Jacksonville is a populous city on the Atlantic coast of Florida, known for its beaches, abundant waterways, and eclectic dining options. It’s an appealing destination for tourists and new residents, but that does not mean it is without problems. People in Jacksonville can be subject to personal injury incidents that can lead to severe injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and broken bones.
Personal injury accidents, like slip and fall, car, and truck accidents, result from negligence. These accidents can cause significant damages, such as medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. A personal injury lawyer can help you assess damages, determine liability, and file your personal injury claim. The personal injury lawyers at The Russo Firm have served Jacksonville personal injury victims for decades and can help you too.
Why Choose The Russo Firm for Your Jacksonville Personal Injury Claim?
Disasters can strike in multiple places in Jacksonville. You can be out for a night on the town in the San Marco Dining District and be at risk of suffering a personal injury incident by walking over a slippery surface or coming into contact with a drunk driver. You need someone in your corner with experience handling personal injury claims that can help you along the personal injury claims process.
The personal injury attorneys at The Russo Firm have local knowledge and decades of experience in helping Jacksonville personal injury victims. We can use our knowledge of Jacksonville venues, roads, streets, and intersections to add specificity to your personal injury claim. We also prioritize communication with our clients to ensure we represent your interests, address your damages, and keep you up-to-date with how your claim is progressing. Contact The Russo Firm today to learn how our personal injury lawyers can help you pursue compensation for damages.
The Russo Firm Case Results
You need a personal injury lawyer that will keep your best interests in mind and not take a settlement just to put the claim in the past. Some insurance companies will offer lowball early settlement offers in an attempt to limit what you could get if you kept negotiating. The personal injury attorneys at The Russo Firm know this and will continue negotiations until you receive fair compensation.
The Russo Firm has a proven track record of earning fair compensation for our clients because of our commitment to our clients. We will take this personal claim as far as we can for you to receive fair compensation, even if that means bringing the case to court. We will use our resources and invest our time into your personal injury claim to help you recover compensation for damages.
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
The Florida statutes govern the rules and laws of how to handle the process following a personal injury incident. Each type of incident has its own set of rules that you need to follow, which includes what to do after the accident, how liability is determined, and how long you have to file the claim.
Florida is a no-fault state, which means all drivers must purchase personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. This can cover economic damages, such as 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages, up to $10,000. This insurance requirement is designed to prevent litigation regarding traffic accidents. However, if you were seriously injured during a car accident, you could file a car accident claim with the at-fault party’s insurer to pursue compensation for car accident damages.
Florida Statute of Limitation Laws
The statute of limitations is how long a personal injury victim has to file a claim to pursue compensation for damages. Although the time normally starts to elapse on the day of the accident, some victims may not realize they were victims of a personal injury incident, such as medical malpractice. In that case, the time will begin elapsing the day you discover your injuries.
Florida statute 95.11 outlines the statute of limitations for all types of personal injury accidents. Most Florida personal injury claims involve actions founded on negligence, which have a statute of limitations of four years. However, any action of professional malpractice or resulting in wrongful death has a statute of limitations of two years.
The Rules of Negligence in Florida
Most Florida personal injury claims operate under comparative negligence, which means a Florida court will determine what percentage of fault each party shares in a personal injury accident. This allows even those parties who contributed to a personal injury accident to pursue compensation for damages. A plaintiff who succeeds in receiving compensation will have their percentage of fault deducted from their settlement or award.
Some personal injury claims operate under strict liability, which is when the at-fault party is liable for damages no matter what their intentions were when the action occurred. Personal injury accidents like product liability and dog bites operate under strict liability, requiring manufacturers and dog owners to keep those that buy their products and those on their property safe. Failure to do so will leave them liable for personal injury damages.
Types of Jacksonville Personal Injury Accidents
There are a vast number of personal injury accidents that you can suffer that can result in severe damages. Any accident that leaves you with a severe injury is a personal injury accident. You can file a personal injury claim with the at-fault party to pursue compensation for damages.
The following are some of the types of Jacksonville 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
If you were involved in a personal injury incident, contacting a personal injury lawyer can help to determine what your options are. You most likely do not have the money available to pay for possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars of damages, and a personal injury lawyer can help you with the personal injury claims process to pursue compensation.
What Personal Injuries Can You Pursue Compensation For?
A personal injury incident can result in a severe injury that can negatively affect your standard of living. Although you may assume only physical injuries constitute severe personal injury, there are also emotional and mental injuries caused by personal injury incidents.
A personal injury incident like social media harm or nursing home abuse can have negative effects on your mental health and self-esteem. You can pursue compensation for mental disorders like depression, anxiety, and eating disorders that result from personal injury incidents just the same as you can for physical injuries like broken bones, knee injuries, and shoulder injuries.
The following are some of the severe injuries caused by a Jacksonville personal injury incident that you can pursue compensation for:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Broken bones
- Internal injuries
- Knee injuries
- Soft tissue injuries
- Shoulder injuries
- Back and neck injuries
- Facial injuries
- Infections
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Mental disorders
What Should You Do After a Personal Injury Incident?
After a personal injury incident, there are certain steps you should take to address your health and report the incident. This can help to establish a paper trail for the personal injury incident and prove the severity of the damages you suffered. These steps can prove valuable in putting you in the best position to recover compensation for damages caused by the at-fault party’s negligence.
The following are some of the steps you should take after a personal injury incident:
- See a doctor if you are severely injured
- Contact the police
- File a report with human resources if the incident happened at work
- Collect evidence to prove liability
- Keep track of important records
- Contact your insurance provider
- Write detailed notes about how the personal incident happened occurred
- Contact a Jacksonville personal injury lawyer
- File a Jacksonville personal injury claim
Liability in a Jacksonville Personal Injury Accident
The liable party in a Jacksonville personal injury accident is the party whose negligence led to the accident. Any mistake or intentionally harmful behavior that led to a personal injury accident can leave that party liable for damages in a personal injury claim.
The following are some of the possible liable parties in a Jacksonville personal injury claim:
- Negligent driver
- Healthcare professional
- Property owner
- Employer
- Government entity
- Defective product manufacturer
- Defective product designer
- Defective product seller
- Defective product distributor
Some of these parties can be harder to pursue compensation from than others, either because they have the resources to combat a claim or it’s challenging to prove their liability. Make sure to contact a personal injury lawyer that can sort through liability and determine the liable party who you can pursue compensation from.
Filing a Personal Injury Claim in Jacksonville
Florida operates under the theory of negligence, which means you need to prove the at-fault party behaved negligently and caused the personal injury incident as a result. You must prove the at-fault party owed you a duty of care, which is when you have the responsibility to maintain the safety and well-being of others. For example, you owe the other drivers on the road a duty of care when driving, which means you must follow road rules, pay attention when driving, and drive with the safety of others in mind.
A breach of duty of care can lead to a personal injury incident. With the help of a personal injury lawyer, you can collect evidence proving the at-fault party owed you a duty of care, breached it through negligent behavior, and caused the damages you seek. Some of the evidence that can help prove liability in a personal injury incident include photo and video evidence, medical records, online correspondence records, police reports, insurance statements, etc.
What Damages Can You Pursue in a Jacksonville Personal Injury Claim?
A personal injury lawyer can help you pursue compensation for damages, which are losses caused by the negligence of the at-fault party. These losses can be those that have already happened and those that can happen later in life.
The two most common types of personal injury damages are economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are those caused through negligence that has an economic value attached to them. Non-economic damages are intangible losses that reflect how the personal injury incident negatively affected your life.
The following are the damages you can pursue in a Jacksonville personal injury claim:
- Medical bills
- Property damage
- Disability costs
- Lost wages
- Lost earning potential
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
How Can a Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer Help With Your Claim?
Following a personal injury incident, if your insurance does not cover the damages, one of the ways to receive compensation for personal injury damages is to file a personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company. While you could handle it alone, not having experience in handling personal injury claims can lead to mistakes that can limit your potential compensation. You may not be able to get the right amount of compensation to pay for your losses.
Hiring a Jacksonville personal injury lawyer can help with the claims process, as they have the experience handling personal injury claims, insurance negotiations, and court cases that can help you recover fair compensation. They can help you recover the full compensation you need to get your life back on track by efficiently handling steps in the process, including damage assessment, assigning liability, collecting evidence, handling discovery, interviewing witnesses, negotiating with the at-fault party’s insurer, and representing you in court.
Handling these processes effectively is vital to the success of your claim so you can receive fair compensation that pays for the full cost of your damages. A personal injury attorney can use their personal injury claim experience to put you in the best position to receive fair compensation.
Contact The Russo Firm for Help With Your Jacksonville Personal Injury Claim
The stress of a personal injury claim can be overwhelming for a victim, as they will have to deal with the pain of their injuries and the cost of damages. A personal injury lawyer can handle the claims process, maximize your potential compensation, and allow you to focus on your recovery.
At The Russo Firm, our experienced personal injury lawyers have our clients’ best interests in mind and will handle the claims process effectively and efficiently. We understand how an insurance company will try to limit your settlement and can combat these tactics to increase your chance of receiving fair compensation. Allow our personal injury attorneys to offer you personalized attention that places your thoughts and concerns first.
If you suffered a Jacksonville personal injury accident, you can contact The Russo Firm for a free consultation. Learn how our personal injury attorneys can help you by calling us at (904) 586-4401 or leaving a message on our online contact page.