Children and fireworks DO NOT mix. Never allow children to handle fireworks. Never use fireworks while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Anyone using fireworks or standing nearby should wear protective eye wear. Never hold lighted fireworks in your hands. Never light fireworks indoors. Use fireworks away from people, houses and flammable material. Never point or throw fireworks at another person. Only light one device at a time and maintain a safe distance after lighting. Never ignite devices in a container. Do not try to re-light or handle malfunctioning fireworks. Soak both spent and unused fireworks in water for a few hours before discarding. Keep a bucket of water nearby to fully extinguish fireworks. Never use illegal fireworks. The Dangers of Sparklers Never allow children to hold or ignite sparklers. They may seem less harmless than traditional fireworks. But be warned, these burn at up to 2,000 degrees- hot enough to burn some metals. Sparklers can quickly ignite clothing and result in serious burns. Sparklers are a leading cause for sending children to the emergency room each year. Doctors treated 500 people for injuries in 2018 and 54 percent of them were ages 5 and younger, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Here are some fun, kid-friendly alternatives to sparklers. Party Poppers filled with...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Jun 16, 2020 | Florida Super Lawyers, Personal Injury
MIAMI – Founder and Board-Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, Spencer Aronfeld of Aronfeld Trial Lawyers has been selected for inclusion in Florida Super Lawyers 2020, in the practice area of personal injury. This is the seventh consecutive year Aronfeld has been selected to the Florida Super Lawyers list (2014-2020). He was also included in the years 2006 – 2007, 2009 – 2010. “The practice of personal injury law is my calling. I represent injured clients who not only seek compensation but more importantly, justice. Each case is an opportunity for me to help another human being and it’s important that my clients receive the care and attention they need. Many of my clients face dangerous situations or suffer from life-threatening injuries. My job is to make sure that justice is served so that the dangers that my clients face do not happen to someone else,” says Spencer Aronfeld. Spencer Aronfeld, is a board-certified civil trial lawyer who has earned international recognition as being a “lawyer for the people.” Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Wichita, Kansas, Aronfeld graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1991. Upon graduation, he founded Aronfeld Trial Lawyers, based in Coral Gables, Florida. He has dedicated his life to representing individuals against corporate giants, such as Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Cruise Line, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, Target, Publix, Walmart, Mt. Sinai Hospital, State Farm Insurance Company, United Automobile Insurance Company, Baptist Health South Florida, South Miami Hospital, and International Airplane Leasing. Aronfeld has been recognized...
by Spencer Aronfeld | May 22, 2020 | Coronavirus, Covid-19, Cruise Ship News
The cruise ship owned by Prairie Grand, LLC, a company founded by famed radio personality, Garrison Keillor, has been docked and on hold since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began. The vessel, the Veendam, was set to sail with 1,350 passengers for the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale on March 18. However, Keillor’s company cancelled the trip as details on the COVID-19 crisis began to develop. Shortly after, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a “no-sail order,” which has been extended through July 24, essentially docking all cruises sailing from the U.S. Most cruise companies, such as Carnival, have allowed their customers to either request a refund or rebook with 125 percent credit. However, receiving a refund through Keillor’s Prairie Home Cruises has not been so easy, mostly because the ship is operated through a charter company. How the charter relationships work is the company rents the boat from a larger cruise corporation. Prairie Home Cruises operates their cruise through a rental from Holland America. Keillor has been less than forthcoming with passengers who are out thousands of dollars. Six weeks after the cancellation, he sent a mass email which included his personal experience regarding to sheltering in place and plans for a book he intends to write where residents of his fictional town, Lake Wobegon, collectively catch a virus from eating cheese. Keillor continued, offering to sell advice copies of the novel. Passengers who have attempted to get refunds for their tickets have reported having to push through a lot of red tape to get any response. This fact has been disappointing to the loyal following...
by Spencer Aronfeld | May 12, 2020 | Coronavirus, Covid-19, Lawsuit, Personal Injury
The fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has hit our nation’s legal system. It has been reported that 917 federal and state lawsuits have been filed due to the pandemic on a number of legal grounds ranging from unsafe working conditions for frontline workers to individuals and businesses facing financial difficulties. And it appears this is just the beginning. Global and national disasters regularly bring on an onslaught of legal filings, as was the case following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The number of deaths reported in the U.S. have surpassed the number of Americans killed during the Vietnam War. COVID-19 has led to more than 30 million unemployment filings, the highest since the Great Depression. One of the main categories of lawsuits being filed involve those being brought by frontline workers, such as nurses and doctors, who claim that their employers are not providing them with sufficient protective gear while working. Their lawsuits also allege that their employers are forcing them to work in unsafe work conditions, leading many of them to contract the disease from patients whose lives they are trying to save. Workplace safety issues are also a concern of those in the grocery and retail industry, as workers allege their employers are not providing them with safety gear, exposing them to the risk of contracting COVID-19. Other employment lawsuits have been filed under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed by Congress in March 2020. Under this act, employers were required to offer paid leave for child-care because many parents were forced to stay at home or figure out a way to work from home due...
by Spencer Aronfeld | Apr 29, 2020 | Cruise Ship Accidents, Cruise Ship Injury
Under an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it will be another three months — at least — until cruise ships will once again be able to sail from U.S. ports. In the meantime, cruise lines are dealing with a host of lawsuits filed by passengers and crew who accuse the companies of negligence in exposing them to the coronavirus. Spencer Aronfeld, a lawyer with several pending coronavirus cases, said, “Suing a cruise line for these types of cases is extraordinarily difficult.” That’s because cruise lines enjoy a number of protections. They’re not U.S. companies and not subject to health and safety regulations like the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). “The only way to really hold them responsible in a courtroom is to show a judge and a jury that their actions were unreasonable under the circumstances, and that’s a very loose term,” Aronfeld said. He and other attorneys will make the case that cruise lines ignored information about the pandemic and were negligent in failing to warn passengers. A major factor protecting cruise lines is the ticketing agreements each passenger signs, which limit how and where lawsuits can be filed. Aronfeld said companies also benefit from maritime laws written decades ago. “One of the classics,” as he called it, is the Death on the High Seas Act. It’s a century-old law that limits the amount a family can recover for funeral expenses and lost income. It applies to any deaths that occur from events that happen more than three miles offshore. “One of the challenges we’re going...
