Personal Injury Lawyers in Deerfield Beach, Florida (FL)

What to do after you or a loved one sustains a Personal Injury in Florida?

The most important first step is to seek medical attention and have a thorough medical examination. When you and/or a loved one have been harmed in an accident, the first step is to call 911 and then call us 24/7 at 954-752-1110. Always seek medical attention to avoid causing more severe injuries and to protect your right to recover medical expenses that may arise a few days after the accident.

When you contact our firm, our legal professionals can rush to the accident scene and begin processing the crucial information, witness statements, and photographs. We can also make sure that your legal rights are protected in the accident report written by law enforcement officers at the accident scene. Our attorneys can also protect you from making statements to insurance company representatives that may damage your case.

If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, do not discuss the details of the accident, apologize or admit fault to those involved in the accident. Always remember that anything you say may be used to diminish or deny your accident injury claim. It is also advisable to stop posting on social media platforms. All of the photos and comments that you post or receive from others can harm your case. It is always best to put your social media life on hold during an accident injury case.

If you or someone with you is able, take photos of the accident scene from different angles. Note the time, weather, road conditions, and other important information about the accident. Obtain the license and insurance information from those involved in the accident. When speaking to law enforcement at the accident scene, do not embellish or exaggerate the facts to the officer. Never lie, and always think before you speak.

How to Prove a Florida Personal Injury Case

In order to receive justice and compensation as an injured accident victim, you are required to prove that the at-fault party acted negligently, and those actions caused the accident, injuries, and damages. The theory of negligence is made up of 3 parts:

Duty of Care

In Florida, drivers owe other motorists an obligation or “Duty of Care” to driver safety and to avoid injuring other people. In personal injury cases, the question is, “how much care was reasonably expected?”

For example, all drivers are required to have a driver’s license, drive responsibly, and drive sober. In other words, drivers must exercise reasonable measures to avoid an accident. If the at-fault driver was found to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they would have breached their Duty of Care. Accident victims harmed by the negligent actions of another need an attorney to prove that the at-fault driver acted in an unreasonable way leading to the accident.

Breach of Duty

After your personal injury attorney has established that the at-fault party had a Duty of Care toward you or your loved one, the next phase of providing negligence is proving the at-fault party breached that duty. In other words, the at-fault party did not fulfill their obligations. When the at-fault party breaches that duty of care, they may be shown to have been negligent. One example is failing to repair a rotted wood balcony railing at an apartment building for several months. Florida courts call this failure to properly maintain a safety railing, “negligence.” The courts will also determine if the defendant caused a dangerous circumstance and how long the dangerous circumstance was allowed to continue.

Causation

After your personal injury attorney has demonstrated that the at-fault party had a Duty of Care and that the individual or individuals breached that Duty of Care, your lawyer must prove the Breach of Duty caused the accident, injury, and/or death.

For example, the at-fault driver had a duty to drive sober. The driver failed to drive sober, as determined by law enforcement. The driver was not able to control and operate their vehicle, causing the driver to rear-end the victim at a high rate of speed, causing an accident and accident-related injuries.

Proving causation is critical in a personal injury case. However, proving negligence does not mean the negligence caused your injuries. There are several ways accident insurance defense attorneys attack the victim’s case. For example, the accident victim may have pre-existing medical conditions. The insurance defense attorneys may argue that the accident didn’t cause the injury, but the injury was simply “aggravated,” an existing injury.

Understanding the personal injury claims process and retaining an aggressive Florida personal injury attorney increases your chances of winning your case and receiving just compensation for your injuries and losses.

If you or a loved one have been hurt or if a loved one has been fatally injured, call us 24/7 at 954-752-1110 for your free case review and consultation. Protect your rights today.  Nosotros hablamos español.

What Kind of Damages Could You Receive in a Florida Personal Injury Case

Damages are defined as the economic and non-economic costs that are suffered by one person and caused by another. An example of non-economic damages is known as “pain and suffering.” Economic damages would include medical bills related to the accident.

Personal injury victims seek damages by filing a legal claim and/or by filing a personal injury lawsuit. The legal action demands a specified amount of compensation that the injured party or “Plaintiff” wants in order to be “made whole” through Florida’s civil court system.

It is important to understand that every case is unique, and Florida law outlines which damages a claimant may pursue.

Florida personal injury cases generally seek the following compensatory damages:

• Medical Expenses:  Medical expenses include medical care, diagnostic tests, therapy, surgical costs, medications, and medical equipment.
• Future Medical Care:  Future medical care and treatment is typically an estimation of all future medical expenses such as therapy, medications, surgeries, and equipment.
• Property Damage: Property damage typically includes all types of property damage such as car repairs, house repairs, sign repairs, electronic repairs, and other types of property damaged in an accident.
• Lost Income:  Lost income is another economic damage that may be pursued in many personal injury claims. Your attorney may calculate any missed work hours or sick days used in connection with the accident into the overall settlement or lawsuit demand. The calculation may also include any loss of job or income change caused by the necessity to change careers due to the accident. For example, if an electrician loses both of his hands in an accident, they would not continue their career as an electrician.
• Emotional Distress:  People who have been harmed in an accident often suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other emotional and psychological injuries such as anxiety, fear, depression, and stress. In some personal injury cases, Emotional Stress is part of Pain and Suffering.
• Pain and Suffering:  Seeking compensation for pain and suffering sustained in an accident can be very subjective and may depend upon the facts and circumstances in the case.
• Loss of Relationships:  If the accident caused you to lose a loved one, you might be able to seek compensation. When someone loses a partner or spouse, this sort of damage is known as “Loss of Consortium.”
• Punitive Damages: Not every personal injury case in Florida will qualify to pursue Punitive Damages. “Punitive Damages” is a separate monetary award intended to punish the at-fault party so severely that they will not act similarly in the future.

HOW TO FILE A PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM IN FLORIDA

A personal injury victim files their claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company before filing a lawsuit in Florida. Once the claimant files their personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company, the insurance company is then put on notice of a potential personal injury lawsuit. After the injury claim is filed and the claimant has finished all of their medical treatment, the plaintiff’s lawyers will collect the medical bills and records from the plaintiff’s medical providers. Your Florida personal injury attorney will then submit a settlement demand package to the at-fault party’s insurance claims adjuster. The plaintiff’s personal injury attorney will send a letter of introduction, which includes a monetary demand for settlement.

Negotiating the Personal Injury Settlement

If the at-fault party’s insurance company agrees that their policyholder was at fault in a personal injury case, the insurance claim adjuster will review the plaintiff’s settlement demand package. At that time, the insurance company representative may extend an initial settlement offer to the claimant to start the process. The first offer is almost always a low-ball offer, and the first offer is never usually accepted by the claimant.

The claimant’s attorney then begins to negotiate on behalf of the claimant. The counter-demands go back and forth until the two parties reach a settlement agreement. Settlement negotiations last for several weeks to several months, depending on the circumstances of the case and the parties involved.

Filing and Litigating a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Florida

If the Plaintiff and Defendant cannot reach a settlement, the plaintiff may file and litigate a personal injury lawsuit with the Florida civil court system. Some injury cases are filed in local courts, while others are filed in Federal court. Most Florida personal injury cases never go to trial and are settled out of court. This is due to the cost of defending against a personal injury lawsuit and the risk of losing a personal injury lawsuit. In some cases, jury verdicts were substantially more money than the original settlement demand.

Florida Personal Injury Jury Trials

The decision to proceed with a jury trial is one of the most important decisions to make because Florida jury trials are often highly emotional, long-drawn, and tiresome. Our Florida personal injury attorneys always help our clients weigh the pros and cons of proceeding with a jury trial.

Florida civil jury trials consist of several steps, including:

1. Pretrial motions,
2. Witness depositions,
3. Jury selection,
4. Opening statements,
5. The examination of witnesses,
6. The cross-examination of witnesses,
7. The recitation of jury instructions,
8. Closing arguments,
9. Jury deliberations, and
10. The jury’s verdict.

Contact Our South Florida Personal Injury Attorneys for Your Free Consultation and Case Evaluation

Fuentes & Berrio represents injury victims and families of fatal injury victims throughout the State of Florida. Our attorneys are available to meet you at your home, place of work, hospital, or any other place throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County and especially the cities of Deerfield Beach, Lake Worth, Pompano, Hillsboro, and Highland Beach.

Fuentes & Berrio is here to help accident victims receive the financial compensation that they deserve for their claims. Call us 24/7 at 954-752-1110 for your free case review and consultation. Protect your rights today. Nosotros hablamos español.