A well-known Miami litigator is leading the legal charge against one of Mexico's most prominent businessmen over the April death of a Fort Lauderdale race car driver.

Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen attorneys Stuart Grossman and William Mulligan are representing Paola London in her lawsuit against Nicolás Peralta Tort and his father Carlos Peralta Quintero, who serves as the chairman and CEO of Mexican industrial conglomerate Grupo IUSA.

A complaint filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Friday alleges the defendants are liable for the death of London's husband, Peter. The plaintiff's husband died following a car crash in a 2013 Lamborghini Aventador at the Palm Beach International Raceway. The vehicle was being driven by the younger Peralta at the time of the crash.

Grossman told the Daily Business Review his client's husband had gone to the race track at the last minute.

“The defendant driver … showed up at the Palm Beach International Raceway with two Lamborghinis on the night of [April] 16,” he said. ”He had scheduled a driving coach who for some reason couldn't make the appointment, so they called Mr. London. And being the kind of guy he was, [London] came to the raceway, got into the car and that was it.”

According to the complaint, weather conditions were favorable and the speedway was dry when ”defendant Nicolas Tort violently crashed the Lamborghini into a concrete barricade while Peter London was in the front passenger seat of the vehicle.” Grossman added the night in question marked the first time the professional race driver and coach had driven with the defendant.

“[The Peraltas] wrote a check to the raceway and the raceway paid Mr. London $400,” he said.


Read the complaint: 


The lawsuit identified the elder Peralta as the owner of the vehicle driven by his son during the accident.

“Therefore, defendant Carlos Peralta, as the owner of the Lamborghini, is strictly and vicariously liable for defendant Nicolas Peralta Tort's negligent operation of the Lamborghini,” the suit said, arguing the negligence of the co-defendants caused London's death. The complaint also stated the younger Peralta had a history of driving at unsafe speeds and his father “knew or had reason to know of Nicolas Peralta Tort's inability to drive the Lamborghini safely.”

The Peraltas' attorney, Mitrani, Rynor, Adamsky & Toland managing director Isaac Mitrani, did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Grossman said it's clear the driver of the Lamborghini “exceeded his driving talent” when the accident occurred. “The defendant just evidently didn't know what to do and crashed his car into a wall, and that's not the name of the game with a coach,” he said, noting London's status as a seasoned race car driver.

The litigator said they are still waiting on the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to provide its findings from the accident.

“They say they're going to wait before they inform the counsel of their findings, whether it's us or the defendants,” Grossman said. “They have the vehicle impounded, we have not been given access to the raceway, but there's no question [the co-defendant] hit a barrier … and caused Mr. London's death.”

The Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen co-founder said the plaintiff will wait to receive further details from the crash before deciding whether or not to to file additional suits against Lamborghini or other parties. He added his client is “brokenhearted” over her husband's death.

“I've never seen an outpouring of grief quite like in this case,” Grossman said. “I guess his generosity of spirit caught up with him that night, because he substituted for someone who couldn't make it.”

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