Tampa Bay Personal Injury Lawyers

Following an accident in which you sustained an injury, there are certain steps that you should take leading up to a case.

Immediately after an accident:

• Seek immediate treatment for injuries if needed
• Take photos of your injuries
• Exchange information with all parties involved
• Adhere to the doctor’s care plan and be sure to attend follow-up appointments on time
• Write down your version of events as you remember them soon after the accident, while your memory is fresh
• Construct a list of witnesses and include their contact information if available
• Preserve any evidence recovered from the accident, including physical and photographic evidence
• Follow the advice of a personal injury attorney

Additionally, avoid admitting fault or apologizing for an accident at any point, as this can hurt your chances of recovering compensation, even if you were not actually at fault.

If you are not sure whether you have a viable personal injury case, consult with an experienced and qualified personal injury lawyer in Tampa Bay to discuss your options. A consultation is free to attend and will entail evaluating your case. The lawyer will help determine who is responsible for an accident and the kind of compensation you may be eligible to receive. Generally, you may have a valid personal injury case if someone’s negligence resulted in an accident and subsequent injuries. However, it is often difficult to make this determination, which is why consulting with a lawyer is in your best interest.

A personal injury is any injury that makes negligent parties legally liable if their negligence caused the injury. The responsible party in these cases could include individuals or companies who cause accidents and injuries through their negligence. If you are the victim of an accident that another party caused, you may seek compensation through a personal injury claim or civil lawsuit.

Unlike criminal cases in which individuals are charged with crimes and face a sentence, personal injury cases qualify as civil cases. These cases involve lawsuits that may lead the courts and insurance companies to determine liability, requiring the defendant to pay monetary compensation to injury victims. These cases cover many accidents and injuries, including motor vehicle accidents, defective product accidents, slip and falls, and some work-related injuries.

There are a few different types of compensation that personal injury victims may recover in a case. These include special, general, and punitive damages.

Special (Economic) Damages

Special damages, also known as economic or monetary damages, include damages culminating in financial expenses following an accident. They are easy to quantify and usually come with a specific dollar amount attached to them.

Some examples of special damages include:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Lost earning capacity
• Cost of future medical care
• Household costs

General (Non-Economic) Damages

Also referred to as non-economic or non-monetary damages, general damages account for damages that do not have a specific monetary value attributed to them. These damages address “general” harm experienced in an injury.

There are several kinds of general damages that victims may be awarded, such as:

• Pain and suffering
• Mental distress, including anxiety and depression
• Loss of consortium or companionship

Punitive Damages

In rare instances, a settlement may include punitive damages, which do not compensate the injury victim for other damages. The courts may award these damages to punish a defendant for particularly egregious behavior, such as gross negligence. They essentially set an example to help deter the defendant and others from committing the same negligent acts.

The amount a case is worth depends on the nature of the accident and injuries sustained and will not be clear from the start. You can discuss potential compensation with a Tampa Bay personal injury lawyer, who may help determine how much your case is actually worth. At the same time, you should understand that attorneys cannot promise any amount of compensation or make a prediction about the final settlement. The total amount you may collect will depend on several factors, including the at-fault parties’ insurance and assets, along with the victims’ insurance.

In personal injury cases, the amount and strength of the evidence to support your claim will determine the maximum settlement. It is important to understand the different types of damages involved in your case and gather evidence that proves each type of damage, along with evidence that proves that these damages resulted from the defending party’s negligence. In addition, you will need to prepare court filings based on Florida personal injury law.

After filing a claim, the claimant will serve the defending party with a copy of the paperwork and wait for them to reply. After receiving a response, you can begin building your personal injury case in Tampa Bay by collecting medical records, contacting witnesses, and gathering evidence from the defendant. The parties involved will also have time to develop and bring motions to the court.

Depending on how the case proceeds, your attorney may try to resolve the case via settlement by negotiating with the other party. Claimants may also engage in a formal dispute resolution, such as mediation. Once you and your attorney have resolved the case, you can collect a payment, ending the claims process. In some cases, a claim may turn into a lawsuit that takes the case to trial. In these instances, your attorney would present your case and request a fair outcome from the jury.

Even if you do not feel pain at the scene of the accident and do not feel injured in general, this may be due to a rush of adrenaline that accident victims often experience immediately afterward. However, you may begin to feel serious symptoms later in the hours, days, or weeks after an accident, particularly if an internal injury worsens. To make sure you are not injured after an accident and begin the recovery process as soon as possible if you sustained an injury, consult a medical professional, regardless of the amount of pain you feel. Ultimately, if your doctor discovers that you are injured, you may be able to file a personal injury claim.

After filing a personal injury claim, the duration of the claims process can last anywhere from months to years. Every personal injury claim is unique and includes varying factors that influence the amount of time it takes to settle. Depending on the circumstances of a case and whether it goes to trial, a case can take as long as one to two years to settle.

The deadline to file a personal injury claim depends on the statute of limitations in the state where you want to file. Florida’s statute of limitations is four years from the time of the accident, according to Section 95.11. Although some exceptions extend the statute of limitations for personal injury cases and others, they rarely apply, making it important not to assume that an exception will apply to your case. For example, some cases may involve victims who were minors at the time of the accident and who may wish to file a claim after reaching the age of consent.

Regardless of how long you have to file a claim, you should begin the claims process as soon as possible to increase your chances of reaching a favorable settlement. The sooner you generate medical records and begin building your case, the more you will be able to prove the scope of damages and liability.

Because the defendant’s insurer would not pay out compensation until liability is definitively established, injury victims will need to cover these expenses in the meantime. If the case involves a motor vehicle accident, you may be able to use Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance coverage to pay for expenses if your policy includes it. In other cases, health insurance coverage may help pay for treatment. In the case of a workplace injury, workers’ compensation benefits may cover these expenses.

If you are injured and require treatment without insurance, some hospitals and doctors may agree to provide treatment under the condition that you pay them later through your anticipated settlement.

Even if you have a pre-existing condition at the time of an accident, you can still receive compensation for damages resulting from someone else’s negligence. Although the pre-existing condition may lower the amount of compensation recoverable, victims can still hold negligent parties liable for aggravating the condition. If you suffer from a worsened pre-existing condition or other injuries on top of that condition, hiring an attorney is likely in your best interest, as these cases can be more complex than others.

Yes. If you file a personal injury claim without the help of a lawyer, you would need to meet the same standards when filing as you did. Insurance companies and courts will require you to adhere to the formalities for case filing documents. Additionally, rules around the admission of evidence, discovery, and civil procedure are equally relevant. This means that if you make any mistakes throughout the claims process, it could severely damage your case.

If you are not experienced with personal injury law in Florida, work with a licensed, reputable Tampa Bay personal injury attorney. The right lawyer will collect evidence and prepare your case, including all the necessary paperwork. In the process, you will have a much better chance of a successful claim.

To help injury victims seek justice for their injuries against liable parties, good personal injury lawyers would not charge clients for attorney’s fees until they have reached a positive outcome in a case. In Tampa Bay and the rest of Florida, attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means you do not have to pay until your attorney settles. Once you have reached an agreeable settlement, a small percentage of the payment you receive will cover legal services rendered.

Additionally, attorneys deduct costs that they paid upfront to enable clients to proceed with their personal injury cases. If you have questions about payment, your attorney should discuss payment with you to eliminate any uncertainty.

These answers may help you better understand how personal injury cases work in the Tampa Bay area. Consider speaking with a reputable personal injury attorney at Lucas, Macyszyn & Dyer Law Firm if you have additional questions. If you have a valid personal injury case, we can represent you. To discuss a potential case and determine if you qualify for compensation through a personal injury claim in Tampa Bay, contact us today.