Collateral sources, such as health insurance, workers’ compensation, Med-Pay, Medicare, and Medicaid, which pay the medical expenses of an injured party arising from a third party’s negligence acquire a subrogation or reimbursement right in payments made to the injured party by the third party. (In Florida, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance is the main exception to the rule.…
Not infrequently, the amount of money available following a wrongful death accident to fully satisfy outstanding debts (e.g., medical bills, funeral expenses, credit cards) and compensate survivors for their loss is inadequate. Where the settlement [in the wrongful death claim] is less than the full value of the claim, the personal representative is charged with employing a reasonable…
Florida’s motor vehicle insurance laws can be confusing, even to lawyers and judges. It is little wonder, then, that lay people often face unfortunate predicaments because of uninformed insurance decisions. One of the most common predicaments is the suspension of driving privileges and vehicle registrations following a motor vehicle crash. Vehicle insurance is a…
Our firm was recently retained by the grieving mother of a young adult killed in a motorcycle accident. Because her son was not married or the father of a child, she and the boy’s father can bring a civil claim for mental pain and suffering and funeral expenses against any party whose negligent conduct caused the accident. See…
Following a car crash, Florida car insurance companies are required to pay 80% of their own insureds’ medical expenses and 60% of their lost wages until coverage is exhausted at a combined $10,000. The requirement applies regardless of who caused the accident. In 1972, the Florida Legislature crafted a law, known as the “Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law,” for…
With the exception of strict liability cases, the burden is always on the plaintiff in personal injury cases to prove that the “[defendant’s] negligence probably caused the plaintiff’s injury,” with “probably” being the more likely than not/greater weight of the evidence standard. Gooding v. Univ. Hosp. Bldg., Inc., 445 So.2d 1015, 1018 (Fla.1984); see,…
A pharmacy owes a customer a duty of reasonable care. Reasonable care is the degree of care that an ordinarily prudent pharmacist would exercise under the same or similar circumstances. Marjorie A. Shields, Annotation, Exemplary or Punitive Damages for Pharmacist’s Wrongful Conduct in Preparing or Dispensing Medical Prescription—Cases Not Under Consumer Product…
Under common law, principals are generally not liable for the negligent acts of independent contractors. Interstate shipping companies took advantage of this standard to avoid liability for accidents caused by the owners of rigs who contracted to transport their goods. The practice allowed carriers to keep from having to purchase…
Personal injury plaintiffs bear the burden of proving the defendant was negligent. See Florida Standard Jury Instruction 415.11 – Civil Cases. Negligence is determined by measuring the defendant’s conduct against the behavior of a “reasonable person” under similar circumstances. In Florida, the burden requires proof by the greater weight of…
Our last blog discussed the liability of landowners for accidents caused by tree roots. Today’s blog addresses the liability of landowners for accidents caused by broken sidewalks. Every premises liability case analysis involving invitees begins here: “Generally, a property owner owes two duties to an invitee: (1) the duty to…