Florida Personal Injury Laws

What is Wrongful Death?

When your loved one dies because of the negligence of another person, that’s called Wrongful Death. In the state of Florida, there are very particular rules that must be followed in order to pursue a wrongful death claim. If you’ve lost a loved one because of the negligence of another person, call Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter: 1-800-49-LEGAL.

By: Ron Gilbert

You’re involved in a car accident in Florida. How long will it take to settle your claim?

It really depends on your entries and the circumstances, but most cases can be settled anywhere from six months to two years from your accident. I’m Mel Wright. I’m a partner at Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter. Call us at 1800-49 LEGAL.

By: Mel Wright

What Is A Deposition

In any case in litigation, the parties are permitted to take depositions of witnesses, including depositions of the parties in the case. A deposition is basically an interview or a sworn statement, where the attorney for one side sits down at a conference room table and questions the witness or the other party under oath to obtain information and answers about the case.

The Romano Law Firm

You want a law firm that has gotten proven results over the years and a law firm that has a good reputation in the local community. You want to look for a law firm that is willing to go to trial if a trial is necessary in order to get you the maximum recovery or the maximum result that you deserve based on the damages in your case.

Attorney Fees, Car Accident

If you are injured in an accident the attorney who represents you will likely handle your case on what is referred to as a contingent fee contract. This means that your attorney will take a percentage of the winnings or the award or the settlement in your case. That amount varies – in some instances it may be 40%, in other instances it may be 33 1/3%, that depends upon what you negotiate or discuss with your attorney.

Alternatives To Court

Absolutely, there are. Typically in Florida, a trial is a last resort. In fact, most cases do not go to trial. In Florida, we have mandatory mediation which is an alternative dispute resolution process where no matter what, before your case ever goes to trial in front of a jury or a judge, you’re required to go to an informal mediation in an attempt for both sides to come together and resolve a case or settle a case. So, there are alternatives to going to trial in a case. Also, there are alternatives to filing a lawsuit in a case because oftentimes, before a lawsuit is ever filed, a claim can be handled and settled amicably between both parties where a case can be resolved without there ever being a lawsuit or without there ever being a trial.

Pure Comparative Negligence

We’re fortunate in Florida because we have what we call Pure Comparative Negligence. In many other states if a person is injured by an at-fault driver, but that person himself or herself is also determined to be partially at fault, that person could be completely barred from recovery. Florida being a Pure Comparative Negligence state – your negligence, or your partial negligence, is compared to the negligence of the other party and even if you’re determined to be mostly at-fault you can still recover your damages, but your damages are reduced in Florida by the percentage of fault that is assigned to you.

Why Our Law Firm Is Different

A lot of clients that come to us have also met with other firms or other lawyers. I think one thing that make our firm special is that each of the partners and each of the lawyers in our firm meet with clients personally. If we take the case we handle the case personally. My clients call me everyday, they e-mail me, they call me on my cellphone. We get personally invested with our clients in their cases. We don’t take a huge volume of cases. We try to take a number of cases that we can handle the client personally and handle the case like it’s a member of our family. I think some firms in Florida and in Orlando take a high volume of cases, and I think the work suffers because the clients don’t get to know their lawyer and the lawyer is not personally invested in their case. If you have a question about a case and would like to sit down with one of us personally and talk about it. If we take the case we’ll handle it personally. Another thing is that we have a team of lawyers and a team of experts that work together on your case. So we’re all fighting for you and fighting for your cause. If you have a question about a case like that or just want to discuss about your options with us, call me. Nathan Carter at 1-800-49-LEGAL.

By: Nathan Carter

Punitive Damages, Auto Accident

If you have been injured in an accident, you’re entitled under certain circumstances to be compensated for your losses. That’s called compensatory damages. Punitive damages, also called exemplary damages, are only allowable in Florida when there has been not just gross negligence but an extraordinary, wrongful level of conduct, so much so that when people look at it, they would say it is almost intentional in terms of the conduct that set things in motion. An example would be the conduct of someone deciding to drink, knowing that he is later going to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Gross negligence is the key. It is also referred to as willful or wanton conduct.