Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Lawyer

Injuries often come when you least expect them—especially injuries caused by another person’s negligence.

Maybe a tourist crashed a rental car into you on Interstate 95 or Florida’s Turnpike. Maybe you slipped and fell at the Galleria at Fort Lauderdale or the Walmart Supercenter because someone forgot to clean up a spill or fix a hand railing. Or instead of healing you, a doctor at the Fort Lauderdale Medical Center or Kindred Hospital botched a procedure or diagnosis and left you worse off than ever before.

Throughout Fort Lauderdale, many victims have no idea what to do next or how to protect themselves medically and financially after suffering severe injuries.

Thankfully, a Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer at the Levin Firm can help you.

We cannot turn back the clock on your injuries or help prevent you from suffering, but we can help you seek the compensation you deserve for severe injuries suffered at the hands of another party.

If you suffered serious injuries due to another party’s negligence, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer from The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers today at (215) 825-5183 to speak with one of our compassionate Fort Lauderdale personal injury associates.

Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Claims: Basic Claim Types

At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, we handle a wide range of motor vehicle accidents and personal injury claims. If you have questions about your legal options following a serious injury, contact us to learn more; in the meantime, some of the most common personal injury events Fort Lauderdale residents encounter include:

 

Seeking Compensation After Severe Injuries: The Basics

Following severe injuries in a Fort Lauderdale accident, you may seek compensation for your injuries through a personal injury case. Our team of experienced personal injury lawyers can help you learn more about the specifics of your claim and the compensation you deserve. Our team at the Levin Injury Firm understands the challenges and difficulties you may face after being involved in a severe accident in Fort Lauderdale. We are dedicated to helping you navigate through the complex legal process and seek the compensation you deserve for your injuries.

Personal injury cases can arise from various types of accidents, including car accidents, slip and fall accidents, medical malpractice, and more. Regardless of the specific circumstances of your accident, our experienced personal injury lawyers have the knowledge and expertise to handle your case effectively.

When you contact our firm, we will provide you with a free consultation to discuss the details of your accident and evaluate the strength of your case. Our team will gather evidence, interview witnesses, and work with medical professionals to build a solid case on your behalf.

Compensation in a personal injury case may include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages. Our lawyers will fight tirelessly to ensure that you receive the full and fair compensation you deserve for your injuries and losses.

We understand that dealing with the aftermath of an accident can be overwhelming, both physically and emotionally. That is why we are committed to providing compassionate and personalized legal representation. Our team will guide you through every step of the legal process, keeping you informed and advocating for your rights.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident in Fort Lauderdale, do not hesitate to reach out to our team of experienced personal injury lawyers. We are here to help you seek justice and obtain the compensation you need to move forward with your life. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation and learn more about how we can assist you.

The Compensation You Might Expect

 

Following severe injuries in an accident, the compensation you receive from a personal injury claim or lawsuit may depend on several factors relating to your accident and your injuries.

Who caused your accident?

In many cases, including auto accidents and premises liability accidents, the party that caused your accident may carry insurance designed to protect the liable party and offer compensation to any victims who suffer serious injuries in an accident. That insurance policy may determine the limits of the compensation you can receive for your claim. For example, if the policy offers $25,000 in bodily injury protection, you may receive up to $25,000 in compensation for injuries suffered in an accident caused by that party.

How severe were your injuries?

Severe injuries mean serious medical bills. In many cases, that may mean lifelong medical expenses. In others, you may need to go through an extensive recovery process before you get back to normal. In many cases, the compensation for your injury is based on your medical expenses after the accident. Severe injuries can also cause additional pain and suffering, which will factor into your personal injury case.

How much work did you have to miss because of your accident and your injuries?

Sometimes, an accident victim’s employer will work with them to get them back in the workplace as soon as possible after an accident. In other cases, you may need to spend more time out of work recovering. Severe injuries, like traumatic brain injury or spinal cord damage, may prevent you from performing your usual job responsibilities for a long time. Those lost wages can significantly impact your finances, especially at a time when you have medical bills coming in. Most people include lost wages as part of the compensation they claim after a severe accident.

How did your accident impact your life?

A personal injury attorney in Fort Lauderdale will help you calculate the suffering you experienced as a result of your accident. Sometimes, that may mean primarily physical pain and suffering. In other cases, you may suffer substantial emotional anguish along with your other symptoms. Your lawyer may look into the emotional anguish that resulted from your accident, including the loss of companionship that often occurs during your recovery, activities you had to miss out on, and whether your injuries deprived you of the normal lifestyle you usually enjoy.

Determining the Liable Party in a Fort Lauderdale Accident

 

To file a personal injury claim, your Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer will start by helping you determine the party or parties that caused or contributed to your injuries. In the case of some types of personal injury claims, multiple parties may contribute to your accident.

Consider an accident with a big truck, for example. The driver bears primary responsibility for anything that happens in his or her vehicle. That does not necessarily mean, however, that the driver bears sole responsibility for the accident. The accident could, for example, result from a shifting load in the back that led to a jackknife. In that case, the loading or shipping company may bear partial liability for the accident. Further accident investigation might reveal that the driver’s employer required drivers to exceed the federally mandated number of hours allowed behind the wheel each day. In that case, the employer might share liability.

Our Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers will investigate each element of your accident to identify all liable parties that contributed to it.

To assign liability for the accident, an attorney will determine:

Who bore a duty of care to you at the time of the accident?

In that truck accident scenario, for example, the truck driver, his employer, and anyone who worked on the truck all bear a duty of care to others who share the road with that truck. The company that loaded the truck also bears a duty of care to both the driver and the other parties who share the road with him.

Who violated that duty of care?

What party made a decision that violated that duty of care to you? A driver who drove distracted or inebriated, for example, violated the duty of care to other drivers who share the road. If the employer failed to properly maintain the vehicle or insisted on unrealistic, illegal standards for the driver, the employer may also have violated its duty of care, both to the driver and to others involved in the accident.

How did that violation lead to your injuries?

If a distracted driver hits the concrete barrier in the center of the road but does not cause injuries to you or damage to your vehicle, that driver may have violated the duty of care, but you do not have grounds for a personal injury claim. Likewise, if the trucking company does not properly maintain the vehicle, leading to a brake malfunction, but the driver manages to bring the vehicle to a safe stop, you may not have grounds for a personal injury claim in Fort Lauderdale. To file a personal injury claim, you will need to show that the other party’s negligence contributed to your injuries in some way.

A Look at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers’s Past Personal Injury Cases

At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, we maintain a peerless commitment to our clients. We want to obtain results as quickly as possible to help our clients move forward with their lives despite the severe injuries they suffered. From motor vehicle accident cases to wrongful death and catastrophic injuries, our skilled team is here for all your personal injury needs.

Our clients note that our attorneys focus particularly on communication, including a high degree of responsiveness that helps them feel confident in leaving their claims in our hands.

 

These testimonials offer only a snapshot of our past results and our commitment to serving as advocates for our neighbors throughout the Fort Lauderdale community. Contact us today to learn more.

Fort Lauderdale Personal Injuries: FAQ

If you suffered a serious injury in Fort Lauderdale, an experienced personal injury lawyer can answer many of the questions you have related to your specific claim.

Contact our Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers as soon after your accident as possible to get the help you need. If you have general questions about personal injury claims in Fort Lauderdale, consider the FAQ below.

1. Who has to pay for my medical bills after an injury in Fort Lauderdale?

Following a serious accident, you may have a lot of medical bills. Unfortunately, you cannot simply turn those medical bills over to the party that caused your accident. Ultimately, you bear responsibility for paying your own medical bills.

That does not necessarily mean, however, that you have to immediately write a check for every element of your treatment out of your own bank account or that you do not have options for paying your medical bills.

Many accident victims have options for helping to cover those medical bills.

• Your PIP insurance, if relevant. If you carry personal injury protection insurance and suffer an accident in a vehicle, you can use your personal injury protection insurance to cover your immediate medical expenses after your accident. Florida drivers must carry PIP coverage to legally operate their vehicles. You can also use personal injury protection coverage to cover your injuries if you suffer them in an auto accident, but you did not drive at the time of the accident: after a bicycle accident or an accident as a pedestrian, for example.
• Your health insurance. Health insurance can provide vitally necessary protection when you suffer injuries in any type of accident. If you suffer severe injuries, including traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, that have lifelong consequences and expenses, your medical insurance will provide vital protection and coverage for those medical expenses. You should contact your health insurance company as soon as possible after your accident to notify them about what happened and ask any questions you have about your coverage, including what steps you should take to get approved for any needed procedures.
• A personal injury claim. If you suffer severe injuries due to the negligence of another party, a personal injury claim can help you recover the funds you need to pay for your treatment. That does not mean that the person who caused your accident has to pay for your medical expenses directly. Instead, it means that you can recover some or all of the money spent on your medical expenses from the party that caused your accident. If your medical bills start coming due, but you have not yet received the funds from your personal injury claim, an attorney can write a letter of protection that will establish your intent to pay your medical expenses once you have the funds from your claim in hand.
• Hospital programs and funds. Many hospitals, especially those that provide treatment for severe injuries, acknowledge that their patients will struggle to pay the high bills associated with those treatments. Your hospital may have a policy in place that will help you receive treatment for those injuries even if you do not have the means to pay. Contact your patient care coordinator to learn more about the policies your hospital has and how they can benefit you as you recover from your injuries.

2. The insurance company that covers the liable party got in touch with me shortly after my car accident and offered me a settlement. Do I still have to file a Fort Lauderdale personal injury claim? Should I accept the offer?

After a serious car accident, the party that caused the accident or that party’s insurance company may get in touch with you while you still have little idea what your recovery will look like or how high your medical bills will mount. In many cases, they will issue a settlement offer.

Many victims find that offer incredibly tempting. If you accept the offer, you will have ready funds on hand, which can, in many cases, help you pay for your medical bills and manage the other expenses you have faced as you manage your recovery.

Do not accept that offer before talking to our Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers.

Insurance companies have extensive experience dealing with accident victims. They know how to issue appealing offers that sound great on the surface or that make you feel as though you must accept the offer quickly to avoid potential repercussions down the road. The insurance company may even try to convince you that you must accept the offer immediately or potentially miss out on the compensation you deserve, possibly permanently.

In reality, you do not have to accept any offer made by the insurance company—and that offer may not reflect the full compensation you really deserve for the injuries you suffered. The insurance company may try to get you to accept that offer to limit its financial liability rather than to offer you the funds you really deserve for your injuries.

Our personal injury lawyers can help you better understand the compensation you really deserve after your Fort Lauderdale accident and ensure that you do not mistakenly accept a settlement offer that does not reflect your real needs.

3. Do I really need an attorney to file a Fort Lauderdale personal injury claim?

Yes.

Many people worry about the expense associated with hiring a Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer to handle a personal injury claim. They may wonder if they can handle a claim on their own rather than needing someone else to step in and handle it for them.

An attorney, however, brings several advantages to the table in your personal injury claim. An attorney can help collect vital evidence that will establish who caused your accident, including, in some cases, identifying multiple parties that may have contributed to the accident. An experienced attorney in personal injury law can give you a better idea of the compensation you really deserve, preventing you from accepting a low settlement offer. Often, insurance companies will offer higher settlements to victims who have an attorney on their side.

A personal injury lawyer can also provide vital peace of mind as you move forward with your personal injury case. You will not have to worry about dealing with the insurance company, collecting evidence, or handling the paperwork associated with your claim. Instead, you can hand those tasks over to your attorney.

4. How long do I have to file a personal injury claim after a Fort Lauderdale accident?

You will need to file your personal injury case before the statute of limitations runs out. For some victims, that may pose a challenge, especially if you have let a great deal of time pass since your accident. If you believe time might be running out, however, contact an attorney before you give up. Many exceptions exist to the statute of limitations that may allow you to file your claim even if significant time has passed since the accident.

5. When should I get in touch with a Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer after an accident?

Ideally, you should contact a personal injury law firm as soon after your accident as possible. While your attorney may advise waiting before you file your personal injury claim, you can still benefit from working with an attorney immediately after the accident.

Evidence can prove more difficult to collect as you allow more time to pass after your accident. Witness statements can grow increasingly murky as memory fades and changes. Video footage can get erased. Evidence may vanish from the scene of the accident, not due to deliberate malice but simply due to the natural progression of time.

Working with an attorney soon after the accident can increase the odds that you will have that evidence in hand if you need it to plead your case or take your claim to court.

An attorney can also provide valuable assistance immediately after your accident. Pain pills and brain injuries can both create confusion and make it difficult for you to make logical, reasoned decisions about the steps you need to take next. You may struggle to deal with the legal challenges in front of you or to answer the necessary questions. An attorney who specializes in personal injury law can help answer those questions for you and make it easier for you to make decisions after your accident.

6. How long will it take to get a settlement from my Fort Lauderdale personal injury claim?

It can take some time for you to obtain the settlement you deserve for your injuries. Talk to your attorney to learn more about the time you can expect to wait before you arrive at an agreement with the liable party and the factors that may have contributed to the accident, including:

How long you wait to file your claim: Your attorney may advise not filing your personal injury claim immediately. In most personal injury claims, your medical expenses will form the basis of the claim.

Soon after your injuries, you may have little idea what your long-term medical expenses and future prognosis will look like. Victims with traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, and severe burns, for example, may face multiple challenges on the road to recovery. Complications, setbacks, or injuries that turn out worse than they first appeared can all increase your medical costs and extend your suffering.

If you file a personal injury claim immediately after your accident, you may not include those expenses. As a result, you cannot receive compensation for them.

How much money you ask for. In many cases, if you suffer severe injuries and, therefore, ask for substantial compensation for those injuries, the insurance company may take longer to arrive at a settlement agreement. That does not mean that you should decrease your request, but it does mean that if you suffer severe injuries and have high medical bills, you should expect it to take longer to get the compensation you deserve in your hands.

How long you negotiate: Each claim proves unique. Sometimes, the insurance company will negotiate relatively little. Its representatives may look at your demand package, assess the extent of your injuries and your medical costs, and issue a settlement offer you feel you can live with.

In other cases, you may have to fight harder for the compensation you deserve.

Each round of negotiation adds to the time it will take to settle your claim. Often, those rounds of negotiation will prove out of your control. While you can accept a settlement offer at any time, you do not want to accept a settlement offer that does not reflect the funds you deserve in compensation for your injuries.

If you cannot reach an agreement with the liable party through negotiation, you may need to proceed to mediation. During mediation, you will sit down with your attorneys, the liable party and his legal representatives, and a mediator. The mediator will allow you to present your claim and issue a recommendation based on the extent of your injuries and the evidence both you and the liable party present.

If you do not arrive at an agreement after mediation, you may need to take your claim to court.

7. Will I have to go to court over my Fort Lauderdale personal injury claim?

Most personal injury claims are settled out of court. Taking the claim to court usually proves expensive for the insurance company or liable party. In most cases, that party will attempt to arrive at an agreement before you have to take your claim to court. However, in the event that the other party is not willing to reach a favorable agreement, our team is adept at handling personal injury lawsuits and will be prepared to represent you interests in court.

8. How much do your Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorneys cost?

We cost you nothing.

At the Levin Firm, we start with a free consultation to learn more about your claim. Then, if we agree to work together, we will take your case on a contingent fee basis, in which you pay no upfront attorney’s fees. We only deduct a percentage of any personal injury settlement or award we help you to secure.

For most victims, this makes legal representation affordable and requires no upfront costs. In many cases, it may cost you more to not have an attorney to handle your claim than it does to have one — an attorney can help maximize the compensation you receive.

What Nine Steps Should You Take After a Severe Injury in Fort Lauderdale?

Following a serious injury, the steps you take next could prove critical. In fact, the steps you take immediately following a personal injury claim can influence your financial standing as well as your physical well-being. Follow these steps to help protect yourself after a serious accident.

1. Prioritize medical care after an accident.

Any time you suffer serious injuries in an accident, prioritize seeking medical care. With severe injuries, including symptoms of traumatic brain injury or multiple broken bones, you may need to proceed straight to the emergency room. In other cases, including soft tissue injuries or a single suspected break, you may choose to go to an urgent care center instead of going to the hospital.

Even if you believe that you did not suffer severe injuries in an accident, you should visit a hospital or urgent care center to get checked out if at all possible. In some cases, you may have adrenaline from the accident masking the symptoms of serious injuries.

Many victims do not feel pain until hours later. In the meantime, they may substantially worsen their injuries. Other victims may not notice the pain until the next day. Still, others may walk around with severe injuries for days or weeks, writing it off as “normal soreness” after an accident. Prompt medical treatment can prevent you from missing severe injuries and allow you to receive the treatment you need.

Seeking medical care promptly can also provide vitally needed evidence of when your injuries took place, which can help immensely if you must file a personal injury claim to seek compensation for your injuries. In some cases, the liable party may attempt to prove that your injuries took place at another time. If another event caused your injuries, the liable party may not have to pay compensation for your claim. Your medical care visit will help establish exactly when your injuries took place.

2. Listen to all instructions given to you by medical care professionals.

Not only should you seek medical care, you should also take care to listen to the advice given by your doctors. Your doctors want to help you make as full a recovery as possible. If you ignore them, however, you can worsen your injuries or prolong your recovery.

In addition, this may give the liable party grounds to argue that you worsened your injuries or did not take the steps necessary to contribute to your recovery, which can reduce the compensation you can receive for your injuries.

3. Report the accident immediately.

If you suffered injuries in an auto accident, call 911 at the scene of the accident, and do not leave the scene of the accident unless you need to leave to seek emergency medical care.

If you suffered injuries in a business, report your accident to the employees as soon as possible.

If you suffered injuries at work, make sure you follow the steps laid out in your employee handbook for reporting an accident. If you do not know what steps you need to take, contact your supervisor as soon as possible.

No matter where your accident took place, make reporting it a priority. That report can serve as vital evidence of exactly when and where your accident happened. If relevant, ask for a copy of the accident report. This report can help establish when your accident took place and what factors contributed to it. It can also help aid you later in your personal injury claim.

4. Collect evidence, if you can.

Do not move around the scene of the accident if you feel that it will worsen your injuries or place you in danger.

For example, you do not want to run around in the road following an auto accident just to get pictures of the accident. If you can safely navigate the scene of the accident, however, you may want to collect evidence related to how the accident occurred. If you slipped and fell because of a broken board on the stairs at your hotel, for example, you should take a picture of the broken board. Suffer injuries due to a spill? You may want to take photos of the spill and the area around it, displaying that no signs warned about the hazard.

In an auto accident, you may specifically want to collect pictures of the vehicles involved in the accident, including a close-up of the damage to the vehicles. You should also snap a picture of the other driver’s insurance information and license.

Did anyone witness your accident? If so, you may want to collect contact information for those witnesses. They can help establish what led to your accident, including factors you may not have noticed at the time of the accident.

5. Make your own statement about what took place during the accident as soon as you can.

Memory can fade quickly, especially after a very traumatic event. As soon as you can after the accident, try to write down or record your own statement of what led to the accident. Include any details that you remember.

Ideally, you want to record your statement before anyone else talks to you about the accident or tells you what they saw. Listening to someone else talk about the accident can influence your memories of those events and make it difficult for you to manage your own account later. Instead, try to create a factual report of what took place as soon as you can. Do not rehearse the story if you can avoid it, since this may also alter your immediate memories.

6. Contact an experienced personal injury attorney as soon after your accident as possible.

Following your accident, get in touch with a personal injury attorney as soon as you can. Many victims will try to wait before contacting an attorney. Some even think that they may choose to handle their personal injury claims on their own.

This strategy, however, can increase your stress levels and make it easier for the insurance company or liable party to take advantage of you. Instead, get in touch with our experienced personal injury lawyers as soon after your accident as you can. You do not necessarily have to call the attorney from the emergency room, but if you know you will have a long stay in the hospital ahead of you, try to get in touch with an attorney before you get discharged. Your dedicated accident lawyers will come to you to help manage your claim.

7. Get in touch with your insurance company or companies.

What insurance will you use to help cover the cost of injuries related to your accident? If you use PIP insurance or file a car accident claim, you may need to talk to your car insurance company.

Regardless of how your injuries occurred, you may need to talk to your medical insurance provider. Ask any questions you have related to your coverage, including how your accident will impact your medical coverage. What do your deductibles and copays look like? What is your out-of-pocket maximum for the calendar year? Does your insurance company cover durable medical equipment?

You may also want to ask questions about in-network providers. Contacting your insurance company will give you a better idea of the expenses you can expect as you handle your medical bills.

8. Keep track of all medical bills related to your accident in a separate file. Include information from your medical records, if relevant.

After your accident, you may have a lot of paperwork coming your way. You may have scans and X-rays from the emergency room, treatment recommendations from your doctor, and paperwork explaining your injuries and the exercises you need to perform to aid in the healing process.

Then the medical bills start arriving.

Many people do not expect the sheer number of medical bills that arrive after a serious accident. Often, you will receive separate medical bills for each visit with a care provider. You may even receive multiple medical bills for a single procedure, especially if you need surgical treatment for your injuries.

Keep track of all of those medical bills in one location. Note if and when you pay those bills or make payments toward those bills. Not only can this prove vital in establishing the basis for your personal injury claim since you will need to include your medical expenses in the claim, but it can also help you establish exactly when you paid those bills if a discrepancy shows up in your medical records later.

9. Continue following your care provider’s recommendations.

Many injuries leave victims with a long road to recovery. You may need multiple surgeries and procedures as well as extensive therapy to help you along your journey.

Follow the recommendations of your care provider to the best of your ability.

After a broken bone in your leg, for example, your care provider may state that you cannot bear weight on the affected limb for six weeks or more following the accident—or, in some cases, following surgical treatment to set the bone. If you bear weight on the limb before you heal, it can cause even more serious damage, complicating your recovery or even leaving you with permanent disabilities related to your injuries. The liable party may then attempt to prove that you worsened your condition, reducing the liability that the party faces for it and leaving you responsible for those medical costs.

More severe injuries may have even more serious requirements. You may need to go through extensive therapy to increase your odds of recovery. You may also have to avoid some of the activities that most commonly make up your life for a long time. Failure to follow those recommendations, however, can prolong or derail your recovery.