Personal Injury Lawyers Serving Ocala

As we all wake up each morning and go about our daily lives, the last thing on our minds is that we may get into an accident and sustain injuries. However, in Florida, thousands of people get hurt annually in personal injury accidents.

A Florida personal injury attorney's primary role is helping people who have been hurt because of the negligence of others to receive financial compensation for their suffering. Personal injuries vary from mild to severe and include injuries such as head trauma, spinal cord damage, broken bones, and even scrapes or bruises as just a few examples of the many types of personal injuries that can occur.

Seasoned Ocala personal injury attorneys can advise on what legal rights accident victims have and help even the playing field with insurance companies. Having legal representation allows injury victims to relax and concentrate on recovery.

At Frankl Kominsky injury lawyers, we offer free consultations to Florida residents who sustained injuries because of the negligence of other individuals. We'll use all resources necessary to build a strong claim and take the case to trial if necessary.

Why I Need a Personal Injury Attorney in Ocala, FL

It's not just the physical recovery after an unexpected personal injury that can be challenging, but also the financial and emotional implications. A personal injury lawyer can help injured accident victims determine whether they have a case and whether the injuries warrant monetary compensation.

Insurance companies are notorious for trying to minimize personal injury claim worth. Accident victims should be prepared to protect their legal rights to seek compensation. Hiring an accident injury lawyer familiar with the strategies large insurance companies use to avoid paying out claims is the safest way to stay prepared.

An experienced personal injury attorney will investigate the incident, examine medical records, and consult with experts to determine who is at fault. They will speak on your behalf when dealing with the insurance company, debt collectors, and the law. Filing a personal injury claim alone may lead to lowball settlement offers, so retain the services of a reputable personal injury to boost the chances of a successful claim.

Common Accidents that Lead to a Personal Injury Claim in Florida?

There is a wide range of potential causes for personal injury, and some of the most common include:

  • Motor vehicle accidents
  • Slip and fall accidents
  • Workplace accidents
  • Motorcycle accidents
  • Medical malpractice
  • Wrongful death
  • Boating accidents
  • Sexual assault and abuse
  • Neck and back injuries
  • Spinal cord injuries
  • Premise liability
What to Do After a Personal Injury in Ocala, Florida?

Many people worry that their actions in the aftermath of an injury would compromise their capacity to sue for financial damages, which is a valid concern. What you do or don't do immediately after an accident might significantly impact your right to seek compensation.

Preserve Your Health and Legal Rights by Seeking Immediate Medical Attention

When recovering from a personal injury, your health should always come first, regardless of the nature of the damage or the accident that caused it. Although it may be prudent to consider the possibility of legal action following an accident, your health should always take first priority. You should obtain medical attention as soon as possible if you've sustained injuries.

If you need immediate medical attention, visit a hospital emergency room, walk-in clinic, or dial 911. Delaying medical attention is dangerous for your health and can hurt your chances of receiving compensation if you ever need treatment for an accident.

Never Admit Fault

Anyone seeking compensation after a personal injury should be aware that everything they say could be used against them in the future. It is best not to apologize or say more than is necessary during the aftermath of an accident that caused a personal injury, such as a car crash or a slip and fall.

An apology may be constructed as an acknowledgment of fault by the defendant's legal team. People often apologize after accidents without realizing how damaging it might be to their case.

Accident victims shouldn't talk about the accident and injuries with involved parties. This includes posting on social networking sites, as insurance firms can source information from these sites and use it against policyholders.

Gather Evidence

Evidence gathered at the scene of an accident can be helpful, but only if doing so doesn't endanger your well-being. Accident victims should take pictures of the location, injury, and any other relevant details. This helps preserve critical evidence that can help the Florida personal injury lawyer build a solid case.

Accident victims should also ensure to gather witness information. Consulting with a personal injury attorney in Ocala helps accident victims preserve their legal rights.

How to Prove a Florida Personal Injury Case?

According to local state laws, it is the injured party's responsibility to demonstrate that the at-fault party or parties acted negligently or in an unreasonable manner, thereby causing injuries and financial losses.

The following three-part idea of negligence underlies this problem of fault:

  1. Duty of care
  2. Breach of duty
  3. Causation
Duty of Care

The term "duty of care" refers to a person's responsibility to ensure that another is not harmed in any way by the first party's actions. In a personal injury case, the question is often how much responsibility one party has to avoid causing harm to another.

For instance, the owner or management of a food store is responsible for ensuring shoppers' safety by addressing hazards like spills and damaged walkways. That can only happen if the shop takes all reasonable precautions to guard against potential dangers to its clients.

The term reasonable might be interpreted in several ways, which can make this proving duty a bit challenging. An experienced personal injury attorney can help gather evidence to establish the duty of care.

Breach of Duty of Care

Successful personal injuries require the plaintiffs to prove that the negligent party breached the duty of care. Courts will find someone negligent if they fail to uphold this duty of care. A good example is a grocery store owner failing to clear a fluid spill for hours.

Courts usually determine if the defendant caused or contributed to the existence of a hazardous condition. Suppose a driver was going over the speed limit. This can be established as a breach of duty with relative ease.

Causation Between the Accident and Injuries

After establishing that the at-fault party owed the injured party a duty of care and then breached it, a Florida personal injury attorney must establish causation. Although it may seem straightforward, proving causation can be challenging.

Even if the at-fault party admits negligence, that doesn't necessarily mean it was the direct cause of your harm. A plaintiff may argue that the accident and injuries weren't caused by their negligence, but rather by the plaintiff's actions. They could even argue that the injuries existed before the accident occurred.

Injuries Led to Losses

To win compensation for their client, personal injury attorneys must also show that the plaintiff suffered damages because of the defendant's negligence. Damages could be physical, emotional, or financial. Our Ocala personal injury lawyers often file a claim for economic and non-economic damages when the victim's injuries are considered moderate to severe.

Damages in Florida Personal Injury Cases

The goal of damages is to ensure that an accident victim remains financially stable after suffering injuries. We care about the accident victim's family's financial well-being and want to make sure that unexpected medical expenses and other charges incurred as a result of the accident won't put a strain on their financial health.

An accident or injury victim may hire a civil trial attorney or go it alone to recover financial losses. Personal injury claims are also an effort to restore the victim's financial status to pre-injury levels through the civil justice system. We maintain that no one should be forced to spend money to cover losses sustained due to the negligent or rash actions of another.

The costs of property damage or medical care are two examples of damages that are easy to assign a monetary value to. These economic losses are easy to prove using receipts and medical bills. Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify because of the intangible nature of things like pain and suffering.

Common Types of Compensation in Ocala Personal Injury Claims

The following are examples of economic damages compensation awarded in Florida personal injury cases:

  • Medical expenses: The total sum of all money spent on healthcare, such as doctor visits, hospital stays, prescriptions, surgeries, and physical therapy
  • Future medical costs: The cost of expected future medical care, such as follow-up appointments with your doctor or potential surgical procedures, as a result of your injury is estimated here. The medical costs associated with severe injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, can be substantial and ongoing.
  • Loss of income: One may be entitled to compensation for lost wages if they are unable to return to work after an accident or if they must miss time at their job to attend a doctor's visit. Lost income compensation can also be awarded if injured accident victims are prevented from advancing in their careers because of the injuries. In some cases, this may also include money lost because of a career change.
  • Property damage: This compensation covers damages such as the property involved in your accident, such as your car, a broken watch, and the cost of repairs.

Non-economic damages claimed in Florida personal injury cases include:

  • Pain and suffering: This covers compensation for the pain and discomfort suffered during or after an injury accident
  • Mental anguish and emotional distress: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health concerns might manifest after a traumatic event such as an accident. Federal and state laws allow accident victims to seek compensation for such issues.
  • Loss of consortium or relationships: Damages for loss of relationships could be awarded if the victim's parent, child, or spouse suffered because of the victim's personal injury. The legal term for this type of injury is the loss of consortium when it involves a spouse.
  • Loss of enjoyment of life: Damages for loss of enjoyment may be awarded by the court if an accident victim can no longer engage in activities they enjoyed because of the injuries sustained.

Sometimes the accident victim may die because of their injuries or a complication from the injury. In such cases, our personal injury attorney will help the decedent’s family get fair compensation for their loss.

Through a wrongful death lawsuit, our team of attorneys can help surviving family members recover compensation for medical expenditures, funeral and burial costs, lost income, pain and suffering, and emotional losses.

Personal Injury Claims in Florida

Florida accident victims will first need to submit a claim to the at-fault party's insurance provider for the accident before filing a lawsuit against that party for damages in most cases. For example, car accident victims might first try to settle the matter with the other driver's insurance company before taking the issue to court.

When one files a claim for personal injuries, they put the insurance company for the negligent driver on notice that you might sue them. After an injury claim is filed and the plaintiff has completed all necessary medical treatment and physical therapy, the plaintiff's attorney will need all medical records and invoices.

If the at-fault driver lacked adequate coverage, the injured plaintiff could file an uninsured or underinsured motorist claim. The victim's personal injury protection (PIP) policy may pay for their medical bills in low-impact incidents, and the victim may choose not to file a liability claim.

Demand Packages for Damages

Our Florida personal injury attorney can begin compiling a settlement demand package once accident victims have received medical care for all accident-related injuries and we have received the medical documents and invoices. They will then forward it to the insurance company's claims adjuster.

The personal injury attorney will also include a cover letter with an initial settlement demand in the demand package. They will ask for the maximum payout allowed by the insurance company if the case involves a severe personal injury.

It's safe to assume that a personal injury lawyer will demand more payment than the client's actual losses. In the initial settlement demand package, personal injury attorneys will also include copies of all relevant medical bills, medical records, and lost income proof.

Negotiating with Insurance Adjusters

If the negligent party's insurance company accepts blame, the injured party can anticipate a first settlement offer shortly after the adjuster evaluates the plaintiff's settlement demand package. An initial settlement offer aims to kick off the negotiation process. Victims should never accept the initial settlement offer made by an insurance adjuster unless it is for the policy limits.

After the insurance company's adjuster makes a settlement offer, the plaintiff's attorney will make a counter-demand that is lower than the first demand. The plaintiff's lawyer and the insurance adjuster will likely go back and forth in these conversations until they settle the case or hit an impasse.

The time it takes to reach a settlement can range from a few weeks to many months. The severity of the injuries and the intricacy of the legal process often determine how long a personal injury lawsuit will take to resolve.

Florida's Personal Injury Claims Process

Florida personal injury claims usually involve:

  1. Filing a personal injury claim and putting involved parties of the intention to seek compensation.
  2. Negotiating for a favorable settlement offer with at-fault parties.
  3. If settlement talks fail, victims can file personal injury lawsuits in court.
  4. Proving in court that the defendant should pay for your damages through litigation.
  5. Alternative dispute resolution or going to trial.

Frankl Kominsky personal injury attorneys take a calculated, systematic approach to each case we handle. We can help you evaluate your alternatives, settle on the best course of action, and complete any formalities that must be fulfilled. During our first consultation, we can help identify potential avenues for seeking restitution.

Throughout the claims process, our team advocates for our client's behalf and negotiates for fair compensation. When we take on a personal injury case, we strive to obtain maximum compensation for our clients.

Contact Ocala Personal Injury Lawyers Today

Local and federal laws might entitle you to recover monetary compensation for your damages if you or a loved one sustained personal injuries in Ocala, Florida, because of someone else's negligence.

Personal injury cases are often long and complicated. You'll need an experienced negotiator and litigator on your team to increase your chances of a successful claim. Our team of seasoned personal injury attorneys can help you get the compensation you deserve.

Contact us at (561) 800-8000 or fill out the online contact form on our website to speak with a Florida personal injury lawyer from our firm and learn more about your rights.

Client Reviews
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I have had experience in the past using other attorneys and law firms however the attorneys and staff at Frankl Kominsky are by far the best experience I have ever had. Thank you for everything this law firm has done. I recommend this law firm to everyone. By Bruce
★★★★★
This was an amazing injury law firm. Steven and his staff was available when I needed him and were always following up with me. I felt very fortunate that I found them. It is true that this law firm will never settle for less! I fully recommend this law firm to anyone that needs a hardworking and results oriented law firm. By Consuelo
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Mr. Frankl came very highly recommended by two separate peers. I had a handful of lawyers to choose from and I chose him. He moved quick, no nonsense, and very effective. Before I knew it everything was handled and I had a serious burden lifted. If I ever have a problem again, I am going straight to him. It is that simple. By Kelly
★★★★★
I called Mr. Frankl and his firm about a motorcycle accident case and he helped me through the entire process. Mr. Frankl made me feel like my situation mattered to him and didn't treatment me like just another file in a file cabinet. He is smart, energetic and a true fighter. I am glad to call him my lawyer and I highly recommend Frankl Kominsky for your personal injury case. By A Personal Injury Client
★★★★★
Mr. Frankl was such an asset to have on my team while I picked up the pieces following an accident. Right from the beginning he assisted handling the insurance companies, rental car companies, auto body shops, police reports, it was incredible. His guidance allowed me to focus on the most important thing and that was my medical condition & recovery. Should you find yourself in this unfortunate situation do yourself a favor & trust this man & his expertise. By Damon