Swope Rodante Success Stories
Contact Us for a Complex Case
Car Accident Cases
Not Enough Insurance Coverage
Receiving financial assistance in time of need
Adult Pedestrian Suffers Severe Injuries after Being Struck by Automobile
A man in his mid-forties, loving father and husband had car trouble on Dale Mabry Highway. As he tried to get his car started a drunk driver failed to notice the stalled vehicle with the flashers and plowed into the rear of the vehicle, pushing the car over its owner as he attempted to repair it. His injuries were massive. He would never walk or talk again. Despite the fact that the available insurance coverage for the crash was only $10,000, our firm was able to achieve an eight-figure recovery.
His wife and daughter continue to love and care for him, in addition to his 24-hour attendant care. His daughter, just a toddler at the time of the crash, just celebrated her quinceanera celebration (15th birthday)! While her dad could not be there, just knowing that his daughter is well provided for and excelling in life certainly lets him rest easier while he watches her grow into a young adult.
13 year-old girl suffers spinal cord injury while riding in the back seat
Just 13 years old, she called “the back in the middle on the hump” for the drive on Thanksgiving Day in her grandparent’s car. A careless driver smashed into the rear of the vehicle and sent a folding table that was in the trunk into the spine of that child rendering her paraplegic. The insurance available to the rear-ending driver was $25,000. Our firm, working with co-counsel who brought us into the case, helped to recover a seven-figure recovery for our client.
She’s in college now, and after competing on the Paralympics, she still enjoys the challenge of her college track team while she gets a bachelor’s degree, proving that with proper support from the legal system, there are almost no bounds that the human spirit cannot overcome
Traumatic Brain Injury Cases
Received a life-time of care
Teacher Suffers Brain Injury in a Grocery Store Parking Lot Attack
Walking through the parking lot at a grocery store she never imagined that a man would attempt to grab her purse and when she tried to hang on send her diving to the pavement head-first. Despite the fact that there was no liability coverage available for the accident, our firm, working with co-counsel who brought us into the case, helped to obtain a seven-figure recovery for our client.
Never able to return to her teaching career, she is loved and cared-for by family and nursing staff at home. She is now able to meaningfully respond to her loved ones when they talk to her, and recently enjoyed a sunny day at Lowry Park Zoo – that brought her smiles and a level of happiness that almost nobody thought would ever be possible, given all that has happened to this wonderful and courageous lady.
Adult Female Suffers Brain Injury in an Accident Involving a Tractor Trailer
The life of a 19-year-old young woman was changed forever one morning on her way to community college. The driver of a tractor-trailer made a left turn crushing the young woman’s car beyond recognition. Her mangled body was extracted from the wreckage, and while her bones were intact, she suffered a severe brain injury. Ultimately she regained consciousness after being in a coma for several months. The insurance available was $2 million dollars, but our firm, working with other attorneys who asked us to join in the case, achieved an eight-figure recovery for our client.
She now lives with her Mom, and brothers and sisters, swimming regularly in their pool for therapy. She is able to walk with a cane, and occasionally is able to speak slowly and be understood by her family and caregivers, living her life to the absolute fullest that modern science can make possible.
Wrongful Death Case
St. Petersburg’s Drainage System Made Safe Through Teenager’s Wrongful Death Claim
In the past, when the summer rains ravaged St. Petersburg, the drain pipes often flooded and water would fill the streets and neighborhood parks. A few years ago, after several days of long rains subsided, a 12 year-old girl and her twin 10-year-old brother and sister went outside to play. They made their way down to their neighborhood park and started splashing around in the gullies. Suddenly the oldest child was swept up by the current and disappeared underwater. Occasionally her arm would come out of the water, as her twin brother and sister followed, screaming and running, alongside on the roadway. She had been swept into an open drain. Eventually the young girl’s body was located by rescue workers on the other side of town, having traveled many miles through the flooded drain system. The family of the dead child did not ask for any more money than the governmental immunity caps allowed; they asked our firm to fight to change the drain system in St. Petersburg. Now there are grates on those once open drains. The twins both have children of their own now, and those children sometimes play in that same neighborhood park, made safe now, so that no child will ever suffer the same fate as their aunt.
Justice for the Family
Family endures after 18-year old girl shot and killed at a neighborhood party
On July 14, she turned 18. On July 30, she was dead. She was going to be entering her senior year at Spoto High School. She begged her mother and grandmother to let her attend a neighborhood party. The occasion was a ‘back to school’ get together at the local union hall. Her brothers and sisters were going, and the union hall was not far from home. Eventually they gave-in and off to the party she went with brothers and sisters and friends.
Happiness turned to tragedy. Not soon after the party began teenage boys from rival neighborhoods began to scuffle. To add to the ensuing melee, the host of the party had hired boys from one of the neighborhoods as ‘security’. The union hall was overcrowded with kids spilling into the parking area, and even into the streets. The alcoholic punch being served to the underage kids, likely also contributed to what became an unruly scene. A fight inside the hall, turned into a bigger fight outside. Words and punches were exchanged, and at least one young man went to his car to retrieve a gun. Shots were fired into the crowd of kids streaming out of the hall and into cars. Her body slumped out of the car as she called to her brother to run and get in the car. One of the stray bullets had hit her in the head. Her killer was convicted of second-degree murder.
Mom, grandmother, brother and sister, with the strength of their family, church, neighborhood and our firm pursued the party host, union member and union for her death. The union’s insurance company went out of business. Nevertheless, our firm was able to recover a sum appropriate to the families loss that was distributed to family members in amounts that can truly help each one of them, and serve as a monument to the memory of the beautiful young daughter, sister and friend that they will miss forever. It was truly our honor to have served such a noble and inspiring family in their pursuit of justice.
