Gateway Personal Injury Lawyers

Close to 40 million Americans require medical care each year in the United States because of the injuries produced by personal injury incidents. At Morgan and Morgan, our team of attorneys handles the most common types of personal injury incidents.

Vehicle Collisions

Several different types of actions can cause a car accident. You might collide with another driver who operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Perhaps you got involved in a car accident because another driver spent more time texting than paying attention to what transpired on Interstate 75 or one of the many roads that take commuters from Gateway to Fort Myers, Florida. If another driver committed an act of negligence that caused a car accident, you might have a strong enough case to file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages.

Slip and Fall

As a type of premises liability case, a slip and fall incident can cause much more physical damage than a bruised ego. The instinct to break a fall can fracture a bone in the wrist or arm, which can take months to heal. Other types of slip and fall injuries include brain trauma, spinal cord damage, and torn knee ligaments and/or tendons. Proving negligence for a slip and fall case typically requires viewing the security camera footage shot at the time of the personal injury incident.

Medical Malpractice

Healthcare providers assume a duty of care to protect patients from sustaining injuries or developing illnesses while receiving medical care. Medical malpractice covers legal issues like misdiagnosis and incorrect medication prescriptions. If you are a victim of medical malpractice, you need to hire a personal injury lawyer in Gateway, Florida who has a deep understanding of medical terms, as well as knows how to prove negligence that a healthcare provider caused you harm.

Product Liability

A defective product can produce serious injuries at work, at home, and in public spaces such as one of the beaches located near Gateway, FL. Using a product that possesses a design and/or manufacturing defect can cause serious injuries such as burns, a fractured bone, and/or damage to an internal organ. Although manufacturers usually assume legal liability for producing a defective product, retailers also can become defendants for a personal injury lawsuit that seeks monetary damages.

You have a limited amount of time to file a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages for a personal injury incident. Also referred to as the statute of limitations, each state has established a deadline for taking legal action. Most states grant plaintiffs between two and four years to file a personal injury lawsuit. A few states extend the deadline as long as six years or shorten the deadline to just one year. Florida provides plaintiffs with four years to build a strong enough case to file a personal injury that seeks compensation. The clock starts ticking for most personal injury lawsuits on the day when an incident took place. However, you might receive an extension if you experienced delayed symptoms, such as the development of symptoms for whiplash or a concussion.

Four years gives you plenty of time to gather the physical evidence required to file a persuasive personal injury lawsuit. Nonetheless, your personal injury lawyer in Gateway from Morgan and Morgan should encourage you to act with a sense of urgency if you decide to take legal action. Acting with a sense of urgency speeds up the legal process, which means you receive compensation to take care of debts like medical bills. Your personal injury lawyer in Gateway, Florida also encourages you to act with a sense of urgency to receive the most accurate accounts from witnesses concerning what transpired before, during, and after a personal injury incident.

If you do not file a personal injury lawsuit before the expiration of the statute of limitations, the court clerk processing your case has the legal power to dismiss it.

Although the ideal personal injury case assigns 100 percent fault to another party, the fact remains that a significant number of cases involve negligence committed by more than one party. Because of shared legal liability, Florida has adopted the comparative negligence principle when assigning fault for personal injury cases.

According to the comparative negligence principle, a judge hearing a personal injury lawsuit assigns fault to both the plaintiff and the defendant. For example, two vehicles collided at a Fort Myers intersection. The defendant of the personal injury lawsuit assumes most of the fault for causing the accident by failing to use a turn signal, while the plaintiff assumes the remaining percentage of the blame for failing to pay attention to other motor vehicles. Let’s assume the defendant assumes 80 percent of the fault for causing the auto crash. If the judge hearing the case awards $50,000 in monetary damages, the plaintiff receives just $40,000 in compensation.

The primary goal of your personal injury lawyer in Gateway is to get you the compensation that you deserve. Most personal injury lawsuits award three types of compensation.

Economic Damages

Also called special compensatory damages, economic damages encompass tangible expenses, such as medical bills and the cost of repairing a motor vehicle after an accident. Medical bills cover the costs associated with diagnostic tests, treatment regimens, and physical therapy sessions. You also can request compensation for the cost of prescription medications and the use of an assistive device such as a wheelchair. The key to recovering the costs associated with medical bills is to submit copies of every healthcare bill and record.

Your personal injury lawyer in Gateway from Morgan and Morgan also might ask the court to compensate you for the value of repairing property damage. Although the most common type of property damage repairs involves returning a motor vehicle to mint condition, you also can request compensation for the repairs done to jewelry and electronic devices.

Non-Economic Damages

As opposed to the tangible costs associated with economic damages, non-economic damages do not come with a price tag. Instead, your personal injury attorney must calculate a value for emotional distress issues that include fear, anger, and anxiety. Your personal injury attorney calculates a value for non-economic damages by using a formula that factors in the value of economic damages.

The key to receiving approval for noneconomic damages involves calculating a fair value.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages do not cover the costs associated with tangible expenses. The judge hearing your personal injury lawsuit can order the defendant to pay punitive damages as punishment for committing one or more acts of negligence. In some cases, the value of punitive damages exceeds the value of economic and non-economic damages. The main goal of awarding punitive damages is to deter the defendant from committing the same act of negligence again.

Searching for the best personal injury lawyer in Gateway, Florida requires you to consider several factors. Experience matters because it allows you to work with a litigator who knows what types of physical evidence help prove the negligence committed by another party. An experienced personal injury attorney also has developed a positive professional relationship with insurance adjusters.

You also want to be represented by a lawyer who thoroughly understands all Florida personal injury statutes. The personal injury lawyer in Gateway that you hire also should be a responsive communicator who specializes in the type of personal injury case you plan to litigate. An attorney who has compiled numerous positive reviews from clients on sites such as Yelp and Google provides you with insight into the lawyer’s experience and skill level.

Schedule a free case evaluation today with a personal injury attorney at Morgan and Morgan to determine the best course of legal action.

Los abogados de lesiones personales de Morgan & Morgan entendemos lo importante que es resolver todas sus preguntas legales en el idioma en el que usted pueda entender mejor. Por eso contamos con una sección de Preguntas Frecuentes en nuestra página de abogados.com. Recuerde que en caso de ser victima de un accidente y necesitar ayuda legal, usted cuenta con los abogados de Morgan & Morgan. Siendo el bufete de abogados de lesiones personales más grande de los Estados Unidos, contamos con los recursos y la experiencia que usted necesita para defender sus derechos. ¡La justicia es derecho de todos!