How Our Fort Myers
Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You

Personal injury law (also called “tort law”) relates to civil cases in which an injured victim or the family of an injured victim will pursue compensation for losses caused by the negligence of another person or party. These laws were established to help victims who have suffered damages or injuries (that were not their fault) and secure the financial compensation they need to continue living in the same comfort they had before the accident. If you’ve been injured and it was not your fault, a personal injury lawsuit can benefit you.

What does it cover?

An injured victim will often be unable to work for a number of days or weeks, sometimes indefinitely. Multiple trips in and out of the hospital can drive a family into debt for years. A personal injury lawsuit can help you recover financial compensation for economic damages, which include medical expenses, lost wages, property damages, out-of-pocket expenses, and any other tangible expenses. Also, non-economic damages, which include pain and suffering (emotional or physical), mental distress, and loss of quality of life; and punitive damages, which are not pursued to compensate for a specific loss but rather as a means of punishment for gross misconduct on the defendant’s behalf.

Where does it apply?

Personal injury law covers a wide range of different situations and environments in which a person could be injured or harmed:

• Accidents: An accident resulting from another person or party’s carelessness or negligence that causes harm to another person. Common claims of this are car accidents where another driver was at fault, a slip and fall that occurred on a poorly kept property (premises liability), or a medical professional’s failure to provide proper care (medical malpractice).
• Intentional Acts: Situations where deliberate conduct on behalf of the defendant harmed another person. Common claims are assault, battery, and even nursing home abuse.
• Product Defects: When a product or a device is defective, unsafe, or did not come with proper use instructions, injury can occur — prompting a product liability claim. This can include vehicle components, medical devices (pacemakers), or any other consumer products.
• Animal Attacks: Pet owners have a responsibility to ensure visitors’ safety in their animals’ proximity. An animal attack can cause severe damage and lead to infection and emotional trauma.

What is personal injury law?

Personal injury law (also known as tort law) has two basic components: liability and damages. Is a defendant liable for damages you sustained in an accident, and if so, what is the extent of your damages? If you can prove both liability and damages, you will be awarded monetary compensation for your loss. What is a tort? According to Harvard Law School, a tort is a legal wrong that occurs when someone violates a duty owed to another person, resulting in injury or harm. This violation gives the injured party the right to seek a remedy, often in the form of compensation, through the legal system. Torts fall into three categories:

• Intentional tort: Injury or harm that is inflicted by a conscious or planned act (i.e., battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional pain).
• Negligent tort: Injury or harm that is inflicted by a failure to behave in compliance with ordinary prudence—can be actions or omissions (e.g., causing an accident by not obeying traffic laws, failing to put up a warning sign when a floor is wet).
• Strict liability: Injury or harm is inflicted by an action, regardless of intent or mental state (e.g., possession of dangerous animals, engaging in abnormally dangerous activities, defective products).

What are the types of personal injury cases?

Generally speaking, personal injury cases most often involve the negligent acts of others. Here are a few examples:

• Transportation accidents: Automobile, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, aviation, mass transit, boating, and pedestrian.
• Premises accidents: Negligent security, slip and fall, animal bites, attacks, nursing home abuse, construction, commercial incidents, and medical malpractice.

Do I need a personal injury lawyer?

Although you are not required to hire a lawyer to help you deal with your personal injury case, in most cases, it is advisable. And hiring an attorney with expertise in and experience with personal injury law almost always makes sense. Personal injury attorneys bring many things to the table (e.g., knowledge of the ins and outs of personal injury law, insurance company strategies, etc.). In particular, here are four scenarios that require that you hire a personal injury lawyer to represent you:

• Did you suffer a serious injury or permanent disability?Serious/permanent injuries can bring a lifetime of pain and crippling medical bills. It is important to understand that insurance companies are NOT on your side. A team of lawyers will represent them, and you need the same type of protection.
• Are you unsure of who is at fault? If you were involved in an accident and you are not sure who is at fault, it is important to talk to an attorney. In cases like these, the other party’s insurance company will be looking to blame you. Hiring a lawyer will help protect your rights.
• Were there multiple parties involved? In an accident that involves multiple parties, all sides will certainly have attorney representation. You can not afford to be the only party without this type of protection. In addition, should multiple parties be deemed to be at fault, a lawyer will have the skills to ensure you get the compensation you deserve from all negligent parties.

What is negligence according to personal injury law?

Negligence is the most important concept of personal injury law. If you are unable to prove negligence, your case will fail. So, just what does negligence mean to a court of law? According to Cornell Law School, the definition of negligence is: “A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. The behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act.”

How do you establish what a reasonable person would do in a specific situation?

To establish negligence in your personal injury case, you must prove each of the following four elements of negligence: Element #1: Duty of Care (also called Standard of Care) Duty of care means that the defendant had an obligation to act with a certain degree of caution and good sense. For example, in a slip and fall injury case, a property or business owner has a legal obligation to discover and remedy hazards within a reasonable amount of time. Element #2: Breach of Duty Once you prove a defendant had a duty of care, you must prove that they breached (violated) that duty by acting recklessly or failing to do what is reasonable. For example, in a slip and fall accident, the defendant neglected to put out a warning sign that the floor of their property had just been mopped and was wet. Element #3: Causation After proving a breach of duty, you must show that the defendant’s reckless action or inaction led to your injuries. The defendant’s neglect can not be loosely tied to your injuries—it must be the “proximate” (direct) cause. To prove causation, you may need to present testimony from an eyewitness or maybe a doctor, etc. For example, your slip and fall accident happened because you were not warned that the floor was wet. You stepped onto the wet floor, slipped, fell, and broke your hip. Element #4: Damages With this last step, you will need to show proof of actual and future damages and translate this into a monetary amount. The total damages need to reflect things like monetary loss, as well as any pain and suffering you have experienced. For example, to prove your damages due to your slip and fall accident, you must provide evidence such as medical bills and records, pay stubs to prove lost wages, testimony from witnesses regarding how your injury will affect your ability to work, etc. So far, we have been discussing negligence as if only one person can be at fault for an accident. However, in the real world, each party to a personal injury tort can be partially responsible. This is called comparative negligence.

What is comparative negligence?

Investopedia defines this legal term as follows: “Comparative negligence is a principle of tort law that applies to casualty insurance in certain states. Comparative negligence states that when an accident occurs, the fault and negligence of each party involved are based upon their respective contributions to an accident. This allows insurers to assign blame and pay insurance claims accordingly.” There are three types of comparative negligence: pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence, and slight/gross negligence. Florida is a pure comparative negligence state. This means that you can collect damages no matter how much you were at fault for your own injuries as long as someone else was partially responsible. For example, if you were 80% responsible for your injury and the defendant was 20% responsible, you could collect 20% of the total damages.

What types of compensation can I receive?

There are several types of compensation you can seek when you become a plaintiff in a Fort Myers personal injury claim.

• Medical expenses
• Loss of income
• Loss of earning capacity
• Emotional distress
• Loss of consortium (deprivation of association and fellowship between two married people)
• Loss of companionship
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Mental anguish
• Pain and suffering

How does a personal injury case work in Fort Myers?

Your personal injury case will most likely proceed in one of these two ways:

• Settlement talks occur: Most cases of disputes over fault are resolved through negotiations that lead to an informal early settlement. This is known as “settling out of court.” A settlement takes the form of a written agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant, and no further action is taken.
• A formal lawsuit is initiated: A Fort Myers personal injury case is a civil complaint (as opposed to a criminal one) from a private individual (plaintiff) against another person, corporation, business, or government agency (defendant). It alleges injury or harm as a result of carelessness or irresponsibility in connection with an accident. This action is known as “filing a lawsuit.” In this scenario, the case is presented in court in front of a jury. The jury decides if any compensation is to be awarded to the plaintiff.

No law requires an at-fault party to compensate the people they harm. The victim must take the first step to bring a claim against those who are responsible for their damage—and they must do so within a specified amount of time. This type of time limit is called the statute of limitations.

What is the statute of limitations in a Fort Myers personal injury case?

According to Investopedia: “A statute of limitations is a law that sets the maximum time the parties involved have to initiate legal proceedings from the date of an alleged offense, whether civil or criminal. However, the length of time the statute allows for a victim to bring legal action against the suspected wrong-doer can vary from one jurisdiction to another.” These time deadlines exist to ensure that lawsuits are brought within a reasonable amount of time in the interest of justice. Should you fail to file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations runs out, your claim will most likely be barred, and you will not be able to hold the at-fault party liable for your losses. As mentioned in the Investopedia quote above, the statute of limitations varies from state to state. In Fort Myers, FL, the statute of limitations for torts (civil injury claims) varies depending on the following circumstances:

• The nature of the claim.
• When the “clock” starts.
• The alleged at-fault party (i.e., private party or public entity).
• Other factors that, in some limited cases, extend the statute of limitations for victims.

In general, the statutes of limitations for personal injury cases in Florida are as follows:

• Personal injury: two years
• Medical malpractice: two years
• Simple assault or simple battery: two years
• Product liability: two or four years
• Wrongful death: two years
• Workers’ compensation: two years

When does the “clock” start ticking?

For most personal injury cases, the statute of limitations begins on the date of injury (e.g., the date of a car accident or the date of a dog bite). However, in some cases, a person might not realize they have been damaged right away, or it may take some time to link an injury to its cause (e.g., a medical misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose a medical condition). In situations like these, the statute of limitations begins at the time of discovery. Also, there may be some personal injury scenarios that are beyond the control of the victim (e.g., a victim’s mental competence or the at-fault party has fled the jurisdiction). In cases like these, it may be possible to toll the statute of limitations temporarily. This pauses the clock in the interest of justice so the situation can be sorted out properly.

Are there other considerations that may extend or shorten the statute of limitations in Fort Myers?

Florida § 95.11 states that the personal injury statute of limitations is two years from the date of occurrence. However, there are circumstances under which the filing deadline can be extended or shortened. Here are a few examples:

• Type of case: Claims involving medical malpractice, product liability, and wrongful death are subject to different statutes of limitation.
• Age of victim: Minors under the age of 18 often have additional time to file claims, typically until they turn 20.
• Type of injury: Some injuries or conditions take years to manifest—most notably occupational diseases or medical malpractice. In such cases, the statute of limitations starts when the injury is discovered.
• Claims against the government: Personal injury cases filed against public entities are subject to different rules, which may include a shorter statute of limitations, typically three years.
• Sexual abuse: For claims involving sexual abuse, the statute of limitations can be extended as follows:
  • Seven years after the victim turns 18.
  • Four years after the victim is no longer dependent on the abuser.
  • For victims who were abused under the age of 16, the statute of limitations can be waived indefinitely.

What are the most common types of accidents that develop into a Fort Myers personal injury case?

Personal injury law in Florida mainly focuses on bodily injury. Emotional or psychological injury can come into the equation—but the primary focus is physical injury. Here’s a list of common injury complaints:

• Abdominal injury
• Amputation
• Auditory or visual impairment
• Back injury
• Broken bones
• Burns
• Dog bite
• Herniated disc
• Infection
• Knee injury
• Nerve damage
• Organ failure
• Polytrauma
• Significant body laceration or disfigurement
• Skull fracture
• Spinal cord injury
• Traumatic brain injury
• Whiplash and neck injury

Here’s a list of common accidents that can turn into a personal injury claim:

• Automotive accident
• Bike and pedestrian accident
• Boating accident
• Dog bite
• Intentional act
• Medical malpractice
• Motorcycle accident
• Premises liability
• Product liability
• Truck accident
• Worker’s compensation
• Wrongful death

Has an insurance company denied or delayed your claim?

Insurance companies know that most laypeople do not understand complicated personal injury laws. Because of this, they will often deny legitimate claims. Another method insurance companies use to intimidate and mitigate their losses is to delay the finalization of your claim. They fully understand that money is tight and medical bills are rolling in, so they delay to pressure you into accepting a fraction of what your claim is truly worth. If either of these situations happens to you, it is time to hire a lawyer.

What kind of help should I expect to get from a personal injury attorney in Fort Myers?

A Fort Myers personal injury lawyer performs many important duties—the most common include:

• Explaining your rights under tort law.
• Providing advice based on knowledge and experience.
• Completing a professional investigation of your accident.
• Connecting you to medical providers.
• Providing an accurate assessment of your damages.
• Negotiating a satisfactory settlement.
• Representing you in court if necessary.

What does a Fort Myers, FL, personal injury lawyer cost?

Your initial consultation with a Fort Myers personal injury lawyer is usually free. Should you decide to retain an attorney to represent you with your case, you will not be charged any upfront fees, and you will not pay an hourly rate. Your attorney gets paid only if your case is successful and you receive a monetary settlement. This is called a contingency fee. A contingency fee is based on a percentage of the settlement amount. This percentage rate varies from state to state. The following are Florida contingency fees:

• If the case is settled out of court, the attorney gets 33.3% of any money awarded up to $1 million.
• If the case goes to court and a settlement is awarded by a jury, the attorney gets 40% of any money awarded up to $1 million.
• If the case is settled for more than $1 million, there are additional percentage limits set by the Florida Bar.

A study conducted by the Insurance Research Council found that people who have suffered an injury in a car accident due to driver, manufacturer, or government negligence win 3.5 times more settlement compensation when a personal injury lawyer represents them. The study further states that in 85% of cases where an insurance company did settle an injury claim, the injured party had hired an attorney.