Florida Injury Attorney Blawg

From: Jeff Gale jgale@jeffgalelaw.com Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2017 9:15 PM To: ‘bradley.rob@flsenate.gov’ Subject: Senate Bill 1582 (Workers’ Compensation) Dear Senator Bradley: I have been representing injured workers since 1990. As Florida’s 1st DCA wisely noted in 1985, in language adopted by the Florida Supreme Court in Castellanos v. Next Door Company, et al., a…

Our firm represented a gentleman who sustained life-threatening injuries after being struck by an SUV while standing next to his incapacitated truck on the side of Interstate 95 in Broward County, Florida. (See blog photo.) The accident happened in broad daylight during rush hour traffic. Following a tire blowout, our client had pulled his semi-tractor…

Countless times we have prepared witnesses to give sworn testimony. At the very outset we go over the basic rules: 1. Listen carefully to each question and make it is fully understood before answering; 2. Only answer the question asked. If that can be done with a simple yes or no, answer accordingly. If an…

Workers hurt on the job do not have an unlimited period of time in which to institute legal proceedings against employers and their insurance companies, herein collectively referred to as the “E/C,” to resolve disputes. Rights can be lost if not exercised timely. Florida statute 440.19 allows for the filing of a petition for benefits…

Florida’s workers’ compensation statute of limitations is outlined in section 440.19, Florida Statues (2017). The statute is particular with regard to the requirements workers’ compensation insurance carriers must satisfy to prevail on the SOL defense. This blog points out an approach not addressed in the statute which is used by carriers to bar claims through…

Section 440.13(5)(e), Florida Statutes (2016) limits who may give medical opinions in Florida workers’ compensation cases. (e) No medical opinion other than the opinion of a medical advisor appointed by the judge of compensation claims or the department, an independent medical examiner, or an authorized treating provider is admissible in proceedings before the judges of…

Forty plus years of misleading Big Business propaganda has left the American public with the false impression that bringing a personal injury lawsuit comes without risk to the plaintiff. People have come to believe, sometimes with righteous indignation, that most lawsuits are frivolous and result in the recovery of undeserved compensation without any negative consequences…

Stung from being held accountable by the Florida Supreme Court, Associated Industries of Florida (a/k/a Enemy of the People), commanded by Tom Feeney, he of the 2000 Presidential Election coup, is proposing, on behalf of itself and other workers’ compensation insurance companies, to abolish carrier-paid attorney’s fees. In Castellanos v. Next Door Company, the Florida…

In a case with far-reaching implications, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal ruled on February 1, 2017 that an Uber driver was not an employee of Uber. In McGillis v. Department of Economic Opportunity, the court decided that, based on the contract between the driver and Uber and the nature of their relationship, the driver…

With fault being a fundamental element in all but strict liability personal injury cases, it is often critically important for both sides of a dispute to be able to view certain photographs taken after an accident to help piece together the how and why of its occurrence. Common examples include accident-scene images showing the resting…