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Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Attorneys > Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury

Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Attorney

How we can help you after an accident

When you are injured in an unexpected accident caused by the negligence of others, the aftermath can be emotionally and financially overwhelming. In addition to medical bills and lost wages, you may suffer severe injuries that result in disabilities, pain and suffering, and emotional trauma. At Boone & Davis, Attorneys at Law, we use our skills and resources to help you recover the compensation you need and deserve for these damages. Let an experienced Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney from our firm assist you today.

We help you determine fault through an in-depth investigation of the accident and the use of medical, vocational and financial experts. Our Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorneys guide you through each step of your case, whether it involves negotiating with insurance companies or litigating in court. Keep in mind that under Florida law you may have as little as two years for medical malpractice to file your personal injury claim, which makes it essential to act quickly.

Types of injury and accident cases our attorneys help with in Florida

Our injury attorneys assist with a broad range of cases in Fort Lauderdale and throughout the state of Florida, including:

  • Premises liability: Our premises liability attorneys assist victims who are injured or who have lost a loved one because of landowners and others in control of property who fail to reasonably maintain their premises or to warn of known dangers that are not remedied.
  • Wrongful death: We help surviving family members recover compensation for the wrongful death of a loved one in a fatal accident caused by the negligence or wrongful acts of others.
  • Theme park accidents: Our firm works with safety experts and investigators to determine the cause of carnival, trampoline park or theme park accidents, and helps you recover for injuries or death resulting from operator negligence, poor maintenance, poor design or construction and malfunctioning equipment.
  • Traumatic brain injuries: Brain injuries may be caused in accidents ranging from slip and fall accidents to car crashes. Our personal injury lawyers help you recover compensation that reflects the full extent of your traumatic brain injury.
  • Catastrophic injuries: We provide compassionate, accessible service for those suffering from all types of catastrophic injuries, and help you recover compensation for permanent disabilities or long-term medical conditions.
  • Spinal cord injuries: A spinal cord injury may range from whiplash to a severe injury resulting in paralysis. We guide you through your claim after an accident caused by others to make sure you receive the compensation you need to recover from the resulting serious injuries.
  • Burns, scars and disfigurement: Whether you were injured in a fire, an animal attack or a motorcycle accident caused by others, we provide the full-service representation and resources you need to obtain a fair recovery for burns, scars and disfigurement.
  • Construction accidents: Whether you were injured while working or because of the negligence of a third party, our attorneys can guide you through your construction accident case to obtain the verdict, settlement or workers’ comp benefits you are entitled to receive.
  • Medical malpractice: Using our years of legal experience and a network of medical professionals and other experts, we help you recover compensation in medical malpractice claims when a doctor, surgeon or other medical practitioner harms you through substandard care.
  • Reflex sympathetic dystrophy: Cases involving reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) are highly complex, but our attorneys have the experience to help victims suffering from ongoing pain to identify and hold the negligent party responsible through intensive examination of medical records and opinions from medical experts.
  • Drug litigation: When a doctor or pharmacy is negligent, a drug is mislabeled or contains inadequate warnings, or a drug is otherwise dangerous or defective, our skilled drug litigation lawyers help you recover for the serious illness, injury or death that may result.

Compensation for Personal Injuries

One of the primary purposes of bringing a personal injury claim is to be made “whole.” In legal terms, this means being put in the position you occupied before you were injured in a crash. Personal injury settlements are made up of money damages which can compensate for various losses our clients suffered in an accident.

In Florida, compensation can make up for certain economic and non-economic losses. Some clients might also receive punitive damages.

Economic losses are things like:

  • Medical care, including surgery and rehabilitation, doctor’s visits, prescription drugs, and prosthetics. This can include reasonably certain future medical care for permanent or long-lasting injuries.
  • Lost income or lost wages, when our client’s injuries prevent them from going back to work. If a client is permanently disabled, they might receive damages for loss of earning capacity.
  • Property damage, such as damage to a motor vehicle.

These types of economic losses are easy to calculate. Our clients have a bill that lays out the amount of money they owe, and we can typically seek 100% of this amount from the person or entity responsible for the accident.

Our clients might also receive compensation for non-economic losses, such as:

  • Pain and suffering
  • Disfigurement
  • Disability
  • Emotional or mental distress
  • Changes to the marital relationship (loss of consortium)

Unlike economic losses, these less tangible losses are difficult to translate into monetary terms. However, a victim can still receive money as compensation.

Punitive damages are not available in every case. Instead, Florida Statute § 768.72 reserves them for situations where a defendant intentionally injured a victim or was grossly negligent. These damages are focused on punishing the defendant, and a victim can keep them in addition to the compensatory damages listed above.

If you lost a loved one in an accident, then the damages available differ slightly. Surviving family members might receive compensation based on how much the deceased used to earn, as well as the cost of medical care and funeral expenses.

How a Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Attorney Can Help

Some accident victims believe they can handle their own settlement discussions with an insurance company following an accident. They don’t see how a lawyer adds anything of value, and they probably don’t feel they can afford an attorney in the first place.

However, a skilled personal injury lawyer is an excellent benefit to have when seeking compensation. Our attorneys help our clients in many ways. Let’s look at a few.

First, we can fully investigate an accident and seek evidence to support our client’s claim. We might end up interviewing anyone who witnessed the accident, or we could seek surveillance or closed-circuit tv video that shows how the accident happened. Evidence is hard to obtain, and the public has no idea where to look. In truck accident cases, for example, we can seek out electronic information stored by the truck’s “black box” which might prove useful.

Second, we can be your voice with the insurance adjuster. Too many accident victims are in pain, and they should be resting to spur physical recovery. Let our attorneys handle every communication you need.

Third, we know how to negotiate a tough but fair settlement. Many large insurers protect their bottom line by offering small settlements and refusing to budge. When a victim has no legal representation, they might quickly accept the first offer to their detriment.

Fourth, we are not afraid to go to court. Although most cases settle, the only way to break an impasse in some cases is to present a claim to a judge and jury. By litigating a dispute, we can put pressure on the other side to come to the bargaining table with a fair offer of settlement.

Factors Which Limit a Settlement

Ideally, a victim receives 100% of their losses listed above. However, certain factors can cause a person to get less than they deserve:

  • The defendant’s lack of resources. A defendant cannot pay a victim anything if they have no money or assets. In most cases, insurance policies pay out claims, but some defendants are uninsured or they have policies with low limits. When that is the case, it can be hard for our clients to be made whole because there is simply no money to be had from the defendant.
  • The victim’s own negligence. Florida’s comparative fault rules are found at Florida Statutes, Section 768.81. A victim’s compensation is reduced by their degree of fault. Someone who is 40% responsible will receive 40% less in damages.
  • A victim’s failure to mitigate damages. If you were injured but refused to go to the hospital, you might have made your own injuries worse by your own choices.
  • Waiting too long. The longer a victim waits, the more likely evidence will disappear. If you wait too long, then a court might refuse to consider a lawsuit for violating the statute of limitations.

Determining a fair settlement amount is complex. Many people have no idea how much their claims are actually worth. Let our legal team review the facts of your case to determine how much will compensate you in a meaningful manner.

A Seasoned Advocate is Affordable

Accidents often cause tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses—possibly quite more. It is therefore perfectly natural for accident victims and their families to be worried about how they can afford a lawyer at a time when they might struggle to pay their mortgage or rent or put food on the table.

Fortunately, Boone & Davis represents our personal injury clients using contingency fee agreements. Essentially, this means we will not require that you pay attorney’s fees as the case moves along. Instead, we reach an agreement with our clients to accept a portion of any settlement or jury verdict should we win.

Contingency fee agreements work for everyone involved in the case. Our clients know they will not owe attorney’s fees if they do not win. Further, our firm has an incentive to only accept cases that we believe have merit and will result in a payout. If we didn’t, then we would be wasting our time on cases that are sure losers.

To learn more, schedule a free consultation with our firm. We can discuss your case and contingency fee agreements in more depth.

What to Look for in a Personal Injury Attorney

South Florida has thousands of lawyers, and you might not know how to choose which one to hire. Fortunately, during a consultation, you can meet directly with an attorney and ask questions about your case. This is a good opportunity to get a feel for the lawyers’ communication style and approach to personal injury claims.

We recommend that accident victims approach the consultation process deliberately. Write out questions you want to ask ahead of time. Bring a notepad or paper to write down answers. Raise any concerns you have with the attorney so that you can get his or her input. The more prepared you are, the more you will get out of a consultation.

Also give some thought to what you value most in a lawyer. Ease of communication? Experience? Location? Fee structure? Choosing a lawyer often involves relying on your “gut” that you and the attorney will mesh.

Seek the caring help you deserve from an experienced Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Attorney

With more than 40 years of experience, our attorneys at Boone & Davis, Attorneys at Law have the skills, resources and dedication to the open communication you need and deserve from a Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney. Our firm never charges fees — not even for our expenses — unless and until we recover for you. To learn more about how we can assist with your case, contact us online or call us at 954-566-9919 today for a free initial consultation.

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