By: Justin C. Carlin

I have been a Fort Lauderdale ADA lawyer for nearly a decade, having defended numerous lawsuits in the Southern District of Florida in each of the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach divisions.

I remember watching the below video shortly after becoming immersed in the area. After years of development within the area of the law, it is still one of the best journalistic expressions of the problems surrounding ADA litigation. If you’ve recently been served with an ADA lawsuit in a Florida federal court, then it is a definite “must-see.”

http://stosselintheclassroom.org/videos/ada_law_leading_to_lawsuit_abuse/

Despite the obvious abuses, state and federal legislatures have done nothing to curtail the litigation abuse. A presuit notice requirement, with a reasonable opportunity to cure alleged defects in the property (e.g., 60 or 90 days), seems like an obvious way to improve the law. Another way to improve the law might be to establish standards for what makes a property modification “readily achievable.” Is it fair that a small business that is barely making ends meet incur thousands of dollars proving in a trial that moving a wall is too expensive for the business to endure? Because Title-III of the ADA is a civil rights law, the attorney’s fees provisions are (by statute) one-way: If the plaintiff wins, he or she recovers attorney’s fees from the defendant, but, if a defendant wins, he or she may not recover attorney’s fees from the unsuccessful plaintiff. By definition, that is unjust. Something must be done to protect our Florida businesses.

But not all hope is lost. There is some strong case law that permits ADA defendants to protect themselves from vexatious litigation. If you’re in need of a ADA litigation defense, contact an experienced ADA defense lawyer Fort Lauderdale to represent you in your ADA case. The Carlin Law Firm, PLLC regularly represents all kinds of business entities in Title-III ADA lawsuits in Florida state and federal courts.