Were you recently injured in an accident in Florida? Our experienced Florida spinal cord injury lawyers at Shiner Law Group are ready to help fight for your legal rights and get the compensation you deserve. Call us today at (855) 462-6878 to speak with an attorney for a 100% free consultation.
You may be entitled to seek compensation for medical bills, loss of income, pain, and suffering, and more. Contact our Florida law offices to discuss the legal options that might be available to you following your accident that resulted in spinal cord injury. The next steps are very important. Let Shiner Law Group help you with your spinal cord injury case today.
Did You Suffer A Spinal Cord Injury In Florida?
A spinal cord injury can occur as the result of various types of incidents. While a fall is the most common, other ways that this type of injury can occur include playing sports, medical malpractice, and car accidents. An important detail about the spinal cord is that it’s very delicate and doesn’t require a lot of force for an injury to occur. It also controls numerous other areas of the body, which means that if something happens to the spinal cord, then the brain and other organs are usually impacted in some way.
Permanent injuries and sometimes paralysis can occur if there is an injury to the spinal cord. It’s also possible for the person to die as a result of an injury. If the injury occurs as a result of someone else’s negligence, then you or your family members can file a claim with the help of a Florida spinal cord injury attorney in order to obtain compensation for damages.
How to Choose a Florida Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer
After a spinal cord injury, you need to choose a lawyer who will fight for you to get the compensation that you deserve for everything from medical treatments to lost wages. A Florida spinal cord injury attorney should look at future medical treatments as well as future financial losses that you could endure when putting together a claim so that you’re protected for months and possibly years to come instead of only looking at the immediate future. Many insurance companies for the responsible party don’t want to pay out for the entire claim or don’t want to pay at all unless there is clear proof that the party accused of the negligent act is responsible.
Insurance companies tend to want to pay as little as they can get by with paying so that they don’t lose money, but this isn’t beneficial for you as you need to support your family while recovering. Sometimes, an insurance representative will try to get you to sign a settlement for the lowest amount, which is when an attorney is beneficial to have to fight for you because they will usually suggest that you wait until more pressure is given so that you obtain a larger amount.
How A Florida Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Can Help
A skilled attorney understands the laws surrounding spinal cord injuries and can begin putting together a proper claim and case as soon as you begin working with the office. A Florida spinal cord injury attorney can work with your doctors and the other members of your medical team in order to determine how long it could take to recover, how much your treatments could cost, and how the injury could impact the rest of your life.
Attorneys can also work with officers to get details about car accidents, reconstruction experts, and other specialists in the forensic field to get as much information as possible in order to determine exactly what happened when the injury occurred and who was at fault. An attorney has access to various resources that you might not have or know about in order to achieve the best results. The goal is for the legal team to focus on filing a claim and obtaining compensation so that you can recover and focus on being there for your family.
Where Spinal Cord Injuries Often Occur
If someone causes a spinal cord injury or any other injury for another person, then the person who caused the injury should be held responsible for compensating the other person for medical bills, treatments, and other damages. An attorney can look at the details of the incident that occurred to see if there are multiple people who could need to be held responsible for the injury instead of only one person.
Premises Injuries
Sometimes, accidents can take place in someone’s home. If the injury occurs in your own home, then they’re usually isn’t much that can be done in the way of obtaining compensation unless you were using a device that malfunctioned that led to the injury. However, if someone is injured in someone else’s home and it can be shown that the homeowner was at fault for not warning the victim of an issue in the house or if the homeowner caused the injury, then the homeowner would be the person who is held responsible. Burns, slip and fall incidents, and aggressive pets are some of the ways that you could suffer from a spinal cord injury while at someone’s home or while in your own home. The homeowner would be held responsible because of details involving premises liability if you’re on someone else’s property. An insurance policy will usually cover these incidents with the victim filing a claim against the company instead of the homeowner.
Slip and Fall
A common way that a spinal cord injury can occur is by slipping and falling or tripping and falling. The details of premises liability would come into play if you fall in a public place or in a business, such as a grocery store, restaurant, or sports venue. Owners of these locations are to let customers know if there are issues that could result in an injury and are to take proper precautions to provide a safe environment. If they don’t warn customers about wet floors, damages that could result in an injury, or obstacles that could result in an accident, then the owner can be held responsible. A business owner is sometimes held to a higher standard than a homeowner as the owner opens the doors of the business to customers, inviting them into the building to shop. This means that the owner needs to make proper arrangements to ensure that each customer is safe while in the business or close the business if it can’t be operated in a safe manner.
Medical Malpractice
When you have surgery or other medical treatments performed, a spinal injury can occur. Sometimes, the treatments that you get for spinal injuries can make the issue worse if the professional doesn’t perform the treatment in the correct way or is negligent in other areas when the treatment is performed.
Surgery is the most common scenario in which spinal cord injuries occur or when they are made worse due to complications that arise while trying to repair an injury. Doctors and other medical professionals are to provide the best care possible for patients and are held to a higher legal standard in the event that an injury occurs. If a doctor or professional doesn’t uphold these standards, then they can be held responsible for the negligent acts that are performed with multiple people possibly being charged with negligence instead of only the primary doctor involved.
Auto Accidents
If a driver commits an act that results in a car accident and someone else in the accident suffers a spinal cord injury, then the driver responsible driver can be charged with negligence and would then be held accountable for compensating those who are injured. Multiple people could be compensated in this situation if there is more than one person injured in the accident. The insurance company would be responsible for paying out the compensation amount instead of the driver unless the driver doesn’t have insurance at the time of the accident. In this situation, the driver could be charged with other violations and would be responsible for paying out the amount on their own. If more than one driver is at fault, then the compensation amount is usually divided among those who are responsible. Negotiations can take place between several companies, individuals, and attorneys for some time until a settlement is agreed upon and an amount awarded to the victim or victims of the accident.
Receiving Compensation Fro Florida Spinal Cord Injuries
The first step in getting the compensation that you deserve for your spinal cord injury is to determine who is negligent. When there are multiple people who could be held responsible or there is a company or multiple companies involved, then the process can become complicated and could take a bit longer than it would take if there were only one person who would be held responsible. Keep in mind that an insurance company will usually initially deny that the person involved is responsible so that they don’t have to pay out any money at all. This is when the burden of proof comes into play and when an attorney can show the proof that’s available with help from medical professionals and others who have information about the accident.
After the responsible party is determined, you then need to be able to show the value of the claim that’s filed. Lost wages, medical bills, and medical treatments are usually easy to prove. However, it becomes a bit more complicated when looking at the value for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and similar issues that can arise from a spinal cord injury as you deserve to be compensated for these as well. The job of the insurance company is to look at the values of the items that are claimed to try to reduce them. The job of your attorney is to try to come back with arguments that you deserve the value of the items listed in the claim and not accept a low offer simply to get the claim processed. Your attorney will be able to work in a fair manner to ensure that each detail of the claim is brought to the table so that it’s not missed in order for you to receive compensation for lost wages, future treatments, and the emotional and psychological trauma that you might experience.
Your attorney can work for you as long as needed, especially if an insurance company continues to try to work around the claim and offer a lower amount than is needed or that should be paid. Filing a claim against an insurance company or against a person responsible for the injury is sometimes all it takes for a claim to be settled as the person responsible usually doesn’t want to go through a lengthy battle or might not want their name getting out to other people about causing an accident. While talking with your attorney, you can decide which tactic would be the best to use so that you get the best results possible.
Common Issues With Spinal Cord Injuries
In the state of Florida, there are about 800 spinal cord injuries reported during the year with males suffering from this kind of injury more often than females. The average age for this kind of injury is between 16 and 34 due to this age group being more active and the types of jobs that this age group often works. A spinal cord injury can take months or even years to fully heal and can be one of the most debilitating due to the physical makeup of the area of the body and what the spinal cord controls.
Some people wonder if the personal insurance that they have is enough to cover this type of injury. When someone begins driving, they would need to obtain personal injury protection insurance at a value that’s usually around $10,000. This is typically enough to pay most of the medical bills and treatments as well as other damages in the event of an accident.
How A Florida Spinal Cord Injury Attorney Can Help
When filing a claim and trying to get around the personal injury requirement, you need to be able to demonstrate that the injuries that you receive are substantiated by the state’s threshold for serious injuries. There must be a loss of a function of an organ in the body, there must be a permanent injury, a significant or permanent scar must be present, or death must occur as a result of the injury before the threshold can be bypassed.
There are a few common damages that you could obtain as a result of a spinal cord injury. These include payment for medical expenses and treatments that are current and to cover those that might be incurred in the future. Lost wages and lost earning capacity in the future can also be included. You can also be compensated for property damage, pain and suffering, and the loss of enjoyment of life.
