Fort Lauderdale Sports Injury Lawyers
Athletics fill an important role in the everyday life of Fort Lauderdale residents. Some of us run every morning on Central Beach. Some swim laps or dive at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. Our children play soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and softball at the Holiday Park and Sunview Park fields.
On the whole, sports improve our lives in ways too numerous to count. And yet, sometimes playing a sport comes with a serious, even tragic, downside. Athletes sometimes sustain life-altering injuries during training and competition because of someone else’s careless or reckless actions. In those cases, injured athletes deserve compensation to help them heal and, if possible, return to their sport.
The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers helps adults and children who suffer sports injuries secure that compensation. Contact our Fort Lauderdale Sports Injury Lawyers online or call our Fort Lauderdale office for a free consultation.
About The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers’s Fort Lauderdale Sports Injury Lawyers
The award-winning attorneys of The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers bring the same determination and passion to their representation of injured athletes as those athletes bring to the playing field. Over our more than 15 years of law practice, we have earned a reputation as a team of smart, capable, and zealous advocates for anyone who suffered injuries because of someone else’s wrongdoing.
As professionals who serve the interests of injured individuals, we put a special emphasis on providing our clients with personalized attention. Our clients value our clear communication and quick, confident action on their behalf. Like the injured athletes we represent, we know those are the keys to delivering consistent results.
Common Sports Injury Cases We Handle
The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers has handled a wide array of sports-related injuries.
Some common scenarios that may bring Fort Lauderdale client-athletes through our doors include:
- Injuries to youth and scholastic athletes due to unsafe coaching practices, such as when athletes suffer heat stroke or play injured because of a coach’s inattention to player safety;
- Failures to follow concussion protocols in training or competition;
- Injuries suffered because of hazardous conditions at athletic facilities;
- Injuries due to unsafe, malfunctioning, or defective sports equipment;
- Injuries from performance-enhancing drugs (PED); and
- Failures by officials to enforce rules of play resulting in injuries to athletes.
These are just a few examples. No matter how you or your young athlete sustained an injury in Fort Lauderdale, the team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers invites you to contact us for a free consultation to learn about your rights and options.
Sports Injuries Our Clients Have Suffered
The scenarios above can result in a broad range of serious, and potentially catastrophic, injuries to athletes of all ages, and particularly youth, high school, and collegiate athletes.
At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, our team has helped clients recover compensation for the types of injuries that could end a season, a playing career, or even a player’s life, such as:
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), especially concussions and concussion-related conditions like post-concussion syndrome and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE);- Spinal cord injuries (SCI) that can result in paralysis and loss of sensation and bodily function;
- Heatstroke/exhaustion/extreme dehydration, a far-too-common, preventable condition that happens when athletes practice and play in the high-heat conditions common to Fort Lauderdale;
- Orthopedic injuries, including ACL and MCL tears in the knee, and damage to shoulder and elbow joints, ligaments, and tendons from overuse;
- Bone fractures, lacerations, and other traumatic injuries, often resulting from rough play, equipment defects, or overuse; and
- Severe health complications from consuming PEDs at the direction of coaches or other authority figures.
These are only a few examples. No matter what type of injury a Fort Lauderdale athlete suffers, the team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers can evaluate the full scope of the harm suffered and pursue maximum compensation. While no result is guaranteed, contact The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers today to see what we can do for you.
How We Help Injured Fort Lauderdale Athletes
The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers fights to make sure that clients who have suffered sports injuries in Fort Lauderdale receive the compensation they need and deserve to help them heal and return to their lives. Our team delves deep into the facts of every case we handle to identify all parties who may have a legal liability to our clients, and to assess the full range of harms our clients have suffered.
Targeting Legal Liability for Fort Lauderdale Sports Injuries
Every sports injury matter we handle presents its own unique set of facts and circumstances for our team to review in search of parties who may owe damages to our client.
As a general matter, however, injured athletes in Fort Lauderdale have a legal right to recover compensation from anyone whose unreasonably dangerous decisions or conduct contributed to the cause of their injuries.
In any given case, that may include:
- Coaches, officials, and other adults who inexcusably disregarded youth and student-athlete safety;
- Employers of those coaches, officials, and others;
- Owners of athletic facilities where an athlete suffered an injury because of a hazardous property condition;
- Equipment manufacturers who make and sell defective athletic products;
- Medical professionals who fail to diagnose or adequately treat a sports injury; and
- Anyone who prescribes PEDs or forces an athlete to take them.
This is not a complete list. The team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers knows that the situations that result in a sports injury differ. We work hard to make sure we identify every person, institution, and organization who may bear responsibility for the injuries our client-athlete suffered.
Evaluating Damages for Fort Lauderdale Sports Injuries
Our team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers also pays careful attention to evaluating the full scope of harm our clients have suffered. We work to make sure that when we take legal action on our clients’ behalf, we seek every last dollar of compensation they deserve.
Every case differs, but in a typical lawsuit seeking damages for a Fort Lauderdale sports injury, our clients may have the right to seek payment for:
- Medical expenses related to treating their sports injury, including costs of hospitalization, surgeries, PT, rehab, medication, and medical equipment;
- Non-medical expenses our clients face because of their injuries, such as costs of modifying living spaces to accommodate injury-related disabilities;
- Lost wages, income, and financial opportunities our clients or, in some cases, their parents, could not earn, and may not earn or receive in the future, because of a sports injury;
- Pain and suffering, which includes physical discomfort, mental anguish, diminished quality of life, and the inability to participate in sports; and
- Sometimes, punitive damages to punish the party at-fault for a sports injury.
Contact the team at The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers today to learn about what kinds of compensation you may have the right to receive after sustaining a sports injury in Fort Lauderdale.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fort Lauderdale Sports Injury Cases
Athletes who suffer sports injuries, and their parents, frequently have loads of questions to ask us about their rights and options. Below we answer some of the most common questions we hear. Contact us today to discuss any specific questions you have.
How much is my Fort Lauderdale sports injury claim worth?
It depends on the facts and circumstances of your case.
Generally speaking, the value of a legal claim depends on:
- The severity of your injuries and their impact on your life, which figures into the amounts of your medical and other costs and your lost financial gains, as well as your pain, suffering, and loss of ability to play;
- The strength of the evidence supporting your claim, and how well your attorneys can assemble that evidence and present it in a compelling way to defense lawyers, insurance companies, judges, and juries; and
- The money the parties at-fault have available, either through insurance or assets, to pay damages to you.
No Fort Lauderdale sports injury lawyer can guarantee that you will receive money for the harm you suffered. However, you can improve your chances of obtaining top-dollar compensation by retaining a law firm to represent you, like The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers.
I am an NCAA college athlete. Does insurance cover my injuries?
That is a broad question with many potential answers. As a basic proposition, chances are good that at least some insurance covers at least some of your NCAA sports-related injuries and losses.
For example:
- Your school may carry athletic health insurance to cover costs associated with treating your injury;
- Your school may carry catastrophic injury insurance to protect you against the costs of severe injuries;
- Certain athletes may have coverage under long-term disability insurance plans that protect them against injuries ending their careers at an elite level;
- Some elite athletes may also carry loss-of-value (LOV) insurance that covers them against diminution of their market value in a pro draft or similar opportunities;
- Your parents’ own health, disability, and other insurance policies, if you are covered under them, may also cover some of your costs; and
- Liability insurance carried by the parties at-fault for your injuries may also cover you, if you take legal action seeking compensation with the help of an experienced sports injury lawyer.
Call us for help determining what insurance may cover you, and for help getting that insurance policy to pay you what you deserve.
Can I sue for the loss of the value of my college athletic scholarship?
Potentially.
Sports injuries sometimes, tragically in our view, result in athletes losing their college scholarships. If they want to continue with their education, then they may have to pay tuition that their scholarship once covered. It makes sense, then, that the party at-fault for causing an athlete’s injury should compensate the athlete for the cost of continuing his or her education.
Loss of scholarships due to injuries constitutes a hot topic that continues to evolve. Recently, Congress took up proposed legislation that would guarantee student-athletes’ scholarships, even if they suffered injuries that curtailed or ended their playing careers. At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, our team monitors developments in college athletics to ensure that we seek the most advantageous outcomes for our clients who sustain collegiate sports injuries.
Is a concussion a sports injury I can sue for?
Yes, if:
- Someone else’s careless or reckless actions caused it
- A league or school failed to develop concussion protocols or properly train coaches and game officials in its implementation
- Coaches, athletic trainers, or game officials failed to follow concussion protocols
A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that carries with it potentially serious, long-term health consequences. Athletes who suffer one concussion face a heightened risk of suffering a successive one. Concussions can also cause debilitating cognitive, motor, physical and emotional impairments that interfere with school and work. Long-term symptoms can include persistent headaches, light and sound sensitivity, brain fog, sleep disruption, and fatigue.
Perhaps even more frighteningly, science has begun to emerge that concussions and microtraumas suffered early in life—particularly from playing sports—can dramatically increase a person’s risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease that causes symptoms akin to dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Concussions once had the reputation as the sort of no-big-deal injury that comes with the territory when you play sports, like an ankle sprain or a sore muscle. We now know that is not the case. Concussions are serious brain injuries. Speak with an attorney from The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers in Fort Lauderdale if you or your loved one suffered a preventable concussion in connection with playing sports.
Driven Sports Injury Lawyers in Fort Lauderdale
Sports should enhance our lives, not destroy them.
No athlete should suffer injuries because of someone else’s careless or reckless behavior. In particular, we trust coaches, schools, and sports organizations to protect our young athletes from harm during practices and competitions. If they fall short of our expectations, then they should face legal and financial accountability for the harm they cause.
At The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers, we fight to make sure that victims of other people’s negligence and wrongful actions pay full and fair compensation to our injured clients. If you or an athlete in your life has suffered a preventable sports injury in Fort Lauderdale, then we invite you to contact us online or to call our Fort Lauderdale office at (954) 715-3260 to talk with an attorney who can help you understand your rights and options.
The Levin Firm Personal Injury Lawyers | Fort Lauderdale Office
820 NW 7th Terr
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334
954-715-3260