David Young and Jason Azzarone were successful in securing a summary judgment in a slip and fall negligence case filed in Pinellas county, in which the firm represented a the tenant of an office complex. The Plaintiff alleged that the tenant and landlord negligently maintained a handicap ramp on the property.  Mr. Young and Mr. Azzarone filed a crossclaim on behalf of the tenant against the landlord for breach of contract, common law indemnity and contractual indemnity based upon language contained in the lease agreement between the tenant and landlord which provided that the landlord was responsible for maintenance of all common areas and which further provided for indemnification of the tenant.  The Court granted motions for summary judgment in favor of the tenant on the negligence claims raised by the plaintiff as well as the crossclaim.  In granting summary judgment on the crossclaim, the Court also entered a final judgment awarding the tenant its attorneys’ fees.

Lou La Cava and David Young
obtained a dismissal of their client in a medical malpractice case filed in Duval County against multiple physicians and facilities. The Plaintiff alleged that the emergency medicine physician failed to properly diagnose an elongated QT Interval in a suicidal patient. The Plaintiff alleged that although properly Baker Acted, the Plaintiff should not have been medicated in the psychiatric facility given the underlying cardiac issue and that such medication caused the death. The defense of this physician was that his care did not cause the death of the minor Plaintiff. Although all of the other Defendants represented by other attorneys settled their claim, the Plaintiff filed a notice of dismissal of the claims as to the physician and no settlement was paid on behalf of the Defendant emergency medicine physician.

Lou La Cava and Iva Valtcheva tried a medical malpractice case in Hillsborough County which resulted in a hung jury. The Plaintiff underwent a laparoscopic cyst drainage which resulted in an undiagnosed small bowel injury. She became septic and went on to undergo amputations of all four of her extremities as well as a loss of all of her abdominal muscle due to infection.   Plaintiff alleged negligence in causing the perforation, not making an earlier diagnosis and failing to take her back to surgery sooner to repair the bowel.  The Plaintiff asked for in excess of 25 million dollars in economic damages alone. After a 7 day trial the jury was unable to  reach a unanimous decision.

Lou La Cava obtained a dismissal without any settlement payment for his radiologist client in a medical malpractice case filed in Hillsborough County. Plaintiff alleged the radiologist negligently read an MRI resulting in a delay in diagnosis of a spinal epidural abscess which led to plaintiff’s severe neurological damage. While co defendants in the case settled La Cava maintained his client’s interpretation of the MRI was well within the standard of care and was prepared to try the case if it was not dismissed. The plaintiff dropped the case against the radiologist without a settlement payment.

Lou La Cava and Barbara Chapman obtained a defense verdict for a hospital in a three week medical malpractice wrongful death case tried in Hillsborough County. The plaintiff alleged the hospital nurses were negligent in failing to identify signs and symptoms of a post operative bleed. It was further argued that the hospital staff failed to carry out Stat orders in a timely manner contributing to the delay in diagnosis of severe postoperative bleeding and the death of the patient. The decedent was survived by his wife and an adult disabled son. After the 3 week trial the jury returned a defense verdict finding there was no negligence on the part of the hospital that was a legal cause of the death of the patient.