Personal injury incidents, such as car, motorcycle, and slip and fall accidents, can have a catastrophic impact on a victim just looking to enjoy their day. A negligent driver, property owner, healthcare professional, or product manufacturer can negatively affect your life with their negligence and cause expensive damages, such as medical bills, lost wages, and mental anguish.
If you were in Melbourne just trying to enjoy the Eau Gallie Arts District or Paradise Beach when another party’s negligent behavior caused harm, you could file a personal injury claim to pursue compensation for damages. A personal injury lawyer can help you assess your damages, determine the liable party, and file a personal injury claim. The personal injury lawyers at The Russo Firm can assist you in the claims process with personalized legal counsel.
Why Choose The Russo Firm for Your Melbourne Personal Injury Claim?
Let’s say you were enjoying your time inside one of Melbourne’s museums when you slipped and fell on a wet floor without proper signage to warn about the wet floor dangers. You took a hard fall on your back and can already feel the intense pain swelling up. You need a personal injury attorney in your corner to help you hold the negligent property owner liable for the harm they caused.
The Melbourne personal injury attorneys at The Russo Firm can use their local knowledge and vast experience in many types of personal injury incidents to help you pursue compensation for damages. We want to communicate with you to ensure your thoughts and concerns are addressed with our specialized approach to personal injury legal counsel. Contact the personal injury lawyers at The Russo Firm today to learn how we can help you get back on your feet with fair financial compensation.
The Russo Firm Case Results
The Russo Firm has a proven track record of earning fair compensation for our personal injury clients. We understand how an insurance company can try to limit your settlement with a lowball early offer. While some personal injury attorneys could accept the offer to give their client some money and put the claim in the past, we know that money will not be enough to pay for the full cost of your damages.
Our goal is to ensure you can pay for current and future damages caused by the at-fault party’s negligence. With that in mind, we will handle settlement negotiations and use our time and resources to put you in the best position to recover compensation for damages. If negotiations stall and a settlement is not reached, we can represent you in court to help you receive a fair court award for damages.
The following are some of the case results we have earned for our clients:
- $3.3 Million for a Drunk Driving Auto Accident
- $2.4 Million for Medical Malpractice Misdiagnosis
- $2 Million for a Trucking Accident That Led to a Wrongful Death
- $1.75 Million Product Liability Jury Award
- $650 Thousand for Automobile Accident Jury Award
Florida Personal Injury Laws
The many types of personal injury incidents have laws that govern liability, protocol after the incident, and how long you have to file a personal injury claim. It’s vital to consult the Florida statutes after a personal injury incident to check all the laws about the specific personal injury incident you were involved in.
Florida is a no-fault state, which means drivers should purchase personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. This type of insurance can cover up to $10,000 worth of car accident damages, including 80% of medical bills and 60% of lost wages. This system is meant to reduce the amount of car accident lawsuits filed in Florida courts. However, if your PIP insurance does not cover your damages, you can file a car accident claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company.
Florida Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims
Florida statute 95.11 dictates the statute of limitations for all personal injury incidents. The statute of limitations for each personal injury incident determines how long a victim has to file a personal injury claim to pursue compensation for damages.
The time begins to elapse on the day of the incident unless you do not realize the harm was done. In that case, the time will elapse on the day you realize personal injury harm was done. In Florida, cases involving actions founded on negligence have a statute of limitations of four years, whereas cases with actions of professional malpractice or those that resulted in wrongful death have a statute of limitations of two years.
The Rules of Negligence in Florida
Most personal injury incidents are subject to Florida’s comparative negligence doctrine. This states that incidents with multiple liable parties will have fault assessed and determined by a court. They will assign a percentage of blame for the personal injury incident, with any compensation reduced by the amount of blame they shared. For example, if the court found you were liable for 25% of a personal injury incident, a court award of $100,000 would be reduced to $75,000.
Some personal injury incidents, like product liability and dog bites, fall under strict liability. This means the at-fault party is liable no matter their intentions when the harm was caused. They can be liable for damages in a personal injury claim regardless of negligence.
Types of Melbourne Personal Injury Accidents
Personal injury incidents can involve motor vehicles, consumer products, medical devices, drugs, and social media platforms. Each personal injury incident has different protocols for pursuing compensation.
The following are some of the types of Melbourne personal injury incidents that The Russo Firm can help you collect compensation for:
- 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
No matter what personal injury incident you suffered, you can file a personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company to pursue compensation for damages not covered by your insurance. A Melbourne personal injury attorney can use their experience with Melbourne personal injury claims to help with the claims process and put you in a better position to recover fair compensation for damages.
What Personal Injuries Can You Pursue Compensation For?
You can suffer both physical and psychological injuries from a Melbourne personal injury incident. These injuries can affect your standard of living, with physical injuries affecting your ability to perform daily physical activities and psychological injuries affecting your quality of life and mental health. You can pursue compensation for these injuries’ effect on your life by filing a personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company.
The following are some of the severe injuries caused by a Melbourne personal injury incident that you can pursue compensation for:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Broken bones
- Knee injuries
- Shoulder injuries
- Facial injuries
- Back and neck injuries
- Soft tissue injuries
- Infections
- Internal injuries
- Mental disorders
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety
- Depression
What Should You Do After a Melbourne Personal Injury Accident?
Following a personal injury incident, it can be hard to determine what to prioritize. Should you focus solely on your health recovery, or should you begin worrying about a possible personal injury claim? The stress following a personal injury incident can be overwhelming, but there are steps you can take that can help you in the long run.
The following are some of the steps you should take after a Melbourne personal injury incident:
- Receive medical attention
- File a report with the police
- Report any workplace harassment to your job’s human resources department
- Collect evidence at the scene of the accident
- Collect essential records and documentation
- Contact your insurer
- Write down as many details about the personal injury incident as you can
- Contact a Melbourne personal injury lawyer
- File a Melbourne personal injury claim
Liability in a Melbourne Personal Injury Accident
The party who is liable for damages in a personal injury claim is the one whose negligent behavior caused the personal injury incident and led to harm. Negligence leads to a breach of duty of care, which is the acceptable standard of behavior a person should exhibit to prevent harm to other people.
The following are some of the possible liable parties in a Fort Lauderdale personal injury incident:
- Negligent driver
- Healthcare professional
- Property owner
- Defective product manufacturer
- Defective product designer
- Defective product seller
- Defective product distributor
- Employer
- Government entity
Before filing a personal injury claim, you should contact a personal injury lawyer that can help you sort through liability. There could be multiple liable parties that caused a personal injury incident. With their personal injury claim background, they can assess the potentially liable parties and determine the best path forward for pursuing compensation.
Filing a Personal Injury Claim in Melbourne
Once you have determined the liable party with the help of a personal injury lawyer, you can file a personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurer to pursue compensation for damages. Due to Florida’s theory of negligence, you must prove that the at-fault party’s negligence led to the damages you are pursuing.
The following are the four elements of negligence you must prove in a personal injury claim:
- You were owed a duty of care
- The at-fault party breached the duty of care
- You received damages from a Melbourne personal injury accident
- The personal injury accident and your damages were caused by the breach of duty of care
You will need to provide tangible evidence to prove the at-fault party’s liability. With their experience in personal injury claims, a personal injury lawyer can advise you on the evidence that can best help prove your case. Some of that evidence includes medical records, insurance statements, photo and video evidence, police reports, vehicle accident reconstructions, etc.
What Damages Can You Pursue in a Melbourne Personal Injury Claim?
You can pursue compensation for damages by filing a personal injury claim. Damages are losses that you incurred because of a personal injury incident. These damages can cause immediate financial impact or can affect you later on in life. A personal injury attorney can help you pursue the full cost of your damages by considering what you’ve already suffered and how harm may reverberate later in life.
The two most common types of personal injury damages are economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are those with a tangible cost that you can point to. Non-economic damages are intangible losses that affect the way you live your life on a daily basis.
The following are some of the personal injury damages you can pursue in a Melbourne personal injury claim:
- Medical bills
- Property damage
- Disability costs
- Lost wages
- Lost earning potential
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of society
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
How Can a Melbourne Personal Injury Lawyer Help With Your Claim?
Handling the personal injury claims process can be difficult for a person without personal injury claims experience. They can make mistakes that can cost them money to pay for the full cost of their damages. An experienced personal injury attorney has the knowledge and expertise necessary to handle the claims process properly and put you in the best position to recover the full cost of your damages.
The following are some of the ways an experienced Melbourne personal injury lawyer can help you with your personal injury claim:
- Assess damages caused by the at-fault party
- Determine the liable party
- Handle discovery
- Collect evidence to prove the at-fault party’s negligence
- Keep track of essential records and documentation
- Interview witnesses
- Negotiate a settlement with the at-fault party’s insurance company
- Represent you in court
A personal injury attorney can handle the claims process in a way to maximize your potential for compensation. Contact a local personal injury attorney today to see how they can help with your case.
Contact The Russo Firm for Help With Your Personal Injury Claim
At The Russo Firm, our personal injury attorneys have decades of experience helping Melbourne personal injury victims. The process starts by talking to our clients, getting to know them and what happened to them. That way, we can use the specificity of their situation to represent them thoroughly. Our personal injury attorneys can offer personalized attention and support to help you through the aftermath of your personal injury incident.
For help getting compensation for the full cost of your damages, contact The Russo Firm. Melbourne personal injury victims can call us at (321) 373-8800 or leave a message on our online contact page.