For more than two decades, attorney Michael A. Haggard has stood at the intersection of law,
public health, and water safety. His involvement in aquatics and drowning prevention takes him beyond the courtroom as he fights for new legislation, speaks at conferences, and works with advocacy organizations.
The managing partner for The Haggard Law Firm, based in Coral Gables, Fla., has represented more than 100 families in drowning, near-drowning, and entrapment cases, with 80 of them being wrongful death suits. He has worked with a variety of water-safety advocacy groups, including the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, on whose board he served for many years; Families United to Prevent Drowning; and the Association of Aquatic Professionals.
He has received honors for his drowning prevention efforts, including the Jon E. Krupnick Award from the Florida Justice Association, and the Harry Philo Award from the American Association for Justice.
FROM ATTORNEY TO ADVOCATE
A trial lawyer by training, Haggard’s introduction to aquatics came in the early 2000s through near-drowning cases involving apartment complexes with broken or noncompliant pool gates.
In 2003, he tried two separate cases that showed him litigation alone is not enough to safeguard swimmers.
In Hinton v. 2331 Adams Street Corp., a toddler nearly drowned and suffered brain damage after he accessed a pool through a broken gate. Haggard won the family a $100 million verdict that garnered headlines and shed light on the issue. But, hoping to prevent such tragedies from happening to other families, he came to believe that legislation was needed. He thought, “we need a code [so] every apartment complex has the same gate requirements and health inspectors check it.” Haggard advocated for changing the Florida building code to ensure that officials monitor gates.
The other case, Peterson v. Sta-Rite Industries, involved a 14-year-old suction entrapment victim. In his apartment-complex pool, he chased after a penny that had fallen in the water and put his hand in the drain. Multiple people tried to help, but nobody could pull him out until they broke into the equipment room and turned off the pump. The boy suffered a massive brain injury. The lawsuit led to a $104 million verdict against a pump manufacturer, along with media coverage that shed more light on entrapment hazards, a relatively obscure issue at the time.
Haggard wanted to see changes in how pumps were made. He attended meetings of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission and was hired by families for more entrapment cases. But he didn’t feel his efforts making a difference until he was contacted about the Virginia Graeme Baker case. This involved the fatal spa entrapment of the seven-year-old granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker. Haggard joined other lawyers, politicians, families, and advocacy groups to form a coalition that pushed for passage of the VGB Act.
MORE TO CHANGE
While Haggard is proud of the success he and the coalitions have enjoyed so far, he still sees gaps in legislation.
“We just need our government at every level to act,” he says.
For him, two issues take priority – one resulting from a societal shift, the other having gone without notice for too long. In both instances, Haggard believes unified standards that require bodies of water to have a fenced enclosure need to be created and enforced.
The first comes from short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs. Though generating income, pools on these properties usually are not subject to the same health and safety codes as hotel or apartment pools. This means a rental on Airbnb or another app usually isn’t legally obligated to have a secure pool.
Haggard has seen many cases where “a kid is in a new house, gets out, goes through a sliding glass door, into an unsecured pool, and dies.” He believes short-term rentals should be held to the same standards as hotels when it comes to securing pools.
Haggard also worries about unfenced retention ponds at apartment buildings. These pose particular danger for children on the autism spectrum who are prone to wandering. Natural bodies of water are not required to be fenced, but Haggard believes this shouldn’t be the case with water near apartments.
As drowning continues to rank among the leading causes of death for young children, Haggard remains focused on prevention.
“When you can address a societal problem, and you can make a difference, that’s a real opportunity and obviously very empowering,” he says.
