Personal Injury Claims in Florida

Personal injury claims in Florida occur when a person acts or fails in a way that gives rise to disregard. In legal terms it means that someone didn’t act properly given the situation. Personal injury cases happen all the time and often people think there is nothing they can do about it. That is far from the truth. People need to be accountable for their mistakes and pay for their negligence. The victim already has a lot to think about when accidents happen. Medical bills might be starting to pile up and also not to mention the physical and emotional drain is enough to make you feel helpless. Sometimes people think that they can handle this situation on their own and some people can but with all that is going on asking for help maybe something that will benefit you.

Personal injury claims in Florida are far from simple. There are four elements that must be understood:

• Duty – The basic understanding of this is that people owe each other a standard and that they are not putting others in a situation where they are at risk. An example of this is if someone is entering an area that my cause risks to a person they owe the peoples entering the premises a duty of safety. The plaintiff has to be able to prove that provided that duty before moving on to the next element.
• Breach of Duty – The plaintiff must be able to prove that the defendant breached on this duty of care. The most important legal test is the ‘reasonability standard’ meaning the defendant must not have acted like a reasonable person would have in a similar situation. Once that is proven the plaintiff can move on to the next element.
• Causation – This is the most difficult concept in personal injury law. The plaintiff has to be able to show the defendants breach of duty either caused directly or indirectly caused injury to the plaintiff. This has been known to confuse judges on many occasions. Tests can be administered but a skilled attorney must be present to perform this in a proper way.
• Damages – Once all of the above are proven the plaintiff must be able to show that they suffered actual damages. Damages such as medical costs, income loss, pain and suffering, and even less perceivable forms of damages that could include loss of companionship. The court will grant the plaintiff in damages award.

The procedure is quite lengthy and asking for help is something that you should not be ashamed of. Going through a personal injury case is a very difficult time for anybody so being prepared and knowing what steps to make will save you a lot of grief.

Florida Personal Injury Lawyer