Florida Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

Upon registering their car in the state, Florida residents must provide proof that they have purchased personal injury protection (PIP) insurance policy of at least $10,000. This allows for the coverage of medical expenses and a portion of lost wages incurred after an individual has been in a car accident, regardless of fault. Your PIP policy can also provide coverage of expenses if you or a member of your household is involved in an accident as a bicyclist or pedestrian, as well.

Car accidents are the most common cause of spinal cord injuries experienced by people in Florida. However, as you've noted, $10,000 is not enough money to cover the extraordinary cost of this type of injury.

Your Florida spinal cord injury lawsuit can provide more compensation and cover a wider array of damages than just medical expenses and lost wages. In a Florida spinal cord injury lawsuit, you must prove both the number of damages you have sustained as well as proving that someone else is liable for the accident that caused your injuries.

Your injuries must meet the state's serious injury threshold to bypass the PIP requirement and file a Florida spinal cord injury lawsuit.

Your injury must result in any of the following to qualify:

• Significant and permanent loss of a bodily organ or function
• Permanent injury
• Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement
• Death

Because the damage caused by a spinal cord injury often results in a loss of sensation and function below the site of the injury, you can lose many bodily functions, such as the ability to walk, move independently, or even—in severe cases—the ability to breathe without help. These losses are almost always permanent.

Damage is a term that refers to the expenses that have resulted from your injury.

These are known as economic damages and include:

• Medical expenses, including emergency treatment at the scene or in the emergency department, diagnostic testing, hospitalization, physician and surgical services, prescription medication, physical therapy, and rehabilitation (this category of damages also includes estimated future medical treatment. Spinal cord injuries often cause lifelong complications that involve the need for medical treatment throughout the remainder of the sufferer's life)
• Lost wages resulting from being too injured to work
• Loss of future earning capacity if you can't return to the job you were working before the injury, or you cannot work at all due to the severity of your injury
• The cost of repairing or replacing property that was damaged in the accident, such as your vehicle if your spinal cord injury was the result of a motor vehicle accident
• The cost of performing household services that you can no longer accomplish on your own as a result of your injury

In addition to economic damages, there is also the ability to claim damages relating to the impacts that the injury has had—or will have—on your life. These are known as non-economic damages.

Examples of this type of damage include:

• Physical pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of the enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium, which is a damage claimed on behalf of the injured person's spouse for loss of physical intimacy and companionship due to the injury

To prove that someone else is liable—which means legally responsible—for your injury, you must show the following elements:

• The at-fault party owed you a duty of care. This duty of care depends on the circumstances in your case. For example, in a car accident case, the at-fault driver's duty of care would be to operate his or her motor vehicle safely and legally.
• There was a breach in the duty of care. The breach refers to the actions that the at-fault party took that were contrary to the duty of care that he or she owed to you. To use the car accident example, the breach could refer to distracted driving, alcohol impairment, speeding, or another type of driving misbehavior that is contrary to operating a motor vehicle safely and legally.
• This breach caused the accident that resulted in your injuries and subsequent expenses and impacts.

Your attorney will investigate your case to gather evidence and speak with witnesses whose testimony can help prove liability. Additionally, experienced accident attorneys value the networks they have with experts such as accident reconstruction specialists and medical professionals who can also offer their expertise to strengthen your case.

Yes, the cost of the personal assistant that you hired to help with the costs of your daily care is an economic damage that you can recover through the Florida spinal cord injury claims process, as are other out-of-pocket expenses you have incurred directly as a result of your injury.

Have you spoken with an experienced spinal cord injury lawyer in Florida? If not, then you should not accept the settlement until you do so. The reason for this is that insurance companies traditionally try to avoid large payouts for accidents by offering a quick settlement. 

Many people—faced with the pain of their injuries and the desperation of trying to understand how they are going to pay for their expenses—are tempted to take this quick, easy offer.

Unfortunately, with this type of injury, you won't know many expenses for quite some time. If they accept a quick and easy settlement, they cannot go back to the at-fault party and request more money as the need arises, and may be forced to cover the expenses through other means, often out-of-pocket.

An experienced spinal cord injury lawyer will properly value your case based on the full picture of your expenses—both those you've already incurred and will likely incur in the future—as well as the impacts you have faced or are likely to face.

Because each case is unique in its circumstances, expenses, and impacts, there is not really an average settlement for any type of Florida spinal cord injury case.

However, some factors can affect the value of your case, including:

• The amount of insurance the at-fault party carries: Insurance policies pay the vast majority of Florida spinal cord injury settlements or court awards. If the liable party in your case does not have insurance, you may file a Florida spinal cord injury lawsuit and even go to court and obtain a judgment in your favor. However, collecting the money that has been awarded to you will likely be difficult, as most individuals cannot afford to pay for damages out-of-pocket, particularly with high-value cases such as those that involve spinal cord injuries. Your attorney will look carefully at the details of your case to discover all sources of liability and all insurance resources that can be used to compensate you.
• The severity of your injury: Spinal cord injuries are almost always severe. However, there is a significant difference in the costs of an incomplete injury in which the person retains some motor function, and complete injuries occurring high up on the spine that results in paralysis of all of the limbs. The Christopher Reeve Foundation estimates that the former injury will cost around $347,000 in medical and living expenses for the first year of treatment and around $42,000 for each subsequent year. The latter will likely incur first-year costs of around $1 million, with the costs landing around $185,000 for medical treatment and living expenses each subsequent year.
• How old you are: Every life has extraordinary value. However, when it comes to valuing a spinal cord injury case, those in the middle of their careers are likely to seek a higher amount of damages relating to lost wages and loss of earning capacity than those who are young and haven't yet begun working, or those that are of retirement age and are no longer working. Estimated medical damages will be higher for younger people, who presumably will be incurring expenses each year to address the complications of their injury for a longer period of time than someone older.
• How patient you are: It will take time to determine your functional ability after your injury, as well as the severity of the impacts your spinal cord injury will have on your life. Other aspects of the legal process also take time, including the gathering of evidence, deposing of witnesses, negotiations, and even time waiting for a scheduled court date. Often, insurance companies will avoid paying fair compensation for injuries caused by their insured until they are faced with the even higher cost of litigation, or with an outcome likely to side in favor of the claimant. The fairest offer often does not come until just before trial begins, or even after the trial has begun but before a judgment has been made.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, because spinal cord injury settlements and awards are not considered income, they are not taxable. The exceptions to this notion include punitive damages, which are damages that are not related to your specific injury but are designed to punish the defendant for a particularly reckless behavior. 

Another exception involves itemized deductions that you have claimed on your taxes for medical expenses, which are later compensated through your settlement or award.

Many people avoid speaking to a lawyer after they've been injured because they fear they cannot afford attorney fees. However, this simply isn't true. Most personal injury firms provide free case evaluations, which allow you to talk to an attorney about your case and have your questions about the legal process answered at no cost to you.

Furthermore, most Florida spinal cord injury lawyers work on a contingent fee basis. What this means is that you will not be charged for the attorney's services until there is a successful outcome to your case. At that point, payment for the services is deducted directly from your settlement or award.

Spinal cord injuries are serious injuries with lifelong implications. Don't leave your recovery and your ability to pay for your expenses to chance. Talk to an experienced Florida spinal cord injury attorney as soon as possible.

It may not always be clear whether you need to bring your case to court. In some spinal cord injury cases, you may be able to avoid bringing your case to court by working with the insurance companies to secure a settlement that meets your needs. Unfortunately, many insurance companies are unwilling or unable to provide spinal cord injury victims with the compensation that is rightfully theirs. 

This is often because insurance companies are only required to pay out up to the limits of their policyholder's claim. If your damages exceed his limits, the insurance company will be under no obligation to compensate you. Instead, you may need to bring your case to court and have your case heard by a judge to recover any damages the insurance company did not compensate you for, as well as your non-economic damages.

The amount of time you have to file a spinal cord injury claim depends on whether you are filing a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death claim. Personal injury lawsuits for spinal cord injury victims have a statute of limitations of approximately four years under Florida Statutes § 95.11.

However, if you are the surviving family of someone who passed away from a fatal spinal cord injury, you would instead file a wrongful death lawsuit. These lawsuits have a statute of limitations of approximately two years. 

The exact date the statute of limitations will run out in your case can vary widely depending on when the accident occurred, when you were diagnosed with your injuries, and other factors. However, get your claim filed before the statute of limitations runs out or risk being barred from financial recovery.

It is difficult to say how long it will take to obtain compensation following your spinal cord injury. The amount of time it takes can vary wildly depending on who is responsible for your accident, what damages have impacted your life, and other factors. Your lawyer will need enough time to:

• Investigate the accident
• Calculate the value of your claim
• Negotiate with the insurance company
• Bring your case to court 

You can get a better idea of how long it might take to go through the claims process following your spinal cord injury when you speak with your attorney for legal guidance and support.

It is possible to be awarded punitive damages for a spinal cord injury. The judge and jury can award punitive damages as a way of punishing the liable party. If the defendant's actions were grossly negligent or abhorrent in some way, punitive damages might be appropriate. 

If you are awarded punitive damages, the amount of your injury settlement could be dramatically increased. However, keep in mind that punitive damages are rarely awarded.