Miami Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Insurance Companies Blame Rate Hikes on Low Unemployment

May 22, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

Lynne McChristian of the Insurance Information Institute recently told the Miami Herald that auto insurance rates are rising because of the drop in the unemployment rate as the main reason. “It’s an unintended consequence of low unemployment,” she said. “You have more people with jobs to go to.” That’s a new one for Miami car accident lawyers and their personal injury clients.

Four years ago, the Florida Legislature allegedly reformed the PIP (Personal Injury Protection) laws. As part of the reform deal, our insurance rates were supposed to drop. Car insurance rates dropped after the 2012 changes by 0.2% in 2013-2014. But in 2015-2015 those rates increased by 13.8% according to the Florida Department of Insurance Regulation.

Since January 2015, the insurance companies have raised automobile insurance rates an average of 15%. In fact Allstate has increased its PIP rates by 40 %.

Ms. Christian claims that average PIP claim in the last quarter of 2015 was $8280 which is close to the average in 2011 of $8,520 before the PIP reforms were instituted. Of course the insurance companies claim fraud is driving the rates higher in spite of the fact that these same insurance companies pushed through the reforms they wanted.

Insurance Company Statistics are Like Bikinis

Aaron Levenstein once said “Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.” Insurance companies are experts in using statistics to move their agenda

How to Represent Yourself in a Slip and Fall Injury Claim

May 20, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

Filing a Slip and Fall Claim in Miami without an Attorney

First things first. You are not required to have a Miami slip and fall attorney to file a claim for injuries from a slip and fall case. You can represent yourself. You cannot represent someone else unless you are licensed attorney in that jurisdiction. If you do try to represent someone else, you could be criminally liable for practicing law without a license.

Next, you need to decide if you want to represent yourself. If you do, you need to understand what you are up against. If you were injured in a slip and fall accident, there are certain things you should know about slip and fall accidents including what to do after a slip and fall accident in Miami. If you were injured on a business owner’s property such as a mall, retail store, restaurant, boutique or supermarket then you need to think it through. Business owners are not likely to just give you money because you might have been hurt on their premises.

How to Get My Attorney’s Fee Paid by the Defendant in a Miami Car Accident Case

May 9, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

img-box-02d Can I get the other side to pay my attorney’s fees in my Miami car accident case? The answer is sometimes, yes.

The Miami car accident attorneys at Wolfson & Leon work with the rules surrounding proposals for settlement regularly. A proposal for settlement is basically an offer to settle and either side can file one. This is the process and law that may help you get the other side to pay your attorney’s fees. Under Florida Statute 768.69 which is Florida’s Offer of Judgment and Demand for Judgment statute, during litigation a Miami car accident lawyer can send a proposal for settlement to the other side. If you go to trial and get 25% more than what you asked for in the proposal, then you can get the other side to pay for your attorney’s fees. That means that you may not have to pay the contingency fee at all.

Now, this law can be used against you too. This means that, if the other side sends a proposal to you and your end verdict at trial is 25% less than what was offered to you, then you will need to pay their attorney’s fees and costs. As far as costs, Florida law does provide for the prevailing party to recover costs from the losing side even without a proposal being issued.

Jury Divides Fault on Shopping Cart Injury Accident in Miami

May 5, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

personal-injury-lawyer-300x168 A Miami jury split the fault in a Miami premises liability personal injury case involving a shopping cart. The plaintiff claimed Home Depot was negligent because it allowed a threshold to exist which caught a shopping cart the plaintiff was pushing. When the cart got stuck, it jerked back and struck the plaintiff . He seriously injured his neck and back as well as his shoulder. The jury awarded approximately $328,000 which was reduced by the 50/50 finding of the jury.

Generally, a property owner owes two duties to an invitee. First it owes the duty to use reasonable care in maintaining the property in a reasonably safe condition. Second, the property owner has the duty to warn of concealed or latent hazards or dangers which the owner knows about, or should have known about. The hidden dangers must also be unknown to the invitee. Finally the concealed hazard is not discoverable through the exercise of due care. A property’s owner may be discharged of the duty to warn when the hazard is open and obvious. But even with open and obvious hazards the landowner continues to have the duty to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition.

The injured plaintiff must generally prove that the property owner had constructive or actual notice of the dangerous condition. A property owner, like Home Depot, can be held liable for injuries and damages if the hazardous condition existed for a sufficient period of time to charge the premises owner with constructive knowledge. Constructive knowledge can be inferred, or assessed, if a hazardous condition existed for long enough that in the exercise of reasonable care the concealed or latent hazard should have been known to the premises owner.

Top Three Ways to Lose Your Personal Injury Case

May 5, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

court-look-300x300 If you have a personal injury case, you might feel that you have no control. Everyone else has the power – the attorneys, the insurance company, the judge, or the jury. But that is not entirely true. You do have some power. You have the ability to avoid the mistakes that can cause you to lose your personal injury case. It doesn’t matter if you were injured in a car accident, truck accident, slip and fall, motorcycle accident or any other type of serious injury. In every personal injury case, there are missteps you should avoid.

So what are those mistakes? Based on the experience of our Miami personal injury attorneys here are the top five:

1. NEVER TELL A LIE

MIAMI PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER – SOUTH BEACH TOWING CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WILL FAIL

May 2, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

No Parking A member of the well-known Miami Mas Canosa family has filed a class action lawsuit against Tremont Towing because his car got towed from a private parking lot during non-business hours. He claims that the towing company violated Miami-Dade County and City of Miami Beach laws requiring private property owners to authorize every tow with a signature. The lawsuit alleges that Tremont Towing cannot operate under a blanket request to tow vehicles without specific individual approval. The class action lawsuit also alleges that the City of Miami Beach gets a percentage of the tow fees and, as a result, the City is also named as a defendant. While taking such a position is popular (everyone hates towing companies until you need one), it is wrong and the class action lawsuit should be dismissed.

The County law clearly states that certain sections of the County’s towing laws do not apply in any municipality that has adopted and maintains in effect ordinances or regulations governing the same matters. Miami Beach has adopted its own local towing ordinance, including procedures for the removal of trespassing vehicles from private property. It specifically states that during non-business hours, a towing company does not need permission from the property owner to tow vehicles that are illegally parked. The lawsuit admits that the Plaintiff trespassed on the subject property for at least one hour and a half on an early Sunday morning. However, there appears to have been no business open during the hours that Mr. Mas illegally parked his vehicle and was towed. In other words, Mr. Mas’ vehicle was towed during non-business hours.

Tremont Towing attorney Ralph Andrade told the Miami Herald that he is confident that the class action lawsuit will be dismissed.

How Daubert Standard Affects Miami Car Accident Cases

May 2, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

courtroom-300x225-300x225 According to the Florida Bar, the Daubert Standard has a large impact on the admissibility of expert witness testimony. Relatively recent changes to Florida’s laws impact how victims seeking damages and recoveries can use expert witness testimony to support their cases. Many personal injury cases employ the testimony of expert witnesses, such as doctors, to explain to judges and juries the nature of a victim’s injuries and to show damages. Expert witnesses can explain to a judge or a jury expected recovery times, expectations regarding long term care, and can help personal injury lawyers justify the amount of money they are seeking for compensation on behalf of their clients. The defense is likewise permitted to hire expert witnesses to support its own claims.

Yet, the revised standards for expert witnesses may change the way auto accident lawyers go about choosing their witnesses. Florida courts use the Daubert Standard. According to Cornell University Law School, the Daubert Standard is an assessment made by a judge to determine whether an expert’s testimony is based upon scientific reasoning and valid scientific study. The judge will often ask several questions about how an expert witness went about presenting evidence. First, the expert witness’s technique must be testable and must have been tested. Secondly, the judge will consider whether any evidence or expert testimony has been subject to peer review. Next, the judge will ask about possible margins of error, and whether controls were used in any studies. Finally, the judge will consider whether the methodology or results are accepted in the scientific community.

These standards significantly raise the bar for expert testimony presented in a case and they also limit who can present expert testimony. Expert opinion, on its own, is no longer allowed. Previously, courts used the Frye test, which required that statements being made in court meet the standards of general acceptability in the field to which the person belongs. The Daubert Standard can have immense implications for certain personal injury lawsuits. For example, in a case where a worker is claiming that workplace stress led to a miscarriage, the victim suing will have to present relevant studies to the court to show how stress on the job, or how stress in general, can result in a miscarriage. If the victim wants to use an expert witness, the victim will have to find an expert witness who has performed studies on stress and miscarriage or who has worked on the studies, to testify in court.

The Florida Public Records Act and You

April 24, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

Gavel1-300x232 Did you know that Florida has a Public Records Act? Don’t worry, most people don’t. But the fact is that Florida has a very strong public record law. This week the Florida Supreme Court confirmed that policy with emphasis.

Florida has a strong public policy in favor of open access to public records. It’s the policy of this state that all municipal, county and state records remain open for copying and inspection by any person. By law it is the duty of each agency to provide access to public records.

Transparency is the cornerstone of our system. The government works for the people. The government spends the peoples’ money. Therefore, the government should work in the sunshine and the people should have open access to public records.

HOW LONG WILL MY CASE TAKE?

April 23, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

proof3-300x200 One of the most asked questions we hear at Wolfson & Leon is “How long will my Miami car accident case take?” or “How long will my slip and fall case in Miami take?” The answer depends on the facts of your case. It also depends on the type of case as well as a number of other factors.

How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit?

The first question is who is responsible? If it was a governmental agency, then you will have to give that agency 6 months’ notice that you intend to file a lawsuit. You have to wait 6 months to file suit or it will be dismissed.

The Best Way to Settle Car Crash Claims With Small Policy Limits in Miami

April 22, 2016 | Wolfson & Leon

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If you are in a car crash in Miami, an immediate concern is whether the other driver has any insurance at all. If they do, then the question becomes just how much insurance is there. The amount of the policy limits may well determine whether your claim gets settled.

Insurance policy limits are usually offered in single and aggregate limits. There is a single amount that any one person can claim. Then there is a total amount that the insurance company will pay for any one accident no matter how many claims are made. For example, policy limits could be listed as 10/20. This means that the insurance company could pay up to $10,000 for one person’s claim. If the car crash involved five people, then the insurance company would pay no more than $20,000 for any claim made. If all five people were injured, no one would get more than $10,000 and the insurance company would pay no more than $20,000 total for the car crash claims.

In cases where there is a potential of multiple claims and small or low policy limits, an insurance company should hold a “global” settlement conference. All individuals with possible claims should be invited. The conference should be held as quickly as possible. Typically, an insurance company attorney will conduct the meeting and tell everyone that they are there to resolve all or as many claims as possible. The claimants and their personal injury attorneys are then encouraged to reach an agreement as to how to divide the limited amounts of insurance. Insurance representatives usually attend these “global” settlement conferences with a checkbook and releases for the claims that can be settled. Lastly the insured person or persons are also invited to attend but they rarely appear.