We Specialize in Child Death Cases

These are some of our case results involving the deaths or catastrophic injury of minors:

Rubin & Rubin Establishes Legal Precedent in 4-Wheeler ATV Death of a Minor

14-year old Christopher Jones was taken by his father to Thunder Cross Motor Sports Park in Okeechobee to ride his ATV. To gain entry to Thunder Cross, the father signed a release and waiver of liability for Christopher. Christopher’s parents were divorced, and his mother did not approve him riding the ATV because she thought it was dangerous.  

While attempting a particular jump, Christopher lost control of his ATV, was ejected, and hit the ground with the ATV landing on top of him.  Christopher died. Rubin & Rubin took the case, embarked on an intensive investigation into Thunder Cross, its history of accidents by minors and whether it operated the facility with appropriate safety protections.  Even with overwhelming evidence uncovered by Rubin & Rubin lawyers and staff, the local judge dismissed the case before trial finding the father’s signing of the release waived any rights of the mother for wrongful death.

Rubin & Rubin appealed the case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court. In its decision (Kirton v. Fields, 997 So. 2d 349, 351 (Fla. 2008)), the Supreme Court changed the law in Florida which now says that a release executed by a parent on behalf of a minor child is unenforceable against the minor or the minor's estate in a tort action arising from injuries resulting from participation in a commercial activity.

We are honored and proud to have the capacity and opportunity to represent clients seeking justice at every level of our court system.   Grieving and devastated parents desperately need quality guidance, representation, empathy and the benefit of experienced lawyers committed to their pursuit of justice from the day of the accident to the day of the resolution.

If you or a loved one suffered a similar catastrophic loss, call Rubin & Rubin.  We would be honored to share our experiences with you and discuss how we might help you.

13-Year-Old Child Dies in Pediatric Hospital Due To Negligence of Pediatrician, Intensive Care Doctor and Nurses – Rubin Gets Multi-Million Dollar Settlements

13-year-old Colby Powers got an infection in his big toe that turned into a dangerous infection. He was airlifted to All Children’s Hospital (now Johns Hopkins) in St. Petersburg.  After a replacement of a heart chamber, several surgeries over 5 weeks and rehabilitation at the hospital, Colby was finally ready to go home. But Colby never made it out of the hospital. 

Colby had a coughing episode that were signs of a new infection, but the nurses and doctors monitoring Colby over the weekend ignored radiology testing and lab reports which lead them to misdiagnose an infection in his lungs as anxiety.  So the medical providers gave Colby drugs to address the anxiety but failed to protect his airway which is the standard of care under these circumstances. Colby’s oxygen saturation levels quickly declined and caused pulmonary edema triggering secretions which resulted in Colby’s lungs filling up with fluid.  Code Blue was called but it was too late.  Colby’s death was completely preventable with competent medical care. Colby was an only child – his  parents were devastated.

Rubin & Rubin conducted intense investigations, then rigorous discovery of medical records and depositions in which doctors admitted things went terribly wrong.

Guy Rubin and his team forced all of the medical providers at fault to pay the maximum available under Florida law in settlements before the case went to trial.

If you or a loved one suffered a similar catastrophic loss, call Rubin & Rubin.  We would be honored to share our experiences with you and discuss how we might help you.

Rubin Gets Unprecedented Multi-Million Dollar Bad Faith Insurance Recovery Twice in Same Case.  Parents of Child Victim Uses Money For Charitable Causes

In a medical malpractice case against an emergency critical care doctor for negligence resulting in the death of a 14-year-old boy, the doctor’s insurance company refused to settle the case for the policy limits of $250,000 early in the case. After years of litigation, Guy Rubin proceeded to trial where a jury awarded more than $7 million to the boy’s parents for their lifetime of anguish and pain caused by the doctor’s negligence. 

The doctor could have easily been protected by the insurer and the law firm it hired to defend the physician by agreeing to an early settlement for policy limits.  Instead, the doctor lost contracts with hospitals, suffered terrible publicity in losing a public trial in South Florida, and then Rubin & Rubin started freezing the doctor’s personal property and real estate.

Rubin & Rubin then strategically positioned an alliance with the negligent doctor to go after the insurance company that unnecessarily exposed the doctor to financial ruin. The insurance company not only refused to settle early for $250,000, but also hired defense lawyers who put the insurance company’s interests ahead of their doctor client because the defense lawyers were getting a high volume of cases (and millions in defense fees) from the insurer due to their cozy relationship.

This strategy paid off --  Guy Rubin successfully negotiated with the insurer for a multi-million-dollar settlement for the grieving parents before the filing of a bad-faith lawsuit.

Next Rubin & Rubin sued the law firm and lawyers who represented the doctor at trial. After extensive discovery and aggressive lawyering, and on the eve of trial, Guy Rubin again successfully negotiated another multi-million-dollar settlement, not only against the lawyers, but also against its insurance carrier -- in excess of its own legal malpractice insurance policy.

In all of these cases, Rubin & Rubin fought larger law firms with the unlimited resources of hospitals and insurance companies. These cases  played out over almost 7 years. This is an example of the perseverance, dedication, legal know-how and creativity Guy Rubin and his team at Rubin & Rubin brings to bear for clients in catastrophic cases.

The recovery to these loving parents of the deceased child have used proceeds to fund churches and other charities in Haiti and here in the U.S.

If you or a loved one suffered a similar catastrophic loss, call Rubin & Rubin.  We would be honored to share our experiences with you and discuss how we might help you.

Rubin Gets $15 Million Jury Verdict in Negligence/Civil Rights Case Against Sheriff

14-year-old Andrew “Peewee” Joseph went to the Florida State Fairgrounds to attend the annual state fair on opening day with his friends. Peewee was dropped off at the fair by one of his friend’s mom.  The plan was to come back to the drop off spot at 10 pm after the fair ended.

Some other kids who were acting up at the fair got in trouble with law enforcement.  Peewee knew one of them, and when Peewee saw this boy’s FSU baseball cap fall to the ground, in an act of kindness, Peewee picked up the hat and handed it to him.  A Hillsborough Sheriff’s deputy saw this and without any reason proceeded to kick Peewee out of the fair near the interstate highway and far away from the drop off spot. Peewee asked to go through the fair to get to his ride but was threatened by deputies with arrest.  Not being familiar with the area, Peewee did his best to find his way.

But Peewee was struck and killed instantly by a motorist as Peewee ran across the highway trying to find his ride home. The Jospeh Family hired Rubin & Rubin to pursue justice. And after appeals by the Sheriff and the Florida State Fair, Guy Rubin and his team went to trial in federal court in Tampa in a high profile 2-week trial.  The Florida State Fair settled for the maximum before the trial started. At trial, trying to escape liability, the Sheriff blamed Peewee and his parents. The jury rejected those arguments returning a $15 million verdict for Peewee’s devastated parents.

Guy Rubin and the Rubin & Rubin team fought dozens of government lawyers for years to uncover the facts to present compelling evidence and arguments which convinced the jury to provide justice to The Joseph Family.

If you or a loved one suffered a similar catastrophic loss, call Rubin & Rubin.  We would be honored to share our experiences with you and discuss how we might help you.