Personal Injury Blog

In the case of Koppel v. Ochoa, Case Number SC16-1474 (May 17, 2018), the Florida Supreme Court held that the filing a motion for enlargement of time does not automatically extend the deadline to extend a proposal for settlement. What Happened In The Case This case arose from a 2011...

In the case of Target Corporation v. Kaufer, 4D16-3413 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018) a jury verdict for the plaintiff was reversed on appeal where, as a matter of law, Target could not be held legally responsible for the actions of another customer dripping soap on a waxed and...

In the case of Simon’s Trucking, Inc. v. Lieupo, Case Number 1D17-2065, the First DCA held that section 376.313, Fla. Stat. does not permit a private right of action for personal injuries and certified a question of great public importance to the Florida Supreme Court. Facts Of...

The So-Called One Expert Per Specialty Rule The “one expert per specialty” rule was addressed in Gutierrez v. Vargas, SC15-1924 (March 22, 2018) by the Florida Supreme Court. What Happened in the Case Gutierrez (a minor child) brought a medical malpractice case against...

What happens when one of the survivors in a wrongful death case bears some degree of fault and there was a settlement? The answer to this question can be found in Hess v. Hess, 758 So. 2d 1203 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) in that the probate judge should determine comparative fault among the...

It is very important to know what caused you to slip and fall.  In the case of Lago v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, Case Number 3D16-1899 (December 13, 2017), summary judgment was given to Costco because the claimant could not offer evidence as to what caused her to slip and...

The insurance company denied UM (underinsured motorist) coverage for a golf cart accident based on a policy exclusion in Amica Mutual Insurance Company v. Willis, Case Number 2D16-2319 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). The Second DCA held that the insurance policy in question could not exclude UM...

In Florida, there is generally not a duty for a person to take affirmative action to protect or provide aid to another unless there is a “special relationship” that exists.  A “special relationship” exists under a number of different scenarios including...

In Rasinski v. McCoy, (Case Number 5D15-4423), Florida’s Fifth DCA defines the standard necessary to prove a future loss of earning capacity as only requiring a showing of “reasonable certainty.” Facts Of The Case Rasinski caused an accident which resulted in an...

In Gonzalez v. Stoneybrook West Golf Club, (Case Number 5D16-2680), summary judgment in favor of the golf course was reversed because sufficient evidence existed that the golf course could be held responsible for an accident between their patron and a third person off the premises. A...

In Harrison v. Gregory, (5D16-1037 and 5D16-2552), the Fifth DCA reversed a trial verdict where the plaintiff’s attorney had mentioned to the jury that apportioning 50% or more to the plaintiff would result in “no recovery.” Both the trial court and the Fifth DCA...

Many personal injury and car accident cases involve relatively “minor” injuries. Insurance companies like to treat these cases as fraud and they defend them by trying to make the plaintiff out to be a liar. However, “minor” injuries may be “minor”...

Amendments to the federal Medicaid Act that took effect on October 1, 2017 are changing the way that Medicaid liens attach to personal injury settlements in Florida and across the nation. UPDATE- This change in the law was superseded by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA) passed...

With recent accusations and settlements in the entertainment industry, the issue of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace has become a multi-million dollar legal issue to business owners and insurance companies. Here’s What You Need To Know About Litigating A...

The world of personal injury litigation is one of the most hotly contested areas of law and is a sore subject of political debate across the United States. There are some people who feel that the civil justice system is broken while others believe that the civil justice system,...

Personal injury lawyers in Florida have become very competitive about getting new cases. While every law firms needs new cases to survive, as a consumer you should be aware of some of the advertising tricks that personal injury lawyers in your area are using. “The Insurance...

The summer of 2017 was a hot time for appeals on proposals for settlement in Florida. In Dowd v. GEICO General Insurance Company (3D15-1725)(June 28, 2017), the Third DCA lets a plaintiff injured in a crosswalk accident off the hook for responsibility while the Fourth DCA in Sherman...

Statistics show that fewer lawsuits for car accidents, medical malpractice, and product liability claims are being filed in American courts. By The Numbers The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has indicated the following statistics: In 1993, 10 out of 1,000 Americans filed a...

An Uber driver got into an argument with wet riders who called for a ride from Adventure Island that resulted in the driver firing his gun while on the job.  The Uber driver now claims that the discharge was “accidental.”  Discharging a firearm in public is a...

Daniel R. Fernandez and his attorney, Dax J. Lonetto, Sr., have taken their appeal of an administrative decision on the cost of medical records to the Florida Supreme Court in Fernandez v. Department of Health, et al., SC17-1165. This case began when Healthport Technologies, which is...