Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Report: Extreme Drink Specials Legal in Florida

May 28, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

At bars and nightclubs across the Sunshine State, patrons are subjected nightly to challenges such as “Bladder Buster,” “Sink or Swim” and “Penny ’til you Pee.”

All of these are different variations of “extreme” drink specials that many other states have seen fit to ban – not only because they put patrons in danger of alcohol poisoning, but also because it increases the risk that one or more of those patrons will venture onto the roadways while extremely intoxicated.

Unfortunately, the reason why these specials are so popular here is because there is no law specifically banning them. When it comes to civil liability, victims of drunk drivers can sue establishments that served alcohol to the impaired motorist, but only in certain situations.
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High School Football Player Compensated for Head Injury

May 25, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Approximately 2.5 million people in the U.S. suffer a traumatic brain injury each year, with roughly 50,000 of those cases being fatal. Mostly, these injuries are caused by motor vehicle accidents, falls, being struck by or against objects and assault.

These injuries may be mild, but often result in severe and lasting consequences, including permanent disability or death.

For one teen football player in Iowa, the impact rendered him permanently disabled with severe brain damage and confined to a wheelchair. Now 18, he recently won a $1 million negligence lawsuit filed on his behalf against the school district for whom he played. It is believed to be the largest amount of damages awarded to a high school football player for such injuries.
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Florida Deemed Friendlier to Bicyclists, But More Work is Needed

May 23, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

While Florida is a beautiful place for a bicycle ride, it hasn’t been known as a safe one.

In fact, the Sunshine State has consistently ranked as having the highest numbers and rates of bicycle fatalities annually. Unfortunately, according to the latest figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, that’s still true.

But, there is also evidence we are making strides. The League of American Bicyclists has ranked Florida 24th out of 50 for bicycle friendliness, with an overall score of 39 out of 100 – a slight improvement from the 2014 score of 35 out of 100.
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McCarthy v. Broward College – Slip-and-Fall Law Applied to Colleges

May 21, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Florida’s stringent slip-and-fall law, updated in 2011, covers incidents that occur at colleges and other institutes of higher learning, according to a recent ruling by the 4th DCA.

The court in McCarthy v. Broward College ruled the provision of F.S. 768.0755 that states “in a business establishment” is applicable to universities.

The totality of the updated law states a person who is injured after slipping and falling on a foreign transitory substance (water, grease, sand, oil, cleaning solution, wax, etc.) in a business establishment has to prove the business had actual or constructive knowledge of the potentially dangerous condition and failed to take action to remedy it. Actual knowledge means the establishment was informed of the problem or noticed it. Constructive knowledge essentially means “should have known.” This element of the statute can be proven by showing either the condition existed for a certain length of time that would suggest in the ordinary exercise of due care, the company would have discovered it OR that the condition occurred with such regularity that it is considered foreseeable.
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Genie Industries, Inc. v. Matak – Third-Party Construction Accident Lawsuit

May 18, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

In the event of a construction accident, an injured worker may first seek legal remedy through workers’ compensation benefits, which provide immediate financial relief for job-related accidents and illnesses.

Beyond that, there may be additional relief to be secured through a third-party lawsuit. On a construction site, these claims may be directed against the property owner, the general contractor, a subcontractor or, as in the Texas Supreme Court case of Genie Industries, Inc. v. Matak, the manufacturer of a defective or malfunctioning machine or tool.

Product liability cases stemming from construction accident injuries can be complex. The equipment with which many construction professionals work is often inherently dangerous, even when used properly. This means plaintiffs have to show the equipment was unreasonably dangerous and there is a safer design alternative to accomplish the same goal.
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Social Media Analyzed in Fort Myers Injury Lawsuits

May 18, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

It’s become common knowledge that police investigators and prosecutors will sift through the social media posts and pictures of people suspected of crimes, searching for evidence that might bolster their case.

What is somewhat less well-known is the fact that personal injury victims are also likely to become the subject of such scrutiny. In fact, it is an increasingly common practice for defendants early on in a case to request access to all of plaintiff’s social media postings within the previous year or more – even if those pages have strict privacy settings. And judges are granting those requests with increasing regularity.

The value of these postings for defendants goes beyond simply trying to find photos of a plaintiff being more physically active than they claim they can be (though there is that). Rather, they are looking for evidence of happiness and quality of life. In many personal injury cases, clients will seek damages not just for medical bills or lost wages, but for things like pain and suffering, loss of life enjoyment and loss of consortium. These elements require an examination of the quality of life and personal relationships one had before the accident or illness that is the subject of litigation, as compared to the quality of life after.
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Insurers Sued by Auto Repair Shops Alleging Practices Put Motorists at Risk

May 16, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Following an auto accident, it’s common practice for drivers to file a claim with an insurance company to cover the cost of repairs. After all, that’s why we have insurance.

But insurance companies are always looking for ways to cut costs, and for a long time, one way they have done that is by demanding auto repair shops use after-market or recycled parts – rather than replacements from the manufacturer – to make repairs. This in turn makes the insurance claim less costly.

But now, in a federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, hundreds of auto repair shops in 36 states are suing dozens of automobile insurers (including Progressive, Geico and State Farm) alleging that all too often, these cheaper parts are substandard – and that means consumers are put at risk of serious injury if those parts fail.
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Ross v. St. Luke’s – Weighing Hospital Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit

May 15, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

In Florida, if you slip or trip and fall in a doctor’s office or hospital and are injured, is it considered a medical malpractice case or a premises liability claim?

It’s an important distinction because the answer to this question is going to impact whether you must retain expert witness testimony, what kind of notification requirements you must meet, the relevant proof burden, the general amount of damages you may be awarded, and the applicable statute of limitations deadline.

Just as an example of the differences, Florida’s statute of limitations on medical malpractice cases is two years, while the deadline for personal injury cases is four years.
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Civilian Construction Injury Results in Complex Litigation

May 14, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Most injury-causing construction accidents involve workers. After all, they are the ones most closely working with raw materials from extreme heights and under other dangerous circumstances.

However, when a construction site isn’t properly sealed off or if adequate warning signs aren’t posted to inform the public to keep a certain distance from the site, innocent passersby may be hurt as well.

We saw this alleged in Cape Coral following a 2008 hit-and-run crash in which a 3-year-old boy was severely injured after he was struck by a pickup truck driver as the boy and his aunt ran across a construction site on Del Prado Boulevard at the north end of the city.
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Truck Accident Defendants Argue Inefficient Counsel After $35M Plaintiff Verdict

May 12, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Defendants in a trucking accident lawsuit that left a mother-of-four with traumatic brain injuries, unable to walk and relegated to a nursing home, are now fighting against their own lawyers after jurors awarded plaintiff a record $35 million in damages for her injuries.

The facts giving rise to this case began in October 2010, when a 53-year-old woman operating an 18-passenger bus slammed into a tractor trailer that had jackknifed ahead of her from the opposite direction on a highway in California. She had no time to stop or avoid a head-on crash.

Having once enjoyed an active social life, a 30-year marriage and four children, she was debilitated with multiple skull fractures, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, broken ribs, a broken jaw, numerous facial fractures, a lacerated liver and other injuries. She was in a coma for a month and hospitalized in intensive care for four months. She was paralyzed from the waist down. Once released, she was unable to afford the daily care she needed at home, she was essentially warehoused” in a nursing home, away from her family and without access to necessary therapies. Her days instead were spent watching television, staring at white walls and sleeping alone.
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