Florida Personal Injury Laws

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

Fair Compensation in Orlando

If you’re hurt in an accident, you should know that getting a fair settlement in a timely fashion without having to go through a lengthy trial, could have a lot to do with the lawyer who represents you.

Hire a trial lawyer who is well-known by the insurance companies. I’m David Best of the Best Law Firm. I’ve been representing injury victims for over two decades. If you’re injured, call me and put the Best Firm to work for you.

By: David Best

Legal Background

When I went to law school, I had an interest in civil litigation. When I got out I decided I wanted to litigate files. So I went to the best place to cut your teeth doing that, which is insurance defense. After a while I decided I was tired of defending insurance companies and I wanted to make a difference for people who were hurt. In my prior experience, working on the other side. I learned defense tactics, insurance companies policies and and procedures on how they defend claims, on how they defend, mechanisms that they use to defeat claims, defeat suits. My goal is to make sure that the client knows that they are the most important client on my roster. I’m always available. My cell phone is given to them at every client intake meeting. I take calls at all hours of the night, even answer mundane questions like, “What’s happening with my pit payments?” Big firm results, small firm attention, we do everything we can to make sure that our clients know that they are very important to us.

Legal Philosophy

I’ve talked to some of my clients even after they were not my clients, even after we settled their cases just about how their life is going. We want them to think of us as friends, we want them to think of us their companions in this process. We’re not just someone– I mean we are working for them but we’re not just someone that’s working for them, we’re working towards a common goal, which is to make them whole from their injuries. When I can get a settlement that I consider to be good or high quality based on their treatment, injuries, and medical history, that is my favorite part of my entire job. A lot of firms think of their clients as an end result. That’s not how we operate. This is a business but at the end of the day we’re trying to obtain the best result we can for every client we can. Not because of the bottom line, but because when you come in here, we care about you. You are part of our family.

By: Alexander Knapp

Most Difficult Personal Injury Case in Orlando

One of the most difficult cases that I’ve ever handled as a trial lawyer was for a family member. My nephew was unfortunately killed in a car accident. He was a deputy sheriff and was t-boned in an intersection by an 18 wheeler. It was a very difficult case to handle. I had to deal with my brother-in-law, and my sister-in-law throughout that entire case, and the grieving process. So, I’ve been involved in cases that are very personal to me. I understand where you are with your case, and with the grieving process that you’re going through. If you’d like to discuss that with me, I’m Ron Gilbert with Colling, Gilbert, Wright & Carter; 1800-49-LEGAL.

By: Ron Gilbert

Cost To Bring An Auto Accident Claim

Typically it will not. Most law firms in the state of Florida will handle automobile and trucking accident cases on what we call a contingent fee basis, and that is what the Florida bar permits us as lawyers to do to essentially level the playing field and be able to match the resources of the insurance companies and the trucking industry. It allows us to represent you as consumers who have been involved in an accident on a contingent fee basis, meaning that we as the lawyers don’t get paid until the end of the case and we only get paid at the end of the case if there’s been a recovery in your favor. It also allows us in a contingent fee representation situation to advance all of the costs on your behalf, and oftentimes in trucking cases and product liability cases and automobile cases the expenses can build up rather quickly. It allows us to advance those costs on your behalf and then recoup those costs at the end of the case if there’s been a successful recovery.

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.

Am I at Risk If I File a Lawsuit in Orlando

A lot of clients that I meet with have the same concern. A lot of them are concerned if there’s a risk to them to bring a lawsuit. The short answer to that is, there’s some risk, but we fight hard to minimize those risks. For instance, we advance all the litigation costs in a typical case. If we’re not able to succeed or win the case, the client does not owe us any money. Another thing clients worry about is, if it costs money to meet with the lawyer to just talk about their case, and it does not. We offer free consultations on any type of case. So, there’s no harm or risk to you to come in, to sit with us, to talk about the case, and discuss your options. We’ll give you honest advise on whether you have a case, and what the chances of success are in that case. So if you have a question like that, feel free to call us. Nathan Carter at Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter, 1-800-49-LEGAL.

By: Nathan Carter

Determining Fault For Auto Accidents

The fault is not always easily determined in an automobile accident case. Sometimes it will be clear-cut such as a rear-end collision, although even a rear-end collision is not always as simply as straight forward as it may seem. An attorney is going to investigate the cause or causes of any automobile accident and determine who is at fault, and sometimes it’s one party, and sometimes multiple parties can share responsibility for an accident. The starting point usually is looking at the traffic crash report included by the law enforcement officer at the scene. It will also be determined by interviewing the drivers or occupants of the cars, and interviewing any independent witnesses. In certain situations, it may also be necessary to hire an engineer or an accident reconstruction expert to help piece together exactly how the accident happened and who is responsible for it.

Pedestrian Reasonable Care

First of all, as a pedestrian, you are required by law to use reasonable care. To walk within crosswalks. To follow pedestrian crossing signals. If you fail to do that, and you’re injured as a result of that, you can be held responsible for your injuries or at least held partially responsible for your injuries. So you have a duty to make sure that you abide by all crossing signals and to cross at proper pedestrian crossing points.