Florida’s laws allow injured people to get compensation from anyone who was at fault for their accident. Injuries can come from many different sorts of accidents, including slip and falls, car accidents, and even negligent medical care. If you have been injured, then you should seek the help of an experienced Florida personal injury lawyer to get help with your potential case and get the compensation you need.
The Florida personal injury attorneys at The Carrion Law Firm can take your case and represent you in a court of law and in negotiations with insurance companies to get you compensation for your injuries. If you were injured, your medical bills and lost wages could become an unbearable burden. Call us today at (954) 951-4828 for a free consultation.
When to Consult a Lawyer for an Injury Case in Florida
Many accidents cause minor injuries, and victims may not think that they need compensation or that the injuries are a “big deal.” In some of these cases, you may have faced property damage – such as vehicle damage – that insurance policies can cover. In any case where you are injured badly enough that you need to go to the hospital, you should at least set up a free legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer.
In some injury cases, the injuries you face could be surprisingly severe. It may not seem like a “big deal” to some people if they have to spend a few hours in the hospital or take a few days off work to recover from an injury. In reality, there could be substantial economic effects of this accident. Medical bills could be very expensive, lost wages could leave you without the funds you need, and the pain and suffering may be more than you deserve. If you suffered injuries, you could be entitled to compensation and should consider speaking with a Florida personal injury lawyer about your potential case.
Getting an attorney to help you may not be absolutely necessary, but it can help you maximize the damages you claim and avoid settling for a low amount. Many insurance companies and at-fault parties will have lawyers to protect their financial interests. That means putting up a strong defense and trying to get claims thrown out or paid at low values. Your attorney can fight against them and work to have your damages paid at a reasonable value, helping you avoid falling into the trap of low-ball settlements.
Handling Personal Injury Cases in Florida
To get compensation for an injury, victims often need to make insurance claims or file a lawsuit with the courts. When you accept an insurance claim, this usually functions as a settlement. That means it blocks any further legal action, and you will be left with whatever amount you accepted. If you talk to a lawyer and find out your case may be worth more, a lawsuit might be better for you to get full compensation. Many insurance claims leave out damages for pain and suffering and may pay only a portion of the other damages, which often means that lawsuits are more appropriate. This is especially true of high-dollar claims.
When you file a lawsuit for your injuries, your lawyer will need to prove to the court that you were injured. This is obvious in many cases, but producing evidence of medical records, your testimony about how the injury occurred, and your testimony about how the injury affected your life will help legally prove this point.
Your lawyer must also prove that those injuries were caused by the defendant’s negligence. In many cases, the defendant is found to have violated some law, such as in cases where drivers violate traffic laws, trucking companies violate federal trucking regulations, or product manufacturers produce goods that violate state or federal standards. If these violations led to your injury, you can hold the at-fault parties responsible.
Alternatively, you can also seek compensation for injuries caused by a person or entity that acted unreasonably given the circumstances. For instance, store owners who fail to clean up spills can be responsible for customers who slip and fall if the workers waited an unreasonable amount of time after knowing about the spill to clean it up. Similarly, doctors who provide negligent medical care could leave patients injured, and though they did not violate any laws by failing to treat you, their negligence can still be cause for a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Who Pays for Personal Injury Lawsuits in Florida?
In any injury case, the at-fault party is usually the direct “defendant” in the case who will ultimately be ordered to pay damages if you win your case. There may be multiple at-fault parties in a case, and Florida law allows people to sue multiple defendants and apportion blame among each of them. In many cases where a worker was negligent, you can sue the company they work for for the employee’s negligence, such as when you sue a store for a specific employee’s mistakes.
Most common injury cases are covered by insurance. Drivers carry car insurance, homeowners have homeowners insurance, business operators carry liability insurance, and physicians carry medical malpractice insurance. In many cases, these insurance companies will actually be the ones to pay damages, not the individual or the company. However, settlements and lawsuits involving large companies such as manufacturers and trucking companies do often see the defendant pay damages directly. As mentioned, employers can also be held liable for their employees’ actions in many cases, meaning that they pay damages instead of the individual worker.
Talk to a Florida personal injury attorney about whom to sue in your injury case.
Call Our Florida Personal Injury Lawyers for Help with Your Case
The Carrion Law Firm’s Florida personal injury lawyers are available to help with many different types of injury cases throughout the state. If you or a loved one was injured in an accident, call us today to discuss your case in a free, confidential legal consultation. Call (954) 951-4828 today to learn more about your options for holding the at-fault parties responsible and to talk about how much your case might be worth.