Personal Injury

What is Personal Injury

Personal injury matters include car accidents, premise liability or “slip and fall,” wrongful death and medical malpractice cases.  Here is information regarding each of these types of personal injury cases handled by the Arcia Law Office.

Auto accidents

 If you are involved in an automobile accident, you need to protect your legal rights.  Even if you are not severely injured in an accident, some of your injuries may worsen with time.   It is critical that you contact an attorney anytime you have suffered ANY injury in an automobile accident.

When it comes to auto accidents, the legal standard in considering a lawsuit is the failure of an individual to use reasonable care.  Scenarios for which this may occur are when a driver strikes another driver, a driver strikes a pedestrian, or a driver strikes the passenger in another car.  The most common auto accident for which a claim may be presented are rear-end collisions.  In Florida, there is a presumption that the person causing the rear collision is at fault for failure to prevent the accident.  Even if the person causing the rear end collision has no insurance, you may be entitled to $10,000.00 or more for medical and other damages.

Sometimes, the automobile manufacturer of the vehicle involved in the accident may be at fault because the car may have one or more safety defects.  An example of a defective product would be the tire blowouts that took place on sport utility vehicles (SUVs) a couple of years ago.  There is also the situation of an accident involving a drunk driver.  The person who served the drunk driver may be found partially responsible for continuing to serve someone who is drunk.

In most cases, we can assist in getting much of your lost wages, medical bills, property damage and other related costs reimbursed to you. We will also assist you in dealing with your own car insurance company in making any necessary claims as well as handling your case against the at fault driver’s insurance company. Even if you are not sure if you were at fault, please consult with us immediately. We may still be able to help you with an auto accident claim. Please fill out our Free Consultation Form

Premises Liability

Commonly known as a “slip and fall” accident, Premises Liability takes place when a person falls on a floor, sidewalk, stairs or other surface resulting in injury. Some common “slip and fall” accidents may result from an uneven floor, poor lighting, a slippery floor surface or an unseen danger, such as a covered pothole.

Florida law protects people from such accidents by holding owners of the premises, such as a house, building, or parking lot liable if they fail to properly maintain their property. These laws also extend to the responsibility of management companies for apartment complexes or storeowners.

There are distinctions in the law, however, between being an “invited guest” or a trespasser. If you are an “invited guest” you are entitled to a duty of care by the host, which includes warning you of any possible dangerous conditions existing on the property. If you are trespassing, you may receive a lower standard of care because of the fact that you are an uninvited guest.

If a child wanders into a person’s property and is unaware of potentially hazardous conditions, the property owner is still responsible for the possibility of a child getting hurt on his/her property, as in the case of an unfenced swimming pool. Adult property owners are aware that this is attractive to children and may pose a danger for drowning. Therefore, the pool must be gated or sealed off so a child cannot hurt him/herself.

If a person should get hurt while on government property, such as a city parking garage, the government entity is responsible for the proper maintenance of the property. However, there are strict rules for lawsuits brought against governmental properties. The statutes of limitation for filing a “slip and fall” case on government property are very short, and can only be filed after written notice of the injury has been provided to the government. If you, or a loved one has been injured due to a slip and fall, please fill out our Free Consultation Form

Wrongful Death

This is any death resulting from misconduct or negligence by another person or company. Many times families don’t realize that wrongful conduct caused a death because the person that died can’t relate what happened.   Unless there is a thorough investigation of the facts of each case, wrongful deaths often go undiscovered. Wrongful conduct may not be obvious and may never be discovered unless a highly specialized attorney investigates these facts.

The misconduct that caused the death can range from an act of momentary negligence or carelessness to an intentional or reckless act. It can be the act of a single person or of a corporation, such as a drug company. The law provides for the compensation of the survivors when a wrongful death occurs, just as it provides for the compensation of a victim who has been injured by similar misconduct.

The laws of each state identify the persons entitled to compensation for a wrongful death. It is common for the list of survivors (sometimes called “beneficiaries”) to include the spouse and minor children of an adult deceased. Sometimes, as in Florida, the definition of minor children includes persons older than 18. It is also common for the survivors to include the parents of a deceased minor child. The estate of a deceased usually has rights to compensation as well.

In each instance the law seeks to allow compensation for the actual losses that have been experienced by each individual survivor. It is also common for the Estate to have the right to seek compensation for the loss of the prospective estate that would have accumulated had the wrongful death not occurred.

Medical and funeral expenses may also be recoverable by the Estate or the survivor who has paid or is obligated to pay them.  If you feel that someone you know has been a victim of wrongful death, please fill out a Free Case Evaluation form.

Medical Malpractice

This is the failure of medical professionals to provide acceptable treatments to patients. It is one of the leading causes of death in America. Some leading causes of medical malpractice include inadequate training, excessive work hours, substance abuse and errors in judgment by hospitals and medical professionals.

When considering whether or not a person has a medical malpractice claim, several elements of the law must be considered. If a medical professional fails to provide appropriate care in accordance with the standard in the medical community, which resulted in damage, you may have a medical malpractice claim.  For medical malpractice purposes, a medical professional could be a doctor, nurse, medical technician, or other member of the health profession.

You may also pursue a medical malpractice case if the patient incurred some harm as a result of a medical professional’s failure to properly diagnose the patient’s disease or injury.  This failure to diagnose would result in improper or delayed treatment.  Related to this cause of action would be a medical professional’s prescription of improper medication; neglecting to inform a patient of available treatments; proceeding with a treatment that has been proven to be ineffective; or failing to provide a patient with information pertinent to his/her condition.

Having determined that an individual has suffered harm, the individual must then demonstrate that the medical professional is at fault for the harm rendered the individual.  Sometimes a medical procedure may not turn out as anticipated, but this may not be the doctor’s fault if he/she did the procedure correctly.  It may simply be that the patient did not respond to the procedure. To prove causation, we use top expert witnesses to explain the procedure and what results were supposed to be achieved. The expert witnesses are also used to explain how the procedure was improperly performed by the medical professional, which led to the harm suffered by the patient.

When seeking damages in a medical malpractice claim, an individual can receive actual damages and punitive damages.  Actual damages are for the cost of additional medical treatment, lost wages, loss of future earning potential and pain and suffering caused by the injury.  Punitive damages are awarded if the individual can prove that harm was inflicted intentionally, willfully or recklessly resulting in harm.  Please note that in recent years, individual states have limited the amount of damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.  There may be a cap, or limit, on how much an individual can seek in non-economic, or punitive losses.

In order to maintain a medical malpractice case in Florida you are also required to present your claim in a shorter time frame than other legal matters, namely within two (2) years of the incident of malpractice.

If you suspect that you, a friend or loved one have been a victim of medical negligence, please do not hesitate fill out our Free Consultation Form

In each instance the law seeks to allow compensation for the actual losses that have been experienced by each individual survivor. It is also common for the Estate to have the right to seek compensation for the loss of the prospective estate that would have accumulated had the wrongful death not occurred.

Medical and funeral expenses may also be recoverable by the Estate or the survivor who has paid or is obligated to pay them.

If you feel that someone you know has been a victim of wrongful death, please fill out our Free Consultation Form or Call Us Now! 954-437-906.