Lane Graves was an adorable two year old. On June 14, 2016, an alligator killed him at Disney. Specifically, the attack took place at the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney World’s Grand Floridian hotel in Orlando.
Many people think that the boy was eaten by the alligator. While he was not eaten, the alligator did bite and drown him.
This is a extremely sad event. My heart goes out to Lane and his family. Nevertheless, here I want to give my thoughts on how much Disney may have paid if there was a settlement.
The $10 Million Settlement Figure is My Best Guess
Here, I’ll explain why I think Disney may have paid around $10 million to the parents of the boy killed by the alligator.
This $10 million figure is my estimation. I haven’t seen any document that says that millions, or any amount, was paid to the parents for their pain and suffering. It’s possible that they did not settle.
On the other hand, the parents opened up a probate estate for Lane Graves. A probate estate is usually only opened up for a child if the parents make (or settle) a wrongful death claim for the child’s death.
That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney paid $10 million to the parents. The full value of a wrongful case is much larger than most personal injury settlements. I will explain why in detail in a moment.
Also, court records mention that the boy’s sister received over $50,000 as a settlement not too long after the incident. They don’t specifically say that Disney paid it. I’ll explain later.
I’ll discuss who paid the sister’s settlement in detail.
But, first I want to say I few things.
This is a tragic accident. I read the Florida Wildlife’s Case Summary on this fatal alligator attack. It graphically describes the attack. It gave me chills down my spine. I can’t imagine the grief that the parents felt having their only boy (at the time) killed by the alligator.
How is the Value of Wrongful Death Claim Calculated?
Again, this is a very hard incident to talk about.
However, my job as a Florida wrongful death lawyer is to put a value on cases. After this tragic accident, I researched the law involving whether someone has a case if they are killed by an alligator.
I’ve also written extensively about Walt Disney World accident cases (including verdicts). And yes, if you’re unsure, Disney has lost cases at trial.
Thus, I am going to give my opinion on the likely settlement amount.
Shortly after Lane Graves was killed, I made a video which gave my thoughts on the possible settlement amount. That video is below.
Since making that video, I dug into the Lane Graves’ probate court file to see what public information I could find that may have discussed a settlement. I also read the court records that referenced his sisters’ settlement.
Thus, there is additional information in this article that isn’t in the video. Likewise, the video covers some points that aren’t in this article.
After the incident, Disney created a lighthouse sculpture to honor Lane.
At least one online news site praised the parents for not suing Disney. However, it’s my opinion that they didn’t sue because Disney paid them to settle.
(I’m surprised that no journalists dug deep enough to find possible evidence of a settlement related to the boy’s death.)
What proof is there that there may have been a settlement?
Orange County probate records show that on July 26, 2016, a probate estate was set up for an estate of a decedent “LTG”.
A “decedent” is someone who dies.
Do Court Records Mention a Settlement for Lane Graves?
The probate estate does not mention a settlement. Nor does it mention Disney.
However, the death certificate in the court file states the boy’s full name as “Lane Thomas Graves”. I don’t feel that it’s appropriate to show the death certificate.
Also, the names of his parents in the court file are the same as Lane Graves’ parents’ names.
Here is a screenshot of the court file:
Moreover, as you can see below, a document from the probate court record shows that the decedent, L.T.G. was a minor, resided in Nebraska, and died on June 14, 2016.
Why do I think that it’s likely that there was a settlement between the parents and Disney?
I can’t think of any reason that the parents’ would’ve opened up an estate other than a settlement with Disney. A probate estate is set up when the person who dies has assets to give to his beneficiaries.
In Florida, you cannot settle a wrongful death claim without setting up a probate estate. If someone dies without assets or money, there is no reason to set up an estate.
Why Was There Likely a Quick Settlement?
This wrongful death claim is one of the few wrongful death cases that likely settled quickly for the actual claim’s value.
Many factors affect the time that it takes to settle a personal injury claim. Here, we’ll focus on how long it takes to settle a wrongful death claim.
In most wrongful death cases, the party who the claim is against often has limited insurance. Take, for example, injury claims against people insured with GEICO, Progressive, State Farm or USAA. People insured with those companies often only have $10,000 or so in insurance.
And $10,000 is a fraction of what Florida juries usually award for a parent’s pain and suffering for a minor’s death. In fact some of the largest pain and suffering awards are for the death of a minor child.
So the parents of the child usually have to accept a settlement at a fraction of the claim’s value.
Additionally, in many wrongful death cases, liability is contested. With disputed liability, the premises owner will discount the full value of the case.
However, here, Disney seemed to want this incident out of the news. It’s not everyday that the media reports that Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger calls a child’s family and publicly offers condolences. Additionally, George Kalogridis, president of Walt Disney World, flew back to Florida from Shanghai, China.
Most Companies Don’t Care About Bad Publicity in Wrongful Death Claims
In most wrongful death cases, bad publicity isn’t a huge issue.
Take, for example, the FIU bridge collapse lawsuit. MCM, the company who built the bridge, initially defended the case. It’s insurance companies likely made that decision. (Given the size of the claims against it, and I assume the effect on the collapse on its reputation, it filed for bankruptcy.) Before the bridge accident, very few people knew the names of the companies who built the bridge.
On the other hand, everyone knows about Disney World. Disney World uses taglines like “The Most Magical Place on Earth.” Disney doesn’t want people to perceive it as being anything but magical. They want their guests to feel safe.
Having a child killed by an alligator at a Disney hotel is not magical. It’s a nightmare come true.
Here, it’s not like the boy just suffered a broken leg, wrist or herniated disc. The precious child died.
As I said above, my educated guess is that Disney paid about $10 million to settle the parents’ wrongful death claim for the death of their child.
I’ll give a detailed breakdown of how I came up with a possible $10 million settlement amount. But, first, I’ll discuss what no one has mentioned, which is the sister’s settlement.
Did Disney Pay Over $50K to settle with Lane Graves’ sister?
Court records show that Lane Graves’s sister had a proposed total settlement of over $50,000.
Court records say that a guardianship was set up for the sole purpose of obtaining court approval and authority to enter into a settlement agreement [on behalf of the boy’s sister] with an entity doing business in Orange County, Florida. (“Entity” means a business. Disney is a business.)
Here is another court document:
I want to be clear. The court record doesn’t say that the settlement was with Disney. And nowhere in the probate estate is Disney, or even an entity doing business in Orange County, mentioned.
However, let’s try to read between the lines. Disney is an entity doing business in Orange County, Florida. And the only purpose for setting up a guardianship was for obtaining court approval is of the settlement for the sister’s claim.
If this sisters’ settlement wasn’t with Disney, who was it with?
The Omaha Herald reported that the boys’ sister, Emma, was in a playpen 20 to 30 yards from the shoreline. Thus, she was at the scene of the horrific incident.
If the sister was at the scene of an incident, and suffered an impact, she would have a claim for her emotional distress.
However, she didn’t suffer an physical impact. In other words, the alligator didn’t touch her.
Thus, I don’t believe that she had a claim for emotional distress. Perhaps Disney may have offered a settlement as a gesture of good will.
Did Disney Settle With the Boy’s Dad for His Emotional Distress Because the Alligator Touched Him?
Unlike the sister, the alligator made contact with Lane Grave’s father. I learned this after reading the Florida Wildlife’s Case Summary that I mentioned earlier. Thus, the father has a claim for emotional distress from witnessing the horrific incident.
My educated guess is that Disney may have paid $4.5 million or so to settle the father’s claim for emotional distress.
How do I arrive at this amount?
Because a jury recently awarded a boy $4.5 million for emotional distress from being in his mom’s car when she was killed. (This was in addition to his pain and suffering claim for his mom’s death.) The trial court refused to reduce that verdict. And that case didn’t have the publicity issues that Disney wanted to avoid in the alligator incident.
Let’s now estimate the settlement of the parents’ claims for mental pain and suffering for the wrongful death of their child. For Mr. Graves, this claim is in addition to his emotional distress claim for witnessing the attack.
If Disney Is Negligent, Parents Can Get Money for Pain and Suffering
In Florida, the parents of a minor child are entitled to recover compensation for their mental pain and suffering from the death of their minor child caused by another’s negligence.
If a lawsuit is filed, there is a chance that a Florida court will find that Disney is not liable based on no duty to warn of the alligator in the lagoon.
If a lawsuit were filed, and could be dismissed by a judge, why would Disney pay around $10 Million to settle? How did I arrive at this amount?
Let’s look at how I would value this case if it weren’t a public relations (“PR”) nightmare for Disney. I say that it’s a PR nightmare after looking at many online comments to articles and videos.
The majority of commenters that I’ve seen seem to think that Disney should’ve warned guests about the presence of alligators in the lagoon. In other words, most people think Disney was liable.
How Do You Calculate The Case Value if No PR Nightmare?
If the parents can prove that Disney’s negligence caused the death of their beautiful 2-year-old boy, then Disney has to pay each parent for their pain and suffering. However, there are other factors that affect how much they might get.
First, you need to calculate the full settlement value of the case.
First Step – Calculate Full Value of Case (if No Bad Publicity)
The first step is to calculate the full value of each of the parent’s pain and suffering if this incident wasn’t getting Disney bad publicity. Let’s say that the value of pain and suffering for each parent is $3 million.
This $3 Million figure is what I’ve seen after looking at many Florida jury verdicts for the death of a minor child.
This means that the total value of the parents’ pain and suffering is $6 million ($3 Million x 2).
If the parents sue, and a jury verdict is reached, Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal would handle an appeal, if any. The 5th district has previously approved a $5 million dollar pain and suffering award to a mother whose daughter died in a car accident.
That case is Trevino v. Mobley, Fla: Dist. Court of Appeals, 5th Dist. 2011.
What is the Full Value Since Disney Has PR Issues?
This accident was on the front page of every online news source that I saw. Now, it’s not being talked about much in the news. Disney World doesn’t want it back in the news.
If the boy’s parents sue, the lawsuit would put this tragic incident back on the front page of all the major news publishers.
Factoring in the PR issues, I think that Disney would be willing to pay $5 million to each parent, which is on the upper end of what the appeals court (that handles Disney negligence cases) would likely approve if a jury awarded it.
So this brings the full value to $10 million.
2nd Step – Reduce for Chance of Disney Getting Case Dismissed or No Negligence
We then reduce the full value of the case by the percentage chance that the case gets dismissed, or a jury says that Disney isn’t liable. I’d put that chance at 50% or so because liability is an issue in this case.
So, in a typical case, you would take the $6 Million dollar full value and reduce it by 50%. This would bring the settlement down to $3 Million dollars in total (for both parents).
But since this case has received worldwide media attention, I think Disney would, when offering to settle, be willing to disregard the percent chance that a court dismisses the case, or a jury sides with Disney.
3rd Step – Reduce by Lane Grave’s Percentage of Fault (if any)
We then reduce the value of the case for the parents’ percentage of fault, if any, for not properly supervising their child. I think that an adjuster would place 50% fault on the parents for allowing their child to step into the lagoon unsupervised.
In a case that didn’t get international attention, this would take the $3 Million that I mentioned above and cut it in half. So, an insurance company would likely value the case at $1.5 Million.
This would be $750,000 to each parent.
But, this isn’t a typical case. It has already made international news, for several days. Thus, I think Disney would also, when trying to settle, be willing to disregard the percent chance that a jury find the parents at fault.
Earlier I said that the high end of the pain and suffering value range (per parent) was $5 Million. For both parents combined it would be $10 Million.
I think Disney offered somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 Million dollars to settle. Again, this is because I think they’ll be willing to not factor in their defenses as they would normally do in any other case.
You Won’t Hear About the Actual Settlement Amount
We likely will never hear the settlement amount. This is because many huge corporations require confidentiality to be a term of the settlement.
Big companies like Uber, Publix Supermarkets, Walmart and many others require confidentiality when they settle injury cases.
For example, try looking for Uber accident settlement amounts and you might find three…at most. (I’m happy to report that one of them is my $260,000 settlement for an Uber driver’s accident.)
Valued at around $159 Billion, Disney is a massive company. In fact, I’ve never even seen one Disney settlement amount online. And like I said earlier, I’ve researched Disney accident claims in-depth.
Thus, I assume that Disney required confidentiality for the settlement related to the Lane Graves killed by the alligator. Especially with the media frenzy that resulted from this incident.
Disney seems to like to keep settlements hush-hush.
On the other hand, most wrongful death settlements (not involving Disney) are not confidential. Your run of the mill motorcycle accident settlement or car accident settlement isn’t confidential. Even if they are wrongful death settlements. The same is true for a settlement where a pedestrian is hit by a car.
Therefore, I’ve written about many settlements for someone whose spouse was killed in an accident.
On September 4, 2016, family and friends of Lane Graves carried blue balloons onto a football field. They stood in formation of a heart on what would have been Lane’s third birthday.
Once again, this is a very sad story. My heart goes out to the Graves’ family.
I want to end this article on a positive note. Here it is:
About two years after this incident, the Graves announced the birth of their son. I couldn’t think of a family who is more deserving to celebrate the birth of a newborn.
The parents have set up The Lane Thomas foundation, which helps families of children who need life saving organ transplants. You can donate to the Lane Thomas Foundation.
Do you think that Disney paid to settle any claims for Lane Graves’ tragic death? If so, how much do you think that Disney may paid to settle?
Leave your comments below.
This article was originally published in 2016. I have edited it since then.
You should probably add that the family has set up the Lane Thomas Foundation to help other children and parents: https://www.lanethomas.org/about-us/
Thank you, Richard. I added the link.
Yes I think they were paid ten Million by Disney. i remember the story.if their were known alligators in the man made lake Their should have been some Type of fencing put up. alligators do often come Out of the water.
So Disney would be at fault.
I definitely think Disney paid more than 10 or 14k for this very sad alligator case to go away! Think of it this way, if it remains in the news Disney could loose millions if not billions! There’s the parks, their stock, their entertainment empire etc. I truly believe Disney wrote the Graves family a blank cheque. That cheque easily had the amount of 100k or more! Why, because Disney could loose way more than that! They needed it to go away and in my opinion 10 to 14k just doesn’t seem enough!!!
Pam:
Thank you for your comment. I was saying $10 Million, not $10,000.
I think that the family now owns half of Disney
Disney definitely settled and they settled fast. As you mentioned the entire incident would have been a PR nightmare if the family would have publicly sued them. They would have lost billions no matter how hard they tried to assure people that their park is now safe after that little angel lost his life.
Right after it happened and the family stated they would not sue, I told my husband that Disney quickly agreed to give that family 8 million, though I was off a few million I was close.
It was in Disneys best interest to settle this matter out of court anyway.
Thank you for your comment. I’m not sure that they Disney settled. However, I’d be shocked if they didn’t.
I’m not sure that they would’ve lost billions. Maybe hundreds of thousands or millions. Who knows?
Maybe your $8 million figure is right. We’ll never know.
I agree that it was in Walt Disney’s best interest to settle without the family suing them.
Regardless, this is a tragic accident. I hope something similar never happens again.
I think that the Family should have sued anyway. You can’t put a price on a child’s life nore the pain and suffering the loss. The Lagoon should have been fenced in and a huge sign say ” Warning. 12 ft alligator lives here”.
They are negligent in a minors safety. Unless Warning are in places where dangerous animals live in all their exclusive resorts this will happen again and again Disney will settle and never held responsible for their stupidity. If it were my child I would have fought and not taken the settlement.
Thank You Justin For Your Analysis (Believe Your Spot On The #)
What % Due You Think Legal Consul Got In This Tragic Case
Consul
A) Knew Disney Would Settle And FAST For Big $ Amount
B) With ALL Due Respect, NOT To Much “Back Office Work” You Laid Out The Template Yourself
C) Big Feather In Consul’s Hat
Thank You
You are welcome. The family’s attorney likely got the following fee:
1. 33-1/3% of any recovery up to $1 million; plus
2. 30% of any portion of the recovery between $1 million and $2 million; plus
3. 20% of any portion of the recovery exceeding $2 million.
I think this is a big check in the attorney’s bank account. But I don’t see it as a big feather in the attorney’s hat. This is because the attorney likely can’t speak about any settlement due to confidentiality.
Again, it’s a very tragic incident.
Thanks Justin For The Saturday Afternoon Reply
In the Records You Posted “Michael C. Siboni Esq. As Guardian At Litem
Could Make A Strong Argument, HE Was At Least Involved In Settlement
Also, Parents Are From Nebraska (And The Case Was Almost Already Settled By The Day After) Was Just About $ Amount
So I Believe They Used A Family Attorney With Co Consul, And Didn’t have To Pay The % Your Inferring To!? The DIS Company Was Already At “Their So Called” Door
This DID Not Involve Insurance Company(S) And/Or Multi-Levels Of Approval By Paper Pushers Of Management
So You REALLY Think Their Consul Would Receive The % You Stated?
Thanks Again For The Reply On Saturday
The Best
JOE
They likely paid the percentage fees that I mentioned. Or maybe a little bit less.
Part of hiring a wrongful death lawyer is to make sure that you get paid fair value for the death. Attorneys aren’t always paid for their hard work. Sometimes they are paid for the decades of experience knowing what amount is fair for a death case.
You are welcome.
That case has haunted me since I heard about it. To think of the parents of this child in a tug of war with a monster and to lose the fight with this monster swimming off with their baby.
This child was not dead when he was taken and had to suffer immense horror realizing that his mommy and daddy didn’t save him. If I were those parents I would F…ING OWN DISNEY. This company deliberately placed its guests at risk ,knowingly.
HOW COULD THEY.?? This poor baby. I did wonder why they didn’t sue, so I am relieved that they just let this horrible tragedy happen and just go home and cry. Thank God and bless little Lane. RIP Little Sweetheart.
It’s a very sad incident to say the least. I can’t and likely won’t again read the Florida Fish and Wildlife report about this boy’s tragic death. It’s simply too sad.
I assume that you meant to say that the parents didn’t just let this just let this horrible tragedy happen and just go home and cry.
There is no public record that says that Walt Disney (or any company) paid to settle. The only public record is that an probate estate was opened by people with the same name as Lane’s parents for L.T.G.’s death. I assume that L.T.G. stands for Lane Thomas Graves.
However, a probate estate is usually only opened for a minor child is a wrongful death claim has been made.
God bless Lane and his family.
As a parent no amount of money in the world could replace the Lost of my child and I would have been so tramatized by this accident and as for my other child I would hope that she would have no memory of seeing her brother being eaten by the alligator, and I would not want her to be reminded of it when she gets older, I would have to say to her that her brother passed away but not to give her the details of exactly what happened so not to tramatize her more, I hope the parents have gotten some professional help in order to deal with this tragic accident, I would never be able to recover from such a horrible thing, I know life goes on and we have to try and move forward because she has other children to care for but I can’t imagine how she feels daily about her dead son? I pray for God’s love to heal them all 🙏 for the child who lost his life 💔God bless you and your family!
Did the DA”s office consider charges of child neglect ??
I don’t know if they considered it. I have not heard that any child neglect charges were filed.
Also, Lane’s parents were from Nebraska where they don’t have alligators in the wild. Thus, I assume that his parents had no idea that alligators could have been in the lake.
There were previous alligator attacks at Disney World. That fact just adds to the culpability of Disney management here.
Why were they so derelict then? My opinion is expense/cost of dealing with the issue. Current Disney management is notoriously greedy (Iger, as an individual investor, holds the most Disney stock) and in a sense, this tragic incident is a direct result of that greed.
I’m not aware of any previous alligator attacks at Disney World. When did one occur?
I think the PR nightmare was such at Disney would willingly have paid $100 million for a fast settlement. The reason we never heard about a suit being filed, much less the plaintiffs undertaking discovery, is because Disney overwhelmed them with a settlement offer that went far beyond what a jury award would have been in any other context.
And believe me, if I’d been on a jury, I wouldn’t have hesitated to support a $100 million judgment to reflect the fact that Disney clearly didn’t have signs up warning people of the alligator danger precisely because they made a PR decision to emphasize happy and safe…when in fact it wasn’t safe.
Dave:
I doubt that Disney would pay $100 million.
For starters, a Florida court would not let a $100 million verdict for pain and suffering stand. It’s too high based on past Florida case precedent.
10 million for disney is a joke they have that in the petty change box in the HR office. 100 million take it to trial this should be about punishment for Disney not money for the parents they would have won in court so let the judge lower the amount so let them appeal the verdict
this would have brought bad publicity for many years also lawyers cuts at 33% 30% 20% in all these accident cases are way to high no lawyer in this case deserved 2.5 mil.
in most all injury cases the plaintiff after lawyer fees filing fees made up paper costs only get around 50% of the total which is a total ripoff
Lawyers are not cheap. But you get what you pay for.
I enjoyed your article and analysis. Does your $10 million estimate include the $4.5 you estimated for the father’s emotional distress claim for being touched by the alligator and witnessing his son’s death? It looks like you are only giving the $10 million estimated for the parents’ separate wrongful claims. Also, why would the parents who live In Nebraska open an estate in Florida for their son’s death if it wasn’t to settle with Disney?
Since they reside in Nebraska and he was a resident of Nebraska wouldn’t they open an estate in a Nebraska probate court if it was for some other personal reason. I’m assuming here they could open an estate in FL because the death occurred there am I am assuming they could open on in their county of residence in Nebraska since they all resided there.
Another point, since there is evidence that at least two other tourists informed Disney staff of an alligator in the lagoon prior to the attack, certainly a jury would be much more inclined to find them liable. I read an article where an 8 year old boy was attacked and bitten in the leg while standing next to water looking at ducks at Disney World in 1986 at another area of the resort (Camp Wilderness). Also, the fact there were no signs warning of a hidden danger like alligators in their man made lagoon with a beach be particularly damning, especially for a heightened duty they had for their customers.
I would expect many Disney employees were aware of alligators in there over the years and no warnings were given to guests. I bet a good attorney could uncover that evidence during discovery. Also, in my opinion it would be unlikely any jury would find the parents at fault as they were a few feet away from the child, there was no warning of any danger, the son was not swimming but merely getting water or sand for their sandcastle, and Disney was even showing a kids movie out there for families with young kids to be out on the beach.
I would certainly defer to your expertise and knowledge of Florida case law and verdict analysis, but where I practice, we would be looking at much higher than $10 million in potential exposure (of course all damages here for wrongful are by law punitive damages). I could easily see a jury here dinging Disney with a very high punitive award to punish and deter this type of negligence (and in my opinion wanton disregard to the safety of of a child).
Also, imagine the amount in defense attorneys’ fees Disney saved by not litigating and settling quickly and cleanly. As a defense lawyer, if my client was faced with this potential liability and PR nightmare, my advice would be to try settle as quickly and as quietly as possible and make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
Finally, I would certainly agree with your attorney fee estimate, and whoever handled this matter for the parents certainly earned it. You do get what you pay for and those parents needed solid guidance and experience in this matter.
My $10 million guestimate was in addition to the $4.5 million guestimate for the father’s negligent inflection of emotional distress claim.
The article says “For Mr. Graves, this claim is in addition to his emotional distress claim for witnessing the attack.”
You’ve mentioned that you are a defense lawyer practicing in a state other than Florida. If you ever have any questions about Florida personal injury or wrongful death law, you are welcome to contact me any day of the year.
I agree with all of your points and understand how you arrived at that figure, based on similar cases. However, this event was unprecedented and surely would have been a nightmare beyond comprehension for Disney. They want parents to bring their kids to their resorts to have the time of their lives, not lose their lives.
I think Disney would have been willing to pay almost anything to make this go away. I don’t think they would have haggled. As you mentioned, this is a billion dollar company. I’ll bet they paid in the region of $25,000,000.
We’ll never know if Disney paid money (or how much if they did) by I wouldn’t be shocked if they paid the amount that you said.