Personal Injury Cases
A good personal injury recovery is no accident. Our 30 years of experience can help you obtain the maximum recovery in your personal injury case.
The number of car accidents in Florida is beyond a reasonable person’s comprehension. State records reflect that the Sunshine State typically averages a quarter-million car crashes every year, many of them serious or fatal, and those numbers are on the rise.
The overwhelming majority of these accidents could have been prevented if other drivers acted more carefully. Driver negligence is the leading cause of automobile accidents in Florida. Speeding, behind-the-wheel fatigue, drunk driving, and distracted driving (texting while driving) are all enormous problems that safety experts have yet to solve.
As an injured person in a car accident caused by another driver, you are entitled to monetary compensation for your damages, and those damages most often far exceed any physical damage sustained to the vehicles involved.
Under Florida law, injured persons are allowed to pursue and obtain damages for their past medical expenses, future medical expenses, hospital bills, time away from work (lost wages or income), past pain and suffering, future pain and suffering, the cost of any ongoing care, the loss of a loved one’s life, and other damages that may be reasonably demonstrated as a result of an accident.
Stephen Willis has more than 30 years of experience in helping accident victims throughout the State of Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. Based upon his experience, and historically effective strategies, he is able to maximize the recovery of damages in your personal injury case.
If you’ve recently been involved in an auto accident in Florida, don’t be surprised if an insurance representative gives you a call. Often, they will ask you questions in the hopes that you will inadvertently say something against your interest. They may even offer you a minimal monetary settlement, with the anticipation that you will accept the offer before you consult with a lawyer.
Do not talk with them! Never accept a settlement offer without consulting an experienced attorney first. Insurance companies are not on your side (even if it’s your own insurance company). The primary goal of every insurance company is to settle your claim for the least amount of money possible. Keep that in mind always. The primary goal of every insurance company is to pay as little as they can.
Explanation of PIP Benefits in an Accident
If you are involved in a car accident in Florida, you will almost certainly have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage. It’s required as part of the Florida No-Fault Law. Your PIP insurance is almost always limited to a maximum of $10,000.00. The basic premise relating to Florida’s No-Fault Law, when it was first enacted in the 1970s, was to ensure that every Florida driver involved in a car accident had immediate access to $10,000.00 of benefits to pay for medical bills, lost wages, and household services, without having to wait for the “at fault” driver’s insurance company to agree to pay for your personal injury damages.
Your PIP policy pays 80% of reasonable and necessary medical bills, 60% of lost wages, and 100% of replacement household services, up to the statutory $10,000.00 policy limits. The at-fault driver’s bodily injury liability insurance policy remains responsible for paying all of the damages that your PIP doesn’t pay for, i.e., all otherwise unpaid damages for past medical expenses, future medical expenses, hospital bills, time away from work (lost wages or income) past pain, anguish, emotional suffering, future pain, anguish, emotional suffering.
Based upon his 30 years of experience as a practicing attorney in the Florida Panhandle, Stephen Willis understands that the full value of your claim may extend well beyond the policy limits and lowball estimates that insurers typically insist on paying you. Insurance companies may not care about the long-term effects of your accident or the impact that it may have on your quality of life, but we do.
Studies show that, on average, insurance companies pay out almost triple the amount of money in cases where the victim is represented by an experienced auto accident attorney. You may have many options for compensation above and beyond your PIP policy. We can aggressively pursue your claim to obtain the maximum damages or settlement to which you may be entitled.
Medical Malpractice Cases
The practice of medicine is a highly specialized field requiring years of higher education and training to produce professionals with the skills to maintain our health in the face of catastrophic injuries or life-threatening illnesses. The average individual has no medical skills beyond a basic rudimentary knowledge of simple first aid. Accordingly, we must rely completely upon doctors, nurses, and hospitals to properly diagnose and treat our medical conditions. Consequently, as licensed professionals, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers are held to a certain standard of care, and when they fail to treat a patient with the required level of skill and care, they can and should be held legally liable for the harm they may have caused. This is the essence of medical malpractice law, and Stephen Willis is devoted and experienced in obtaining injured patients the full amount of compensation they deserve after being negligently harmed by a medical provider.
Proving Medical Malpractice Requires Medical Knowledge and Legal Skill
At its most basic level, proving a case of medical malpractice requires the injured patient to prove two concepts: 1) that the healthcare provider failed to treat the patient with the same level of care and skill that another reasonably prudent doctor, nurse, hospital or medical provider would have provided in the same circumstance(s); and 2) that this negligence or failure caused harm to the patient. Proving these two concepts involves both complex medical and legal issues. We are required, as a matter of Florida law, to obtain a medical expert to review the medical records in each case and provide us with a medical opinion confirming that under the circumstances presented, negligent medical care actually occurred.
Stephen Willis Represents Patients Who Are Injured by Any Kind of Medical Malpractice, Including:
- Medication Errors – The wrong medicine or the wrong dosage is prescribed, filled, or administered.
- Anesthesia Errors – Too much or too little anesthesia caused a patient to experience pain or emotional trauma, or a failure to appropriately monitor the patient’s vital signs while under anesthesia resulted in permanent brain damage or death.
- Surgical Errors – Surgery is performed at the wrong site of the body or on the wrong patient; foreign or temporary surgical objects are left inside the patient; or an artery, vein, or vital organ is negligently perforated or “nicked” during surgery.
- Birth Injuries – Excessive force during delivery results in fractures, nerve injury, or lack of oxygen to the fetus, causing permanent brain damage.
- Diagnostic Errors – Cancer or other serious conditions are missed or misdiagnosed, or the correct diagnosis is unreasonably delayed, causing significant additional injury.
- Emergency Room Errors – Treatment of an emergency condition is unreasonably delayed, lab tests are misinterpreted, or ER doctors fail to consult with specialists when appropriate and necessary.
Consenting to a Procedure Does Not Excuse Medical Malpractice
Doctors are required to obtain the informed consent of each patient before operating or undertaking a medical procedure or course of treatment. Informed consent means informing the patient of the risks and benefits of the recommended treatment, the availability of alternative options, and the consequences of not treating the condition. Doctors and hospitals may be liable for treating a patient without first obtaining informed consent or for performing procedures or administering treatment that is beyond the scope of the informed consent that was given.
Many doctors and hospitals require patients to sign a document acknowledging that they have been informed of the risks of the procedure. It is important to understand that signing this document is not a waiver of liability. Informed consent does not relieve a doctor or hospital of liability for negligence. In any case, where you believe you may have been harmed by medical negligence, you should contact us for a free initial consultation.
Who Is Responsible for Medical Malpractice?
A claim for medical negligence or medical malpractice may occur based upon the negligent rendering of medical care or treatment, or based upon the failure to render appropriate medical care or treatment.
Under Florida medical malpractice law, doctors are held to the prevailing professional standard of care and must practice with the level of care, skill, and treatment that would be recognized as acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent similar providers in similar circumstances. Doctors may be held liable for surgical errors, birth injuries, and other harm caused by their negligence or incompetence.
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities can be held vicariously liable for the negligent acts of their employees, including nurses and other staff members.
Nurses and other licensed healthcare workers, such as radiology technicians and lab technicians, are licensed professionals who may be held liable for harm resulting from their failure to perform to the standards of their profession. Medication errors and diagnostic errors are common forms of medical malpractice claims against nurses and lab technicians.
Why Do I Need a Lawyer for a Medical Malpractice Case?
Most often, people who are injured by the medical negligence of others receive a settlement offer from the insurance company without having to go to court. Why do you need a lawyer if there isn’t going to be a trial? The fact of the matter is that insurance company settlements with persons unrepresented by an attorney are settled for values far less than the settlement that may be obtained by an experienced medical malpractice or litigation attorney, regardless of whether the case goes to trial or not.
The insurance company adjusters and lawyers for the insurance companies handle these claims every single day, and they are vastly more experienced than you are in understanding the value of your injury claim. Stephen Willis will carefully analyze your case and seek full compensation for all of your legal damages.
Even without going to trial, filing a lawsuit may be necessary to achieve the best settlement for your case. It may be necessary to file a lawsuit in order to convince the insurance company that you are prepared to litigate the matter by a jury trial, if necessary, to obtain a fair settlement.
In proceeding with a medical malpractice case in Florida, you must adhere to specific statutory requirements, or you may lose your right to file a lawsuit to recover damages for your injuries. Florida law requires a claimant to provide a statutory “pre-suit notice” to the medical provider that you may wish to sue; you must obtain and submit an affidavit from a medical professional in writing which identifies that, in his or her opinion, the medical provider you intend to sue was negligent in the medical care or treatment provided. Most importantly, the statute of limitations in Florida for the initiation of a lawsuit for medical negligence is only two (2) years. Accordingly, it is imperative that the medical records are promptly obtained, that a medical professional/expert is promptly retained to review the records and provide a sufficient medical opinion as to the medical negligence, that the “pre-suit” notice is properly and timely filed; and that a lawsuit be timely filed to protect your ability to sue, if necessary, under Florida law.
If you believe that you or a family member has been harmed by the negligence of a doctor, hospital, or other medical provider, we provide a free consultation to discuss your case. If we agree to represent you in your medical negligence case, we will represent you on a contingency fee basis.
There is no fee unless we obtain compensation for your injuries.
For an initial personal injury or medical malpractice consultation, call our office for an appointment.
Call Us Today
You can count on us for personal injury and medical malpractice representation – call now at 850-835-7083.
