The three most common toxic gases – hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, and methane – can injure and kill, both slowly and instantaneously, at home and in the workplace. They are produced naturally. Where the potential exists, safety procedures and safety devices should be in place. HYDROGEN SULFIDE: Known as sewer…
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the term used to describe brain injuries caused by trauma. Common causes of TBI include motor vehicle accidents, sport incidents, and simple fall down accidents. Brain injuries can also be caused by chemicals, lack of oxygen (hypoxia), Tumors, infection, and stroke. No matter the cause,…
Florida Statute 768.0415 instructs that unmarried dependents of parents sustaining significant permanent injury through the negligence of others shall be compensated for damages including loss of services, comfort, companionship, and society. The compensation for damages under this statute is not limited to minors. It includes adult dependents. The “significant permanent…
Employees injured while working in accidents caused by third parties may be entitled to compensation through Florida’s workers’ compensation system and its personal injury laws. In the context of this blog, a third party is a person or company other than an injured worker’s employer. Examples include manufacturers of defective…
Because of the limits on compensation available to injured employees through Florida’s workers’ compensation system, Chapter 440, the preferred remedy in cases involving some negligence on the part of the employer is an action at law for damages on account of such injury or death. In contrast to workers’ compensation,…
The legal principle which binds a litigant to the path chosen to right a wrong is known as election of remedies. The principle should not be confused with the procedure of seeking alternative remedies within the same forum, best illustrated by a multi-count complaint asserting various legal theories of recovery.…
Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine imposes vicarious responsibility upon the owner or other possessor of a motor vehicle who voluntarily entrusts it to another for any subsequent negligent operation which injures a member of the traveling public. Jackson v. Hertz Corporation, 590 So.2d 929, 937. See Kraemer v. General Motors Acceptance…
Through legal doctrines such as those pertaining to dangerous instruments (e.g., motor vehicles), principals & agents, and employers & employees, passive tortfeasors can be held liable for the active negligence of others. An active tortfeasor is the person whose negligence has caused an accident, while a passive tortfeasor is the…
Job one of lawyers who represent individuals who have suffered personal injuries and/or property damage losses is to maximize the client’s recovery. The conventional thinking is that the recovery in every case is limited by the measure of actual damages, in other words, the recovery cannot exceed the loss. Surprisingly,…
The most important job of every personal injury lawyer is to maximize the amount of his or her client’s monetary recovery. The damage elements of every personal injury case are “pain & suffering” and economic damages (which includes lost wages, loss of earning capacity, out-of-pocket expenses, and past and future…