Every insurance policy issued in Florida contains the requirement, in some form or another, that the insurance company be put on notice of the claim and certain other claim events. Failure to provide notice in accordance with the policy’s terms may allow the insurance carrier to deny the claim. Florida…
While personal injury litigation in Florida courts is not supposed to be a game of “gotcha,” or trial by ambush, Surf Drugs, Inc. v. Vermette, 236 So.108, 111 Fla.1970,” unless attorneys pay careful attention, it can happen in their cases. One of the ripest areas for this gamesmanship to occur…
Plaintiffs personal injury lawyers typically have preferences in which medical providers they use to treat and render expert opinions on such issues as causation, disability, and prognosis. This is often due to familiarity and confidence in the provider’s competence. It is sometimes dictated by financial considerations. Many people are uninsured…
Expert testimony plays a major role in almost every civil and criminal legal case. In Florida state courts expert testimony is governed by sections 90.702-90.706, Florida Statutes. The goal of the statutes is to insure fairness and impartiality in the trial of cases. The standard for when expert testimony is…
Payments made by health insurance and Medicare must be repaid by the beneficiary of the payments from money recovered in the personal injury case for which the medical care was furnished. (Note: PIP, which is no-fault insurance for medical bills in car accidents, does not have to be reimbursed.) In…
Because Florida workers’ compensation permanent total disability (PTD) benefits are paid at the rate of 66-2/3% of an injured worker’s average weekly wage (AWW), an employee qualifying for both PTD and Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits may be in line to receive combined payments in excess of his or her…
Most Florida insurance policies require the insured to give notice of a loss to the insurer within a prescribed period of time, typically 30-60 days. The reason for the requirement is to allow the insurer to investigate the claim while the facts are fresh. While late reporting is presumed to…
For Florida accident victims and those who care for and about them, the tyrannical reign of Jeb [Bush] the Horrible (Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007) continues to haunt. Once upon a time in Florida, employees hurt at work could sue their employers in tort by proving that an…
Florida law has long recognized that a car is a dangerous instrumentality. (The dangerous instrumentality doctrine was adopted in Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson, 80 Fla. 441, 86 So. 629 (1920).) This is based on the simple fact that a car, in the wrong hands and used improperly, is…
Our previous blog addressed the procedure for satisfying Medicaid’s lien from money received in Florida personal injury cases from liable third parties.The present blog will focus on satisfying Medicare’s lien from third party proceeds. The leading case on the issue is Hadden v. United States, 661 F.3d 298 (6th Cir.…