Personal Injury Lawyer in Davenport
If you have suffered an injury because of the negligence, aggression, or recklessness of another individual or party, then you may be eligible to recover damages through a personal injury settlement or lawsuit. Your medical bills, time away from work, and emotional suffering do not need to go without compensation, and Abercrombie P.A. is available to help you work towards regaining what you have lost. Contact us today for a free consultation with a legal professional to discuss your likelihood of a personal injury lawsuit, discuss the specifics of your accident, and understand what we see as possible outcomes for the situation. If you are looking for a personal injury attorney in Davenport, look no further than our team to help you navigate this complicated process and get the money that you are entitled to for your injuries. Read more below about personal injury law in Florida, or contact us immediately.
What Is a Personal Injury?
A personal injury is any injury that a person suffers to their body, as opposed to property damage. A person has a right to collect personal injury damages when there are a few different factors are in place during the accident that caused the injury. Since there is such a wide range of ways that someone can be injured, these are the most important guidelines to consider when you are trying to determine whether or not you have any rights to seek financial compensation from the other party:
The other party had a duty of care
“Duty of care” is another way of saying that someone had a responsibility to keep you safe, whether explicitly or not, while they were performing the actions that ultimately led to your injuries. When someone drives a car, they have a duty to operate the vehicle safely so that all others on the road can reasonably expect to use the road safely. When a medical professional works with a client, they have a duty to make medical decisions that are intended to keep their client safe from harm.
The other party failed their duty
When someone chooses to drive a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, they have failed their duty to keep the other drivers on the road safe. The same can be said about a doctor who misdiagnoses a patient, a manufacturer who does not clearly warn a consumer about the risks inherent with their product, or a property manager who does not take the appropriate steps to remedy a hazardous situation that could injure visitors to their property.
You were injured as a result of this failure
Simply failing this duty does not necessarily mean that there is an accident that takes place as a result, or that the accident caused actual injuries. For example, there is a significant difference in someone speeding and not causing an accident versus someone speeding and crashing into another vehicle. Personal injury lawsuits require that there was a failure in the duty of responsible care and that the failure caused actual injuries.
Your injuries have measurable damage associated with them
Finally, the injuries that were sustained as a result of the accident must have measurable damages associated with them. In most cases, this means economic damages, but there are a variety of non-economic damages that someone can suffer following an injury as well. Read more below to learn about what these types of damages are, and how they factor into the amount that you and your attorney will seek during a personal injury settlement negotiation or lawsuit.
COMMON PERSONAL INJURIES
All injuries are different, and we understand that your accident, the circumstances that led to it, and the impact that it has had on your life since is unique to your situation. We will work with you to create a clear case that highlights the specifics of your own injury and make a clear argument as to why you deserve the compensation we are fighting for. Read below about some common personal injury lawsuits in Florida.
CAR ACCIDENTS
In a minor fender bender, the standard procedure is to assess the damages, work with your insurance and the other person’s insurance company, and determine the amount of money you need to either repair or replace your personal property. In a personal injury case, our focus goes beyond your property and addresses the injuries you have suffered. We will cover everything from medical bills to putting a dollar value on the pain you have experienced. Contact a car attorney before you begin to deal with an insurance company because they will do everything they can to keep from paying you what you are truly owed.
SLIP AND FALL
In a slip and fall case, we will work to prove that the property owner or manager failed to fix a hazardous situation that they either knew about or should have known about before you had your accident. This can be on private property, government property, or a semi-public space like a shopping plaza or a grocery store. Slip and fall cases can be fairly straightforward, but it is important that we collect all relevant evidence to make sure that your case is very clear.
MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS
We work with many clients who have suffered from motorcycle accidents and will be happy to discuss the details of your injuries with you. Motorcycle accidents often cause more extensive injuries than car accidents, and what could have been a minor fender bender may be devastating to the motorcycle driver. We will work with you, any involved insurance company and the court system to determine the amount you are rightfully owed, and fight for your maximum damages.
BICYCLE ACCIDENTS
Riding a bicycle in Florida can be dangerous, and we want to be sure that our clients who are injured in bike accidents are covered to the full extent of the law. Insurance companies can often be aggressive with cyclists as they try to pay the least amount possible, and will resort to tactics that make it seem like you are not legally entitled to anything or a very small amount. We understand how insurance companies work, and understand bike laws, and will work to be sure that you are fully compensated.
If you do not see a situation that resembles how you were injured, contact Abercrombie P.A. today to discuss your case in detail with a qualified and experienced personal injury attorney in Florida.
Types of Damages in a Personal Injury Case
Personal injury lawsuits and settlement negotiations are typically made up of two different types of damages that the victim is seeking compensation for: economic, and non-economic. Each type of damage is handled separately because of how fundamentally different each is, but it is very important to make sure that your attorney is considering both while calculating the damages that you deserve.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the types of damages that most people think of when they think of an insurance settlement. They include the actual costs, losses, and expenses that a victim encounters after they are injured in an accident, such as all associated medical bills. In addition to medical bills, these types of damages also include things like disability, lost wages, and any paid time off or vacation time that the victim used in order to cover missed work while they were recovering.
In an instance where the victim is permanently injured, these damages will also likely include things like long-term disability, decreased earning capacity, and things such as long-term care.
Non-economic Damages
Non-economic damages are treated separately from economic damages because they account for things that do not come with measurable financial impacts. They include things like the actual pain that a victim must endure because of their injuries, as well as the depression that they may experience when unable to pursue their hobbies or careers, suffering that comes with serious injuries, and other similar issues.
Even though these damages to not have set dollar amounts associated with them does not mean that a victim is not entitled to them, and a good attorney will fight to make sure that their client is fairly compensated for these issues.
HOW MUCH MONEY CAN I RECEIVE FOR MY INJURIES?
The amount of money that you are entitled to following a personal injury varies greatly from case to case, but when you are working with Abercrombie P.A. you can be confident that we are fighting for the maximum amount. There are many factors that go into determining what that amount is, but below are some examples of damages we will include.
MEDICAL BILLS
We will fight to recover any expenses that you have already incurred from medical bills and will determine a reasonable amount that we expect you to continue to incur before you have completely recovered from your injuries. This will be a major factor in the amount we are asking for.
LOST WAGES
In addition to medical expenses, any lost wages due to your inability to work are very important and relatively-simple to calculate. We will factor in any wages you have already missed because of your injuries and will estimate future losses much in the way we will estimate your future medical bills.
PAIN AND SUFFERING
After a traumatic injury, you will experience pain and suffering that go beyond purely economic factors. We will make sure that your non-economic injuries are addressed and compensated, because although harder to calculate, they are just as important as strict financial effects of an accident.
Frequently Asked Questions About Personal Injuries in Davenport
The following questions and answers are intended to give you a general overview of what you can expect for your own unique situation. In order for us to truly find the answers to these questions, we will need to begin working together as soon as possible. The more time that we have to answer these questions, the stronger our case will be as we attempt to negotiate with the defendant, their attorneys, or their insurance company.
There is no law stating that you need to work with an attorney in order to file a personal injury claim; in fact, an insurance company would likely prefer that you worked alone. In order to manage a claim, the insurance company will assign a claims adjuster to investigate all of the details of the accident, the extent of your injuries, and more. In many cases, you may be required to attend an independent medical examination for the insurance company to confirm the injuries that you are claiming, in addition to submitting a variety of other evidence to support your claims.
During this investigation, the claims adjuster will be attempting to identify every possible way to reduce the amount of money that you are ultimately offered as a settlement. When you are working on your own, you may find that even the most innocent-seeming statements can come back to haunt you. When there is an experienced attorney representing you, they will be able to consider each communication that they have with the insurance company, and ensure that each statement is intended to support your side of the story.
Rarely, if ever, will an insurance company make a settlement offer to a victim that is anywhere near what they deserve. You can count on this fact for your own injury claim, too. This initial offer will be an amount that the claims adjuster has estimated to be the least amount of money that you will accept, making this the least expensive way for the insurance company to resolve this issue.
In exchange for the insurance company’s offer, you will need to waive your rights for any future legal actions related to this injury, either against the insurance company or their client. Regardless of whether or not you experience any delayed injures or impacts, you will have no right for additional compensation. This is why it is so important that you work with a professional who can negotiate on your behalf after completing their own investigation and determining the true amount of money that you deserve.
Under Florida Statutes Annotated section 95.11(3)), a victim of a personal injury has four years from the date of the injury in order to file an official lawsuit with the Florida courts. Once this time limit has expired, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to pursue any legal actions against the plaintiff, which is why it is so important that you act quickly in order to initiate the process of seeking the compensation you deserve. In special cases, a victim may not discover their injuries immediately after the accident, meaning that the statute of limitations will need to be adjusted in order to accommodate this delay.
There is no time limit once a lawsuit is filed, meaning that a court case could take many years and still not expire. When you are working with a personal injury attorney immediately after your accident, the goal will be to reach a settlement agreement before needing to file a lawsuit, meaning the more time that you have before this limit is reached, the more your attorney will be able to negotiate a fair settlement without needing to take the case to court.
Most personal injury cases are settled before needing to go to trial, whether through an out-of-court settlement or during the pre-trial preparations. It is usually in the best interest of all involved to avoid a court case since the plaintiff will have the information about the accident made public, the damage amounts made public, and more; additionally, you and your attorney will need to go through a long, arduous process before a trial can even begin.
After a lawsuit is filed, there are many necessary steps to take before a trial, including sworn affidavits, depositions, court-mandated negotiations, jury selection, and more. During each of these steps, either the defendant or plaintiff will be able to offer an amount that will settle the case. If not, the case will be heard by a judge and/or jury to be decided by official means.
CONTACT ABERCROMBIE P.A. TODAY
If you have been injured, do not hesitate to begin exploring your legal options for a personal injury lawsuit. Florida has strict statutes of limitations for civil cases, including personal injuries, and so it is better to begin the process as quickly as possible. When you are working with the team at Abercrombie P.A., you can be confident that you have qualified and experienced representation. We know that your physical recovery is just as important as financial recovery, and will work on your civil case so you can focus on recovering from your injuries.
Contact us today for a free consultation, and begin the process of getting your life back in order following your accident and injuries with the help of our team.
