We hear a lot about the safety of our cruise lines, and about the federal maritime laws that differ from the state laws that we are used to when it comes to suing for injuries that are sustained while on a cruise. On top of the normal difficulties involved in these kinds of cases, a new layer of complexity is …
Why Injury Victims’ Spouses May Want to Consider a Loss of Consortium Claim
When someone is injured in an accident, particularly one that causes catastrophic, life altering injuries, the injured victim often is not the only victim whose life is turned upside down as a result of the injuries. The victim often has family, who are left to deal with their loved one’s injuries. As a family member of an injured person, you …
Florida Supreme Court Limits Medical Malpractice Arbitration Clause
When victims who have sustained personal injuries think about difficulties that they may encounter in their case, they may think about stubborn defendants, or whether a jury will be convinced that they have suffered as much as they have. Most will not give much thought to arbitration problems. But arbitration clauses, which are largely anti-consumer and anti-victim, can significantly impact …
How Presumptions Influence Car Accident Cases
When a personal injury case goes to trial, it is assumed that all parties start at zero—that is, that there is no assumption by the judge or the jury before the trial starts that anybody is or is not negligent, but rather, that the parties must prove through evidence their liability or defenses to liability. Presumptions and Their Effect This …
Common Mistakes Injury Victims Make
There is much information written on what those who are victims of personal injury should and should not do. Checklists abound on the internet for accident victims to follow, to make sure that they get the care they need and preserve their right to get reparation for injuries. Many of those checklists list simple things to do or not do …
Closing Argument Rules in Personal Injury Trials
Even those totally unfamiliar with the legal system or how courts or personal injury trials work are familiar with one part of every trial – the closing argument. The closing argument has become the juiciest, most interesting part of trials for the general public. Great legal movies are based on dramatic closing arguments, and TV shows that will condense the …
Can an Employer Be Liable for Punitive Damages for an Employee’s Actions?
In the world of damages, no type of damage is as well known as punitive damages. Victim advocates cite punitive damages as a way to ensure fairness in the world and to make sure that companies that act recklessly pay in accordance to the harm they cause. Tort reform advocates say that punitive damages lead to runaway juries and hurt …
Nursing Home Safety Starts With Common Sense
Sometimes we think that lawyers only give legal advice. While attorneys who counsel injury victims and handle personal injury cases certainly should be trained legal advisors, we also are pretty good about giving common sense life advice that can help you and your family stay safe. Nowhere is that kind of advice as important as it is when it comes …
Showing You Have a Permanent Injury is Required When No-Fault Insurance is Involved
When you are injured in a car accident that is not your fault, it would seem that if the other driver involved in the crash was negligent and you are injured, that generally, you should be entitled to recover for your injuries. In fact, basic law school text teaches us that negligence law involves having a duty of care, breaching …
Our Firm Wins Legal Challenge to Our Client’s Right to Sue a Cruise Line for Medical Malpractice
We recently wrote about the difficulties of suing cruise lines when people are injured aboard a cruise. The mix of punitive contractual provisions, federal maritime law, and choice of law and venue issues, make them difficult cases. Recently, our firm won a victory in court on behalf of one of our clients against a cruise line involving complex issues of …