SETTLEMENT

Hire the Distasio Law Firm if you or a loved one has been inured in a boat related accident in the Tampa Bay area.

In excess of $7,000,000.00 verdict | Pinellas County | Clearwater Beach

A Seadoo boat owner took her friends out for a pleasure trip in the ocean off of Clearwater. Dolphins began jumping around the boat while it was in a channel. The boat owner stopped the boat so everyone could watch the dolphins. Our client thought the boat was in deep water because the dolphins had to have enough depth to jump. He therefore dove head first into the water as he had done on several other occasions in the presence of the boat owner. Unfortunately, several minutes had gone by before he decided to dive off the boat. During that time a strong current caused the boat to drift into shallow water. The murkiness made it look like it was still in deep water. Our client hit his head on the bottom causing burst fractures in his neck and spine. His spinal cord was permanently damaged. As a result he is a quadriplegic. We retained an expert on boat safety. He testified at trial that the owner of the boat was negligent because she did not teach her passenger the proper way to enter the water from a boat is feet first, she did not anchor the boat, she did not keep a look out for the drift of the boat, and she did not warn that the boat had drifted out of the channel markers.