Gainesville Fraternity Tailgate Injury: When a Thrown Metal Rim Becomes a Lawsuit
You were at a tailgate. That is what you were doing — standing in a backyard on Fraternity Row, enjoying a game-day afternoon, the kind of scene that defines Gainesville in the fall. Then an eleven-pound metal basketball rim came over a privacy fence and struck you in the head. You ended up at Shands Hospital with seven surgical staples closing a gash in your scalp, and the person who threw it told police he was drunk and did it because a fraternity brother dared him to.
That is not a prank. That is not college high jinks. A twenty-year-old threw a heavy metal object over a fence into a crowd of people, and your head is what stopped it. The police arrested him on felony battery charges — which tells you something about how seriously the criminal system takes this. But the criminal case does not pay your medical bills. The criminal case does not cover the follow-up neurology appointments, the missed classes, the scar that may never fully fade, or the headaches that might still be there in three months.
We are a trial firm that takes Florida cases, and what we want you to understand — right now, before you talk to anyone from the fraternity’s insurance company or sign anything — is that what happened to you is not just one student’s bad decision. It is a failure of the institution that hosted the event, served the alcohol, and failed to stop one of its own from doing something that could have killed you. Call us at 1-888-ATTY-911. The consultation is free, and we do not get paid unless we win your case.
What Happened at That Tailgate Is a Crime — and It Is a Civil Case
The first thing to understand is that two cases are running at the same time, and they are completely separate. The State of Florida is prosecuting the student who threw the rim for felony battery. That case can result in jail time, probation, a criminal record. But the criminal case belongs to the prosecutor, not to you. You are a witness in it, not a party.
Your case is the civil case. It is the one where you — the person with seven staples in your head — seek compensation from the people and institutions whose choices led to that moment. The civil case is the only case that pays your medical bills, compensates you for the pain, accounts for the permanent scar on your scalp, and — if the facts support it — seeks punitive damages designed to punish the conduct that hurt you.
Here is what most people miss: the civil case is often more powerful than the criminal case, because the civil case can reach the fraternity’s commercial insurance policy — money the criminal case never touches. But reaching that policy requires proving not just that the student committed battery, but that the fraternity itself was negligent. That is the work. That is what we do. And the evidence that proves it is already disappearing.
Florida Law Treats This as Battery — and That Changes Everything
Florida law draws a hard line between negligence and intentional misconduct, and this incident sits in a place where both theories can operate at the same time, against different defendants.
The intentional tort: battery. Florida law defines battery as intentionally touching another person against their will or causing bodily harm. When someone picks up an eleven-pound metal rim and throws it over a fence into a crowd, and it strikes a person in the head hard enough to require seven staples — that is battery. The fact that the person who threw it was intoxicated does not excuse the act. The fact that a fraternity brother “suggested” he do it does not reduce his liability. In Florida, voluntary intoxication is not a defense to an intentional tort.
Negligence per se. The student’s arrest for felony battery serves as a basis for negligence per se — a legal doctrine that says when someone violates a criminal statute designed to protect a class of people (here, people lawfully present in a social gathering), and that violation causes the kind of harm the statute was designed to prevent, the violation itself is evidence of negligence. The criminal arrest is not a conviction, and the civil standard is different — but the factual findings in the arrest report, including the student’s own admission that he was intoxicated and that a fraternity brother encouraged the act, are powerful evidence in the civil case.
Florida’s comparative negligence rule. Florida follows a modified comparative negligence system — if you are 51% or more at fault, you are barred from recovery. But this rule typically does not apply to intentional torts like battery. The person who threw the rim cannot point to your presence at the tailgate and say you assumed the risk of having an eleven-pound metal object hurled at your skull. No one assumes that risk.
Punitive damages. This is where the case gets serious. Florida law allows punitive damages when the defendant’s conduct was grossly negligent or intentional:
Under Florida Statutes § 768.72, punitive damages may be sought upon a showing of “gross negligence” or “intentional misconduct,” which is highly applicable here given the intoxication and nature of the act.
An intoxicated person throwing an eleven-pound metal object over a fence into a crowd — that is the textbook factual pattern for a punitive damages claim. A jury does not just compensate you for the staples and the scar. A jury can punish the conduct, and in a case like this, the argument for punishment is not subtle.
The impact rule. Florida recognizes what is called the “impact rule,” which requires a physical impact to recover for emotional damages. That requirement is clearly, undeniably satisfied here — a metal rim struck your head. There was physical impact, there was physical injury, and there was surgical intervention. Every element of the impact rule is met on day one.
Florida’s statute of limitations. Florida generally gives you four years from the date of the injury to file a personal-injury lawsuit, whether the claim is framed as negligence or battery. Four years sounds like a long time, but the evidence that wins your case will be gone in weeks — which is why the deadline matters far less than the speed of the first preservation letter.
Who Is Responsible: The Student, the Fraternity, and the Brother Who Said “Do It”
A case like this is not one defendant. It is a web, and finding every responsible party is the difference between a case that covers your medical bills and one that accounts for the full scope of the harm.
The student who threw the rim. Direct liability for intentional battery is clear. But here is the coverage problem: most homeowner’s insurance policies exclude intentional acts. If the student’s family has a homeowner’s policy, it likely will not cover the damages from a battery claim. The student’s personal assets are probably limited — a twenty-year-old college student does not typically have the resources to cover a serious head injury claim. This is why reaching the fraternity is not just a strategy — it is the strategy.
The local Delta Sigma Phi chapter. This is where the real money and the real accountability live. The fraternity chapter hosted the tailgate. The event happened on its property. The student who threw the rim was a guest at its event. A fraternity brother — a member of the organization — encouraged the act. The chapter owed its guests and the people in the neighboring yard a duty of reasonable care, and on a game day with heavy alcohol consumption, that duty included supervision, security, and preventing dangerous horseplay with heavy objects.
The University of Florida Greek Life Conduct Codes mandate specific security and sobriety standards for tailgates. If the chapter violated those codes — and serving enough alcohol to make a twenty-year-old willing to throw an eleven-pound metal rim over a fence is strong evidence that sobriety standards were not maintained — that violation is evidence of negligence.
The national Delta Sigma Phi organization. National fraternities carry insurance, set risk-management policies, and are responsible for ensuring their local chapters follow safety standards. If the national organization failed to enforce its own risk-management policies regarding alcohol and conduct at chapter houses, it can face vicarious liability. The national’s commercial general liability policy is likely the largest available insurance pool in this case — and reaching it requires proving the institutional failure, not just the individual act.
The fraternity brother who encouraged it. The arrest report says the student threw the rim “after a fraternity brother suggested he do so.” That brother has not been publicly identified, but under Florida law, a person who encourages or facilitates a dangerous act can face joint and several liability. If the brother’s encouragement met the threshold for civil conspiracy or concerted action, he is not a witness — he is a defendant. Finding him is a matter of discovery, and the fraternity’s own internal communications and surveillance footage are where his identity lives.
The Evidence Is Already Disappearing
This is the section that matters most, because it is the one with a clock running against you right now.
Fraternity surveillance footage. The fraternity house almost certainly had security cameras covering the exterior, the yard, and the fence line. That footage captured the throw itself, the level of supervision at the time, the identity of the “brother” who encouraged it, and the crowd density. This is the single most important piece of evidence in the case. It is also the most fragile. Security camera systems commonly overwrite on a rolling loop — often within 7 to 30 days. Every day that passes without a preservation demand is a day closer to that footage being gone forever. When it is gone, the fraternity can say whatever it wants about what happened, and you will have nothing to contradict it.
The metal basketball rim. The eleven-pound rim is currently in police custody as evidence in the criminal case. It needs to be tested for fingerprints and DNA — to confirm who touched it, and to connect the “brother” who encouraged the throw to the object itself. A preservation letter to the police department ensures this evidence is not lost, damaged, or returned to the fraternity before the civil case can access it. The rim is also the physical proof of the danger — its weight, its jagged edges, its aerodynamic profile. A biomechanical engineer will use it to calculate the force of impact on your skull.
Social media content. On a game-day tailgate at a UF fraternity, dozens of people were filming and photographing. Snapchat stories, Instagram posts, TikTok videos — someone almost certainly captured the throw, the aftermath, or the moments before it. This content is ephemeral by design. Snapchat stories disappear in 24 hours. Instagram stories vanish in 24 hours. Even saved posts can be deleted. Subpoenaing platforms and users requires time, and the window is closing.
The arrest report and bodycam footage. The arrest report contains the student’s own admissions — that he was intoxicated, that a fraternity brother suggested the throw, and that he did not know it hit anyone. The bodycam footage from the responding officers captures the scene, the condition of the victim, the statements made at the scene, and the demeanor of everyone involved. These require a public records request, and the process takes time.
The preservation letter. The day you call us is the day a preservation letter goes out — to the local fraternity chapter, to the national organization, to the police department holding the rim, and to any third-party security vendor that manages the fraternity’s cameras. That letter puts every recipient on legal notice that evidence must be preserved, and if anything is destroyed after that letter is on file, a judge can instruct the jury to assume the destroyed evidence would have helped your case. That is the power of a preservation letter, and it is the reason the first 72 hours matter more than the next 72 months.
What an Eleven-Pound Metal Rim Does to a Human Head
The biomechanics of this injury are where the damages picture comes into focus, and they are more serious than “seven staples” suggests.
An eleven-pound metal basketball rim is roughly five kilograms of rigid steel. When thrown over a privacy fence — arced upward and coming down on the other side — it arrives at the victim’s head with the combined force of its weight and its velocity. Even at a moderate throwing arc, the kinetic energy at impact is substantial. The scalp, despite being one of the most vascular parts of the human body, offers almost no cushioning for the skull beneath it. When a steel rim strikes a scalp, the skin splits, and the force transfers directly through the skull to the brain.
The laceration and the staples. Seven surgical staples is not a minor wound. Each staple closes a wound that was deep enough and wide enough that stitches alone were insufficient. Scalp lacerations bleed heavily — the scalp receives an enormous blood supply — which is why the scene was likely alarming and why emergency services were called. The staples will come out in 10 to 14 days, but the scar beneath them may last the rest of your life.
The traumatic brain injury risk. Here is what the medical literature says about head strikes, and it is the part the insurance adjuster will try to minimize. The word “mild” in “mild traumatic brain injury” is a hospital triage word, not a promise about your future. On the Glasgow Coma Scale, a score of 13 to 15 is classified as “mild” — but more than one-third of patients with a GCS score of 13 have potentially life-threatening intracranial lesions. You did not have to lose consciousness to have a real brain injury. Feeling dazed, confused, or “not right” at the scene — or not remembering the moments around the impact — is enough for a medical diagnosis.
The clean-scan trap. The CT scan at Shands may have come back “normal.” In a mild traumatic brain injury, the CT is normal approximately 90% of the time — not because nothing is wrong, but because the damage is microscopic tearing of nerve fibers that a standard CT was never designed to see. The injury is called diffuse axonal injury, and it happens when the head undergoes rapid deceleration: the skull stops, the brain keeps moving, and the brain’s internal wiring stretches and tears. If you are still having headaches, sensitivity to light, difficulty concentrating, memory gaps, or mood changes weeks after the injury, the clean CT does not mean those symptoms are imaginary. It means the wrong test was used to look for the damage.
Post-concussion syndrome. Most concussion symptoms resolve within 10 to 14 days. But at least one in seven people with a mild traumatic brain injury never fully recovers. The headaches, the dizziness, the memory trouble, the personality changes — for those people, “mild” becomes a life sentence. Three months out, if the symptoms persist, the diagnosis becomes persistent post-concussion syndrome, and it is a permanent condition.
Permanent scarring. Scalp scars are visible. If you wear your hair short, the scar from seven staples will be apparent to anyone who looks. Under Florida law, permanent disfigurement is a compensable damage — and it is one of the most powerful elements for a jury, because a jury can see the scar. A plastic surgeon can testify about the permanent nature of the scarring and the cost of revision surgery, if revision is even possible.
If you are experiencing any ongoing symptoms — headaches, dizziness, cognitive fog, mood changes, sleep disruption — you need neurological follow-up. Not a single appointment. A plan. Neuropsychological testing can document the cognitive deficits that a CT scan cannot see. Advanced imaging — diffusion tensor imaging or susceptibility-weighted MRI — can detect the microscopic damage. The medical record built from day one is what proves the injury the defense says is invisible. Our firm works with brain injury specialists who understand exactly how to document and prove these injuries.
What the Fraternity’s Insurance Will Try
If the fraternity has commercial general liability insurance — and any national fraternity chapter should — its insurance company has already opened a file. Within days of the incident, an adjuster was assigned, a reserve was set, and a strategy was chosen. Here is what they will do, and here is how each play is countered.
Play 1: “It was just a prank gone wrong.” The fraternity’s insurer will frame this as college kids being college kids — a harmless mistake, not an institutional failure. The counter: an eleven-pound metal object thrown over a fence into a crowd is not a prank. It is a battery. The student was arrested on felony charges. The framing dies the moment the arrest report and the emergency room records are in evidence.
Play 2: “The fraternity isn’t responsible for one student’s independent decision.” This is the fraternity’s strongest argument, and it is the one we work hardest to defeat. The counter: the fraternity hosted the event, controlled the property, served the alcohol to an underage guest, and — critically — a fraternity brother encouraged the act. The organization’s own member was not just present; he was a catalyst. The internal communications, the surveillance footage, and the witness statements are what connect the individual act to the institutional failure.
Play 3: “You were drinking too, so you assumed the risk.” The adjuster will look for any evidence that the victim was also consuming alcohol, then argue comparative fault. The counter: Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule does not apply to intentional torts. You did not assume the risk of being struck in the head by a metal rim because you had a drink at a tailgate. The defense will mine your social media for party photos — which is why you should not post anything about the incident, the injury, or your recovery online.
Play 4: “The CT was clean, so there is no brain injury.” The defense will point to the normal CT scan and argue that the ongoing symptoms are not related to the incident. The counter: the medical literature is clear — a normal CT is the expected finding in mild TBI, not proof of absence of injury. Neuropsychological testing, advanced imaging, and the testimony of treating clinicians document the injury the CT could not see.
Play 5: The fast check. A friendly adjuster may call within days of the incident, offering to “help with your medical bills” if you will provide a recorded statement and sign a release. The recorded statement is engineered to get you to say “I’m feeling okay” before the real symptoms surface. The release is a full settlement for a fraction of what the case is worth. The counter: do not give a recorded statement, do not sign anything, and do not accept a check before the full extent of the injury is known. Some symptoms take weeks to declare themselves.
How a Case Like This Is Actually Built
Here is the chronological walk — what happens, in what order, and why each step matters.
Week one: The preservation letter goes out. The day you call us, letters go to the fraternity chapter, the national organization, the police department, and any security vendor. Every camera, every log, every internal communication is frozen. This is the most important thing we do in the first 72 hours, and it is the one thing that cannot be undone if it is delayed.
Weeks one through four: Evidence gathering. We file the public records request for the arrest report and bodycam footage. We subpoena social media platforms and identify witnesses. We get the medical records from Shands — the ER triage notes, the CT scan, the operative notes from the stapling, the discharge instructions. We pull the fraternity’s incident report, if one exists. We identify the “brother” who encouraged the throw.
Months one through three: Medical follow-up. We ensure you get neurological follow-up — not just a single appointment, but a real evaluation. If symptoms persist, we arrange neuropsychological testing. If the standard CT was clean but symptoms are ongoing, we pursue advanced imaging. The medical record is built contemporaneously, in real time, and it is the single most powerful evidence in the case.
Months three through six: Expert development. A biomechanical engineer calculates the force of the eleven-pound rim striking your head — the kinetic energy, the deceleration, the mechanism of injury. A plastic surgeon evaluates the scar and testifies about its permanence. A neurologist or neuropsychologist documents the cognitive deficits. A life-care planner, if needed, projects the future cost of ongoing symptoms.
Months six through twelve: Discovery and depositions. The fraternity’s risk manager is deposed about the event’s security plan. The chapter president is questioned about alcohol service. The “brother” who encouraged the throw is identified and deposed. The student who threw the rim is deposed about his level of intoxication, where the alcohol came from, and who said what.
The resolution. Most cases settle before trial. Some go to trial. Either way, the number at the end is built from all of it — the preserved footage, the medical record, the expert testimony, and the depositions that locked the fraternity’s people into their stories under oath.
The First 72 Hours: What to Do Now
Medical first — and not just the ER visit. If you have not already, schedule a follow-up with a neurologist. The ER treated the laceration. The ER did not evaluate you for traumatic brain injury in any comprehensive way. Tell the neurologist about every symptom — headaches, dizziness, light sensitivity, memory gaps, mood changes, sleep disruption, difficulty concentrating. These symptoms are medical facts, not complaints, and documenting them now is how you prove the injury later.
Do not post on social media. Not about the incident. Not about your recovery. Not a photo of the staples. Not a “feeling lucky to be alive” post. The defense will mine every post for evidence that you are “fine.” A photo of you smiling at dinner becomes “the plaintiff is not seriously injured.” A check-in at a bar becomes “the plaintiff was drinking.” Say nothing online until the case is resolved.
Do not give a recorded statement to anyone. Not to the fraternity’s insurance company. Not to the national organization’s investigator. Not to a “concerned” fraternity member who calls to check on you. Anything you say can and will be used to reduce the value of your case. If someone calls, take their name and number and say you will have your attorney call them back. Then call us.
Preserve everything you have. Keep every medical record, every discharge instruction, every prescription bottle, every photograph of the wound. Save every text message, every Snapchat, every DM from anyone who was at the tailgate. Write down the names of everyone you remember seeing that day. Memory fades fast, and the witness list is the foundation of the case.
Call us. The consultation is free. The call costs nothing. The preservation letter goes out the day you hire us — and that letter is what stops the footage from being erased, the rim from being returned, and the fraternity’s internal communications from being “lost.”
What This Case Is Worth
The case value range for this incident, based on the specific facts — an eleven-pound metal rim thrown over a fence, a scalp laceration requiring seven staples, emergency transport to a Level I trauma center, and the potential for permanent scarring and traumatic brain injury symptoms — falls in a range from approximately $75,000 on the low end to $350,000 or more on the high end.
The low end reflects a scenario where only the individual student’s assets are available, the medical treatment was limited to the ER visit and staples, symptoms resolve within weeks, and the scarring is minimal. This is the scenario where the fraternity’s commercial insurance is not successfully triggered and the student’s homeowner’s policy excludes the intentional act.
The high end reflects a scenario where the fraternity’s general liability policy is triggered through the negligent supervision and premises liability theories, where permanent scarring is documented by a plastic surgeon, where post-concussion syndrome or other TBI symptoms persist and require neurological follow-up, and where punitive damages are available under Florida law. Alachua County juries are generally academic and diverse, and they tend toward reasonable but substantial awards in cases involving egregious campus misconduct.
These figures are honest projections based on the facts, not promises. Every case depends on its specific evidence, the medical record, the insurance coverage available, and the jurisdiction. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
The coverage question is central. The student’s homeowner’s policy likely excludes intentional acts. The fraternity’s commercial general liability policy is the real target, and reaching it requires proving the fraternity’s negligence — not just the student’s battery. That is why the negligent supervision theory, the premises liability theory, and the dram shop angle (if the fraternity served alcohol to the underage student) are not alternative claims. They are the same claim, built from different angles, all aimed at the same insurance policy.
Florida’s dram shop statute is restrictive — it generally only applies when a vendor “willfully and unlawfully” provides alcohol to someone underage. If the fraternity served alcohol to a twenty-year-old, that is willfully and unlawfully providing alcohol to a person under twenty-one, which can open a path to liability for the consequences. Florida beverage laws prohibit providing alcohol to persons under twenty-one, and a violation of that statute in the context of a tailgate that led to a serious injury is evidence that strengthens every other theory in the case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue the fraternity if it was one student who threw the rim?
Yes. The student’s act is the immediate cause, but the fraternity hosted the event, controlled the property, served the alcohol, and a fraternity member encouraged the throw. Under Florida premises liability and negligent supervision law, an organization that creates a dangerous environment and fails to supervise it can be held responsible for what happens — even if the specific act was committed by one person. Reaching the fraternity’s commercial insurance is the central strategic goal, and the path runs through the institution’s failures, not just the individual’s choices.
The person who threw it was arrested — does that help my case?
It helps significantly. The arrest report contains the student’s own admissions — that he was intoxicated, that a fraternity brother suggested the throw, and that he did not know it hit anyone. Those admissions are admissible in the civil case. The fact that the state took the case seriously enough to charge felony battery tells you, and will tell a jury, that this was not an accident. The criminal case and the civil case are separate, but the evidence generated by the criminal investigation is some of the strongest evidence in the civil case.
What if the fraternity says it was not a sanctioned event?
Fraternities often argue that a particular gathering was “informal” or “not officially sanctioned” to escape liability. The counter is that the event happened on fraternity property, during a game-day tailgate, with fraternity members present and alcohol being consumed. Whether the national office formally approved the event is less important than whether the chapter controlled the property, hosted the gathering, and allowed the conditions that led to the injury. The UF Greek Life Conduct Codes set standards for tailgates regardless of formal sanctioning, and those standards were in effect.
I was drinking at the tailgate — does that hurt my case?
It might be raised as a comparative fault argument, but Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule generally does not apply to intentional torts like battery. Having a drink at a tailgate does not mean you assumed the risk of being struck in the head by a thrown metal rim. The defense will try to use it, but the argument is weak — you did not throw an eleven-pound object over a fence, and being present at a social event where alcohol was served does not make you responsible for someone else’s decision to do so.
How long do I have to file a lawsuit in Florida?
Florida generally gives you four years from the date of the injury to file a personal-injury lawsuit, whether the claim is framed as negligence, battery, or both. Four years sounds like plenty of time, but the evidence that decides the case — surveillance footage, social media content, witness memory — will be gone in weeks. The statute of limitations is a backstop, not a strategy. The preservation letter is the strategy, and it goes out the day you call us.
Will the fraternity’s insurance cover a battery claim?
This is the central question, and the answer depends on how the claim is framed. Most commercial general liability policies exclude coverage for intentional acts — so a pure battery claim against the student may not trigger the fraternity’s policy. But a negligent supervision claim, a premises liability claim, or a claim that the fraternity’s own failures (serving alcohol to minors, failing to supervise, allowing dangerous conditions) caused the injury is a negligence claim, not an intentional tort claim. Negligence claims are typically covered by commercial general liability insurance. This is why the case is built on institutional failure, not individual battery — the theory that reaches the insurance is the theory that matters.
The CT scan came back clean — do I still have a brain injury case?
Yes. A normal CT scan is the expected finding in a mild traumatic brain injury, not proof that no injury occurred. In a mild TBI, the CT is normal approximately 90% of the time because the damage is microscopic — nerve fibers torn by the deceleration of the brain inside the skull, not visible on a standard scan. If you are still experiencing headaches, dizziness, memory problems, mood changes, or difficulty concentrating, those are real symptoms of a real injury. Neuropsychological testing and advanced imaging like diffusion tensor imaging can document the damage the CT could not see.
What if I cannot identify the “brother” who told him to throw it?
The arrest report says a fraternity brother suggested the throw, but it does not name him. That is not a problem — it is a discovery question. The surveillance footage, the fraternity’s internal communications, and the depositions of the people present will identify him. Once identified, he becomes a defendant with potential joint and several liability. The fraternity’s failure to identify him on its own is itself evidence of negligent supervision — the organization does not even know which of its members encouraged a battery.
Should I talk to the fraternity’s insurance company?
No. Do not give a recorded statement, do not sign a release, and do not accept a settlement check. The insurance adjuster’s job is to resolve the claim for as little money as possible, as fast as possible — before the full extent of the injury is known and before an attorney can build the case. The adjuster is not your friend, no matter how friendly the call sounds. If they contact you, take their information and call us. We handle the conversation.
How much is my case worth?
Based on the specific facts of this incident — a thrown eleven-pound metal rim causing a scalp laceration requiring seven staples at a Level I trauma center, with potential permanent scarring and TBI symptoms — the case value range is approximately $75,000 to $350,000 or more, depending on whether the fraternity’s commercial insurance is triggered, whether permanent scarring or post-concussion syndrome is documented, and whether punitive damages are pursued. Every case depends on its facts, its medical record, its jurisdiction, and its insurance coverage. The honest answer is that the number is built from the evidence, and the evidence is built from the work we do in the first weeks.
Why This Firm
We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC. We are a trial firm that takes Florida cases, working with local counsel where required, and we have spent more than two decades building cases against institutions that failed the people inside them.
Ralph Manginello has 27+ years in courtrooms, including federal court. He was a journalist before he was a lawyer, which means he learned to find the story the facts tell — not the story the defendant wants told. He is the managing partner, admitted in Texas since 1998, and he leads our active litigation against fraternity organizations for campus injuries. We currently litigate the $10 million Bermudez v. Pi Kappa Phi hazing lawsuit at the University of Houston — a case that has taught us exactly how Greek organizations structure their liability, how their insurance works, and where their defenses break.
Lupe Peña spent years inside a national insurance-defense firm — the rooms where adjusters and their software decided how to deny, delay, and devalue claims. He sat on the other side of the table. He knows how the reserve is set in the first 48 hours, how the recorded statement is engineered, and how the fast check with the release attached is designed to close the file before the real medical picture emerges. He brings all of that knowledge to your side now. He is fluent in Spanish and conducts full consultations in Spanish without an interpreter.
Our fee is contingency. That means we do not get paid unless we win your case. The consultation is free. The preservation letter goes out the day you hire us. We work on these cases because we know what happens when an institution decides that a game-day tailgate is more important than the safety of the people standing in the next yard — and we know how to make that institution answer for it.
If you or someone you love was struck by a thrown object at a fraternity tailgate in Gainesville, call us. We understand fraternity injury litigation. We understand head injuries. We understand the insurance playbook. And we understand that the footage that proves your case is erasing itself right now.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911. Free consultation. No fee unless we win. Hablamos Español.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes. This page is legal information, not legal advice. Contacting the firm is free and confidential.