Personal Injury

Published on: February 23, 2022

How Often Do Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Win?

South Florida personal injury lawyers When Florida personal injury lawyers take on a case, they’re frequently successful at negotiating a settlement – often before a lawsuit is necessary and long before the pre-trial or trial phase.

There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, there are very few cases that go to trial at all. Although many Hollywood depictions of the justice system focus on the courtroom drama of trials, the reality is trials are lengthy, expensive, often emotionally-trying. Most everyone involved in a civil case will aim to avoid the risk of going to trial if a fair resolution can be reached without one.

Another reason is that injury attorneys accept cases on something called a contingency fee basis. That means they aren’t paid attorney’s fees unless they win. If they do win, their fees are deducted as a percentage of the overall settlement amount or verdict award. Just speaking candidly, injury attorneys are unlikely to accept cases with extremely long odds. The good news about this for plaintiffs is, No. 1, they have the benefit of a frank assessment of how aggressively to pursue their case at the outset. No. 2, someone with a strong injury case won’t be hindered by a lack of an upfront payment.

All this said, when we are hired to take on a case, we don’t rush to settlement if it’s not advantageous for our client. Our goal is to secure the best possible outcome for them. That means meticulous investigation, skillful negotiation with insurers and the commitment to see the case to the best conclusion for our clients. As longtime civil trial lawyers, we have the experience to know when it’s wise to settle, when it’s best to pursue a trial and also how to prepare for either possibility. That’s another benefit of a contingent legal fee as the greater the amount of money that the lawyer can recover for you the greater their fee will be.

Our South Florida injury lawyers offer free initial consultations so that potential clients can get a no-risk, straightforward analysis of their chances of success and possible strategies. Continue reading

Published on: February 18, 2022

Are Food Delivery Drivers More Prone to Florida Distracted Driving Crashes?

by Leland Garvin

Food delivery services, such as Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash, have been doing booming business in recent years. The online food delivery industry is now generating more than $26 million annually, and nearly one-third of Americans say they used food delivery services twice a week. But as their popularity has risen, so too have reported Florida distracted driving crashes attributed to their drivers.

Last year, there was the tragic case of an Uber Eats driver allegedly slamming into the back of a motorcycle in Tampa, killing a 19-year-old University of Tampa student on the rear of the bike and permanently injuring her brother, the operator. The 33-year-old food delivery service driver was reportedly on her phone making a delivery near campus when the crash occurred. According to The Tampa Bay Times, the police cited the driver for failure-to-yield, but the citation was tossed when the traffic officer failed to appear in court – a ruling the police department is appealing. No criminal charges have been filed, but the victim’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. They allege Uber, its subsidiary, and the driver are all liable for their daughter’s untimely death. Specifically, they say the driver was rushed and inattentive/on her phone, and that Uber is negligent in failing to train her and for encouraging driver distraction with a feature that prompts workers to communicate with customers while they’re driving. Plaintiffs also say the company hired the driver despite a poor driving record that included citations for speeding, carelessness, and a crash.

Similar cases have been reported from Boston to San Francisco. There are currently numerous, ongoing personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against the drivers, vehicle owners, and delivery app companies.

Factors in Food Delivery Driver Crashes

The reality is food delivery drivers have always been slightly more prone to crashes, even before smartphones were everywhere. In fact, they have one of the highest occupational fatalities rates in the U.S. Primary factors driving up crashes for food delivery drivers: Continue reading

Published on: February 9, 2022

Differences Between Florida Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Cases

by Leland Garvin

Southwest Florida personal injury lawyer When it comes to civil litigation, there are many similarities and differences between Florida personal injury and wrongful death cases. As longtime South Florida injury attorneys, we will do our best to explain some of these – and why they matter.

Let’s start with some of the ways in which personal injury cases and wrongful death cases are analogous. To start, they are both torts, which are claims stemming from a wrongful act that resulted in legal liability. They can result from the same types of accidents, including:

Car accidents.
Slip, trip and fall accidents.
Medical malpractice.
Dangerous/defective products.
Dangerous property/premises liability.
Nursing home neglect and abuse.
Workplace accidents.

Both are claims for which civil litigants can pursue damages (financial compensation for losses). Further, both have a set period of time in which they can be filed, called a statute of limitations.

But there are numerous key differences, namely who files the claim, what type of damages they can collect and how much time they have to pursue it. Continue reading

Published on: January 26, 2022

4 Myths About Fort Myers Personal Injury Claims

by Leland Garvin

In our many years practicing civil law, we have come to recognize there are many misconceptions surrounding Fort Myers personal injury claims. Some relate to the motivations of personal injury attorneys (no, we aren’t paid if we file frivolous claims that quickly get tossed). Others misconstrue how the processes works (no, you aren’t guaranteed a payout just because you were seriously hurt).

The reality is that Fort Myers personal injury claims are more complex than they might initially seem, and obtaining full and fair compensation isn’t the cake walk some presume. It often requires meticulous investigation and research, extensive consultations with expert witnesses and painstaking negotiations with hard-nosed (and well-prepared) defense attorneys.

If you’re hurt because of someone else’s wrongdoing, you may have a potential claim. It’s necessary in most cases to prove negligence, or that someone’s breach of a duty of care resulted in your injury. Injury lawyers often extend the courtesy of a free initial consultation, so it’s a good idea to at least reach out to one, even if you aren’t sure whether you have a case.

Published on: January 19, 2022

How Florida Injury Lawsuits Could be Impacted by Recreational Use Statute

by Leland Garvin

South Florida injury lawsuit Florida has some of the best outdoor recreation the country has to offer, with 8,400 miles of shoreline (including lakes and springs), 11 national parks and nearly 200 state parks, campgrounds, preserves, recreational areas and trailheads. Although we don’t have data for how many injuries occur at these sites every year, we do know that pursuing a Florida injury lawsuit after an incident may require overcoming the recreational use defense.

In any negligence lawsuit, a key question is whether the defendant owed the person injured a duty of care. The recreational use statute, codified in F.S. 375.251, limits the duty of care owed by the owner/manager of property to guests when the land, water or park areas have been made available to the public for recreational purposes without charge. The idea is to encourage land owners – including the government – to make areas available for public outdoor recreation by limiting their liability for injuries that may occur on site. The statute allows that if a landowner opens its land to the public for outdoor recreational use, it holds no duty of care to keep that area safe for entry or use by others and no duty of care toward a person who goes to the area and no duty to warn of hazardous conditions.

The statute broadly protects landowners against Florida premises liability claims, but it does not necessarily mean if you’re injured at a state park or on the beach in Florida that you can’t be compensated. If you are injured on private property that is open to the public for recreation, a complete analysis of the land ownership and whether the statute was strictly followed is important. It’s also important to discuss your legal options with a skilled Florida injury lawyer.

Published on: November 3, 2021

Dangerous Home Elevators Prompt CPSC Warning to AirBnB, Vrbo, Other Vacation Rental Sites, Owners

by Leland Garvin

Florida elevator injury lawyer Dangerous home elevators in use at rental properties throughout Florida and across the country have sparked an urgent call from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for action by the vacation rental industry. At issue are gaps in the elevators that can pose a risk of serious physical injury and death, particularly for small children.

“These injuries and deaths are horrific, and we need the property owners and rental agencies to disable elevators immediately until they have been inspected,” wrote Acting CPSC Chairman Robert Adler.

Florida is a very popular spot for residential vacation rentals. According to one online platform, there are more than 215,000 Florida vacation homes for rent just on their site alone. The actual number of residential rentals is probably much higher, though it’s not clear how many of those sites have dangerous home elevators inside them.

The reported risk with residential elevators is that occupants can be fatally crushed in a space that exists sometimes between doors. As our Florida elevator injury attorneys can explain, with a deep gap between the outside door and the inside door, a child can go in, close the outside door without opening the inside door. They then get entrapped between the two. If the elevator moves, it’s going to have tragic consequences. A 2019 investigation by The Washington Post indicated more than a half million residential elevators in the U.S. pose a risk.

As Fort Myers injury attorneys, we recognize this is not the first thing people want to picture when planning a getaway. Given the seriousness of the risk, however, vacationers as well as property owners must take the CPSC warning seriously. Continue reading

Published on: October 27, 2021

Naples Injury Attorney Explains Accident Report Privilege in Florida Crash Cases

by Leland Garvin

Naples injury attorney

Florida law requires that police be called when a motor vehicle crash occurs. The investigating officer will arrive and be tasked with documenting the scene, interviewing witnesses and preparing a crash report.

At the same time, the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees those accused of crimes the right to refuse to answer questions that could be used against them in a criminal proceeding. To prevent a possible constitutional violation, Florida law has carved out something called accident report privilege (which is not exactly a privilege, but more on that later). Basically, statements made to an investigating officer for purposes of completing the crash report can’t be used in criminal proceedings OR a civil injury lawsuit.

As a Naples injury attorney can explain, there are a lot of different reasons for this protection – constitutional and otherwise. But it’s important to note because it could have a negative (or positive) impact on your ability to recover damages from the at-fault driver. The good news is that if you work with an experienced attorney, he or she can usually obtain that same information elsewhere – especially when the details can still be gleaned during the discovery process. Continue reading

Published on: October 13, 2021

Injured on South Florida Vacation – Where Do I Hire an Injury Attorney?

by Leland Garvin

Key West injury attorney Millions of people every year seek a sunny respite in South Florida, visiting places like Miami, Key West, Naples, Sarasota, and Fort Myers. While Florida is as safe as any other state in many respects, there are some higher risk areas on the roads, at some resorts and, of course, in the waters. Although you might purchase insurance on flights or hotel stays, those usually only cover losses from delays, cancellations, or theft. If you’re seriously hurt while on vacation in South Florida, you will need to work with a local injury attorney who can handle your claim for damages.

As a Fort Myers tourist injury attorney, I help people from all over obtain financial compensation for the injuries they sustained here on vacation due to someone else’s negligence.

Some examples of South Florida tourist injuries in recent months:

Just recently, a woman and her adult son from South Carolina were killed in a Florida crash when the car they were in collided with a flat-bed tractor-trailer at an intersection that had an inoperative traffic light, according to the AP. The adult son’s wife and two young children, who were also in the vehicle, were injured but survived.
Earlier this year, a tourist from Mexico was seriously injured in a Naples hit-and-run car accident while she was bicycling. She was badly hurt, and returned to Mexico for treatment of her injuries. Although police initially closed the case for lack of evidence, an injury lawyer she hired obtained additional evidence (surveillance video from a nearby business) that resulted in law enforcement re-opening the investigation.
Last year, an Indiana couple filed a $100 million Florida injury lawsuit against a boat operator who was allegedly drunk when he caused a South Florida boating accident resulting in the woman suffering a serious, lifelong traumatic brain injury.

Accidents that occur while you’re on vacation in Florida can lead to serious injuries. In addition to crashes, bicycle accidents and boating injuries, tourist injuries can stem from:

Swimming pool accidents.
Amusement park accidents.
Hotel injuries.
Parasailing injuries.
Festival and concert injuries.
Trade show and convention injuries.
Sexual assaults and other violent attacks.

There are several things you can do immediately after an incident (if you’re able) to preserve your chances of recovering full financial compensation for your losses. These include:

Seeking immediate medical attention.
Reporting the incident to local police and/or premises owner/manager.
Documenting the scene with photos/videos.
Collecting witness information (names, phone numbers, addresses of people who saw what happened).
Seeking legal representation.

If you’re not able to do these things, it doesn’t mean you don’t have a case. It does mean you’d be wise to seek legal counsel as soon as possible.

Published on: October 6, 2021

Naples Injury Lawyer Insight: Compulsory Medical Exams

by Leland Garvin

Most people who file damage claims for personal injuries from a car accident, slip-and-fall or some other incident won’t have to worry about the prospect of a compulsory medical exam. As a Naples injury lawyer can tell you though, this changes if you actually file a lawsuit.

A compulsory medical exam (sometimes referred to as a “CME”) is a medical examination of a plaintiff or defendant in a personal injury lawsuit at the request of the other party (usually of the plaintiff at the request of the defense). Per Rule 1.360 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, parties to personal injury lawsuits have the right to request an examination when “the condition of the subject in question is in controversy.” In other words, the other party is asserting doubt about whether the injury in question is as severe as one claims. An “independent” doctor is called upon to conduct their own medical exam and put forth their conclusions.

We put the word “independent” in quotations because the choice of medical examiner typically rests with the requesting party, who must establish to the court that they have “good cause” for the request.

The reason most injury claimants needn’t worry about this is because most Florida personal injury claims are resolved in settlement negotiations – without the need for a lawsuit or long before a trial begins. But even if your case does not ultimately go to trial, preparing for one may require you to undergo a CME. An experienced Naples injury lawyer can tell you what to expect and what you need to know. Continue reading

Published on: August 3, 2021

Florida Negligent Security Lawsuits Filed Against Fort Myers Beach Resort

by Leland Garvin

A popular Fort Myers Beach resort is facing two Florida negligent security lawsuits that allege the property owners did not take the safety of guests seriously.

For those who may be unfamiliar, negligent security is a type of premises liability claim filed in civil court demanding financial compensation if the owner or manager of a property fails to ensure adequate security, putting guests at heightened risk of criminal violence, including shooting, assault, battery and rape.

As our Fort Myers Beach hotel injury attorneys can explain, courts do not expect property owners to see into the future. Instead, they are expected to proactively address any reasonably foreseeable danger to guests. When they do not mitigate those risks or issue warnings, they can be held legally responsible in Florida negligent security lawsuits for breaching the duty of care owed to those harmed in violent acts on site. Continue reading