Pool Season is Here, Now is the Time to Prevent Pool Accidents

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Memorial Day weekend officially kicks off the summer pool season and it is important to keep yourself and loved ones safe. Drowning is the leading cause of death for young children in Florida and many other states. Thousands of children have died or suffered serious brain damage because of defective drains in pools.

The Haggard Law Firm has developed a national and international niche representing people injured or killed as a result of dangerous swimming pool drains and negligent supervision and maintenance of pool safety barriers.

Attorney Michael A. Haggard is responsible for a $100 million verdict in the case of a toddler who nearly drowned in her apartment complex pool because she gained access to the pool area through a broken pool gate and a $104 million verdict in a case where a boy got trapped underwater by the suction of a defective and unsafe pool pump. To date, both verdicts are considered to be two the largest single personal injury jury verdicts awarded in Florida's history.

He has also lobbied the Florida Legislature to pass a bill mandating that that the Florida Department of Health be responsible for checking the installation and maintenance of pool gates and barriers at all public and commercial swimming pools. This bill would further require that all commercial pools (including apartment pools) have self-closing and self-latching pool fences and gates. The bill was sponsored by Senator Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Weston). Though the bill did not pass in the 2003 and 2004 legislative session, Haggard lobbied for it again in the 2005 Legislative Session but again it did not pass. Haggard will continue to strive to get the bill into law and once passed into law, the bill will be known as LOREN'S LAW.