Personal Injury FAQ

A personal injury claim is a legal case brought by someone who’s been physically or emotionally harmed because of another party’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct. The most common personal injury claims involve car accidents, slip-and-falls, medical malpractice, workplace injuries, and defective products.

You’re not required to hire one, but going up against an insurance company on your own puts you at a significant disadvantage. Insurers have teams of adjusters and defense attorneys working to pay you as little as possible. A lawyer may handle the negotiation, make sure nothing gets left out of your claim, and keep you from accepting an offer that’s lower than what the case is worth.

Most work on contingency in Florida, which means there are no upfront fees, and you owe nothing unless the lawyer recovers compensation for you. The fee, which comes later, is a percentage of the settlement, award, or verdict. At Gordon & Partners Law Firm, consultations are free and there are no legal fees untless we win for you.

Two years from the date of injury for most claims, per HB 837 (effective March 24, 2023). That covers car accidents, slip-and-falls, and other negligence-based cases. Medical malpractice has its own two-year limit with a four-year statute of repose.

A few months for straightforward cases. A year or two for anything involving serious injuries, disputed fault, or multiple parties. The worst thing you can do is rush to settle before you’ve fully recovered. Once you sign, you can’t go back and ask for more if your condition turns out to be worse than you thought.

Compensation for physical injuries or physical sickness is generally exempt from federal income tax. Punitive damages, interest, and emotional distress awards that aren’t tied to a physical injury may be taxable. Talk to a tax professional about how the specifics of your settlement break down.

A personal injury claim is usually valued based on the severity of the injury, medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and how the injury affects daily life. In some cases, future medical care, reduced earning ability, fault, and insurance limits also affect the amount. An attorney reviews all of these factors when estimating what a claim may be worth.

A personal injury lawyer can do several things, including investigating the accident, gathering evidence, calculating damages, negotiating with insurance companies, handling paperwork, and taking the case to court if needed.

You may be able to recover economic damages for medical bills, future medical costs, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and property damage. You may also receive compensation for non-economic damages, including pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, scarring, and disfigurement. In cases involving especially egregious behavior, punitive damages may be awarded on top of that.

Per Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule, your compensation gets reduced by whatever percentage of fault a jury assigns to you. A $100,000 award with 30% fault on your side means you receive $70,000. But if you hit the 51% threshold, meaning the jury says you were more at fault than the other party, you get nothing.