Florida Injury Attorney Blawg

Florida’s Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act (NICA) was designed to provide an exclusive, no-fault remedy for families of infants who suffer catastrophic birth injuries. But what happens when a family does not want NICA benefits and instead wishes to pursue a traditional medical malpractice claim in circuit court? Can defendants force a NICA determination through…

The competition to advance money to individuals injured in accidents is intense, driven by the prospect of a high return on investment. Numerous companies, including large national players, engage in this market, offering what is known as “non-recourse funding advances.” Because the only collateral is the injury claim itself—whether a workers’ compensation or personal injury…

In every negligence action for personal injury or wrongful death, the plaintiff must establish three core elements: (1) a duty owed by the defendant; (2) a breach of that duty; and (3) that the breach proximately caused the claimed damages. While duty and breach often dominate attention, proximate cause is the element that connects wrongdoing…

Some legal wrongs give the aggrieved party more than one avenue of redress. A common example arises when an injured person must choose between pursuing a remedy under common law or seeking benefits under Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Law, Chapter 440, Florida Statutes. However, once a path is chosen and pursued past a certain threshold, the…

Few provisions in Florida’s workers’ compensation law demand more careful attention from carriers than section 440.20(4), Florida Statutes. Commonly referred to as the “120-Day Rule,” this statute outlines the process for determining compensability of an injury and can create compensability by operation of law when not followed properly. The full statutory language is as follows:…

In our practice—focused on personal injury, medical negligence, workers’ compensation, and wrongful death—we routinely handle Medicare and health insurance liens. These entities often have statutory or contractual rights to be reimbursed from any settlement or judgment recovered from third parties, meaning those legally responsible for causing the harm. This article addresses a separate legal issue…

A similar principle applies to written instruments: ignorance of a document’s contents does not absolve a signatory of the responsibilities it imposes. We pursued a personal injury action in Broward County against a homeowner after our client sustained serious injuries on the homeowner’s property during a construction project. One of our central theories of liability…

We’ve all done it—cut across a landscaped area to save a few steps on the way from one public area to another. Most of the time, it’s harmless. But when someone trips and falls, the question arises: Who is responsible? Can the landowner be held liable? Or does the law essentially say, “cross at your…

Sovereign immunity stems from the medieval doctrine that “The King can do no wrong.” In Florida, this principle historically meant that government entities could not be held financially responsible for harm caused by their negligence. That changed in 1975, when the Florida Legislature enacted Section 768.28, Florida Statutes, which partially waived sovereign immunity. For the…

In Florida, owners and occupiers of property owe a duty to invitees—such as shoppers at a mall or residents of a condominium—to warn of latent or concealed dangers that they knew about or should have known about. Krol v. City of Orlando, 778 So. 2d 492 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). However, not all hazardous conditions…