The human body is complex, and as a result, it can be fragile. One of the consequences of this fragility is that there are thousands of ways to injure it. A Florida personal injury accident occurs when someone’s negligence or misconduct causes another person’s injury. When that happens, hiring Miami personal injury lawyers from Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers can make a critical difference.
Our Florida personal injury attorneys are ready to help you get the justice you deserve after an accident in Florida. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation with a Florida personal injury lawyer at (305) 937-0191.
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How Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After an Accident in Florida
Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers was founded in 2007 by Sagi Shaked. Since then, we have assembled a powerful legal team of Florida personal injury attorneys that includes Board Certified civil trial lawyers (only 7% of Florida attorneys) and members of the American Trial Lawyers Association Top 100.
Our Florida personal injury attorneys can help your case by:
- Providing multilingual support in English, Spanish, and Hebrew.
- Effectively navigating complex legal and insurance landscapes.
- Analyzing detailed medical records to understand the extent of your injuries fully.
- Gathering relevant evidence.
- Engaging accident reconstruction specialists to provide a clear, technical perspective on your accident.
- Negotiating with insurance companies for maximum compensation.
- Representing you at trial if necessary.
Call Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers at (305) 937-0191 or contact us online to schedule a free case consultation.
Types of Accidents That Frequently Generate Florida Personal Injury Claims
Accidents that frequently occur in Florida and lead to subsequent personal injury claims include the following:
- Car accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Medical malpractice claims
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Truck accidents
- Public transportation accidents
- Boating accidents
- Aviation accidents
- Construction site accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Dog bites
- Defective product incidents
- Food poisoning
- Sports-related injuries
- Assault and battery (intentional torts)
- Nursing home abuse and neglect
- Swimming pool accidents
- Amusement park accidents
- Exposure to toxic substances
- Fire and burn injuries
- Elevator and escalator accidents
- Farming accidents
- Electrical accidents
These personal injury accidents can significantly impact injury victims and their families.
How Common Are Personal Injury Accidents in Florida?
Unfortunately, personal injury accidents occur far too often in Florida. About 400,000 car accidents happen in Florida every year. Meanwhile, the state sees over 200,000 workplace slip and fall accidents that are serious enough to cause hospitalization.
What Kinds of Damages Are Available to Florida Accident Victims?
Under Florida law, the victim of a personal injury caused by someone else qualifies for compensation. If you hold a valid personal injury claim, Florida law entitles you to all of your losses, both tangible and intangible. “Economic damages” are tangible losses, while “non-economic damages” are intangible losses.
Economic Damages
Economic damages include:
- Medical bills
- Estimated future medical expenses
- Lost earnings
- Diminished earning capacity, if your injuries will reduce your ability to earn money in the future
- Out-of-pocket expenses that your injuries generated
An experienced Florida personal injury attorney can work with you to calculate your economic losses and pursue full compensation.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages include:
- Disfigurement or scarring: For physical changes that affect appearance and self-esteem. Imagine a young person with extensive facial scarring, for example.
- Inconvenience: Disruption to your daily life caused by your injuries.
- Emotional distress: As evidenced by fear, anxiety, insomnia, depression, PTSD, and other symptoms.
- Loss of companionship/consortium: The impact of your injury on your intimate relationships, including a loss of companionship or intimacy with your spouse.
- Loss of enjoyment of life: The inability to enjoy hobbies and activities that you enjoyed before your accident.
- Mental anguish: The psychological distress you suffered due to your injury.
- Pain and suffering: Compensation for the physical discomfort and distress caused by the injury.
- Physical impairment or disfigurement: Compensation for any lasting physical changes or disabilities resulting from the injury. Imagine a permanent hearing loss in one ear, for example.
Determining the full extent of your non-economic damages can be challenging. A skilled Florida personal injury lawyer can work with you to ensure you do not settle for less than your case is worth.
Punitive Damages
Judges award punitive damages not to compensate you but to punish the defendant. Courts will not award punitive damages unless the defendant’s conduct was willful or intentional. An intentional “road rage” car accident, rather than an accidental collision, may necessitate punitive damages.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Florida Accident Lawyer?
You don’t need to pay upfront costs to hire a Florida personal injury lawyer. Many personal injury lawyers will charge you a percentage of whatever amount your final award or settlement is. If your attorney wins nothing, you do not pay their fees.
Contact Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers to learn more about our contingency fee structure during a free consultation.
Can I Recover Compensation if I’m Being Blamed For an Accident in Florida?
Comparative negligence is a system that tells a court how to distribute liability if more than one party is liable for an accident. If you were 50% or less at fault, you will lose the percentage of your compensation that mirrors your percentage of fault for the accident. If you were 40% at fault, for example, you would lose 40% of your damages.
If you were more than 50% at fault for the accident, you will receive no compensation at all. A Florida personal injury attorney can help you combat claims of comparative fault and receive fair compensation for your injuries.
Special Case: Florida’s No-Fault Car Accident Compensation System
If you suffer a personal injury in a Florida car accident, your claim probably falls within the jurisdiction of the no-fault system. This means you must rely on your own personal injury protection (PIP) insurance to cover your personal injury losses. You cannot sue anyone unless your injuries are serious enough to allow you to exit the no-fault system.
We’ll Fight to Recover Compensation For All of Your Injuries
Frequently encountered personal injuries include:
- Whiplash
- Herniated disc
- Concussion
- Broken bones
- Lacerations
- Sprains and strains
- Burns
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Soft tissue injuries
- Psychological trauma, such as PTSD
- Amputations
- Internal injuries
- Knee injuries
- Shoulder injuries
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Repetitive strain injuries
- Chemical burns or toxic exposure injuries
- Electrocution injuries
- Road rash
- Rotator cuff injuries
These injuries can result from a variety of different accidents or from intentional misconduct.
What Causes Most Personal Injury Accidents in Florida?
Some of the most common causes of personal injury claims include:
- Distraction
- Intoxication
- Aggressive behavior
- Faulty equipment
- Poor maintenance
- Medical errors
- Inadequate training
- Violation of safety regulations
- Environmental factors
Your Florida personal injury lawyer can help you determine the cause of your accident.
How Do I Prove Negligence After an Accident in Florida?
Many personal injury cases arise out of negligence and require you to prove the following:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care.
- The defendant failed to meet the demands of their duty of care..
- The defendant’s breach of duty is what caused your physical harm.
- The harm you suffered was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s behavior.
- You suffered damages as result of the accident
If you establish all of the elements of negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.
How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit After a Personal Injury in Florida?
Up until March 2023, you had four years after your injury to file a Florida personal injury lawsuit for most claims. This was one of the longest statute of limitations periods in the nation. Since March 2023, however, the period has contracted to only two years after your injury. After the statute of limitations expires, you will be barred from recovering damages.
What Should I Do After a Car Accident?
Take the following actions, to the extent that your injuries allow you to:
- Perform any necessary first aid,
- Move vehicles out of the road,
- Call 911,
- Get contact details for the other driver and any witnesses,
- Get the other driver’s insurance details and provide yours to them,
- Photograph anything relevant to the accident, and
- Cooperate with the police
Do not leave the scene of the accident until the police or an ambulance arrives.
Contact Our Florida Personal Injury Lawyers For a Free Consultation
Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers has a reputation for winning both at trial and at the settlement table. We are prepared to advocate for you after a Florida personal injury accident as well. Contact us today for a free consultation with our Florida personal injury lawyer to discuss your case and options.