Florida Personal Injury Laws

The Amount Of Time To Get To Trail

In Florida a personal injury case generally takes anywhere from about 18 months to three years to get to trial from the date the accident happened. It sometimes can be shorter, sometimes can take a little longer, and it depends primarily on the Judge assigned to the case, the size of his or her docket, and other factors including the complexity of the case and any scheduling conflicts with the attorneys and the parties.

Medical Bill Expenses

If you’ve been injured in an accident, there are a number of ways your medical bills will get paid. One is, of course, through your own insurance company. Another might be through some governmental agency or governmental aid program. Another might well be through what is commonly referred to as an LOP or letter of protection. The most important thing regarding the payment of these medical bills, is get an attorney and have that attorney assist you in navigating your way through making sure these bills get paid, or that you at least have an agreement with the medical provider.

Semi-Truck Accident Attorney

Retaining an attorney after you’ve been injured in a big rig trucking accident is essential, but you want to get not just a good lawyer, the best lawyer. You want someone who is qualified, someone who has had experience in handling, in litigating, and hopefully in taking to verdict some big rig tractor trailer truck cases. You need a lawyer who knows the federal regulations. You need a lawyer who is trusted by other lawyers. It’s not good enough to just research a lawyer on the Internet. You want to find out his or her reputation by checking with other lawyers or by checking with organizations to see what her qualifications are and what she has been doing over the course of her career.

If You Are Not Satisfied With Your Attorney

If you’re currently represented by an attorney in a personal injury case, and you are not satisfied with the representation you’re getting, simply pick up the phone and talk to or make an appointment to meet with your attorney to address your concerns and any complaints or questions you might have. Many times those concerns can get resolved by a simple phone call or an in-person meeting. But if your concerns are not addressed satisfactorily, then the best thing to do is consult with another attorney. Typically, that consultation is going to be free of charge, won’t cost you anything, but you may be able to get a second opinion which can help you make a decision as to whether it’s in your best interest to stick with your current attorney or switch attorneys.

At Fault Driver Has No Insurance

Unfortunately, in the state of Florida, happens all too often where an at-fault driver, or the other driver in an accident, does not have adequate liability insurance or has no insurance coverage at all. It’s important that you carry uninsured or under-insured motorist coverage under your own policy because it happens all too often where you’re victimized in an automobile accident and the at-fault driver does not have coverage. What you also want to do is make sure that you hire a reputable law firm that will look at other avenues of recovery. That could be a product liability case – could there had been an issue with the seatbelt or an airbag or a tire on the vehicle? So when there is a crash where another driver does not have coverage, you want to make sure you carry uninsured motorist coverage under your own automobile policy and have a reputable lawyer or law firm look at other avenues of recovery such as a product liability case.

Deadlines To Filing A Claim

There are very critical deadlines when it comes to filing suit after a big truck accident. In a death case, the statute of limitations runs two years from date of death. If it is a personal injury case in Florida, generally the statute is four years. However, there are certain time limits which may apply, which are different from that. For example, if it happens to be a big rig truck owned by the state of Florida or a governmental agency, there are certain notice requirements which have a three-year deadline, and it requires a totally different set of steps that need to be taken. The most important thing is you must have an attorney evaluate these deadlines.

Insurance Companies Evaluating Your Losses

Insurance companies will evaluate your losses based on your economic and what we call your noneconomic damages. Your economic damages; what are your medical bills from the date of the crash up until the time of the trial or until the time of the settlement conference and what are your medical bills in the future that a doctor can determine are reasonably related to the crash itself. Also, what are your economic losses for missing work or your wage loss. Have you lost work as a result of this crash in the past, will you lose work in the future? So that’s the economic component that the insurance company will assess.

Aside from that is the noneconomic or the human damages element; what is the pain and suffering that you have experienced in the past and into the future related to a crash. What is your mental anguish, your loss of enjoyment of life? And while those damages are not as easily quantifiable as your economic damages, the insurance company will try to place a value on all of those damages together and that will determine what kind of money they may be willing to offer you to settle a case.

Finding A Brain Injury Attorney

In a Florida brain injury case, in order to begin the litigation process it is essential that you obtain the services of a very competent, qualified, and experienced trial lawyer. You need to seek out and do the proper research and your due diligence in finding a lawyer who is experienced in handling brain injury cases. And by experience I mean not only a lawyer who has litigated and handled them for years, but a lawyer who has taken brain injury cases to verdict in front of judges and juries.

Common Orlando Medical Malpractice Claims

The most common types of injuries in Florida medical malpractice claims would be brain damage, amputation, loss of an important bodily function, and even death. If you or a loved one has been a victim of medical malpractice, I’d be glad to discuss the details with you. My name is Ron Gilbert with Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter. 1-800-49-LEGAL.

By: Ron Gilbert