Practice Areas : Personal Injury
An injury is legally defined as any wrong or damage done to another, either to his person, his rights, his reputation or his property. Every person has the right to expect that others will not injure him or her through an intentional or negligent act. An example of an intentional action is battery, which occurs when one person applies unlawful force to the person of another.
However, most personal injuries occur from negligent conduct rather than intentional conduct. Negligence has been defined legally as the breach of a duty to use reasonable care which results in injury to another. Negligence is unintentional but often it can be equally or even more harmful than intentional conduct.. An example of negligence is a driver who rear-ends another’s vehicle, causing him or her injury.
In Florida and all other states of the United States, a person has a right to be compensated for personal injuries received due to the negligence or intentional conduct of another. There are exceptions to this rule.
For example, a person injured on the job usually cannot sue her employer but must apply for benefits under the workers’ compensation laws. In Florida automobile cases, one must receive a permanent injury to recover money for pain and suffering. In most other cases, a person can successfully recover a judgment for money damages if another negligently or intentionally injured him or her.
There is a time limit on bringing a claim for personal injury in Florida. In most cases the claim must be filed in court within four years from the date of the incident. For medical malpractice, the time is shortened to two years from the date of the incident or four years maximum from the date the conduct creating the injury was discovered, or should have been discovered.
A person who is injured by wrongful conduct of another is entitled to recover for past and future medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and inconvenience. If that person is married his or her spouse is entitled to recover money damages for loss of consortium, which means loss of services such as cooking, cleaning, sexual relations, etc.
Most personal injury attorneys will take a case on a contingency basis, which means the attorney will not ask for a retainer but will be paid a percentage of any recovery that is obtained. If the attorney does not win a settlement or judgment for his client, or if he wins a judgment but the defendant has no money or insurance, then the attorney does not get paid.
As with most legal actions, the client is responsible for paying costs whether he prevails or not. Costs include such things as postage, copying, long distance calls, copies of medical records, depositions, filing fees, etc. The amount of costs can vary widely from case to case, so it is best to speak with an attorney to get a good idea of what costs may be.
Pursuing a personal injury claim involves many considerations. Hopefully, this has answered a few of your general questions. We at Staack, Simms & Hernandez thank you for visiting our website. Please phone, write or e-mail if we can be of any further service to you.
|- Back To Practice Areas -|