When you are injured in a car accident that someone else causes, you will need to initiate a claim with their insurance company in order to get compensated for your injuries and the associated financial damages. However, insurance companies work aggressively to limit the amount that they pay for any given accident, and your case will be no different. By hiring a personal injury attorney, you will have strong legal support for negotiating your settlement agreement or pursuing a lawsuit if negotiations fail. Never accept a settlement offer from an insurance company without consulting an attorney.
In order to initiate this type of claim, we will first need to provide evidence that the other driver was responsible for the accident, whether by speeding, reckless driving, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or a variety of other failures to keep you from harm. It is important that you start working with a lawyer as soon as possible since each step of your claims process will provide opportunities to maximize your chances of a successful settlement. In addition to contacting a lawyer, you will need to undergo a medical exam from a trusted doctor in order to document your injuries and provide clear evidence that they are a result of the accident.
When a patient undergoes a medical procedure, no matter how routine or complex, they have the right to expect the medical professional and organization to act in their best interests with the goal of minimizing unnecessary risk and injury. Some examples of medical malpractice cases stem from failures to keep a patient safe, such as prescription errors, surgical mistakes, failure to properly diagnose an illness, or other situations that cause unjust harm.
There is a damage cap of $500,000 for non-economic damages in a Florida medical malpractice case, but there are no caps to the amount of damages you can claim under economic damages. You can learn more about the difference between economic and non-economic damages in the following section. Do not sign anything or agree to any settlements before consulting an attorney, because doing so may waive your ability to seek any future legal action.
A slip and fall is just one type of premise liability that holds a property owner or manager responsible for injuries sustained on their property. In order for an injury to qualify for a slip and fall case, you must be able to prove that the owner or manager was either aware of the hazardous situation or that they should have been aware of it, and that they failed to properly fix the problem before you were injured.
Some common examples are wet floors in grocery stores, broken or faulty stair treads, or broken handrails. Regardless of the specifics of the accident, we will need to show that there was a reasonable expectation for the owner to help you avoid your injuries. In a case like a wet floor, we will need to show that there was time for them to become aware of the hazard and either put out a “wet floor” sign, mop the area, or correct the leak that was causing the wet floor to begin with. If they took no actions and you were injured, then they are likely liable for your damages.
As a pedestrian in Florida, there are many laws designed to protect you from harm as you travel from one place to another. Unfortunately, Florida is very dangerous for pedestrians. Between 2008 and 2017, over 11% of all fatal pedestrian accidents in the United States occurred in Florida. If you were injured as a pedestrian and need to file an insurance claim, the best chance of getting the money you deserve is by working with a personal injury attorney who can handle this process and fight for the money you deserve.
Simply being the pedestrian in an accident does not guarantee that you are the victim, so it is important that we are able to establish a clear timeline of the accident and prove that the driver of the vehicle you were struck by was acting in a way that put you at risk. Once we are able to establish that the driver was at fault, we will be able to proceed with calculating the damages that you have suffered.
