Florida Injury Attorney Blawg

Little known by most lay people is that every plaintiff involved in litigation, even those who appear to walk away with favorable judgments, may be subject to court sanctions in the form of paying the defendant’s attorneys fees. The sanction can be imposed under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442, known as the Proposal for…

During the past 12 months we have represented a handful of former Southern Bell linemen injured in the course and scope of their employment. Each was hired by Southern Bell (subsequently Bellsouth, now AT&T) in the 1970s to repair and install telecommunication cable. They started working for Southern Bell in their 20s and stayed until…

There are numerous procedural, substantive, and even attitudinal differences in the way civil cases are handled between State and Federal Courts. The differences can determine the outcome of a case. In many instances, the line is sharp over which court system has jurisdiction, leaving little to no choice over which system will get the case.…

Success for the victim of a premises liability accident requires that he or she prove the defendant knew or should have known beforehand of the existence of the dangerous condition which caused the accident, and that the accident was foreseeable. One of the most effective ways of establishing these elements is through similar prior accidents.…

In March, I blogged about Florida’s new PIP law that had been approved by the Florida Legislature on March 9, 2012. (New Florida PIP Law (Effective 1/1/13) Hammers Consumers.) I believe that many aspects of the law are anti-consumer, however, I limited my blog conversation to an issue concerning medical benefits. Another aspect of which…

Some 80 years ago in Florida, workers’ compensation was substituted for the personal injury system as the nearly exclusive remedy for employees seeking compensation from employers for workplace accidents. The idea was that workers should not have to establish fault, a basic element of every personal injury case, in order to be compensated. In exchange…

Obviously, medical records are important for many reasons. They do not come without a price. Florida Statute Section 456.057 is titled “Ownership and Control of Patient Records; Report or Copies of Records to be Furnished,” and it defines the owner of medical records as the health care practitioner who generates a medical record after essentially…

“Chinese Overtime” is allowed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). See Overnight Motor Transp. Co. v. Missel, 316 U.S. 572 (1942) and 29 C.F.R. Section 778.114 (2010). It only comes into play for employees paid in accordance with the fluctuating workweek method. Fluctuating workweek pay is a salary as opposed to being paid by…

For those who think that all politicians are alike, that it doesn’t matter who is elected, think again. One need only look at what happened in the Florida legislature on Friday, March 9, 2012, to debunk the notion. Tea-party darling Florida Governor Rick Scott and his right-wing Republican cohorts rammed through an anti-consumer, pro-insurance industry…

In Stuart v. Hertz Corporation, 351 So.2d 703 (Fla. 1977), the Florida Supreme Court decided that the Hertz Corporation, whose vehicle injured a woman in an accident, was liable for the injuries she sustained from medical negligence while receiving care for her original injuries, and that Hertz could not bring the doctor into the case…