ADA defense
ADA Defense for Tampa businesses facing serial-filing plaintiffs
Gegan Law Office defends small businesses against Americans with Disabilities Act claims, including high-volume cases, and works to keep required improvements to what is readily achievable.
Chapter 01
Serial-filing plaintiffs and high-volume Americans with Disabilities Act cases
A small business owner can be sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act without ever having had a complaint from a customer. In high-volume ADA litigation, the same plaintiffs, often called serial-filing plaintiffs, bring many similar cases against many businesses, and a Tampa shop, restaurant or office can find itself one of many on a list.
The complaint tends to arrive with a demand that feels urgent and a cost that feels fixed. It is neither. These cases have defenses, and how they are answered at the start shapes what the business ends up paying and changing. The Gegan Law Office takes this work on for the businesses on the receiving end.
Illustrative still of a concrete access ramp with a steel handrail leading up to a glass shop door on a sunny Florida street
Readily achievable: limiting what the business is required to change
The firm states it directly: “Edmund Gegan has successfully defended against high volume ADA cases.” That is the office's own description of its experience, and no two cases end the same way, so nothing here is a promise about your result. What it does tell you is that the pattern is familiar to the person who will read your complaint.
A central goal in these cases is limiting required improvements to what is “readily achievable,” a phrase that ties a business's obligation to what it can realistically do rather than to whatever a plaintiff's list demands. Edmund J. Gegan has practiced since 1994 and in Tampa since 2009, and a free initial consultation at (813) 248-8900 is the place to review your complaint and the property it describes.
Chapter 03
First steps when an ADA complaint arrives
General guidance, not advice on your case: keep every paper you received, including the envelope or the email it came in. Write down the date and manner in which you were served, because that date can matter. Do not ignore the complaint. Courts have rules and time limits, and a lawsuit left unanswered can be decided against you whether or not the claim has merit.
Call before you make admissions. A reply to the plaintiff's lawyer, a promise to fix something, or a signed document can affect the case, and it is much easier to decide how to respond before you have said anything than after. Bring the complaint and any photographs or records of the property to the consultation, and the office will tell you where you stand in Florida.
“Mr. Gegan treated me with respect, patience, and dignity. He explained everything clearly and made sure I understood my legal rights.” Usha Patel, Google review.