Fort Myers is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States due to its beautiful beaches, fishing opportunities, and shopping centers. However, with more people comes more problems, as personal injury incidents can happen all over the city due to negligence or intentionally harmful behavior. The citizens of Fort Myers can be victims of personal injury incidents, like slip and fall, bicycle, and car accidents that result in significant damages like medical bills, lost wages, and mental anguish.
If there is a clear party that behaved negligently or intentionally harmfully, a Fort Myers personal injury lawyer can help hold them liable for the damages they caused. Allow a local personal injury lawyer to help you file a personal injury claim. The personal injury attorneys at The Russo Firm have the local knowledge and personal injury claim experience to put you in the best position to recover fair compensation for your damages.
Why Choose The Russo Firm for Your Fort Myers Personal Injury Claim?
Let’s say you’re out for a family outing at Crescent Beach when you decide to stop into one of the dining options around the beach. The owners of the store did not properly warn of a wet floor, which results in you slipping and falling. You suffer a severe back injury that you do not have the funds to pay the medical bills for. The personal injury lawyers at The Russo Firm can help you hold the property owner accountable for their negligence that led to your personal injury damages.
At The Russo Firm, our personal injury lawyers have experience in all types of personal injury claims, with the local knowledge necessary to add details to your legal counsel. We pride ourselves on our communication skills, always keeping in constant contact with our clients to thoroughly represent their interests. Contact The Russo Firm today to see how we can shape the claims process around your specific case and help you recover fair compensation for your damages.
The Russo Firm Case Results
Fort Myers personal injury victims can recover compensation through a settlement or court award, both of which the experienced personal injury attorneys of The Russo Firm can help you with. Negotiations with insurance companies can be particularly difficult, as their goal is to limit your settlement to keep its profits up.
An insurance company will try anything it can to deny or devalue your claim, including offering a lowball early settlement to put the claim in the past. Our personal injury lawyers know this and how to combat these tactics. They also understand the best way to negotiate with insurance companies and how to get you a fair settlement. Should that not work, they can represent you in court to ensure you receive fair compensation for your damages.
At The Russo Firm, we have a proven track record of earning fair compensation for our clients. The following are some of the case results we have earned for our clients:
- $3.3 Million for Car Accident Caused by Drunk Driving
- $2.4 Million for Medical Malpractice Misdiagnosis
- $2 Million for Wrongful Death Trucking Accident
- $1.75 Million Product Liability Jury Award
- $650 Thousand for Car Accident Jury Award
Florida Personal Injury Laws
Florida has laws, known as statutes, that determine the rules regarding liability, insurance, and the claims process for each type of personal injury incident. It’s vital to read through the Florida statutes and contact a Florida personal injury lawyer to hear about the rules regarding the personal injury incident you suffered.
All vehicle owners in Florida must purchase personal injury protection (PIP) insurance since Florida is a no-fault state. PIP insurance can cover up to $10,000 worth of damages, including 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages. This law is meant to provide financial relief for car accident victims without needing a car accident claim or lawsuit. However, if your damages exceed your insurance coverage, you can still file a fault-based claim to pursue car accident damages.
Florida Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims
The statute of limitations for a given personal injury incident is how long you have to file a claim or lawsuit to pursue compensation for damages. The time begins to elapse on the day of the incident or the day you realize you suffered a severe injury if the personal injury incident was not immediately apparent. According to Florida statute 95.11, actions founded on negligence have a statute of limitations of four years, and those involving professional malpractice and wrongful death have a statute of limitations of two years.
Florida Rules Regarding Negligence
Florida personal injury claims, in most cases, are subject to comparative negligence. This is a theory of negligence that is valid when there are more than one possible liable party. A Florida court will look at the details of the incident and assign a percentage of fault to each party. A liable party can still pursue compensation for damages, but their settlement or award will have their percentage of fault deducted.
In rare cases, strict liability can be applied. This is when a party can be held liable for personal injury damages regardless of negligence. Strict liability requires them to be held liable for harm caused to people they owe a duty of care to, and this can apply in cases like medical malpractice and dog bites.
Types of Fort Myers Personal Injury Incidents
A personal injury incident is any that involves negligent or intentionally harmful behavior that results in severe injuries and damages. These incidents can happen in a vast number of locations, including on the road, at the beach, at restaurants and other owned properties, and in medical institutions.
The following are some of the types of Fort Myers personal injury incidents:
- Car accidents
- Trucking accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bus accidents
- Boating accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Product liability
- Lyft accidents
- Defective drugs
- Defective medical devices
- Social media harm
- Nursing home abuse
- Premise liability
The experienced personal injury lawyers at The Russo Firm can help you pursue compensation for each of the above personal injury incidents. We can help you file a personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company, prove their negligence through tangible evidence, and help you recover fair compensation for your damages.
What Fort Myers Personal Injuries Can You Pursue Compensation For?
A personal injury can be severe and affect your standard of living by causing physical and emotional pain and suffering. You can receive physical trauma that can result in physical injuries, or you can suffer emotional injuries from how the personal injury incident affects your life and mentality. A personal injury attorney can help you pursue compensation to pay for physical and emotional injuries.
The following are some of the severe injuries caused by a Fort Myers personal injury incident that you can pursue compensation for:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Broken bones
- Internal injuries
- Back and neck injuries
- Knee injuries
- Soft tissue injuries
- Shoulder injuries
- Facial injuries
- Mental disorders
- Depression
- Infections
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety
What Should You Do After a Fort Myers Personal Injury Accident?
Following a Fort Myers personal injury incident, there will be so many thoughts in your head about how to proceed. Should you go to the hospital? Should you call the police? How long until you have to worry about filing a personal injury claim? The reality is that all of these are important steps in the aftermath of a personal injury incident. You need to address all of them to recover from severe injuries and receive compensation for personal injury damages.
The following are some of the steps you should take after a Fort Myers personal injury incident:
- See a doctor to receive medical treatment for severe injuries
- File a report with the police and/or your work’s human resources department
- Collect evidence to prove liability
- Keep track of essential records
- Contact your insurer
- Write notes about the details of your personal injury incident (who was involved, when it happened, what happened, etc.)
- Contact a Fort Myers personal injury lawyer
- File a Fort Myers personal injury claim
Liability in a Fort Myers Personal Injury Accident
Liability in a Fort Myers personal injury incident comes down to whose behavior was negligent or intentionally harmful, causing the incident as a result. Negligent behavior, such as medical malpractice, distracted driving, and leaving wet floors without warning, can cause personal injury incidents. The at-fault party can be held liable for damages in a personal injury claim.
The following are some of the possible liable parties in a Fort Myers personal injury claim:
- Negligent driver
- Employer
- Property owner
- Healthcare professional
- Government entity
- Defective product manufacturer
- Defective product designer
- Defective product seller
- Defective product distributor
Following a personal injury incident, you should contact an experienced Fort Myers personal injury attorney to assess who the liable party is. It may not be immediately clear, and there could be more than one liable party. A personal injury lawyer can assign liability and help you file your personal injury claim.
Filing a Personal Injury Claim in Fort Myers
You could file a personal injury claim for a Fort Myers personal injury incident if an at-fault party behaved negligently or with the intention to harm. It’s up to you and your personal injury lawyer to prove that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care, which is the responsibility to behave with the well-being and safety of others in mind.
They must prove the at-fault party owed you a duty of care, breached the duty of care through negligent or intentionally harmful behavior and caused the personal injury incident as a result. Your personal injury lawyer can prove this by collecting tangible evidence such as photo and video evidence, medical records, police reports, witness statements, vehicle accident reconstructions, etc.
What Damages Can You Pursue in a Fort Myers Personal Injury Claim?
You can pursue personal injury damages, which are losses associated with your incident, by filing a personal injury claim. You can recover compensation for damages that you have already incurred and those that can happen down the line.
It’s common for personal injury victims to pursue compensation for economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages, like medical bills, property damages, and lost earning potential, involve direct financial losses with a monetary value you can point to. Non-economic damages, like mental anguish, loss of society, and pain and suffering, are intangible losses that compensate you for how your life has negatively changed since the personal injury incident.
The following are the damages you can pursue in a Fort Myers personal injury claim:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Lost earning potential
- Property damage
- Disability costs
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of society
- Loss of companionship
How Can a Fort Myers Personal Injury Lawyer Help With Your Claim?
Personal injury lawyers can take the stress off of a personal injury victim without the claims process experience to recover full compensation for their damages. They know how to handle the claims process efficiently and effectively, which can help to increase a victim’s chances of recovering full compensation for damages. They can handle the negotiation and court case while you focus on your physical and psychological recovery from the personal injury incident.
The following are some of the ways a Fort Myers personal injury attorney can help with your case:
- Assess your personal injury damages
- Determine which party or parties can be held liable for your damages
- Draft the demand letter
- Collect evidence
- Interview witnesses
- Speak to experts about how to prove your case
- Negotiate a settlement with the at-fault party’s insurer
- Represent you in a personal injury lawsuit court case
Contact The Russo Firm for Help With Your Personal Injury Claim
At The Russo Law Firm, we understand the stress that a personal injury claim can cause to someone trying to recover from a severe injury. Our experienced personal injury lawyers have the local knowledge and personal injury claim experience to put you in the best position to recover compensation for your personal injury damages. We will not accept any lowball offer from an insurance company, and will represent your interests as thoroughly as we can.
We offer free consultations at The Russo Firm to show potential clients how our personal injury lawyers can help them. Contact us by calling us at (239) 766-7030 or leaving a message on our online contact page.