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Last reviewed: October 2026
Florida Sexual Assault Lawyers
What happened to you was not your fault — and the criminal system is not your only path to justice. Florida civil law lets survivors hold accountable both the person who committed the assault and the companies and property owners whose negligence enabled it. Shiner Law Group represents survivors statewide with complete confidentiality, compassion, and no fee unless we win.
For Survivors: What a Civil Claim Can Do — On Your Terms
The criminal system prosecutes on the state's terms: the state's timeline, the state's burden of proof, the state's decision whether to proceed at all. A civil claim belongs to you. It seeks compensation for what you've endured — therapy and medical care, lost work, and the profound personal harm — and it can proceed whether or not there is a prosecution, a conviction, or even an arrest, because civil courts use a lower burden of proof than criminal courts.
Just as importantly, civil law reaches beyond the perpetrator. Assaults are so often enabled by negligence: the rideshare company's screening and safety failures, the hotel that ignored key control, the apartment complex with broken gates and dark corridors, the school or care facility that ignored warnings about someone in its charge. Florida law holds those institutions accountable — and unlike individual perpetrators, institutions carry insurance and assets that make real compensation possible.
We handle every survivor case with strict confidentiality — including, where appropriate, filing under a pseudonym (Jane or John Doe) to protect your identity — and at your pace. Talking to us commits you to nothing. You pay nothing unless we win.
No upfront cost, ever. Every case is handled on a strict contingency fee. Call (561) 777-7700 for a free, confidential consultation, available 24/7 from offices across Florida.
How We Represent Survivors
Confidential. Compassionate. On Your Terms.
One private conversation can tell you what your options are — with no obligation to pursue any of them. We're here whenever you're ready, 24/7.
Steps That Protect Your Options — Taken at Your Pace
There is no right way to survive this. These steps simply keep doors open — each one is your choice.
Your Safety and Health Come First
Medical care - including confidential exams - addresses your health and, if you choose, preserves evidence. Support resources and counseling matter as much as anything legal.
Preserve What Exists, If You Can
Messages, app records (like rideshare trip details), photos, clothing, and names of anyone you told - preserved evidence keeps options open, even if you decide later.
Reporting Is Your Choice
A police report creates records a civil claim can use - but a civil claim does not require one. We'll explain how each path works, without pressure toward either.
Write Down What You Remember
Privately, for yourself - details, timeline, and the people and places involved. Memory is evidence, and it fades.
Be Careful With the Company's 'Support' Teams
Rideshare platforms, hotels, and institutions have response teams that sound caring and work for the defense. Speak with your own counsel before giving statements.
Talk With Us - Confidentially
(561) 777-7700. A private conversation about your options, your deadlines, and how confidentiality is protected. No obligation, ever. 24/7.
Florida Law for Survivors: Claims, Confidentiality, and Time
Three things every survivor deserves to know before deciding anything.
Civil vs. Criminal
The civil claim is yours: your decision, your timeline within the law, a lower burden of proof, and compensation rather than punishment as its goal. It can proceed with or without a prosecution — and a criminal case's outcome doesn't decide the civil one.
Who Can Be Liable
The perpetrator — and every negligent enabler: rideshare companies (through statutory safety obligations and properly pled claims under Florida's current case law), hotels, bars, apartment operators (negligent security, including the § 768.0706 framework), employers who ignored warnings, and schools and care facilities responsible for those in their charge.
Time Limits — Including None at All
Florida's deadlines for these claims vary with the survivor's age and the claim's legal basis — and for sexual battery on victims under 16, Florida law allows civil claims to be brought at any time. Whatever your circumstances, a confidential consultation can tell you exactly where you stand before you decide anything.
Who Can Be Held Accountable
Behind many assaults stands an institution that made it possible — through failed screening, ignored complaints, absent security, or protection of a known abuser.
Institutional accountability is how survivors are compensated — and how the next person is protected.
Rideshare Platforms
Assaults by drivers - screening, monitoring, and safety-feature failures, with claims pled to meet Florida's current rideshare liability law
Hotels & Resorts
Key control, staff screening, and security failures that enabled assaults on guests
Apartments & Negligent Properties
Broken access control, dark corridors, and ignored complaints - negligent security claims
Workplaces
Employers who ignored complaints and warnings about employees and supervisors
Schools & Youth Organizations
Institutions that failed to protect the children in their care
Care Facilities
Assaults on vulnerable residents by staff and others the facility failed to screen or supervise
Harms the Civil Law Compensates
- Physical injuries and medical care
- Psychological trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and depression
- Therapy and counseling - past and future
- Lost income, missed work, and career disruption
- The profound personal and relational harms of assault
- Every case is confidential - and every survivor's harms are their own
What Can You Recover?
Therapy & Medical Care
All treatment - physical and psychological, past and future - the assault made necessary
Lost Income & Opportunity
Work missed, careers disrupted, and education interrupted
Pain & Suffering
The law's recognition of profound personal harm - valued with the seriousness it deserves
Future Care & Support
Long-term counseling and support needs, projected honestly
Punitive Damages
Available where institutions consciously disregarded known dangers
Accountability & Change
Cases that force institutions to fix what enabled the harm
How Institutions Defend These Cases — and How We Protect You
Institutional defendants defend these claims aggressively. Knowing their playbook — and your protections — matters.
Quick, Low Offers
An early check before the full extent of your injuries and future care is known
Recorded Statements
Friendly calls that lock in your account and look for words to use against you
Shifting Blame
Arguments that you share fault - under Florida’s 50% rule, every point matters
Gaps in Treatment
Missed or delayed appointments recast as proof you were not really hurt
Delay
Slow responses and repeated document requests while bills and pressure build
Disputed Causation
Claims that your injuries came from something other than this accident
Social Media Review
Photos and posts taken out of context to minimize your injuries
Broad Releases
Settlement papers that end every claim - sign nothing before a lawyer reviews it
The most important thing to know: the defense starts building its case before you have spoken to an attorney. Shiner Law Group levels this from day one. Call (561) 777-7700 before giving anyone a statement.
Shiner Law Group — $500M+ Recovered for Injured Floridians
That figure is the aggregate of recoveries across our Florida practice since 2002. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes — what matters is how your case is investigated, valued, and pressed.
across Florida
since our founding
4.9-star average
Why Injured Floridians Choose Shiner Law Group
Real Case Valuation
We calculate all damages — current and future, economic and non-economic — not just the obvious bills. No element of your claim is left on the table.
Leverage That Works
We counter delay tactics and lowball offers with evidence, expert analysis, and the credible threat of trial.
Statewide Presence
Offices across Florida — Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Port St. Lucie, Wellington & Orlando — with home and hospital visits anywhere in the state.
No Win, No Fee
Zero upfront cost, no retainer, no consultation fee. Our fee comes from the recovery, so our incentive matches yours.
David Shiner has represented injury victims throughout Florida since 2002, and his firm has recovered more than $500 million for injured clients and their families. Every case is handled on a strict No Win, No Fee basis. Call (561) 777-7700 for a free, confidential consultation.
Serving All of Florida From Offices Across the State
Home and hospital visits available anywhere in Florida. Call (561) 777-7700, available 24/7.
Questions Survivors Ask Us
Can I bring a civil claim if there was never a criminal case?+
Will my name be made public?+
How long do I have to file a claim in Florida?+
I was assaulted during a rideshare trip. Can the company be held responsible?+
What if the assault happened years ago?+
How much does this cost?+
Submit a FREE Case Review
Tell us what happened. We will evaluate your claim and explain your options. Confidential, no obligation, available 24/7.
Submit Your Details
Tell us what happened, where it occurred, and your injuries.
Case Evaluation
Our attorneys review your case and identify all liable parties and coverage.
We Fight for You
We build your claim, handle the defense, and pursue maximum compensation.
Free Case Review
Confidential · No obligation · Available 24/7 · Se Habla Espanol
You Deserve Justice — On Your Terms.
Maximum Compensation. Zero Upfront Cost. 24/7 Availability.
Shiner Law Group has recovered more than $500 million for injured Floridians and their families. No Win, No Fee. Free consultation available right now, anywhere in Florida.