Success Record

Best Lawyers Badge 2022Million-dollar verdicts make great headlines. But it takes something more to make great law firms. Ted finds his success not just in the recoveries his clients have received. He finds it in his commitment, in every case, for every client. Whether a client has been physically injured by someone else’s negligence, or financially injured as a result of fraud or other means, he fights for their interests with the skill he’s developed over decades — and the compassion he had long before.

Palm Beach County’s Go-To Personal Injury Lawyer

Ted Babbitt is a shareholder at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley. From class actions to product liability, business litigation, and catastrophic injury cases, Babbitt built a reputation as a go-to lawyer for sophisticated litigation matters. He can stack his record against any other lawyer, but his values stand apart. Dedication, hard work, and the ability to learn something new from every case he has tried: It’s not just a philosophy. It’s a competitive advantage.


Notable Cases

Ted Babbitt’s extensive trial practice experience has resulted in the following noteworthy cases and settlements. Although the dollar amounts given are a matter of record, they should not be interpreted as an indication of likely results in any other cases.

$40 million – Wrongful Death – A verdict reach in one hour on behalf of Fredchen Keller, an orphaned 13-year old boy whose mother, Rosemarie Keller, was murdered by Fred Keller, the boy’s father and Rosemarie’s husband.

$27.2 million – Child Abuse – Settled a case for 27.2 million against the city of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn Inc. We represented severely abused foster children. These children suffered unspeakable trauma – the most egregious injuries we’d seen in practicing law. The damages will not return the innocence of youth; we fought for them to help the victims avoid a nightmarish adulthood.

$11.5 million – Class Action – Recovered and $80 million restored from credit reports on behalf of tenants. Working with Rod Tennyson, P.A. Babbitt & Johnson law firm has won repeated court victories against major landlords accused of gouging Florida tenants with illegal fees.

$10 million – Defective Product – A verdict to the parents of a 19-year-old college student killed in the rollover of her Kia Sportage sports utility vehicle, a car jurors said was negligently designed. The 1995 Kia Sportage flipped over six times after the victim swerved when a car came into her lane.

$10 million – Medical Malpractice – A settlement for a 2-year old girl from Central Florida for a brain injury suffered during heart surgery. As a consequence of improper temperature monitoring, the child suffered serious brain damage. Discovery revealed that the surgeon had not operated on a child for nearly 20 years and that no one on the operative team had done this particular operation with any frequency.

$9.45 million – Defective – The combined settlements for our clients that were administered the drug during open heart surgery and subsequently suffered renal failure or death.

7 million – Auto Accident – Resulting in double amputation of legs.

$6.25 million – Medical Malpractice – A settlement for a man who suffered paralysis following the delay in diagnosis of a ruptured disc in his neck.

$6.24 million – Medical Malpractice – An award for an infant who sustained a brain during a twin delivery, when the physician and nurses failed to recognize that the child was suffering oxygen deprivation after delivery of his brother.

$6 million – Medical Malpractice – A verdict for the death of a mother as a result of surgical mismanagement of a urological procedure.

$6 million – Medical Malpractice – A recovery for an alcoholic mother of two who was brain-damaged when she went into a seizure as a result of the d.t.’s. She was forced by the hospital to become sober “cold turkey” instead of being given Valium which would have prevented the seizure.

$5 million – Defective Product – An award for a 45-year old who was paralyzed from the mid-thighs down as a consequence of a faulty part on a cherry picker type machine. The defect caused the bucket to separate from the boom and could have easily been fixed with inexpensive parts.

$4.25 million – Medical Malpractice – A settlement for a 42-year old man who suffered a mild brain injury following surgery due to an overdose of anesthesia.

$4 million – Medical Malpractice – A recovery as a result of the death of a 36-year old Haitian dishwasher and mother of four. The patient suffered an embolic fluid air bubble while giving birth to her fourth child.

$3.6 million – Medical Malpractice – A verdict for an IVC filter victim, alleging a Bard G2 filter (a clot-stopping vein filter) broke apart in her body, finding the device maker responsible for 80 percent of the harm.

$3.5 million – Medical Malpractice – A settlement for a brain injury to an infant that occurred during delivery. The child was injured when doctors failed to perform a cesarean section in a timely fashion.

$3.25 million – Auto Accident – A settlement for the survivor of a 69-year old wife and grandmother who was struck by a distracted driver while she was walking in a crosswalk.

$3.2 million – General Liability – An award to a 53-year old father who was injured when the safety restraints failed while he was climbing a rock wall, causing him to fall 20-25 feet.

$3 million – Legal Malpractice – A settlement on behalf of a client that had his case dismissed due to the statute of limitations expiring.

$2.75 million – Product Liability – An award against a Japanese helmet manufacturer for a defect in the helmet retention strap resulting in brain injury to a motorcycle rider. Plaintiff was injured when a vehicle turned in front of him and the retention strap on his helmet came undone.

2.5 million – Medical Malpractice – Failure to diagnose cauda equine syndrome.

$2.4 million – Medical Malpractice – A verdict for the death of a 70-year old female. Two radiologists, two gastroenterologists and a general surgeon failed to diagnose a perforated colon, which had occurred during an enema procedure, resulting in the spillage of fecal material into the abdominal cavity and death.

$2 million – Medical Malpractice – Recovery for an elderly woman whose rectum was removed because of a misdiagnosis from pathology slides which indicated that she had cancer of the rectum, when in fact she did not.

$2 million – Medical Malpractice – An award for a 27-year old unmarried male, who was not diagnosed with subacute bacterial endocarditis. A portion of the heart valve vegetation embolized, resulting in a loss of visual fields, and heart valve replacement surgery was required due to the failure to arrive at a timely diagnosis.

$1.875 million – Medical Malpractice – An award for death of a 50-year old man who died during recovery from a plastic surgery operation as a result of excessive anesthesia. The newly graduated nurse failed to recognize that the patient was suffering severe lack of oxygen after the procedure and therefore failed to call the doctor.

$1.75 million – Rape Case – A settlement on behalf of a female client that was raped by a coworker who was proven to be an illegal alien.

$1.6 million – Medical Malpractice – A settlement against an orthopedic surgeon as a result of mismanagement of an operation, which resulted in the below-knee amputation of a 36-year-old lawn maintenance supervisor. The surgeon failed to recognize that the circulation was cut off, and ignored the nurses’ consistent warnings.

$1.3 – Medical Malpractice – A recovery for an immigrant who had been shot. He was taken to the emergency room and a chest surgeon failed to properly resuscitate him.

$1.2 million – Auto Accident – A verdict as a result of a 50-year old postal worker’s vehicle was struck while at work, resulting in multiple-level disk surgery.

$1.2 million – Medical Malpractice – A recovery against a family physician for failure to diagnose cauda equine syndrome in a 46-year old male, resulting in bladder incontinence and sexual dysfunction. The correct diagnosis was made approximately two weeks later, following an MRI study.

$1.1 million – Auto Accident – A settlement to a model in South Beach who, was hit by a motorcycle speeding at 90 miles an hour. She spent four months in the Jackson Memorial Hospital burn unit. The case settled for the insurance policy limits.

$1.1 million – Auto Accident – An award following the death of a 35-year old involved in an automobile accident. His death resulted from the truck driver’s failure to maintain an appropriate speed.

$1 million plus – Trucking – A rock from a company truck fell on the roadway, resulting in a head injury to a driver traveling in the opposite direction.