Naples injury lawyer

Published on: January 30, 2024

How to Hire a Florida Personal Injury Lawyer

South Florida personal injury lawyer Think you might need to hire a Florida personal injury lawyer but have no idea where to start?

Most Naples personal injury clients are folks with little-to-no experience in civil litigation, and this is a good thing as we all don’t want to hire lawyers unless we have to. Many of our clients are reeling from a horrible crash or devastating loss due to a medical mistake and unsure of their next steps. Very often doctors or insurance companies are not always helpful in encouraging people to seek legal counsel.

The good news is that an experienced Naples Florida personal injury lawyer can help you navigate the whole process from start-to-finish, sometimes without even stepping foot in a courtroom.

How Do I Find a Lawyer?

The internet is usually the first place people start nowadays when looking for a Florida personal injury lawyer.

You can start with a simple search of attorneys in your region who practice the type of law you need. For serious injuries, you may want to dig a little deeper.

Personal injury law falls under the general umbrella of “torts,” but there are actually several different types of personal injury claims. For example, injury due to a doctor’s error is going to fall under “medical malpractice law.” Injuries resulting from a dangerous or defective product or vehicle will be filed as “product liability” claims. If you’re injured as a result of a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, this is called “premises liability.”

You want to check for injury lawyers in the area with experience and success in handling cases just like yours. For this, you can specifically for a section on their website with detailed testimonials and/or case results. (You can also ask for this directly if you decide to meet with the attorney.)

It’s not a bad idea to check the ratings and reviews on Google, social media, and other platforms. These might not give you the whole story, but attorneys and/or law firms with a fair number of positive reviews are probably doing something right.

In Florida, you can also contact your local Bar Association for lawyer referral services. There are offices in Collier, Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota Counties.

What Does a South Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Need From Me?

Published on: April 28, 2023

Experienced Naples Car Accident Lawyer Can Help Properly Address Preexisting Conditions in Crash Cases

by Leland Garvin

Yes, a past injury or illness can absolutely impact a Florida personal injury claim. As our Naples car accident lawyer can explain, a preexisting condition complicates the claims process because the burden is on the plaintiff to prove the injury at issue was either caused or aggravated by the negligent act.

For instance, if you’ve been seeing a chiropractor for years for back pain – and then are in a crash that you claim resulted in back injuries – it’s up to you to prove that your injuries are new or that old injury were exacerbated by the crash.

To do all this effectively requires that you’re upfront with your Naples car accident lawyer about your pre-existing conditions. It is also important that you are upfront with your medical providers about your old injuries and are able to distinguish and describe the new injuries or at a minimum explain that they have been made worse. Your attorney is then responsible to be sure the aggravation of a pre-existing condition is properly pleaded and supported in the special damages portion of the lawsuit. Special damages for the aggravation of a preexisting condition must be expressly stated in the claim and supported by the evidence. It’s not assumed.

We saw this play out in the recent case of State Farm v. Davis, decided by a panel of judges for Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal. In this case, insurance company State Farm appealed a $500,000 verdict, which included compensation for future medical expenses and future non-economic damages, including for aggravation of a preexisting condition.

The case stemmed from a 2016 Florida car accident between the plaintiff and another driver, an uninsured/underinsured motorist accused of negligence. As such, the plaintiff filed a claim for damages with her own UM/UIM car insurance company. The insurer conceded the other driver was at-fault, but contested the causation, nature, extent, and consequences of her injuries. Basically, the insurance company didn’t believe her injuries (or not all of them) resulted from the crash or as serious as she claimed. During the discovery process, it was revealed plaintiff had been receiving chiropractic care for pain and limited movement in her neck and lower back for 14 years prior to the crash. In the previous 6 years before the car accident, the plaintiff had seen a physician nearly 50 times for neck and lower back pain – one of those just three days before the crash. The doctor who treated her would later testify that the injuries he’d been treating her for weren’t the same as the injuries she’d suffered in the crash. An orthopedic surgeon she began seeing after the crash testified that two herniated discs and joint/neck pain were a result of the crash – for which she’d need future surgeries. However, no medical testimony or other evidence was presented by the plaintiff to indicate that the car accident resulted in an aggravation of her preexisting injuries or conditions.

A Naples car accident lawyer can explain that people injured in crashes might or might not have preexisting conditions, and those might or might not be aggravated in the crash. But even if the same general part of the body that has a preexisting condition is injured in the crash, and even though this might naturally and proximately result in aggravation, it is not necessarily the case. This must be specifically alleged, pleaded, and supported. Continue reading

Published on: August 3, 2022

What You Need to Know About Suing after a Florida Airbnb Injury

by Leland Garvin

South Florida Airbnb injury lawyer Airbnb is a household name – a wildly popular online platform for parties arranging vacation stays or experiences. According to insurance comparison site The Zebra, Airbnb has nearly 6 million active listings worldwide, operating in at least 100,000 cities with over 1 billion guests staying at these properties. But what happens if you suffer a Florida Airbnb injury? As our Naples personal injury lawyers can explain, there are some unique aspects of these cases, so it’s important to discuss your rights with a civil trial lawyer who practices in the region where the accident or injury occurred. If you’re hurt in a Florida Airbnb injury, you should be consulting with a Florida injury lawyer.

Recently, a Florida man filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District for the Northern District of Georgia against the California-based Airbnb and a pair of its hosts after the man was injured while riding a tree swing on the property. According to Law.com, the man’s premises liability lawsuit alleges the property owners bear responsibility for the property’s maintenance – and that includes the tire swing on site. The property owners installed the tire swing and maintained it, and it was advertised on Airbnb as an amenity that business invitees were enticed to use. Yet, that swing was in “unreasonably dangerous condition,” according to the plaintiff. According to the complaint, the tree limb to which the swing was attached was rotten, fragile, and otherwise incapable of supporting the weight of an adult person. Plaintiff, unaware of this, was using the swing when the branch from which it hung broke, causing him to fall “violently” to the ground, suffering injury to his leg, knee and back. He’s seeking more than $100,000 in compensation for his injuries.

There have been many other reported incidents of Airbnb injuries in recent years. Among these:

A 35-year-old Canadian woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a Taiwanese Airbnb. The company offered her family $2 million to settle (denying liability by calling it a “humanitarian gesture”), but her family opted to continue with their wrongful death lawsuit.
A 37-year-old California man suffered a spinal injury after falling into a pool at an Airbnb home in Cancun.
Two teens were killed and several injured at a party thrown at an Airbnb-rented property in Pennsylvania. The incident prompted Airbnb to make permanent its ban on parties at Airbnb rentals (initially a public safety measure at the start of the pandemic).

As property owners making a profit off guest stays at their home, Airbnb hosts are going to be held to a higher legal standard than your typical homeowners. They’ll be viewed more in line with business owners. In Florida, business invitees to a property (those invited for the financial benefit of the property owner) are owed the highest duty of care. That means property owners must take care to regularly inspect the property and address any known or foreseeable safety issues. If such issues aren’t addressed right away, they have a duty to adequately warn guests of a potential hazard. Naples injury lawyer

When someone suffers a Florida Airbnb injury, they may be entitled to collect damages under Airbnb’s Host Protection Insurance. This plan automatically provides Airbnb hosts with $1 million in coverage in the event a guest is hurt while they’re staying at an Airbnb host’s site. Host liability covers hosts if they’re found legally responsible for bodily injury to guests or others. It generally doesn’t cover damages for things like: Continue reading

Published on: June 23, 2022

Dangerous Exercise Equipment Can Lead to Serious Injury

by Leland Garvin

dangerous exercise equipment Naples injury lawyer Physical fitness hype – as well as exercise equipment purchases – soared the past few years, as Americans sought ways to get in shape while also spending more time at home. While cardio and lifting are undoubtedly good for your health, it’s worth pointing out that dangerous exercise equipment has been known to lead to serious injury, sometimes leading to regulatory interventions and lawsuits.

As our Naples injury lawyers can explain, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which has regulated workout equipment since the 1990s, has in the last two decades issued more than 80 recalls of exercise equipment and collected millions in civil penalties. Some of these cases have been fairly recent. Among them:

A $7.95 million civil penalty against Cybex International, Inc. for failure to immediately report defects of two of its machines: The Arm Curl and Smith Press machines. The CPSC says each created an unreasonable risk of serious injuries. According to the agency, a weld on the Arm Curl machine can fail, causing the handle to unexpectedly separate and strike the user in the face. The company received 85 consumer reports of broken handles and serious injury – including one person who permanently lost their vision. Yet the manufacturer didn’t inform federal safety regulators, as required by law. Same with the more than two dozen reports the company received involving a weight bar on its press machines. Customers had been paralyzed and suffered spinal fractures when impacted by the bar, but the company didn’t issue a recall or even a notice to the CPSC. Eventually, the arm curl machine was recalled in 2015. The press machines were recalled three years later. Now, in addition to the CPSC’s civil penalties, the company – under new ownership – is enrolled in an enhanced safety compliance monitoring program.
A $6.5 million civil penalty against Core Health & Fitness LLC for failure to immediately report a defect creating an unreasonable risk of serious injury involving its Dual Adjustable Pulley Machines and Cable Cross Over Machines. According to federal product safety regulators, the fitness equipment manufacturer knew that the height-adjusting carriages on its machines had the ability to loosen and fall, potentially causing serious injury risk. The company had fielded 55 user injury reports pertaining to this issue – including nearly a dozen that resulted in lacerations to the head, some requiring staples or stitches. Yet the company didn’t turn this information over to safety officials, as required by law.
The popular Peloton Tread+ was recalled by the company last spring after the CPSC issued a warning following numerous instances where small children (and one pet) were injured after being trapped, pinned, and pulled under the rear roller of the machine. At the time of that warning, there were at least 39 incidents of it happening – and one child’s death. Consumers using the product in a home with children were urged to immediately stop using the device. Further, all objects – including exercise balls and other equipment – were urged to be kept away from the treadmills.

These are just a few of the recently-reported exercise accident incidents, injuries caused by dangerous or malfunctioning workout equipment are nothing new.

Who is Liable for Dangerous Exercise Equipment Injuries?

Published on: March 23, 2022

What’s Included in the Free Consultation With a Naples Injury Lawyer?

by Leland Garvin

Taking legal action is sometimes the best strategy following a Florida injury in a car crash, slip-and-fall, or medical mistake. However, doing so is typically inadvisable without the aid of a Naples injury lawyer. The first step in that process may be something called a “free consultation.”

You may have heard the term, but how much insight/advice is actually included in that? What should you bring to it? What questions should you ask? If you schedule one, are you obligated to hire that lawyer/law firm? Will you actually speak with a lawyer of will the consultation be with a staff member?

The consultation is at no charge to you and a great opportunity for you to glean important information about your rights, what your case may be worth, the possible outcome, and how a lawyer might help you pursue damages. There is no obligation for you to hire that particular attorney during the consultation. In fact, it may be advisable to consult with more than one Naples injury lawyer before deciding which one you ultimately hire (if you hire one at all). It’s a risk-free way to gain a better understanding of your legal options and to make an educated choice about which attorney will be the best fit to help you do it.
Continue reading

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: August 12, 2020

Settlement vs. Trial: How Do They Compare in a Florida Personal Injury Lawsuit?

by Leland Garvin

Florida personal injury lawsuit

If you file a Florida personal injury lawsuit, chances are your case will never go to trial. In fact, U.S. Justice Department data shows about 97 percent of all claims are settled or dismissed without a trial.

Even so, it is helpful to know the risks and benefits of both trials and settlements, something your South Florida personal injury lawyer should explain while reviewing your case. Ultimately, your attorney should not shy away from going to trial if it is what is in your best interest, but settlements can remove uncertainty and can often be the best course of action.

What is a Personal Injury Settlement?

The term “settlement” refers to a kind of formal resolution of your claim or lawsuit before a judge or jury hears it. It means you agree to accept money in exchange for dropping your action against the person or business who caused your injury.

Settlement agreements can be reached at any point during litigation, up to the point that a case has been tried, but before jurors reach a verdict. In some instances, your case can settle before you ever even have to file a Florida personal injury lawsuit.