Swimming Pool Accidents - Drowning Lawsuits

Pennsylvania - New Jersey - New York - Nationwide

About 3,000 people, many of them children, drown each year in the United States and many more suffer serious, irreversible injury in near-drowning incidents.

Drowning is the leading cause of all accidental deaths among small children (one to four years of age) and the second leading cause among all children from one to 14 years of age, following only motor vehicle accidents.

Drownings can occur in a number of places, including at public and private swimming pools, open recreational waterways such as lakes and ponds, spas, hot tubs and even in bathtubs. In non-fatal cases, with brain damage generally resulting after four minutes of submersion, an estimated 20 percent of victims suffer severe, permanent neurological disability.

Negligence plays a part in many drownings and near-drowning cases, whether the cause is lack of supervision or a problem with the premises. If you or someone you known died or suffered serious injury as the result of a drowning incident, you may want to contact a drowning accident attorney or a swimming pool attorney to get a free evaluation of your case for a possible lawsuit.

Kline & Specter, P.C., attorneys have won a number of major drowning lawsuits. In one celebrated case, Shanin Specter won a $24 million verdict for a three-year-old girl who suffered brain damage after she plunged into the deep end of a swimming pool at an Upper Darby, Pa., apartment complex. Specter produced evidence that two lifeguards had been lying down on their backs, one with her eyes closed, when the incident occurred. (See The Weightman Case.)

In another case, the Griffin case, the firm negotiated a seven-figure settlement in the death of a 15-year-old boy who drowned in a swimming pool at a hotel in Reading, Pa. The lifeguard in that case had her feet up on a desk and was reading when the tragedy occurred.

In a July 2004 trial, Tom Kline won a $6.6 million Philadelphia jury verdict for the family of Anthony Slaughter, an eight-year-old boy who drowned in an unattended swimming pool at a summer camp. There had been two lifeguards at the pool, but one was on a break and the other had left to use the bathroom at the time of the incident. Anthony’s death occurred on the first day of camp. (See The Slaughter Case.)

Most recently, in a settlement announced in October 2009, Kline & Specter attorneys Jonathan Cohen and Robert Englert won a $5.12 million settlement for the estate of a 16-year-old boy who drowned after he was taken by a school supervisor on an unauthorized off-campus swimming outing. (Read the story.)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for every fatal drowning incident involving a child 14 years old or younger, three children require emergency room treatment for submersion injuries and 40 percent of those require hospitalization. Non-fatal incidents can cause brain damage that results in long-term disabilities ranging from memory problems to the victim being left in a vegetative state.

Kline & Specter, with some 30 attorneys (several of whom are also highly regarded doctors), has broad expertise and experience in pursuing drowning accidents and swimming pool drowning cases. The law firm, based in Philadelphia and serving the Pennsylvania - New Jersey - Delaware region as well as clients nationwide, has produced superb results in a large number of personal injury cases. Contact a drowning accident lawyer or swimming pool lawyer today.

Click here for more facts about drowning incidents: CDC

Click here for drowning prevention tips: Consumer Product Safety Commission

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Kline & Specter handles cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York and Nationwide, working with local attorneys in states outside PA, NJ and NY.

In Pennsylvania, Kline & Specter handles cases in and around: Allentown, Altoona, Bethlehem, Chester, Doylestown, Drexel Hill, Easton, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Johnstown, Lancaster, Levittown, McCandless, McKeesport, Monroeville, Norristown, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Pottstown, Radnor, Reading, Scranton, State College, West Chester, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport and York.

In New Jersey, the firm handles cases in and around: Atlantic City, Bayonne, Brick Township, Camden, Cherry Hill, Clifton, Edison, Elizabeth, Fort Lee, Jersey City, Lakewood, Millville, Newark, New Brunswick, Paterson, Pennsauken, Plainfield, Toms River, Trenton, Union, Vineland, Voorhees and Willingboro.