FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com JUNE 5, 2014 • THE COURIER SUN 29 Legally Speaking By: Scott Baron, Attorney at Law st Place of the 2013 THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com JUMP IN A LAKE Advertorial Q: On a sunny afternoon, some friends and I went on an outing to a state-owned lake. The lake is very shallow, undeveloped and unsupervised. My family and I had made many trips there before. This time, I walked right to the edge of a spillway of the dam that had formed the lake. The water was murky and about two feet below the spillway. Without hesitation, I pulled off my shirt and dove headfirst into the water. My head struck the bed. It turns out that the water was about two feet deep. A: Your attorney will need to argue that the state was negligent for failing to warn of a known danger and in failing to take any steps to warn of the hazards posed by this danger – that the lake’s water near the dam was too shallow for diving. The state will defend itself by saying that you were engaging in reckless behavior. This constitutes the sole legal cause of any ensuing injuries. You were familiar with the lake and should have been aware that its water had diminished to a dangerous level. You should have understood that descending from the spillway required you to choose a safer means than you did on that unfortunate day. I am afraid that the courts are likely to rule that what you knew about the lake’s conditions should have alerted you that the water at the face of the dam on the lake side was not deep enough to support safe diving. Yet you dove there anyway. Still, by all means take this case to a resourceful attorney, in case there are some details that you have not mentioned. The law responds to changed conditions; exceptions and variations abound. Here, the information is general; always seek out competent counsel This article shall not be construed as legal advice. Copyright © 2014 Scott Baron & Associates, P.C. All rights reserved. 159-49 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach, New York 11414 1750 Central Park Ave, Yonkers, NY 10710 718-738-9800, 914-337-9800, 1-866-927-4878 RENEW YOUR SPIRIT & JEWISH CONNECTION JOIN US AS WE CELEBRATE OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY OUR ISRAEL CENTER OF CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM JUDAISM THE CARING COMMUNITY Learn more about us by watching our video at www.iccj2004.org FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Gale Schott, Office Administrator TELEPHONE: 718-591-5353 EXT. 11 E-MAIL: GALE@ICCJ2004.ORG Israel Center of Conservative Judaism 167-11 73rd Avenue, Flushing, NY 11366 Rabbi Robyn Fryer Bodzin Telephone: 718-591-5610 e-mail: rabbirfb@iccj2004.org /ICCJQueens @ICCJ_Queens
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