Fort Lauderdale Amputation Lawyer
No one in Fort Lauderdale imagines a preventable accident that leads to a limb or appendage amputation will disrupt their life. But it happens, and more often than you might think.
Fort Lauderdale residents, workers, and visitors victims can lose limbs and appendages in car crashes on Route 1, residential construction mishaps in Seven Isles, boat collisions on the Intracoastal Waterway, and even because of medical malpractice at a Fort Lauderdale-area medical center.
No matter how an involuntary amputation occurs, it inflicts severe physical, emotional, and financial difficulty. The experienced amputation injury lawyers at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers can help victims of those amputations obtain financial compensation to help them pay for their care and adapt to their injuries.
If someone else’s wrongful conduct in Fort Lauderdale caused your or your loved one’s amputation injury, contact The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers today for your free case consultation.
About The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers in Fort Lauderdale
The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers is a team of experienced, skilled trial lawyers who commit their careers to representing victims of personal injuries. We fight, day-in, day-out, to make sure individuals who get hurt because of someone else’s wrongdoing get the money they need to pay unexpected expenses and to rebuild their lives.
We have extensive experience representing clients who have lost limbs and appendages in preventable accidents and incidents. Our team understands the numerous challenges that accompany an amputation, including the everyday inconveniences, the psychological trauma, and the unexpected costs.
We cannot promise results. But we can point to our reputation and track record of success to assure our clients that when they hire The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, they get a team of legal professionals that possess the resources and know-how to secure top-dollar compensation in even the most difficult and complex cases.
Common Cases We Handle Involving Amputations
According to the Amputee Coalition, an estimated 45 percent of amputations result from traumatic events. At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, clients commonly seek our help after losing a limb or appendage in the following circumstances. But no matter how an amputation occurs, our team can probably help, so contact us even if you don’t see the type of accident that injured you listed below.
#1. Motor Vehicle Accidents
Motor vehicle accidents are a leading cause of trauma-related amputation. Virtually any accident involving a motor vehicle might result in an amputation injury. Vehicle occupants can lose limbs that get pinned by a car frame in a wreck. Pedestrians can lose limbs when vehicles hit or run over them. Motorcyclists can face amputation when a crash throws them from their ride against other vehicles or roadside structures.
The team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers has years of experience representing victims of all manner of motor vehicle accidents. Clients can trust in our ability to investigate crashes and to hold at-fault parties accountable.
#2. Medical Malpractice
Doctors and other healthcare professionals work tirelessly to provide care for patients, but they can make mistakes. Medical errors may lead to amputation, such as when hospital staff fails to care correctly for a postoperative wound, accidentally cut off blood flow to a limb, or even amputate the wrong limb altogether.
At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, we have the resources, experience, and familiarity with medical practice and protocol to pursue medical malpractice cases against healthcare providers whose mistakes lead to unnecessary amputation.
#3. Workplace Accidents
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2.7 million nonfatal workplace accidents happen every year in the United States. Many of those involve severe injuries that permanently interfere with a victim’s life and livelihood, including by causing an amputation.
Working around heavy machinery heightens the risk of an amputation injury, making these injuries especially common among workers in construction, manufacturing, long-shoring, mining, oil and natural gas, and agriculture.
The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers represents injured Fort Lauderdale workers in seeking financial compensation for amputation injuries. That may involve pursuing workers’ compensation benefits, suing a third party for negligence, or both.
#4. Defective Products
The products we use every day can also pose an amputation danger if they are defective. Explosions of appliances, malfunctions of equipment with sharp blades or edges, and incidents in which extremities get trapped in moving product parts can all lead to the loss of a limb or appendage.
Our team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers is ready to tackle the most complicated product defect cases and stand up to even the biggest corporations to hold them accountable for selling dangerous goods.
Potential Compensation for an Amputation in Fort Lauderdale
Amputation victims in Fort Lauderdale have the legal right to receive financial compensation when someone else’s wrongful decisions or actions cause their injuries. At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, our mission is to get them the most money available under Florida law.
Every case we handle is different, of course, so the types and amounts of compensation our clients may receive for an amputation can vary widely.
In general, however, by taking legal action on our clients’ behalf our team can frequently secure compensation for:
- Medical costs associated with the treatment of the injury or condition that causes an amputation, as well as for health complications that accompany an amputation, including emergency care, hospital stays, and long-term rehabilitation.
- Prosthesis-related costs, including those associated with fitting, maintaining, and replacing a prosthetic device.
- Out-of-pocket costs that an amputee would not have had, were it not for their injury.
- Lost wages from missing work after an amputation injury.
- Lost future income due to limitations on the ability to work caused by the amputation injury.
- Physical pain, emotional suffering, and loss of quality of life, including mental health struggles, interference with personal relationships, and the loss of the ability to enjoy everyday hobbies and pursuits.
When our client suffered an amputation injury in a work-related accident, our team can also frequently secure workers’ compensation benefits for our client that include:
- Medical benefits to pay for amputation-related medical care.
- Disability benefits to replace a portion of the amputee’s income.
- Education and job retraining benefits to assist our client in developing new work skills.
As mentioned above, we cannot guarantee that our clients will receive compensation for their injuries and losses. But we can promise to pursue that compensation as aggressively and tirelessly as possible so that our clients receive the financial support they need to adapt to a life-changing injury.
How Long Do You Have to File a Claim in Fort Lauderdale?
Under Florida’s statute of limitations, victims of amputation injuries in Fort Lauderdale generally have four years after suffering harm to take legal action seeking financial compensation. If their amputation happened because of a medical error, however, the deadline for taking legal action is only two years. And in some cases, the deadline expires just months after suffering an injury.
With rare exceptions, missing a deadline for taking legal action can result in losing the legal right to receive financial compensation for an amputation injury. That’s why it is critically important for victims of accidents leading to amputation to seek the advice of an experienced personal injury lawyer, like a member of the team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, as soon as possible. The sooner a lawyer gets to work on a case, the lower the risk of missing a deadline and losing valuable legal rights.
How The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help
But meeting deadlines isn’t the only benefit of hiring an experienced team like The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers to represent you after an accident involving an amputation injury. Our experienced trial lawyers have the talent, know-how, and resources to handle every aspect of the process of obtaining financial compensation to help you pay for ongoing care and to adapt to your injury.
To get our clients paid for their injuries and losses, we:
- Investigate the circumstances of the accident or incident that resulted in an amputation injury to pinpoint the dangerous decisions or actions that caused it and to identify the party (or parties) who should face legal and financial accountability.
- Evaluate the impact of an amputation on our client’s life, including the physical difficulties, mental health struggles, financial toll, and everyday challenges and inconveniences, all of which deserve compensation.
- Plan a legal strategy designed to get our client the maximum compensation available under Florida law, while serving our client’s interests and priorities.
- Answer our client’s questions, respond to our client’s concerns, and provide advice and guidance during a difficult time.
- Prepare and file complaints, insurance claims, and other documentation of our client’s legal demand for financial compensation.
- Appear in court and legal proceedings on our client’s behalf, including at hearings, depositions, and trials.
- Negotiate settlements with defendants and their insurance providers when possible to get our client compensation as quickly and efficiently as possible.
- Collect any money due to our client from a settlement, judgment, or jury award.
As we said, every case we handle differs, so the actions we take to help our client can vary widely from case to case. But no matter what legal services our client needs to receive full, fair compensation for an amputation injury in Fort Lauderdale, our team has the skill and experience to get the best result possible.
What Should You Do Now?
The days and weeks after suffering an amputation injury turn a person’s life upside down. It’s difficult to know where to turn for help, or what decisions to make to protect your interests. Following the tips below may help to prevent missteps and to put you and your lawyer in a solid position to secure maximum compensation.
#I. Get Appropriate Medical Care
This may seem obvious since an amputation requires sustained medical attention, but the most critical thing you can do to protect your interests is to get all the care and treatment you need and to follow your doctor’s advice for healing and rehabilitation.
Physical and emotional recovery from the loss of a limb or appendage is a long and sometimes difficult road. It can feel tempting to give up, or to fall into unhealthy behaviors, to cope with the challenges. But you should do your best to stay healthy and to stick to a treatment plan, not just to protect your wellbeing, but also to safeguard your legal rights.
Records of medical care provide valuable evidence of your injury, its causes, and the steps you have taken to heal. That evidence can go a long way in proving your entitlement to financial compensation, and in protecting you against arguments from defense lawyers and insurance companies that you didn’t do enough to take care of yourself.
The team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers routinely assists clients in finding the medical care they need, and in supporting and encouraging them to stick with a treatment and rehab plan that promotes their health and their legal rights.
#II. Remain Wary of Other People’s Insurance Companies
Many amputees in Fort Lauderdale carry insurance to pay for some of their medical care after an accident. They may have to interact with those insurance carriers to get the benefits they need, and that’s usually ok (although a lawyer can always help).
But as the victim of an accident or incident caused by someone else’s wrongful conduct, you may also hear from insurance adjusters representing the at-fault party. Be careful of that sort of outreach. These insurance companies may have a legal obligation to pay for your injuries and losses, and they’ll be looking for any reason not to pay you what they owe.
In most cases, the safest bet is to let an experienced amputation injury attorney handle all communications with an at-fault party’s insurance company. A skilled lawyer, like a member of the team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, can negotiate on your behalf and make the at-fault party’s insurance company pay you what they owe.
#III. Contact The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers Right Away
Do not wait to call an experienced attorney for help after an amputation injury disrupts your or a loved one’s life. The sooner you have an attorney representing your
interests, the better your chances of receiving full financial compensation to help pay for medical care, rehabilitation, and the changes that an amputation brings to your life.
Experienced Fort Lauderdale Amputation Injury Lawyers
The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers has years of experience fighting for the rights of amputees who deserve compensation to help them adjust to their injuries and pay for their care. Contact us today at (954) 715-3260 for a free consultation to learn how we can help you.
The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers | Fort Lauderdale Office
1608 E Commercial Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334
Toll Free: 877.825.8542