Recreational Safety
N/AOUTCOME: 8 figure settlement
Tabak Law Firm achieved a significant settlement in a swimming pool accident case. A young 26-year-old man was swimming laps in his club’s pool when he suddenly stopped moving and sunk to the bottom o ... f the pool. Although there were two lifeguards on duty, they were monitoring the kiddie section of the pool and had their back to the area where the young man was swimming. After two and a half minutes, another swimmer noticed the young man at the bottom of the pool and alerted the lifeguards. By the time the young man was retrieved, five minutes had passed and another twenty minutes elapsed before local EMTs administered care. The young man was left in a persistent vegetative state. He had previously suffered from epileptic seizures but had been taken off anti-seizure medications by his physician only two months before the tragic accident, making a seizure the likely cause of the swimmer’s near-drowning incident. Using video surveillance from the time of the accident, along with several prominent and knowledgeable lifeguarding and water safety expert witnesses, Tabak Law Firm was able to negotiate an 8-figure settlement from the club’s insurance carrier three days before trial. An additional 7-figure settlement was reached with the doctors who took the young swimmer off his anti-seizure medications.
