Sarasota Personal Injury Attorney
Although most of us attempt to use care when dealing with others, whether driving, running a business, or maintaining our property, accidents can and do happen. In Florida, when someone is injured as a result of another person’s negligence, he or she is often eligible to recover damages from the at-fault party to pay for medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering. However, an injured party will only be able to collect this compensation if he or she can demonstrate that the other party failed to use reasonable care, despite being required to do so, which can be a difficult task, so if you were injured as a result of someone else’s negligent or reckless conduct, it is critical to contact a Sarasota personal injury attorney before pursuing a claim.
Types of Personal Injury Claims
Unfortunately, there are a number of ways that a person, business, or agency’s negligence can contribute to someone else’s injuries. For this reason, personal injury lawsuits can provide compensation for injuries sustained in a wide range of accidents, including, but not limited to:
- Car crashes;
- Dog bites and animal attacks;
- Slip and fall accidents;
- Workplace accidents;
- Medical malpractice, such as misdiagnosis or surgical error;
- Bicycle and pedestrian accidents;
- Accidents involving commercial trucks; and
- Accidents involving defective consumer products.
- Past and future medical expenses;
- Lost wages;
- Property damage;
- Loss of future income;
- Permanent disability or disfigurement;
- Emotional distress; and
- Pain and suffering.
However, before an injured party can collect compensation for accident-related losses, he or she must prove that:
- The defendant owed him or her a duty to use ordinary care;
- The defendant failed to fulfill that duty; and
- He or she suffered an injury as a result of the defendant’s breach.
This can be a difficult feat, especially when an injury doesn’t manifest until days or weeks after an accident, so it is critical for those who have been injured in accidents through no fault of their own, to consult with an attorney about their legal options before filing a claim.
Potential Injuries
The types of injuries that a person sustains depends in large part on the kind of accident in which he or she was involved. For instance, many slip and fall victims suffer from broken bones and contusions, while it is much more likely that a car accident victim will suffer from whiplash, head trauma, and lacerations. Victims of defective consumer products, on the other hand, commonly report serious burns, cuts, and bruising, while motorcycle and bicycle accident victims often suffer from road rash, in addition to serious injuries, such as spinal cord damage and crushed bones. Regardless of the cause, these types of devastating injuries can require months of treatment and rehabilitation, even after which, a victim may still suffer from permanent disability.
In these cases, recovering damages from the person or entity who caused an accident is often the only way that an injured party can pay off medical debt and cover household expenses while recovering from his or her catastrophic injuries. This is especially true when the injured party is unable to return to work while he or she is rehabilitating. Fortunately, in Florida, it is still possible to recover damages even if the injured party was also somewhat at fault in causing the accident, although the damages that can be recovered will be reduced in proportion to the injured party’s degree of fault.
Establishing Negligence
Before a person will be successful when filing one of these types of claims, he or she must be able to demonstrate that a defendant was negligent, which requires proof that:
- The defendant was legally obligated to use ordinary care;
- The defendant breached that obligation; and
- The plaintiff suffered an injury as a result of the defendant’s breach.
Only when this burden is met can an injured victim recover damages from the at-fault party. It’s also important to note that an injured party is not required to be completely free of blame for an accident in order to recover. This is because Florida is a pure comparative negligence state, which means that all parties involved in an accident will be held liable for an amount that is proportionate to their degree of fault. If, for instance, a person was completely at fault for an accident, he or she would indeed be required to foot the entire bill for the resulting injuries. On the other hand, if it was determined that the plaintiff was actually 30 percent responsible for the accident, the defendant would only be obligated to pay 70 percent of the total damages to the injured party. Because the damages that an injured party can recover depends primarily on each person’s degree of fault, it is crucial for plaintiffs who have filed a claim against another person, to retain an experienced personal injury lawyer who can ensure that a thorough investigation is conducted and that all important evidence is presented to the court.
Call Today for a Free Consultation with a Sarasota Personal Injury Attorney
Those who are injured in accidents as a result of someone else’s negligence could be eligible to collect damages compensating them for past and future medical bills, lost wages, permanent disability, property damage, and pain and suffering. To learn more about filing your own claim, please contact the dedicated legal team at HD Law Partners by calling 800-876-3392 today.
