Key West Injury Lawyer Blog
The story of Leesfield & Partners, a Florida personal injury law firm, is nearly inseparable from Monroe County and the Florida Keys.
“I was sort of thrust into the law by an eviction notice on my mom’s apartment when I was about 12 years old,” said Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, in a recent interview with Miami Today. “We couldn’t afford the rent, and she was a single mom with three children … My mom was standing there in tears, and I said to myself, ‘this is not the place I want to be for the rest of my life.’ I wanted better circumstances and to help others get to a better place as well.”
The law, he went on to tell reporters, was a good place to start. Following law school, Mr. Leesfield found himself trying his first-ever case in Key West in 1973. This was also the first trial in Florida under the state’s newly adopted comparative negligence law. That landmark case not only shaped the direction of Florida jurisprudence but also began the firm’s enduring commitment to the Keys community.
After starting Leesfield & Partners in Miami in 1976, Mr. Leesfield purchased and restored an old cigar factory on Key West’s historic Whitehead Street that would later become the firm’s Monroe County hub. Today, Leesfield & Partners is recognized throughout the state and nationally for contributions both in and out of the courtroom.
The Leesfield Family Foundation Supports the Florida Keys
Leesfield & Partners and The Leesfield Family Charitable Foundation have a long commitment to uplifting local charities, organizations, and youth recreational programs that serve those in the area who need it most. Among these organizations are the Star of the Seas Foundation and the Florida Keys Outreach Coalition.
Leesfield & Partners has also regularly supported Key West’s youth sports with previous contributions to a member of the “Key West Conchball Cooperstown Team” and the “Key West Lady Conchs Softball Booster Club, Inc.”
Following the tragic death of Dexter Butler — a beloved Key West High School teacher and coach, and the son of a treasured family friend — the Leesfield Family Foundation established an athletic scholarship in his honor. Launched in 2025, the Dexter Butler College Scholarship was first awarded to basketball player Dylan Martinez, now a student at the University of Central Florida.
Applications are now open for 2026.
Leesfield & Partners: Holding Negligent Parties Accountable
Carbon Monoxide
Over the last five decades, Leesfield & partners has been integral to improving safety both locally and statewide. A case involving an Iowa family exposed to carbon monoxide at a Key West hotel gained nationwide attention after it was revealed that a roof vent damaged after a hurricane was filtering the lethal gas back into the family’s room. Thankfully, the family was able to call for help before succumbing to the colorless, odorless gas. This family, however, were not the only ones impacted. Over a dozen others also suffered from the effects of carbon monoxide exposure and, just a week after this incident, a 26-year-old man died at the same resort due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
These tragic cases highlighted the dangers of carbon monoxide in Florida. Seeing the need for legislative change, Mr. Leesfield advocated for further carbon monoxide protections at public lodging places and was instrumental in passing Senate Bill 1822. This bill requires these establishments to install carbon monoxide detectors within 10 feet of each sleeping area.
Over the years, Leesfield & Partners has handled various carbon monoxide cases throughout the state, including:
- A case in which the firm recovered more than $11 million for a woman exposed to carbon monoxide while staying at a resort.
- The firm reached a confidential settlement in a case involving a student exposed to the gas while visiting a college campus
- The firm settled an eight-figure case on behalf of a couple that was exposed to carbon monoxide while on vacation in a foreign country.
Hotel and Resort Litigation
Leesfield & Partners has regularly held hotels, motels, resorts and management companies accountable for their negligent and reckless actions for five decades. In that time, the firm has handled everything from premises liability to negligent security incidents at these locations.
In addition to hotel and Airbnb accommodation cases, Leesfield & partners has represented the victims of cruise ship accidents involving shore excursions, onboard falls, and medical malpractice incidents. Trial Attorney Carlos Fabano recently obtained a recovery on behalf of a family whose wife and mother died due to the failure and negligence of the ships’ medical staff.
Click here to read more about Leesfield & Partners’ cruise ship cases.
Premises Liability in Monroe County
The firm handled a premises liability case involving a woman who contracted Legionnaires’ Disease while staying at a Florida hotel. The woman routinely used the hotel’s hot tub during her stay and presented with symptoms the day she checked out from the hotel. Due to her exposure and diagnosis, the woman suffered an acute kidney injury, and regular bouts of pain and fatigue.
Eric Shane, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Lawyer, was able to secure a $300,000 settlement for the woman in that case.
One case handled by the firm was handled by Partner Justin B. Shapiro. In that case, our client fell while on steps of a Key West hotel that violated the 1993 Florida Building Code. The steps lacked a handrail and proper lighting, creating a dangerous environment for guests, including our client. Compounding the situation, the hotel failed to warn guests about the hazardous steps.
As a result of the hotel’s negligence, the client in that case sustained life-altering injuries.
In a different premises liability case out of Monroe County, the firm secured a $1.5 million award for our client, who was injured a ta Key west hotel. The client in this case fell in the hotel stairwell and suffered severe back injuries.
In another case handled by the firm, a second Key West hotel was found to have violated similar building codes. The hotel’s previous owners were aware of the dangers posed by the steps and had added lighting to address the issue. However, when the hotel changed ownership, the new owners removed the lights without remedying the underlying code violations or installing proper signage to warn guests of the hazard.
Combined, these cases were settled back-to-back for a total of over $700,000.
Negligent Security in Monroe County
Leesfield & Partners has represented numerous victims and survivors in cases of violent physical and/or sexual assaults at these locations. Our attorneys handle every case with the compassion and persistence necessary to achieve the best possible result in every case on behalf of our clients. Though no monetary amount will be enough to erase the immeasurable harm that is done by perpetrators of sexual abuse, it can help victims and survivors begin the life-long process of healing and moving forward from the deplorable actions of their abusers. Our firm is dedicated to holding accountable not only those directly responsible, but also those who knew — or who should have known — about their actions and chose to look the other way or conceal the truth.
In a historic negligent security case involving a Key West hotel, Leesfield & Partners represented a woman who was attacked by a hammer in an parking garage. The woman was attacked in the unlocked parking garage of a resort hotel in the area where a man was able to enter and roam around in a “drug-induced” state without being approached or questioned by any security. The man wandered for about 20 minutes before encountering our client and beginning the violent attack.
As a result of this horrific ordeal, she suffered serious and permanent injuries to her face and head. The hotel entered into a confidential settlement the night before a $40,580,000 verdict was handed down against the remaining defendant.
A woman working as a maid at a Monroe County hotel was raped by a man who was allowed to be on the property despite the fact that he was not a guest. The man was left alone, allowing him to sleep by the pool and use drugs. He was not approached by security or any of the other staff at the hotel and was allowed to roam the property for hours before he entered a room that our client was cleaning and attacked her.
Leesfield & Partners obtained a $1 million recovery for the family of a 26-year-old who died after an assault at a Monroe County bar.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual abuse, you are not alone. Help can be found by calling RAINN’s 24-hour hotline at 800-656-4673.
Boating and Water Safety in Monroe County
Operating out of coastal cities like Miami and Key West, Leesfield & Partners attorneys know just how quickly things can change out on the water. From horrific wrecks to intoxicated boating and drowning incidents, our attorneys have handled just about every manner of injury that can occur on Florida waters. Our skilled trial attorneys know just how taxing and confusing navigating the legal system can be and they handle every case with the compassion and tenacity necessary to secure the best possible outcome on behalf of injured clients and grieving families.
In Miami, Leesfield & Partners is representing the families of three minors involved in two separate and tragic incidents on the water.
One case occurred in July and resulted in the deaths of three minors who were participating in a sailing summer camp when a barge being pulled by a tugboat slammed into their vessel. Leesfield & Partners is representing 7-year-old Calena Areyan Gruber, who miraculously survived but was left with severe emotional scars, and Erin Ko, 13, who tragically died.
Mr. Shapiro and Bernardo Pimentel II, a Trial Attorney at the firm, are handling this ongoing case.
Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Shane are representing another minor involved in a summer camp boating incident. The firm’s 11-year-old client was seriously injured when her leg was sliced by the propeller of a vessel being operated by her camp counselor.
“We’re starting to see this kind of carelessness creep into what should be the safest kind of boating activities, and that would be summer camps and children’s programs,” Mr. Shapiro told local media in a recent interview. “And it has to stop. To make sure this never happens to any other child.”
Mr. Shapiro and Trial Attorney Evan Robinson are representing a teen who suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of a water tubing accident.
The firm previously represented a husband who lost his wife due to the negligence of a jet ski rental company. Under Florida law, these rental companies must ensure that every guest understands safety briefings given before they are set out on the water. A French-speaking tourist in this case, however, did not understand the tutorial, given in English. Asa result, this tourist eventually crashed into our client’s wife, causing fatal injuries.
A multi-million-dollar result was secured for the husband in that case.
Mr. Pimentel represented the family of a young man and father-to-be who was lobster diving when he was killed by a law enforcement officer who negligently failed to adhere to divers-down flag laws.
Leesfield & Partners represented the family of a man who died while visiting Dry Tortugas National Park with his wife on a boat tour. The man was found dead after officials with the tour company directed him to an area they assured him was “good to snorkel.”
The firm handled another water-related case that forever changed a family’s life. That case involved the terrible and tragic loss of a wife and two young children due to the U.S. Navy’s failure to maintain its pier in a safe condition.
“Ivan Grayson, tormented by the mind-numbing horror of the tragedy that wiped his family from the face of the earth, desperately needs to know why this happened,” U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King said of the case.
Grayson was awarded $2.95 million for the loss of his family.
Road Safety
Leesfield & partner shas represented crash victims and their families throughout some of the most complex and tragic motor vehicle accident and pedestrian crash cases in Monroe County. With that experience, our skilled trial attorneys know just how quickly a seemingly mundane drive can result in a life-changing incident.
Data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles showed that overall crashes in Monroe County were down in 2025 as a whole compared to 2024 but deaths on the road had doubled. Monroe County crashes were down from 1,732 in 2024 to 1,600 in 2025. Deaths went from six fatalities in 2024 to 12 in 2025.
Leesfield & Partners has represented individuals impacted by the negligence of government officials failing to adhere to safety protocols on the road to negligent and/or intoxicated drivers. The careless actions of these individuals have had devastating and long-lasting impacts on the lives of Leesfield & Partners clients.
As a result of representing accident victims, our attorneys have consistently spoken out about road safety and sober driving. Mr. Leesfield in particular has highlighted the dangers of texting while driving and driving under the influence and has partnered with agencies dedicated to improving road safety such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Friends of The Underline in Miami, where the firm has one of two Florida offices.
In joining the Board of Directors of Friends of The Underline, Mr. Leesfield has backed their mission of transforming the previously unused land underneath Miami’s Metrorail system into a 10-mile linear park. This admirable project, started by Meg Daly in 2013, has created safe spaces for bicyclists and pedestrians in a city rife with traffic, road rage, and other incidents.
Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Shane are representing a man whose life was forever changed after a crash in Key West. Our client, who was driving a motor scooter the day of the crash, was hit by a negligent driver who failed to yield at an intersection and caused a horrific collision. Our client was ejected from his scooter and hit the driver’s windshield with such a force that it was significantly cracked.
He was left with a traumatic brain injury, a crushed left tibia and fibula. Since the tragic incident, he has remained at a long-term care and rehabilitation facility.
“Sadly, our client’s life has been destroyed by this crash and he remains in in-patient rehabilitation,” Mr. Shane said. “We are aggressively pursuing all avenues of recovery under the law.”
That case is ongoing.
The firm previously represented a bicyclist who was injured when she was hit by a car while stopped off the shoulder of the Overseas Highway. The driver in that case hit our client after losing control of the vehicle while fiddling with the GPS.
Leesfield & Partners obtained $5.35 million for the bicyclist’s multiple, life-threatening injuries.
Leesfield & Partners client represented a well-known businessman and restauranteur in Key West involved in a crash with an ambulance that left him permanently injured and disfigured. The driver of the ambulance in that case claimed he was on his way to an emergency but did not have on his lights or signals when he ran through an intersection in which he had the red light. Due to the lack of emergency signals, our client, who was riding a scooter, had no way of knowing that the ambulance would not stop as he crossed the intersection.
A jury awarded our client a $2.1 million verdict.
The firm represented injured clients in a case involving an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who was driving a truck towing a 31-foot fishing boat near Marathon, Florida. The officer was going the speed limit when the trailer began to fishtail from side-to-side and went into oncoming traffic. A driver in a van tried to avoid a collision but couldn’t.
At least two people died, and catastrophic injuries were suffered by multiple others. The driver of the van survived but had nine broken bones, numerous lacerations to her face and was left traumatized by the ordeal. An investigation from the Florida Highway Patrol concluded that the combined weight of the trailer and the boat exceeded the maximum towing capacity of the trailer hitch on the truck, causing the crash.
Leesfield & Partners settled the case for above the available insurance coverage.
In a Monroe County case, this time involving a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Deputy, the firm secured the entirety of insurance policy limits. In that case, the deputy was driving a car with his son, a minor, when another car failed to yield the right-of-way when pulling onto the Overseas Highway. The other driver, who was speeding, pulled out directly in front of the deputy, causing the inevitable crash.
Mr. Robinson secured a six-figure settlement for a client injured in a Monroe County crash.
If you were involved in an accident in Monroe County, don’t wait. Call a Leesfield & Partners attorney today at 305-854-4900 to see if you may be eligible to make a claim.
