Florida Car Accident Legal Questions

what you describe is a classic case of negligence on the part of your wife, if these facts can be proven. I would anticipate that the injured driver will file a claim against your wife's insurance company; your wife should also seek some kind of indemnification against the driver who cut her off, as he also was a contributing cause of this accident. The injured driver may also pursue remedies against the driver who set off this chain reaction....Does your wife have the identifying information on the driver who cut her off?  good luck    ... Read More

Possibly. You are required to reasonably cooperate with the insurance carrier in handling the claim. If you DON'T provide the information, you may find yourself stuck with an excess judgment and the insurer gets a pass on "bad faith" claims handling if you are the one that refused the information.... Read More

I am sorry for what you are going through, including the inability to speak with your attorney. When you say the at-fault person has the minimum $10,000.00, I presume you are referring to PIP coverage and he/she does not have any liability coverage? As for your $100,000, does that include uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) coverage? If the owner/driver of the at-fault vehicle does not have liability coverage and was not in the course of employment at the time, the only realistic way for your husband to recover damages for personal injuries is through your UM coverage. If the owner/driver does not have liability coverage and you don’t have UM coverage, I am at a loss to understand why your lawyer still has the case open (and has you treating with a doctor only under your PIP coverage vs, also taking your health coverage).     As for the car that is making a claim against you, that is what you have liability insurance for (be thankful you are a responsible motorist for having this coverage - and protecting your personal assets). Your company has probably assigned an adjuster to handle/investigate the claim against you (and if suit is filed, an attorney). That car will have to prove your negligence caused, or contributed to causing the accident. I assume they are claiming you first rear-ended them and then the other car rear-ended you. I am limited in what advice I can give you, because I lack more facts, but I strongly recommend that you “Demand” to have personal contact with your attorney, including an in-office conference (if you want to meet in person). If you can’t get past a secretary, or paralegal, set all this out in writing and give them __ days to respond. If they don’t respond, I would consult with another lawyer. A lawyer who is fired for good cause, may have lost his right to claim a fee for the work he did. That will make it easier to hire a new lawyer if there is coverage to pursue for his injuries. When your husband consults with another lawyer they can explain this to him.  A quality personal injury lawyer should always return client calls and set meetings whenever needed, or requested by the client. They should also make sure you know exactly what is going on with the case. AGAIN, based on my limited information I cannot say your lawyer is doing anything wrong in the handling of your case. I would be happy to give you more direct guidance if you want to provide more facts.... Read More

It is impossible, if not irresponsible for any lawyer to give you an opinion on case value from what you provided.  At an absolute minimum, a lawyer would need to review all your accident related medical records, the facts surrounding the accident and prior medical records, if applicable. Let me try to give you some guidance in understanding how personal injury cases are valued for settlement and trial purposes. First, there is no such thing as a “value” of a particular injury; even when the injury is undisputed.  Having said that, there are two “values” to keep in mind. The first, is what the case can settle for; which means what the other side is voluntarily willing to pay and what you are voluntarily willing to accept to avoid the risk of trial.  The other, is what a jury awards you; which you will not know until after you take the case to trial.  With regard to the latter, if you tried your case 20 times, in front of 20 different juries, the verdicts will be all over the place, including zero verdicts from juries that do not believe your injuries were accident related. This is where an experienced personal injury trial lawyer comes in.   Looking at many cases with similar injuries, we generally know an approximate “range” of verdicts. While anything can happen at trial, our analysis focuses on the odds and probabilities of a verdict within a certain range.  We then consider other factors. For example, if the defense claims your injury is not accident related, what are the chances are a jury might agree, and reject our claim. The higher the possibility of a zero verdict, the more we need to discount the settlement value of a case. Included in our analysis of alleged preexisting and unrelated injuries are consideration of past medical records, when the accident happened in relation to the diagnostic testing, the type of degenerative changes showing on the studies, and more.  Important: in this analysis, I am not even factoring issues of who is at fault for the accident. BOTTOM LINE:  While the decision is ultimately yours, you need to have confidence in the experience and judgement of your lawyer. However, if you meet with the lawyer, go over all the facts he/she is taking into consideration and you still have no confidence is the lawyer’s judgement, you should consider retaining a new lawyer. In doing so, be sure the other lawyer is both experienced and has reviewed all relevant records to make reasoned assessment. Be wary of the lawyer who is willing to give you a case value different than your current lawyer without conducting a thorough assessment of the case. Just talking to you is not enough to make a reasoned assessment.  Good luck. ... Read More

Contingency fees (where the lawyer only gets paid from the recovery) are regulated by the Florida Bar. The provisions you cited are directly from rule, 4-1.5 FEES AND COSTS FOR LEGAL SERVICES. This is the link:  https://www.floridabar.org/divexe/rrtfb.nsf/FV/A8644F215162F9DE85257164004C0429. Your lawyer should be available to answer questions about the retainer contract and help you understand it. If he/she is not willing to explain it to you, that may tell you something about how available they will be for you down the road. You may have a very fine lawyer, so ask them to explain whatever you don’t understand. As an aside, there are so called “discount” firms out there working on reduced contingency fees. As with hiring any lawyer, I would be very careful, since often times we get what we pay for.     ... Read More

FIRST:  Before speaking with a Criminal attorney do NOT go posting confessions* on a public forum. Beyond that advice, I am not a criminal lawyer and will not presume to counsel you by an email inquiry of this nature. (*I am not telling you to lie, or avoid contacting them since both will work against you. Again, you need to immediately without delay, consult a criminal lawyer for appropriate advice.... Read More

Yes. Your fact situation raises a number of different issues. Assuming the other car was clearly at-fault, the other car's insurance company does not get off the hook for responsibility to pay for the property damage. In fact, if your unlicensed daughter was injured in the accident, she can make a personal injury claim against that car's insurance company. If your daughter could arguably be at-fault (or partially at fault), then you have issues which are beyond what I can get into in this short reply. Next: Whether your auto carrier will defend claims made against you (i.e, the other driver claims your daughter was at fault) could be problematic, particularly if they believe you had knowledge of the incident. But as you described it to me, I think they should defend you if a claim is made. Final Comment: the fact she was driving without a license, raises criminal issues, but that is beyond my area of specialty. This is just a short reply and likely does not take into account all the issues you and your daughter may have, so if there are issues involving injuries, or denial of responsibility to pay for your damage (or defend a claim made against you) I would consult with a local personal injury lawyer.  ... Read More

Sounds like you may have unrealisitic expectations of what injury lawyers do and dont do, and the circumstances of your claim. First, lawyers aren't doctors nor "do boys", they dont go get braces or prescriptions for you, this is a function of your health care providers.Medical braces are provided by healthcare providers and billed to the insurance carrier directly or paid for by you and you get reimbursed (much rarer) Equally, first party insurance carriers (yours) do not stop payment for medical care simply because a lawyer is involved.  Second, you speak of the 25k as if thats the policy limits available. If thats true and was actually "offered", presumably in writing, to you before you hired the lawyer, there was likely little reason to hire the lawyer, since you would be recieving all of the money available, unless you have reason to believe that there is more collectable money available. Finally, lawyers are not tasked with "insuring your medical needs are met" that is the function of your treating phyicians. What lawyers do is help maximize or coordinate the available coverages for that purpose and to secure damage money from the at fault party to allow you to do meet those needs, albiet limited by the availability of such monies and the practical means of obtaining them. If you are not happy with your lawyer, you can always fire them and they are entitled to a value based upon the hourly rate for the actual work performed as a general rule. If there is an issue, you should demand to speak to the lawyer and have aheart to heart discussion to ferret out whether the lawyer is not doing his job, you have unreasonable expectations, or a bit of both, before you simply fire them. ... Read More

I would need to know more facts....What are the extent of your injuries? Do u have any preexisting injuries in that location? Is there any other cause that could be attributed in part or in whole to another incident? What are the bodily injury limits for the at fault driver?. I would be happy to discuss your case for free, and if we take it, there would be NO charge unless we win   Steve... Read More

If the cab driver was holding himself out as working for a company (to wit: driving a car with a cab company name emblazoned on the vehicle) , then there may be vicarious liabilty that can be imposed on the cab company. Taxi cab companies have in some cases attempted to shield themselves from liabiliy ..and in certain cases have been successful- so it really depends on the company and the circumstances surrounding the accident. I would be happy to discuss your case at no cost, and if I take it, my office doesnt charge unless we win the case   Steve... Read More

You are mixing coverages up. I will try to give you a brief explanation, but since I don’t know the facts of your case, your lawyer is in a better position to explain this to you. First, Florida is what is called a No-Fault state. What that means is, each persons own PIP policy is responsible to pay 80% of their own medical bills up to $10,000.00 (minus deductibles). The at-fault motorist and his/her insurance company is not responsible for medical bills which should be paid by your PIP.   Here is what the at-fault motorist and his/her insurance company is responsible for: If they are found at fault for causing the accident and your injuries, they are responsible to pay the portion of your bills not covered by PIP, including all past and future accident related medical bills in excess of the PIP coverage. Further, if you sustained a “permanent” injury, they will be responsible to pay damages for pain, suffering, disability, etc., you suffered as a result of the accident. Important: They are not obligated to pay those bills and damages until (1) a judge or jury says they have to (i.e., finds the Defendant at fault and fixes the amount of damages you are entitled to), or (2) you reach a settlement with the at-fault motorist’s insurance company to pay those damages.  While it is frustrating to have outstanding bills, this is the system we have. There are additional motor vehicle coverages some people purchase. One is called, med-pay coverage. It is typically $5,000.00 and will cover your PIP deductible, co-payments, as well as bills over the $10,000.00; to a maximum of the limits (i.e., $5,000.00). You may also have health insurance and should make sure bills are submitted to the insurance company. Some bills, such as a hospital bill may be only partially paid by PIP, but if the amount PIP paid is greater then what your health carrier would have paid them, in full payment, the hospital must/should write-off the remaining balance you owe. Further, your lawyer typically will make arrangements for your main treating doctor to treat you under a "Letter of Protection". In that case, the provider will wait until the conclusion of the case to be paid. Again this is a very general explanation of the insurance coverages I think you are referencing. If you have additional information or questions, I am happy to try to help. Again, your lawyer is the best person to answer this. Good luck.  Addendum: I now see you referenced Lost Wages. That is also paid under the PIP (at 60%), up to the combined total of $10,000.00.  I also note you asked the responding lawyer to call you. I am providing this information as a public service and not to solicit clients. For that reason, I will not myself call people who are represented by attorneys. ... Read More

Every victim of a serious accident is entitled to get a consultation with another attorney if they are unhappy with their current attorney's representation. There are some issues that your new attorney and prior attorney will have to work out but that should never limit an accident victims right to be represented by the attorney of their choice. ... Read More

The lawyer should have provided you a copy of the retainer contract, but in a contingency case it generally works as follows: the lawyer's percentage is of the gross recovery. i.e., the monies recovered from the at-fault motorist's liability policy and the excess underinsured motorist policy. The lawyer does not take a fee from PIP benefits paid for your injuries (unless they are fees awarded in a PIP suit) and hardly ever does a lawyer take a fee from the property damage recovery (unless responsibility for the damage was actually litigated and even then, it is unusual). Assisting with getting a client's car fixed is typically a courtesy service that law firms provide. In addition to the attorney's fee, they are also reimbursed for costs they expended.   Before agreeing to the settlement, you and the lawyer should discuss what your reasonable options are; an estimate of your net recovery, if you are considering a settlement for less then policy limits; etc.  When the case settles, the lawyer must present you with an accident closing statement itemizing the recovery, the attorney fees, costs and all medical bills and health liens that are coming out of the recovery. Until you sign off on the closing statement, no one gets paid, including you and the lawyer. Your question was very broad, but I hope I was of some help.... Read More

Neither you, nor your daughter should be speaking with the lawyer. What you must do, is immediately report the accident to your insurance company, including the contact information of the lawyer who is calling you (and any correspondence you receive from this lawyer).  You insurance company will assign a professional claims adjuster to figure out what the lawyer is looking for and protect your interests. The lawyer may simply be looking for information to establish a claim against the true, at-fault motorist; he/she may be looking to solicit your daughter as another client against that at-fault person*; or if the at-fault car has only limited coverage, the lawyer may be looking to place some of the fault on other drivers, like your daughter. Let your insurance company handle it and only speak to someone with their consent.  Fortunately, your daughter was not injured in the accident (which is most important) and that you and your husband purchased adequate insurance coverage; too may Floridians do not. *As to solicitation; never hire a lawyer that calls or shows up at your house uninvited, not to mention the clear conflict of interest in representing people in different cars. If there is more information or advice I can provide, I am happy to do so.... Read More

You need to hire a lawyer immediately. This story simply does not hold water and can cause you to lose your insurance coverage if there are accusations that the story or circumstances are false. If you can't hire a lawyer, you're simply on a river ride to unknown ends, as there are waayyyyyy to many issues to really try to navigate in a blurb. On a positive note, if the first ax was not your daughters fault, she would still have any claims she had against the at fault driver, and for medical care under PIP. **** I hope you won't tell me that the at fault party left the scene of the first accident and is a "phantom" vehicle.... Read More