If you’ve been injured in a car accident, slip and fall, or other accident, Florida’s Personal Injury Lawyer Johnny Pineyro discusses the client-centric approach that Pineyro Law takes to helping its clients who have been injured get the justice they deserve.
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After you have been injured through someone’s negligence, getting back to something like your normal life can seem to take forever. Once you’ve gotten the fair compensation that you deserve, though, it can often be unclear what you should do from there. Because Pineyro Law Firm is devoted to helping our clients get back to as normal a life as possible, we provide our clients with a number of resources to advise them on investing or spending their injury compensation.
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State and local employees such as policemen or meter readers are generally–just like the rest of us–conscientious and careful. Occasionally, though, someone is injured through the negligence of a state employee. This can range from injuring oneself at the State Capitol building to being in an accident with a police vehicle. When that happens, there is a limit to how much the state can be forced to pay out to the injured party or parties, regardless of the cost of the injuries and medical bills. For the last thirty years this number has remained the same, but finally Florida Statute 768.28 addresses this and raises the new cap to $100,000 worth of liability per person involved in the incident, with a maximum total liability of $200,000 per accident instead of the previous limit of $100,000 per person, unless the legislature itself is appealed to and decides that the liability should be increased for that specific case.
We’ve previously mentioned that it’s possible, for certain cases, to take your liability claim to court and to win a judgement without a lawyer. Generally speaking, liability claims against the state are not that kind of case. Knowledge of not just the legal process but also of the specific requirements that have been set down in law over the last thirty years since Florida initially agreed to waive soverign immunity somewhat in order to encourage government responsibility is required, and knowing where and what to do can be crucial to winning compensation for your injury.
These new damage limits will not go into effect until October 2011, and, while still lower than many experts would prefer they be, it is at least a step in the correct direction for victims of negligence on the part of government employees. If you have been injured in an accident with an emergency services vehicle such as a police car, ambulance, or fire truck, or if you have been injured in some other fashion through a government employee’s negligence, please contact us for a free evaluation of your case and your injuries and we will fight to get you the justice you deserve.
It is not always necessary to hire a personal injury attorney in order to file a claim or even receive a settlement. On very common cases with clearly defined negligence or wrongdoing, it is entirely possible that someone without specialized knowledge of the legal process can successfully negotiate a settlement. Simple auto accidents, bicycle accidents, or home product accidents that involve defective products are examples of cases where it is possible to reach a settlement without an attorney. For small judgments this can sometimes save you money and time.
On the other hand, what you think might be a small settlement could be something that an experienced personal injury lawyer can identify as worth a greater amount, so you should always at least check with a personal injury attorney so you are educated before you decide if you want to handle your settlement yourself. In no situation should you sign a settlement with an insurance company without having first gotten your injuries evaluated by a doctor so that you know that there’s no likelihood of long-term impairment. So when do you need a personal injury attorney, then, and what for?
The more complicated a case is, generally, the greater the likelihood that you will want an attorney representing you. Someone who understands the intricacies of the legal system, knows how much similar cases like yours have received in settlement and in trial, and who can take care of negotiations while you and your loved ones concentrate on getting better can be invaluable when you are looking to recover from an injury that’s occurred from someone else’s negligence. Wrongful death, permanent disability, toxic exposure, drug injury, new product defect, or complicated auto accident or slip and fall cases are all very likely to need comprehensive legal help from a personal injury attorney from the outset.
Regardless of the level of complication of the case, if you’ve started negotiations on a settlement without a lawyer and begin to feel that it is growing too complicated for you to follow all of the details of it, you can always contact a lawyer (up until you have signed a contract) to help you negotiate your settlement.
There are a few facts that you should take away from this post:
What can I do when a loved one has died from some one else’s negligence?
The time immediately after you have lost a loved one is an especially trying one, frequently requiring decisions about medical bills, estate distribution, and other matters while you or your family are still suffering emotional distress and shock. This can be even more painful if you feel that your loved one’s death was due to the wrongful act or negligence of another. If the deceased’s next of kin think that the death was wrongful, then they should contact a personal injury attorney for representation.
If you contact Pineyro Law for representation into a wrongful death lawsuit, we will do a few things for you as soon as possible:
1. Determine circumstances surrounding the loved one’s death. It is important that we collect any possible evidence, police reports, etc as soon as possible to preserve the quality of evidence.
2. Determine liability. If you think that you have lost a loved one due to wrongful actions or negligence, it is critical that we determine who is responsible for the death. While suing the responsible party will not bring back the lost loved one, there are several reasons why you would want to consider bringing suit against the wrongful party, including: paying for your loved one’s medical bills, making the negligent party correct their negligence so that others aren’t lost in the same manner, and helping replace lost income from the loved one so that you have time to recover financially and emotionally.
3. Determine ability to pay. It does little good to sue someone for damages if they have no ability to pay. Pineyro Law will look for insurance coverage of the wrongful party as well as financial ability and determine what amount you can reasonably expect to receive if you sue.
While Pineyro Law determines these things for you, we will also treat you and your loss with the empathy and concern that it deserves while doing everything that is within our power to prosecute the negligent party and get you the justice you deserve. If you have a loved one who you feel has died due to another’s negligence, please fill out the form to the right and someone will contact you shortly to discuss what Pineyro Law Firm can do for you.
