In Florida, as in many states, there are legal requirements that identify mandatory reporters who must report suspicions of abuse of children or vulnerable adults – including elderly adults residing in a nursing home. Professionally mandated reporters include (but are not limited to): Staff at adult day care centers; Bank…
A seven-car pileup in Fort Myers on Summerlin road killed one and injured several others after a semi-trailer truck rear-ended a passenger car, setting off a fiery chain-reaction crash. Officials with the Florida Highway Patrol were investigating the details, but The News-Press reported all vehicles involved were traveling northbound on…
Auto insurance policies all carry limits, which specify the maximum insurer will pay per person who is injured and how much it will pay for the entire accident. So for example, a policy with a $125,000 per person limit and a $250,000 per accident limit will pay a maximum of $250,000…
The Florida Supreme Court recently rendered its decision in one of three key challenges to the state’s workers’ compensation law. In a 55-page opinion, the court in Castellanos v. Next Door Company et al., ruled F.S. Section 440.34(1), which pertains to the structuring of plaintiff attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases,…
Mandatory arbitration agreements have become so commonplace, it’s often almost a given that people will enter them any time they: Purchase a product; Renting a car; Seek admission into a nursing home; Enter a facility/ venue. These agreements serve to block access to a dispute resolution through the civil court…
Punitive damages can be awarded in Florida personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits in which a defendant acted with gross negligence or intentional misconduct. The definitions of these terms are set forth in F.S. 768.72. But while punitive damages may substantially increase the amount of a certain damage award, the…
It was supposed to be one of the most mundane tasks of her day: Crossing the street. Instead, it ended her life and nearly claimed the life of her 5-month-old baby. Authorities say the 35-year-old mother-of-two was killed in Port Charlotte while on vacation from Pittsburgh with her husband and…
Guardrails are intended to keep motorists and passengers safe from careening into embankments, bridge parapets, signs, lights, signal supports, boulders, utility poles, drainage ditches, trees or bodies of water more than two feet deep. Generally, they do a good job. Cable guardrails, also sometimes referred to as cable barriers, installed…
One of the greatest dangers in a Fort Myers trucking accident is the risk of a smaller vehicle ending up underneath a large commercial trailer. So serious was this problem that in 1998, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) implemented a requirement that vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or more…
Prom and graduation season is upon us, which means many high school students will be donning tuxedos and gowns and heading out for a final bash. Parents concerned about the possibility of drunk driving may splurge on a limousine service for their kids, just to be certain teens won’t be…