Blog

The damages suffered in a car accident can be quite severe. While the physical and emotional pain and suffering might be unbearable, the financial implications of your wreck might leave your future uncertain.

As scary as that may sound, you should take comfort knowing that you might have legal options available to you to help you find accountability and recover compensation. In order to best position yourself to successfully do so, though, you’ll need to take action to build a strong personal injury case. Here are just a few ways that you can go about doing that:

• Gather witness information: If your case ends up going to trial, then you’re going to need witnesses to support your side of the story. So, on the front end of your case, be sure to gather witness information so that you can track them down if you need to later. Also, take notes about what they saw so that you can better gauge how they might testify.
• Consider accident reconstruction: If your accident is complicated and involves several vehicles, then you might want to consider having an accident reconstruction This will help provide clarity as to who caused the wreck, which can not only help you prove liability but also avoid any arguments of comparative fault.
• Have experts on your side: While you’ll certainly have to prove liability in your personal injury case, you also can’t overlook the importance of proving the true extent of your damages. This requires a forward-looking analysis of your medical condition and your employment prospects, which can be challenging to undertake. However, experts in the field might be able to help you here. So, seek them out and obtain their opinions to see how they can support your claim.

Be aggressive in building your case

A car accident can turn your life upside-down. But you can still protect your interests and set yourself on a strong road to recovery by taking aggressive legal action. To properly do so, you’ll need to know how to argue the facts considering applicable law, which is why you may want to seek out assistance in handling your claim.

Workers’ compensation benefits can be critical for injured workers whether they were injured in a fall on a construction site or suffer from a repetitive stress injury acquired at the office. For that reason, injured workers and their families should be familiar with the types of workers’ compensation benefits that are available to injured workers.

Types of workers’ compensation benefits

Workers’ compensation benefits can be available for a workplace injury suffered in a workplace accident or for an occupational illness acquired at work. Specific types of benefits that may be able to help injured workers include:

• Medical benefits – medical benefits include medically necessary treatment and care for the workplace injury including doctor’s visits, hospitalizations, physical therapy, medical tests, prescription drugs, prostheses, attendant care and mileage reimbursement for travel to doctor’s visits.
• Lost wages benefits – The rate, amount and the duration of compensation for lost wages depends on the injured worker’s disability. Workers may suffer temporary total disability, temporary partial disability or permanent total disability which can impact their disability benefits. They may also be able to receive impairment income benefits based on their maximum medical improvement.
• Benefits for surviving loved ones – surviving family members may be able to receive compensation for funeral expenses, as well as educational benefits for a surviving spouse and compensation for dependents.

Workers’ compensation benefits are intended to help injured workers and their families through the various aspects of a workplace injury including the medical care they need, the wages they have lost and to also help surviving family members following a fatal workplace accident. Regardless of the industry they work in, injured workers, and their families, should be familiar with the help workers’ compensation benefits can provide and how to obtain them.

A truck accident can quickly send your life into what feels like a tailspin. The physical and emotional toll can leave you struggling to see how you’re going to get through the aftermath of your wreck, and the lost wages and medical expenses that are probably involved can leave you with an uncertain future. Fortunately, you might be able to recover compensation for your injuries by pursuing a personal injury lawsuit against both the trucker who harmed you and his or her employer. But if you’re going to go toe-to-toe with a truck company, then you need to be prepared to face their defenses.

Common vicarious liability defenses that truck companies raise

Truck companies have a lot of defense options in a personal injury case, but just about all of them focus on shifting the blame to another party. For example, a truck company will likely argue that you’re comparatively negligent in the case, meaning that you’re partially at fault, which can lead to a reduced recovery.

Another commonly utilized defense is frolic, which is where a trucker strays outside the course of his or her employment, thereby causing the wreck in question. In other words, the truck company argues that it shouldn’t be held accountable because it was not endorsing or benefiting from the activities the trucker was undertaking when the accident occurred.

Other defense options are out there. Third-party liability and weather conditions, for example, could come up in your case. You need to be prepared to address each of these defense tactics.

Be prepared for your personal injury claim

The best legal claims are those that are well-thought out and fully prepared. That’s why anticipating the defense’s arguments can be critical to your case. If you don’t know how to do that or feel like that assessment is best left in the hands of someone else, then you might want to think about seeking out support as you proceed with your claim.

Nursing homes are tasked with a big responsibility: caring for our elderly loved ones. Yet, despite this fact, and the reality that the nursing home industry is subjected to extensive regulations aimed at safety, nursing home abuse and neglect occurs all the time. If you’re worried about this happening to your loved one, then you need to be diligent in observing signs of abuse and neglect so that you can follow up accordingly and take legal action as needed.

Signs of nursing home abuse or neglect

There are a lot of signs of nursing home abuse and neglect. If you’re concerned that you’re loved one is being mistreated in his or her nursing home, then consider taking these steps to investigate the matter further:

• Ask questions: If you see that you’re loved one has a new bruise, cut, or even a broken bone, start asking questions. How does your loved one respond? If he or she avoids the topic, then that’s a red flag. Ask nursing home staff what happened so that you can lock them into their story. Also, speak to other nursing home residents. They might have seen the incident or be able to provide valuable insight into the type of care usually provided at the facility.
• Obtain medical records: If your loved one has been injured or lost weight, then he or she has probably received some sort of medical care. By looking at his or her medical records, you might gain a better sense of what caused the medical condition in question. The doctor who treated your loved one might even be able to give a medical opinion.
• Document everything: Although no one hopes to end up in a lawsuit, you need to act as if one is inevitable if you suspect that your loved one is being abused or neglected. Take pictures, write notes, and retain all communications.

Do what you can to protect your loved one

Although nursing homes are supposed to be safe, far too often the burden is on residents and their families to ensure that safety measures are adequately adhered to on a consistent basis. Oftentimes the best way to hold a nursing home’s feet to the fire is to take legal action.

If you think that you and your loved one are at that point, then you might want to consider researching this area of the law further to determine your best course of action moving forward.

Social Security Disability Insurance may be a vital financial lifeline for a worker with a disability. Claimants must meet specific qualifications to receive SSDI benefits.

Calculation

Eligibility depends on a worker’s record of covered earnings. The Social Security Administration calculates average monthly income over a person’s working life which is adjusted for historical wage increases. It then places that figure into a formula for determining the primary insurance amount or full retirement benefit.

This PIA formula is designed to give proportionally higher benefits to lower wage earners.

SSA uses a formula for SSDI claims that is different than determining retirement benefits because a worker may receive a disability before they reach retirement age. The number of years used to calculate benefits depends on the age that a worker became unable to work because of an injury or illness.

Calculating the amount of earnings history depends on complicated requirements governing elapsed or computation years. It generally works as follows:

• SSA totals the number of years from the period that claimant turned 22 to the year before they received their disability.
• SSA then takes out one and five years. There a more drop out years based upon the length a claimant worked.
• This number is the how many of the claimant’s highest-earning years will be included into the PIA calculation.

Example

Consider a claimant who worked continuously since they were 21 but could no longer work after suffering a disability when they reached 60. The SSA would use that worker’s 33 best income years, indexed for wage trends, to calculate their PIA.

If the disability began when the worker was 50, the PIA would be the 23 highest-earning years. It would be 15 years if the disability began at 40.

A worker will receive 100 percent of their PIA if their SSDI claim is approved. But that full benefit is usually lower for SSDI recipients than for retirees because a worker’s higher-earning years can increase their calculated benefits.

The average monthly retirement and SSDI benefits were approximately $1,558 and $1,280 in Aug. 2021.

Other considerations

SSDI benefits may be reduced if a worker collects public disability payments such as Florida disability benefits or workers’ compensation. Benefits are not reduced for private disability benefits.

SSDI benefits convert to a retirement benefit, usually the same amount, when a recipient reaches full retirement age.

The earnings-based benefit is not used for the other SSA program for people with disabilities, Supplemental Security Income. SSI eligibility is based on financial need and benefits do not depend upon work histories.

Attorneys can help workers who receive a disability pursue their legal rights. They can assist them with navigating the SSDI application process.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident, then you have a tough road ahead of you. The physical and emotional pain of the injuries suffered can be excruciating and overwhelming, and the financial realities of your situation can be daunting to say the least. That’s why it might be in your or your loved one’s best interests to pursue a personal injury lawsuit. While this certainly means gathering the evidence and developing the legal arguments that are necessary to impose liability, it will probably also mean defending your or your loved one’s driving.

Florida’s comparative negligence law

Under Florida law, comparative negligence applies to personal injury claims. This means that the judge or jury will look at the facts presented and determine how best to allocate fault. The fault doesn’t have to be placed with just one party. Instead, the judge or jury can divide the fault as it sees fit. This means that you, as the plaintiff, could end up bearing some of the fault burden.

What does this mean for you? It means that you’ll likely have to play some defense when you’re presenting your personal injury claim. You’ll probably have to face allegations that you were driving in an errant fashion, such as by speeding or driving too closely. If the defense is successful in arguing these points, then your recovery may be reduced by the percentage of fault allocated to you. Therefore, if you’re awarded $100,000 but are found to be 40% at fault for the accident, then you’ll only recover $60,000. That can drastically reduce your ability to recover from your injuries.

Take a holistic approach to your personal injury claim

To maximize your chances of obtaining the outcome you want from your personal injury case, you need to take a holistic approach and be thorough in developing both offensive and defensive arguments. So, take the time needed to adequately prepare your case so that you can set yourself on the road to success.

Seniors in Miami take pride in their ability to remain independent. Many seniors can drive, attend church, enjoy recreational activities and do their own shopping. However, even a healthy senior can suffer a serious injury if they slip and fall in a grocery store or other business.

When this happens, they will want to learn more about their right to pursue a lawsuit. Florida law provides remedies for those who slip and fall on a spill in a store. However, if you are injured you do not want to wait too long to file a legal claim. If you do, you could lose the right to sue altogether.

Can I pursue a lawsuit for my slip-and-fall injury?

Under Florida law, if you are injured after slipping on a spill on the grocery store floor or the floor of any business, you may be able to sue the store for the damages you suffered. Compensation depends on whether the store knew or should have known of the spill and failed to remedy it.

If an employer knows of a spill but does not clean it up, rope it off or place a warning sign by the spill may be sued for their negligence. A store should have known of the spill and should have remedied it if the spill was on the floor so long that it would have been discovered through ordinary care. In addition, a store also should have known of the spill if such spills happen often and are foreseeable.

Do not wait too long to file a lawsuit following a slip-and-fall injury

It is important not to wait too long to file a lawsuit against a business for your slip-and-fall injury. This is because Florida has a “statute of limitations” that dictates the time period in which a person can pursue a legal claim. Once that time period is up, a person can no longer file a lawsuit. In Florida, the statute of limitations for slip-and-fall cases is four years.

A slip-and-fall injury can be life-changing for seniors

Seniors who slip and fall in a store can break a hip, suffer a head injury or suffer a spinal cord injury. Any of these injuries could be life-changing leaving a once-independent senior dependent on others for care. Some seniors will never completely heal from such injuries. Damages obtained through a legal claim can provide much-needed financial relief for injured seniors as well as hold stores responsible for their inaction.

When someone gives their money to a business, they expect the product or service they purchase to perform as desired. They also expect to conduct their purchase and leave in the same physical condition as when they arrived. But this is not always what happens. Rather, businesses sometimes take actions, or fail to actions, which directly lead to their customers being injured.

Duty of care

Florida law requires all businesses to exercise a reasonable degree of care to protect their customers from harm while they are on the premises. The premises must be maintained in such a way as to prevent potentially dangerous threats from injuring people.

Dangers can take many different forms. Liquids left exposed on a floor can create a safety hazard leading to a person slipping and falling. Improperly maintained equipment can malfunction when a customer is near it or even using it. Unsecured products or shelving can fall on customers, causing serious injuries to unsuspecting people walking by.

Negligence

When a business is aware, or should be aware, of a danger and fails to correct it, they have breached the duty they owe to their customers. If their failure leads to a person being injured, they can legally be held liable for their negligence.

Florida laws governing negligence give those injured the right to compensation for the injuries they sustain. But your ability to recover what you’re entitled to often turns on small facts discovered during a thorough investigation. If you are injured on the premises of another, seek the help of an experienced and knowledgeable professional to ensure you receive the compensation Florida law entitles you to.

A car accident can be a difficult experience for a Miami resident. Even though they happen frequently on Florida roads, motor vehicle collisions can cause injuries, property loss, and other damages to victims. They can take time to resolve and may create questions and concerns in the lives of those affected.

When facing these dilemmas related to motor vehicle accidents, victims can choose to work with trusted personal injury lawyers to help them answer their questions and understand their legal rights. Some victims may choose to litigate their claims while others may work toward the settlement of their claims with insurance companies and opposing parties. This post will discuss settlements and what they accomplish, but readers should understand that the contents of this post are informational and not legal advice.

What is a settlement?

A settlement is an agreement between parties regarding liability and compensation. Settlements are used in many different areas of the law, including personal injury law which covers motor vehicle accidents. When a motor vehicle accident victim settles their claims, they agree that they will not sue the opposing party in the future in return for receiving money from them to cover their accident-related costs.

When are settlements a good idea?

As stated, this post does not provide any legal advice. However, victims with minor or short-term injuries often can use settlements to resolve their legal matters quickly. When a victim has limited losses, they may be able to easily quantify them in a settlement agreement. However, when a victim has extensive losses or does not understand the true breadth of their damages, a settlement may curtail their recovery and fail to provide them with as much as they need to get back on their feet.

Whether a claim should be settled is up to a victim and their attorney. Settlements can work for some individuals but not others. Independent investigation into the benefits and drawbacks of settlements is recommended for those who have suffered losses in motor vehicle accidents.

Senior citizens in Miami may be proud that they can still do things on their own even if they live alone. Unfortunately, it only takes one accident for this independence to go away. For example, you could slip and fall on a spill at the grocery store. This could lead to broken bones, head injuries and back injuries that require surgery. Some of these injuries may even be permanent. People in such situations may want to learn more about their rights if they slip and fall at the grocery store and or another type of business.

What does Florida law say about slip-and-falls in businesses?

Under Florida law if you slip and fall on a spill on the floor of a business you may want to pursue a lawsuit against the business. If you do so, you need to be able to prove that the business knew or should have known that there was a spill. You will also need to show that the business failed to mop up the spill, place “slippery when wet” sign or otherwise do anything about the spill.

When should a business have known about a spill?

Sometimes a business actually knows a spill took place but do not do anything about it. But how can you show a business should have known about the spill? One way a business should have known about a spill is if, through ordinary care, they should have known that spills happen often and therefore could have been foreseen. Another way a business should have known about a spill is if the spill was on the floor for so long that they should have learned about it.

Learn more about slip-and-fall accidents in Florida

Slip-and-fall injuries can take away your independence in the blink of an eye. It is important to make sure that store owners who fail to clean up spills are held responsible for the mistake. This post only provides general information on this topic. It does not contain legal advice. Those who are interested in learning more about their rights may want to visit our firm’s website.