“Timber!” Historically, lumberjacks shouted such warnings when heavy trees would come crashing down. However, when a golf resort in Florida hired tree trimmers, no one thought to yell warnings — let alone to put out safety cones or hazard signage — when heavy branches fell to the ground. Michael Williams worked at the resort as a tournament coordinator. While leaving work for the day, he funneled his car through the only exit available during the resort’s ongoing construction. Without warning, the maintenance crew lopped off a massive portion of a tree, which crashed atop Michael’s car. The impact blew out his windshield, totaled the vehicle, and inflicted him with severe whiplash.
The full extent of Michael's injuries did not become apparent until he obtained medical scans. Imaging revealed multiple disc herniations, which required invasive surgery to correct. The intense coup-contrecoup forces bruised his brain, leaving him with permanent tinnitus (an incurable, persistent ringing in the ears). As an avid golfer, Michael had moved from Minnesota to Florida to start a new chapter of his life at the resort. But after the impact, his golfing ambitions were jeopardized by painful flare-ups from his neck surgery. He was only in his 40s, yet his traumatic brain injury would impair him for the rest of his life.
The law firm representing Michael encountered significant coverage issues with the maintenance company’s insurance policy and was reluctant to sue his employer. The firm referred the case to Aaron Feuer, founder of Aaron Feuer Law and an experienced litigator in personal injury cases. To start, Aaron identified and sued two defendants: (1) the maintenance company that cut the trees and (2) the golf resort. He determined that the resort had negligently left the maintenance company unsupervised and failed to maintain safety on the property. He also amended the complaint to include specific policy language to trigger insurance coverage.
To complicate matters, the maintenance company hired a large law firm in addition to their personal counsel, and the resort brought on their own highly competent defense firm. The three defense counsels challenged Aaron at every step, including on liability and causation. But by naming two defendants, Aaron was able to position them against each other. The two sides pointed fingers at one another, arguing about who was more responsible for the injuries.
Aaron set out to maximize the value of his client’s serious, lifelong injuries by focusing on causation. He retained as an expert the orthopedic surgeon who performed the cervical fusion, along with several radiologists, an ENT, a neurologist, a life-care planner, and an arborist. Aaron needed to prove that both defendants were jointly negligent by establishing the necessary causal connection. Next, Aaron brought on DK Global to recreate the incident in an animated presentation, demonstrating how the lack of safety precautions led to the victim’s injuries.
The DK Global animation set the scene by zooming through satellite images of the golf resort to an overhead view of the parking lot where the incident occurred. The reconstruction showed Michael’s car moving through the lot towards the tree (highlighted in bright green). The tree then collapsed onto the top of the car, and photos from the scene demonstrated the damages. During the replay of the incident, snippets from the depositions played alongside the animation. Cones, signage, and a traffic controller were displayed where they should have been if protocols had been followed.
Aaron went into mediation with “guns blazing” due to the defense undervaluing his client’s injuries. He refused to budge from his position, and the parties walked away at a wide impasse. After mediation, Aaron sent a detailed demand letter outlining the animation he used and demanding the policy limits from both parties. After seeing the visuals and the extent of Michael’s injuries, the defense’s offers began to increase dramatically. Aaron made a strategic decision to resolve the case against the golf resort to isolate the other defendant. The strategy paid off, and the maintenance company settled the lawsuit for a confidential amount. Michael described the final outcome as a “home run.”
Aaron Feuer, founder of Aaron Feuer Law, has more than a decade of experience in civil and criminal litigation. He earned his board certification in Civil Trial Law, an honor held by fewer than 1% of Florida’s attorneys. He has focused his practice on personal injury and criminal law, and has completed more than 60 jury trials (serving as lead counsel on 35). He achieved the largest settlement in his previous firm’s history in 2021. He received the “Trial Award” for “Outstanding Performance” in 2016 and the SAO “Rookie of the Year” award in 2013.
