Law Office of Bradley S. Hartman, PA

Although the answer to this question depends somewhat on your status on the property, if you were there with the express or implied permission of the owner or occupier of the property, the basis of the claim is that the owner created a dangerous condition on the property, failed to correct or dangerous condition which they knew about, or should have known about had they been exercising reasonable care, or failed to warn you of a dangerous condition of which they had, or should have had, greater knowledge than you. An experienced attorney can help to establish these facts through investigation and discovery.

Homeowners, residential landlords, and even tenants can be held liable for their negligence in a premises liability case. Most homeowners are well insured for this liability. Thus, if you or a loved one has been injured in someone’s house, you should contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible.

In cases involving catastrophic injuries, it is imperative to perform a complete investigation in order to determine who can be held liable. For example, in cases involving catastrophic vehicular accidents, in addition to the drivers, owners and lessees of vehicles, driver’s employers and/or joint venturers, parents of young drivers, manufacturers of vehicles and/or vehicle parts, those who performed vehicle maintenance, roadway designers, and many others must be considered as potential defendants. In these cases, an investigation supervised by an experienced attorney is a must.

There is no magic number as to the amount of time, which it takes to settle a case. In our practice, the vast majority of cases are resolved within one year of the occurrence. However, some more complex cases, especially cases involving deaths or catastrophic injuries, may take years to resolve.

Under Florida’s comparative negligence law, you are entitled to recover damages even if you were partially at fault. For instance, if the accident was 50% your fault, you would be entitled to recover 50% of your damages. You need a skilled, experienced attorney, who will be able to minimize your percentage of fault, while maximizing the adverse party’s percentage.

Accidents involving commercial trucks require very thorough investigations, including retrieval of data from the truck’s black box, scene investigations, witness interviews, maintenance records and more. There are many potential Defendants to be considered including the driver, the owner, the manufacturers of the trucks and/or truck parts, maintenance companies and more. Much of the evidence may begin to disappear after a short time, so, if you were injured in a trucking accident, you should contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible.

You should avoid speaking to any insurance companies, or for that matter, any person other than a medical practitioner who is treating your injuries, about your case, until you first speak to an experienced attorney. Additionally, do not sign any documents at the request of an insurance company without legal advice. You may be settling or waiving your claim without realizing it. Additionally, in Florida, it is important that you do not put off seeking medical treatment for your injuries, as you may waive you right to $10,000.00 in PIP benefits, if you do not seek treatment within 14 days of your injury.

While Florida has a 4-year statute of limitations for injury claims, certain types of claims, or claims against certain parties, may have to be brought in a shorter period of time. Thus, if you have been injured as the result of the actions of another, you should seek experienced legal counsel as soon as possible. Do not hesitate!

You should avoid speaking to any insurance companies, or for that matter, any person other than a medical practitioner who is treating your injuries, about your case, until you first speak to an experienced attorney. Additionally, do not sign any documents at the request of an insurance company without legal advice. You may be settling or waiving your claim without realizing it.

The mere fact that the adverse party is claiming that you were at fault does not prevent you from bringing a claim. In fact, even if you are partly at fault, you are entitled to bring a claim for damages, under Florida’s “comparative negligence” law. You should contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible.

Generally speaking, an injured party is entitled to be compensated for any bodily injury the sustained and any resulting pain and suffering, disability or physical impairment, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience, and/or loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life experienced in the past or to be experienced in the future. There is no exact standard for measuring such damage, so the knowledge and experience of an attorney is important. The injured party is also entitled to be compensated for past and future medical expenses and loss of income or earnings.