Florida injury lawsuit

Published on: June 13, 2023

“Can I Still Win a Florida Injury Lawsuit if I Signed a Waiver?”

Florida injury lawsuit waiver of liability Florida is a vacation destination, and many find opportunities here to engage in activities for which businesses require you to sign a waiver, releasing them from liability if you get hurt. Such excursions include things like parasailing, boating, go-kart racing, trampoline park jumping, golf cart driving, and Jet Ski riding. But while waivers and releases are generally enforceable in Florida, your hope of winning a Florida injury lawsuit may not be entirely lost. If you or a loved one is seriously injured in an activity for which you signed a waiver, it’s important to avoid any presumption that you don’t have a case until you’ve had a chance to talk to a skilled personal injury lawyer.

The enforceability of a waiver often comes down to the precise language it contains compared to the exact details of what happened to cause your injuries.

A prime example of this was the 2014 non-precedential opinion of Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal in Gillette v. All Pro Sports, LLC. Here, a woman was injured in a go-kart accident at a facility operated by the defendant. The injured woman alleged an employee of the facility increased the speed of the go-karts during the race, resulting in her loss of control of the vehicle and subsequent crash into a railing that resulted in injuries. She sued for her injuries under the legal concept of negligence.

In its defense, the facility cited a waiver of liability that the woman had signed prior to getting on the go-kart. The trial court granted summary judgment favoring the defendant. The appellate court reversed meaning that she was allowed to sue and have her case move forward.

Firstly, any clause of a contract that aims to deny an injured party the right to recover damages from the party that negligently caused the injury is to be strictly construed against the party seeking to avoid liability. Secondly, if such clauses are to be enforceable, they must be blatantly clear and understandable so that any ordinary person would know exactly the rights they’re foregoing by signing.

Here, the waiver indicated the user would: Continue reading

Published on: April 14, 2023

Florida Injury Lawsuits: Tougher to File, Win & Payout with Passing of the New Insurance Bill

by Leland Garvin

Once again, tort reform has made it tougher for victims of Florida car accidents to sue and collect fair damages for their losses. In order to get this passed the legislature has inaccurately pointed the finger at the allegation of frivolous Florida injury lawsuits and sky-high compensation payouts as the cause of high customer insurance premiums.

Reality check: Insurers are doing just fine. They even contributed $7 plus million to Florida politicians last year. Furthermore, the amount of insurance premiums paid by customers has little to do with accident claim payouts. It has a lot more to do with insurer profit margins.

Time and again, we’ve seen legislation enacted that makes it harder to sue and collect fair compensation against negligent motorists, businesses, and doctors – but fails to lower insurance premiums. Take for instance the Florida law passed in 2003 to limit medical malpractice pain-and-suffering damage payouts. At the time, state lawmakers insisted there was a “crisis” facing medical malpractice insurers that forced the industry to charge doctors super high premiums, to the point doctors had no choice but to relocate their practices out-of-state. This was all justified by basically arguing that greedy patients and plaintiff lawyers were exploiting medical malpractice insurance for big bucks. In a 2014 overturning of those damage caps, the Florida Supreme Court blasted lawmakers for their initial reasons for passing the law – while also noting it never made a dent in doctors’ insurance bills. In Estate of McCall v. U.S., the Court called the lawmakers’ justifications “arbitrary” and “irrational,” and an “offense to the fundamental notion of equal justice under the law.” In that 5-2 opinion, the court noted the effect of saving a modest amount for many meant imposing devastating costs on the few – namely those catastrophically injured. “If there ever was an alleged medical malpractice crisis” in the first place, the Court remarked skeptically in its reversal, there wasn’t one anymore.

But state lawmakers haven’t stopped trying to use this as a justification for ongoing efforts to make life easier for insurers. In the years since, they’ve continued pressing measures reducing both liability and damage awards for dangerous property conditions, car accidents, and work injuries. They’ve also targeted payouts from life and health insurance.

Now, proponents of this new law have promised that it will help eliminate the so-called “tort tax” imposed on citizens – something that doesn’t actually exist.

As you can imagine, our Fort Myers personal injury lawyers are among the many trial lawyers who strongly opposed this legislation. We believe that these new laws will disenfranchise people who have suffered serious injuries because of someone else’s wrongdoing. It’s not just lawyers, though. Other vocal opponents include doctors, bicyclists, and previous car accident victims – many of whom showed up in significant numbers at state committee hearings on the issue.

What Exactly Will this the Law Do?

The legislation – House Bill 837 and Senate Bill 236 – has made it more difficult to file, win, and fairly collect on well-founded Florida injury lawsuits. These bills were fast-tracked by lawmakers and quickly signed into law by Governor Desantis.
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Published on: March 10, 2022

Suing in the Sunshine State? 5 Fast Florida Injury Lawsuit Facts to Know

by Leland Garvin

South Florida injury lawsuit Every Florida injury lawsuit is different, and the law is always evolving. That’s why when you ask any lawyer a seemingly straightforward question, you almost always get: “It depends.”

That said, there are some common questions our Fort Myers personal injury lawyers have noticed frequently arise, whether we’re talking about car accidents, nursing home injuries, slip-and-falls or medical malpractice.

If you’re thinking of suing for a personal injury or wrongful death in the Sunshine State, here are five facts to know: Continue reading

Published on: September 16, 2020

Florida Personal Injury Lawsuit Risks, Explained

by Leland Garvin

Florida personal injury lawsuit

As it is with any type of litigation, there are certain risks associated when you pursue a Florida personal injury lawsuit. The good news is these risks are significantly mitigated by:

- - - Hiring a skilled personal injury lawyer with experience in successfully handling cases like yours.
    - Contingency fee arrangements that do not require plaintiff attorney’s fees to be paid upfront – or at all – unless you win.

An experienced attorney can provide you with an informed opinion about the strength and value of your injury case, giving you a good sense of whether it is better to accept a settlement offer or proceed to trial. The contingency fee arrangement is a safety net too. Not only because you are off-the-hook for your attorney’s fees if you do not win, but it also creates a clear incentive for your injury lawyer to be frank with you about your chances of prevailing – and the best way to do it.

That said, our Fort Myers injury attorneys are always straightforward with our clients about some of the potential pitfalls of personal injury litigation. These are general risks, though some may be more relevant for certain types of cases (i.e., auto accidents, medical malpractice, premises liability, claims against government entities, etc.).