In Harlan v. Sea World Parks & Entertainment LLC d/b/a Busch Gardens, Plaintiff Julie Harlan alleged she broke her hand on a netted bridge in the Sesame Street Safari of Fun area at Busch Gardens. She contended that she caught her right hand on the netting when other guests began running across and/or were roughhousing on the netted ramp. She had an open reduction internal fixation of her right fourth metacarpal, allegedly impacting her ability to teach and perform ballet.  Plaintiff asked the jury to award a total of $506,480.38 in damages.  Busch Gardens proved there was nothing wrong with the attraction or the operation of the attraction, and Plaintiff failed to prove any negligence.  After 37 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned a defense verdict.

Busch Gardens was represented by Tampa partners Robert Blank and Carie Hall, along with associate Jaime Reitz and paralegal Susan McClugage.