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Florida Injury Attorney Blawg

Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Liability (or not) for Open & Obvious Dangerous Conditions
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

Owners and occupiers of premises have a duty to warn invitees (e.g., shoppers in mall, residents of condominium) of latent or concealed perils of which they know or should know. Krol v. City of Orlando, 778 So. 2d 492 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001). Conditions such as uneven floor levels and sidewalk curbs have been found…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Avoiding Workers’ Compensation Immunity by Estoppel — Not So Fast!
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

Florida’s civil liability and workers’ compensation systems handle legal matters for people injured or who have died in accidents. The systems have some similarities and differences. The biggest differences are that the plaintiff must prove fault to recover under civil law, and recoveries for non-economic damages (such as pain and suffering) are not available in…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Look Past Native Indian Sovereign Immunity for Private Party Personal Injury Liability
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

In Florida, Native American tribes operate popular business establishments. On occasion, patrons frequenting the establishments are hurt by dangerous conditions created through negligence. The U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 2, Clause 3; Article I, Section 8; The Fourteenth Amendment), treaties, and laws, authorize Native American tribes to govern themselves as sovereign nations within the United…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Abuse of Power
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

Republicans control all phases of lawmaking at the state level in Florida. This has been the case since the election of Jeb Bush as governor in 1998, complementing their majorities in the Florida House and Senate. Presently, they rule by supermajority in the Legislature, meaning they don’t have to negotiate with members of other parties…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // The Long Evolution of Attorney’s Fees in Florida Workers’ Compensation
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

For as long as our law firm has been handling Florida workers’ compensation cases, the amount injured workers’ attorneys may receive as a fee has always been a hot topic. The two main factors driving the conversation are the injured workers’ share of a recovery, typically through a settlement, and limiting litigation. While the Florida…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Recovering Uninsured (UM) Motorist Benefits for Injuries Caused by Road Debris
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

Florida motor vehicle insurance policies offer a variety of coverages. PIP and Property Damage — Liability are mandatory coverages. Others, like bodily injury and uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) are not. An uninsured vehicle is one that does not maintain bodily injury coverage or, like a hit-and-run phantom vehicle, cannot be identified. Interestingly, UM coverage may be…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Employer/Carrier Cannot Stick its Head in the Ground on Attendant Care Benefits
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

Some injured workers are hurt so badly that they require attendant care. This benefit can take many forms, from active assistance with such things as eating and bathing, to what is called surveillance, or oversight. As written, Florida Statute 440.13(2)(b) seemingly places the full burden on the injured worker to provide the employer/carrier (E/C) with…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Procedure for Florida Workers’ Compensation One-Time (1x) Change Request
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

For the most part, Florida workers involved in industrial accidents have little control over which medical providers are authorized to treat them under the state’s workers’ compensation system. Control of the medical care is mostly held by the employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers (E/C). Section 440.13, Florida Statutes lays out the parameters regarding…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Difference Between Workers’ Compensation Lien and Medicare Lien in Death Cases
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

A lien is a claim held by a party against the settlement or judgment in a personal injury or death case for reimbursement of damages it has paid in the case. This blog will discuss two types of liens commonly arising in death cases, the Medicare lien and the workers’ compensation lien. Medicare pays medical…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Sovereign Immunity (“The King can do no wrong”) Harms We the People
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A.

One of the primary public policy reasons for having a robust civil justice system that is able to exact full compensatory damages from negligent actors is to encourage safe conduct. Short of criminal punishment, nothing motivates people and corporations to act responsibly more than the threat of losing money. Sovereign Immunity is a legal concept…

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