Last Thursday night, June 13th, the nation was enraptured by the NBA Finals game between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. The city of Miami was of course out en force in bars, clubs, restaurants, and other venues cheering on their team and enjoying food, beverages and the company of their fellow Miamians. Shuckers Bar & Grill located along the 79th Street Causeway in the North Bay Village area of Miami-Dade was host to a packed crowd of patron fans who were as ensconced in the action of the game as those in any establishment in the city. The enjoyment of the evening was abruptly and violently cut short, however, when the restaurant’s outside deck suddenly collapsed, sending at least 75 people who were dining on it into the water below.Regardless of what the reasons are for the collapse, it is clear that those who were injured have grounds for filing suit against those responsible. They will need to contact a qualified attorney who knows how to sue Shuckers for the negligence of the situation and the injuries sustained. The actual determination of who exactly is at fault is likely to be challenging though. According to the restaurant’s owner and North Bay Village police the restaurant passed a recent scheduled structural inspection but said that the deck was not included in the inspection because, according to the engineer who performed the inspection, waterfront and ancillary portions of the restaurant were not required as part of the inspection. Many people were also questioning whether or not the number of people on the deck itself at the time of the collapse exceeded capacity. City officials claim it is the fire department’s responsibility to determine that capacity while fire department representatives claim that onus falls on the shoulders of the city’s engineers.
The fact that no one truly seems to know who is responsible for determining the weight capacity of the Shucker’s outside deck is indeed unsettling, but it may or may not answer the question of who is truly responsible for the deck’s collapse. The unfortunate individuals who were injured in the incident would benefits from competent and knowledgeable legal counsel in order to help make that determination so that litigation can be brought against the appropriate parties, compensation can be awarded, and justice can be done.
Hickey Law Firm, P.A. –Miami Cruise Ship Attorneys handles cases of personal injury, cruise ship injury and sexual assault, and other personal injury cases.