Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada - Law Office

Personal Injury

If you were harmed because of another party's negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct, you may be able to recover compensation by filing a personal injury lawsuit. Personal injury lawsuits are filed in civil court. Often, damages are pursued under a theory of negligence, in which it is alleged that the defendant acted below the standard of care for a certain situation. Most personal injury lawsuits settle before trial. However, having an experienced trial attorney with a strong reputation makes it more likely that you can obtain a favorable settlement. Defendants and insurers that believe that you may not be willing to take a case to trial may try to take advantage by not offering you the settlement that you deserve.

Car Accidents

All drivers owe a dut of reasonable care to others on the road. In Florida, all drivers are required to carry a minimum of $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) coverage and must turn to their own insurer for compensation first. Our Miami car accident attorneys can help you go outside the no-fault system to file a lawsuit for damages in civil court if your injuries meet the serious injuries threshold. If you were partially to blame for a car accident, the Florida comparative fault rule will apply. This means that your damages will be reduced by an amount proportionate to your share of fault, but damages will remain available unless you were entirely at fault.

Truck Accidents

Due to the weight and size of trucks, a truck accident is often devastating to many people in smaller vehicles around the truck. Truck accidents are often caused by driver negligence. It is important to look into all of the potential causes. In some situations, it may be appropriate to hire an expert to perform accident reconstruction. Other parties that may be held accountable under various theories of liability include the trucking company, the truck manufacturer, a third-party loader, or a repairperson.

Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcyclists are mostly unprotected if they collide with a larger vehicle. Their injuries may be catastrophic or fatal, even when the other driver in the collision is able to walk away unscathed. Common motorcycle accident injuries include skull fractures, fractured ribs, broken jaws, eye injuries, broken arms and legs, neck and back injuries, soft tissue injuries, internal organ injuries, and internal hemorrhaging. In Florida, some motorcyclists choose not to wear helmets, and Florida law does not require motorcyclists to wear helmets. Thus, not wearing a helmet does not mean that you were at fault for an accident. Our car accident attorneys can help Miami riders prevent a defendant from improperly shifting the blame to them.

Premises Liability

Florida landowners and occupiers owe a legal duty to people visiting their property by invitation. Generally, invitees like customers at a retail store are owed the highest duty of care. The landowner needs to make repairs of dangerous conditions or provide warnings of dangerous conditions if it knows or reasonably would be expected to know about them. Constructive notice may be shown in a premises liability case by establishing that a dangerous condition existed for so long that a reasonable property owner would have noticed it. This often involves reviewing photographs and surveillance videos, as well as possibly retaining an expert to interpret them.

Medical Malpractice

When you go to the hospital for medical care, you trust that you are receiving appropriate care. Unfortunately, doctors and other health care providers do make mistakes, and these mistakes can have injurious consequences. Not all mistakes are considered medical malpractice. To show medical malpractice, we will need to prove that a doctor owed a professional duty of care, deviated from that duty of care, and caused your injuries as a result. We will need to retain a credible expert to provide opinions about what the professional duty of care was under the circumstances, how the health care provider deviated from it, and causation.

Products Liability

In addition to serving as Miami car accident lawyers, our firm can help a victim bring a claim if they were injured by a defective product. We may be able to hold the manufacturer responsible through a products liability lawsuit. Generally, products can have three different types of actionable defects: design defects, manufacturing defects, or marketing defects. Design defects are flaws that occur in the design, which means that if there is a defect, it exists in each iteration of the product. Manufacturing defects are defects that occur during the manufacturing process, which means that they are likely to be found only in one or in a small number of iterations of the product. Marketing defects are flaws in the marketing materials, including failures to warn.

Construction Accidents

Often, construction sites are dangerous places. There may be heavy equipment on site, as well as construction workers who have many different tasks and may not have the training or experience to carry them out. Generally, construction workers can only recover workers' compensation in connection with their own employers. However, they may have claims for negligence against non-employer entities that were responsible for their injuries. For example, if a framing subcontractor employee is electrocuted at the construction site due to mistakes made by the electrical subcontractor, they may be able to recover workers' compensation benefits from their employer, the framer, and also sue the electrical subcontractor for negligence and other causes of action in civil court. Similarly, if a construction accident is partly a result of a defective product, the worker may be able to sue the manufacturer.

Nursing Home Negligence

When you put your loved one in a nursing home, you should expect that they will be well treated, or at least treated according to federal and state laws. For example, Florida Statute section 400.022 entitles nursing home residents to certain basic rights. Unfortunately, nursing home negligence and abuse are common. Often, they result from understaffing or poorly trained staff in nursing homes. Some warning signs of negligence and abuse in nursing homes include pressure sores, personality changes, hair loss, torn or stained clothes, poor hygiene, soiling, withdrawal, and unexplained fractures and bruises. It may be possible to hold a nursing home accountable under Florida Statute section 400.023 if a resident's rights are violated.

Workers' Compensation

People injured on the job in Florida may be entitled to medical expenses and partial wage replacement through a workers' compensation claim. The workers' compensation system was set up to permit workers injured or made sick on the job to obtain benefits without proving fault or going through complex court proceedings. Even so, valid workers' compensation claims can be denied, and it can be important to hire an attorney to pursue benefits. In Florida, you will need to report your work-related injury to your employer within 30 days of becoming aware of it. When a third party is partially responsible for the work-related injuries, it may be possible to file both a workers' compensation claim and a personal injury lawsuit.

Admiralty and Maritime Law

Our firm represents clients in admiralty and maritime law matters in Florida. Admiralty and maritime law matters often involve people who are injured at or near the sea or a port. Some people who may need to use admiralty or maritime law to recover damages include injured cruise ship passengers, seamen, and longshore workers. The Jones Act is an important federal law that provides seamen who were injured in the course of employment with the right to sue their employer for damages arising out of their injuries. An injured seaman may be able to recover the same kinds of damages that would be recovered in a personal injury lawsuit, including lost wages, lost earning capacity, medical expenses, and pain and suffering.

Retain an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney

Friedman Rodman Frank & Estrada, P.A. has the resources of a large firm but gives clients the personalized attention of a smaller firm. Dedicated to making things easier for our clients, we are an AV-rated firm under the Martindale-Hubbell peer rating system. One of our partners belongs to The Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an elite legal organization of trial lawyers who have secured million-dollar outcomes for clients. We distinguish ourselves from most other law firms by maintaining an open door policy, whereby you can call us at any time of day or night to talk to an attorney about your concerns. If you need a car accident lawyer in the Miami area or assistance in bringing another type of personal injury claim, call us at 877-448-8585 or use our online form to set up an appointment.