Defense Attorneys never let us know when they win, I wish some plaintiff’s attorneys would catch on.

This PR piece is meant to bring in new businesses because it has nothing to do with why a child fell from a playground climbing wall.

This press release was sent out touting a lawsuit filed by the law firm. The lawsuit is over a broken leg suffered by a two year old while playing an indoor play ground. The PR piece has no value to learning why and how people sue, but it is an excellent piece on:

• Misdirection
• Keyword searches
• Scaring parents

The PR piece was just designed to grab people’s attention to get new lawsuits. The piece did so by not talking about the issues, but by using key works to grab attention, fear and using lines that end up being stupid statements. Examples of this are:

“The mother claims she did not notice any warning signs around the equipment.” What warning sign is needed when you see a climbing wall? If you fall off and you do not have a magic wand, a broom or jet pack you can fall and be hurt. Besides, how many two year olds read warning signs anyway?

“The manufacturer of the wall claims it is designed for children five years of age and up, not two like Emma,…” so why did her mother let her climb? So why did her mother let her climb up high enough to all off and break her leg?

“Aronfeld said this incident should serve as a lesson for manufacturers of playground equipment, businesses, schools, municipalities, and homeowners who provide playground areas.” What lesson? What is the lesson that manufactures are supposed to learn?

“We want our kids to be active, but the facility owners must provide proper maintenance of their equipment and grounds, plus follow the suggested guidelines set by the National Playground Safety Institute,…” What maintenance was wrong? What guidelines were not met? The child fell off a wall.

“There should be a ‘no fall zone,’ an unobstructed space located under and around playground equipment.” The child did not hit anyone on the way down, the child fell on the floor. What is the issue with a no fall zone? You can’t fall in a no fall zone or you cannot be in the no fall zone, in case someone falls?

“Playground equipment must have at least six feet of unobstructed space on all sides to help protect children during a fall. Also, all playground equipment must be at least six feet apart, which covers the fall zone, but further apart is better.” See the rant above.

“Aronfeld added that children should climb, slide and cross play equipment one at a time to keep from pushing and hurting other children.” Ok when you figure this one out let every camp, every playground monitor, every teacher, ever rec center and the rest of the world know how you are supposed to do this.

So what can we do about it?

I am not a PR person. However, I think if you are faced with this type of misdirection and misleading statements about your case, you may want to consult with a PR firm to see if setting the record straight might work. Your attorney defending you is probably going to be worried about doing this, and you better not do with without consulting your defense attorney, but it might help.

If you get the go ahead to respond, be factual and be exact. At the same time, you can expect most of the population to see the ridiculous if your post sets forth the realities of life and the situation.

See Climbing Wall Lawsuit Sends Strong Message About Playground Dangers to Parents and Child Facilities.

Copyright 2010 Recreation Law (720) Edit Law, Recreaton.Law@Gmail.com

© 2010 James H. Moss

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