Are Victims’ Rights Being Whittled Away by the Courts and Lawmakers?
Ervin Gonzalez and Doug Landau after participating in the American Association for Justice (AAJ) “Litigation at Sunrise” program in Miami Beach, Florida
A recent opinion piece in the Miami Herald caught the eye of Herndon lawyer and advocate for victims’ rights, Doug Landau, for two reasons —
ONE: both the author — David L. Deehl
— and one of the attorneys mentioned in the piece — Ervin Gonzalez — are friends and sometime running buddies of Landau’s from his days in Miami.
TWO: the article raises some very serious concerns, which are shared by lawyer Landau.
In his article, Deehl compares two incidents of structural collapse, each of which resulted in death and injury. One happened last October near Miami, Florida, where four people lost their lives and others were seriously injured when a parking garage collapsed, and the other happened recently in Bangladesh where over 650 people lost their lives or were injured when a clothing factory collapsed. Both accidents were said to have been avoidable, since evidence of structural damage should have prompted the buildings’ closures.
In the Florida case, the legal claims by victims and their families were settled in early May — less than 9 months after the accident with the help of Ervin Gonzalez of the Coral Gables Colson Hicks law firm.
Will the same swift justice apply to the workers in Bangladesh? Unlikely.
But Deehl raises this point – changes in tort law and workers’ compensation law (for example – no-fault car crash laws, changes to the law of joint and several liability of negligence, damage caps in medical negligence cases, etc.) have whittled away at victims’ rights to recover damages for injuries sustained due to no fault of their own.
“I agree with my colleague’s statement that one of the beauties of our civil justice system is that, by compensating victims, tort law creates incentives for safety and changes in behavior that benefit all of us. I also agree that our tort laws need to be strengthened, not weakened, in order to protect the rights of vicitms,” says Landau.
If you or someone you know has been injured due to no fault of your own and there are questions as to what laws apply, email or call Abrams Landau, Ltd. at once (703-796-9555).