Read Our Case Results

Scuba Diving Accident

$17.5 Million settlement. The client was injured during a scuba diving excursion through the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Rose Hall Jamaica.  The weather was bad with poor visibility.  The dive boat anchored, and the dive master conducted a briefing.  Unfortunately, the boat was in the wrong location and the briefing did not match the dive conditions.  Rather than 60’ of water the divers were in 160’ of water.  The plaintiff and his dive buddy were the first 2 in the water and descended down a line.  He suffered nitrogen narcosis followed by running out of air requiring an emergency ascent and went on to develop air embolism resulting in paralysis.  Pennekamp went to the Ritz Carlton the week after the accident did the dive with a diving expert unknown to the Ritz Carlton and was able to secure photographs demonstrating that the dive operators were wearing Ritz Carlton “Dive Team” shirts.  Accordingly, Ritz Carlton could not deny their responsibility for the dive outfitter or claim it was an independent contractor.  Furthermore, jurisdiction was maintained in the Southern District of Florida as the Ritz Carlton had a sales office in Coconut Grove.  The matter was settled for $17.5 million just prior to trial.

The plaintiff, a doctor, was in Bimini and took a dive excursion. During the dive, his dive buddy (also the dive master) abandoned him.  The plaintiff was found unresponsive at the surface and expired.  Jurisdiction was highly contested, but it was discovered that the dive operator was actually based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  The matter was settled for $6 million.

Car Accident

$1,260,000.00 settlement. The plaintiff was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk adjacent to A1A when a utility trailer separated from the vehicle that was towing it and ran off the road and over the Plaintiff. His leg was amputated at the hip as a result of the accident.  The truck driver had a $10,000.00 liability policy which was not tendered in a timely fashion.  Pennekamp Law was able to obtain a settlement for $1,260.00.00 which was 126 times the amount of the defendant’s coverage by leveraging the firm’s expertise in insurance and Florida’s bad faith laws.

Commercial Trucking Accident

$2,283,778 verdict. The plaintiff was riding his bicycle in his neighborhood crossing a dead-end street when a City of Homestead garbage truck took a left hand turn and ran him over pinning his leg under the front tire.  Plaintiff suffered a complete degloving injury to the left lower extremity.  The case was tried before a jury resulting in a $2,283,778 verdict.

Dog Attack

The Plaintiff, a disabled elderly woman, would walk dogs for her neighbors. On the day of the incident, she was walking a dog when another neighbor’s two Rottweilers escaped from his yard and chased her back to her front porch where they attacked her and severed her arm. The case was settled for a confidential yet very significant amount.

Trip and Fall

$216,000.00 settlement. The Plaintiff and her husband rented a new apartment in Naples.  On their second day in the apartment they were returning from shopping for groceries when the Plaintiff attempted to enter the apartment and tripped over the threshold fracturing her shoulder and requiring surgery.  With the assistance of experts, the Plaintiff was able to prove that the threshold area was in violation of code and unreasonably dangerous due to a number of level changes over a short distance creating a tripping hazard.  The case was settled following arbitration for $216,000.00.

$535,000.00 settlement. The Plaintiff was at Jackson Memorial Hospital to visit her in patient husband.  While attempting to board the passenger elevator, she was bumped by a third party vendor and fell into the elevator.  Plaintiff suffered a fractured hip and required an open reduction with placement of a pin to reduce the fracture. Plaintiff was discharged from the hospital approximately 10 days after her fall and rehabilitated at home due to COVID.  Plaintiff, 82 at the time of the accident, was able to ambulate and drive her car and resume her activities of daily living.  Defendant claimed that Plaintiff “jumped” in front of a laden hand truck and was the sole cause of her injuries.  However, a surveillance video revealed the truth, and the case was able to be resolved at mediation.

Bicycle Accident Claims

Pennekamp represented a young man who had purchased a mountain bicycle from one of the leading manufacturers in the United States. While riding the bicycle, the front fork fractured in the steering tube causing the fork and the handlebars to separate.  In the crash, the steering tube rotated upward and penetrated his skull from under his chin to just below his eye resulting in horrific disfiguring injuries requiring complete facial reconstruction.  A thorough investigation revealed that the specific fork in question suffered from manufacturing defect in the welding process and had become a source of a nationwide recall.  A significant but confidential recovery was obtained on his behalf from the manufacturer. The manufacturer’s recall efforts thereafter were redoubled.

Pennekamp Law represented the wife and family of an individual who was killed while conducting time trials on his bicycle in preparation for racing. His bicycle struck the rear of an illegally parked landscape truck.  The matter settled for a confidential but significant amount.  The matter was a hard-fought case in that the bicyclist ran into the back of a parked vehicle.  However, through discovery it was determined that the landscape truck had failed to place appropriate traffic warning devices (cones) until immediately after the accident in an attempt to cover up their misdeeds.

Car Accident Claims

Pennekamp Law has handled a vast array of car accidents and commercial vehicle accident cases:

Pennekamp represented the family of a young woman who was tragically killed on the Alligator Alley. Her car was stopped for an accident that had occurred.  A semi-tractor trailer failed to stop while traveling at high speed.  The truck ran full speed into the rear car in the chain of cars that had stopped.  Multiple vehicles were crushed and a massive fire erupted. The matter was settled for a confidential sum.

Pennekamp Law has represented the families of multiple pedestrians and bicyclist that have been struck by vehicles. These cases have occurred because of driver negligence, problems in construction zones with maintenance traffic and road design issues.  If you have been involved in an accident either as a pedestrian or a bicyclist there are multiple clauses that need to be investigated beyond just the negligence of the driver of the vehicle.

Maritime Accident Claims

Pennekamp Law has represented numerous victims of marine accidents.  These accidents include jet skis, ultralights, scuba diving, pleasure boat collisions, Jones Act Seamen injuries, and cruise ship passenger cases.

Pennekamp Law represented a young woman who was severely injured in one of the worst boating disasters in South Florida’s history.  On a popular holiday evening, our client was a passenger aboard a vessel that was involved in a collision with another vessel.  The captain of her vessel was ejected and killed. Our client and everyone else aboard the boat was rendered unconscious. The vessel then proceeded unmanned at a high rate of speed in Biscayne Bay.  Thereafter, the vessel was involved in a second collision with another pleasure boat.  This second collision resulted in even further catastrophic injury.  In all, there were multiple fatalities and multiple serious injuries of the various persons aboard all three vessels.  Pennekamp Law was able to secure a very significant and confidential settlement on behalf of its client.

Premises Liability

Pennekamp Law represented the victim of an abduction and rape from a major South Florida mall parking lot.  The case settled during jury selection when it was discovered that the mall security team had falsified documents related to its security in regards to the incident in question.  The terms of the settlement are confidential but it is believed that it was one of the largest of its kind in the nation at the time.

Pennekamp Law also represented the victim of a shooting that occurred at an apartment complex near Joe Robbie Stadium in North West Miami-Dade County.  The Plaintiff was parked in his car with a friend when a car pulled up beside them and several young men opened fire with semi-automatic weapons.  The Plaintiff and his friend were both able to escape the vehicle on the opposite side, but did not escape injury.  Both were shot multiple times.  Plaintiff spent 30 days in the hospital as the result of damage to his intestines and ensuing infection throughout his body.  Plaintiff claimed that the apartment complex failed to take appropriate steps to repair the automatic entry gate and there were multiple complaints from the tenants about the broken gate.  Plaintiff argued that had the gate been functioning, the random drive by shooting would not have occurred as they would not have been able to enter onto the premises.  The case was settled at mediation for just shy of $1 million.

Product Liability

Pennekamp Law has represented victims of defective products in multiple areas.

• Pennekamp represented the victim of an amusement ride defect which caused her significant injury during a fair. The amusement ride she was participating in blew apart sending multiple children including herself flying across the fairgrounds. She suffered severe neurologic injuries to her upper extremities and major head trauma.  The investigation revealed that the amusement ride in question had been defectively repaired on multiple occasions and had far exceeded its useful life creating an unreasonable hazard.  The matter was settled for a confidential amount.
• Pennekamp has represented victims of a commercial airline explosion where the investigation revealed that an improper “check valve” had been installed in a galley coffee maker rather than a “pressure relief valve”. The substitution of this part resulted in an explosion which tore through the galley wall and into the cockpit during flight. Fortunately the plan was able to turn around and land.  However, Mr. Pennekamp represented two of the stewardesses that unfortunately were in the galley at the time of the explosion and suffered major facial trauma.
• Pennekamp represented the family of a young man who died in an ultralight crash in the Florida Keys in a wrongful death matter. Discovery in that case revealed that the ultralight owner and operator had failed to install a “thimbal” on one of the main guy wires of the aircraft.  As a result, chaffing caused the wire to break resulting in a complete catastrophic failure of the aircraft which them plummeted into the water killing both the pilot and the passenger.  Suit was brought against both the owner of the ultralight as well as the resort which sponsored the renting of ultralights as one of its amenities.  Case was resolved for a confidential amount on behalf of the young man’s family.