Contact fire rescue (for injuries) and the police from the accident scene. Take photographs of the vehicles – damage and location. Photograph visible injuries. Obtain names and contact information of independent eyewitnesses. Cooperate with law enforcement. Describe the accident and provide your motor vehicle insurance information. Before leaving the scene,…
The standard in Florida for determining fault for injuries caused by harmful substances in food is known as the “reasonable expectation” test. Examples of harmful substances include bones, shells, and pits, not only substances completely foreign to food products such as metal, human nails, and bugs. Obviously, claims resulting from…
To the surprise of many, Florida employees justly terminated from their jobs may nevertheless be entitled to receive unemployment compensation benefits. In other words, although an employee’s actions may justify discharge, the same conduct does not necessarily preclude entitlement to unemployment benefits. Betancourt v. Sun Bank Miami, N.A., 672 So.2d…
Along with the right to vote, a free and vigorous jury system is a key element in the ability of Americans to control the type of society in which they live. Efforts by state and federal politicians at placing arbitrary caps on the amount of damages available to parties in…
Exemptions are so common in FLSA cases that practitioners accepting new cases are wise to consider the possibility in all but the most obvious situations. Along with determining the amount of overtime hours, if any, logged by employees, disputes over the applicability or not of exemptions have formed the lion…
It is both a crime (3rd degree felony – Section 934.03(4) Florida Statutes), and an actionable civil violation (934.10) to record phone calls in Florida without the prior consent of the party or parties being recorded. Exceptions do apply, see Cohen Brothers, LLC v. ME Corp., S.A., 872 So.2d 321…
Unlike prior PIP statutes that applied the “usual and customary” standard to determine allowable charges for medical services, Florida’s 2008 version (627.736), mostly mandates that allowable charges are 200% of prospective payments for the same services under Medicare Parts A & B. (Main exceptions: emergency transportation and emergency hospital services.)…
In December, 2008, the Florida Supreme Court, in Kirton v. Fields, 997 So.2d 349 (Fla., 2008), held that a pre-injury release executed by a parent on behalf of a minor child is unenforceable against the minor or the minor’s estate in a tort action arising from injuries resulting from participation…
Florida Statues may allow PIP carriers to conduct medical examinations and perform paper reviews, but no authority, including the statute itself, grants PIP carriers license to reference those procedures as an “IME,” “Independent Medical Examination,” or a “Peer Review.” In short, PIP carriers have created the terms out of whole…
A well-established common law principle in Florida is that motor vehicles are “dangerous instrumentalities.” Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson, 86 So. 629 (Fla. 1920). In 1941, the Florida Supreme Court held that because the use of a dangerous instrumentality involves such a high degree of risk of serious injury…