Most people think that if you slip and fall in a store that the store is automatically responsible for your injuries. So a common question I often am asked is if the store’s responsible, should I get a lawyer for my slip and fall case. The answer is Yes, you absolutely need a lawyer for a slip and fall case. That’s because in Florida the store or property owner is not responsible for your injuries unless you can prove that it had notice of the hazard before you fell. And this can be very difficult to prove depending on the case.

People often ask what a good settlement offer is for their personal injury claim. Well the truth is, evaluating any settlement offer can be complicated because every case is different. For example, in some cases there may be questions of fault, whereas others may involve issues relating to your injuries. The bottom line though, when it’s all said and done, you want to recover enough to pay all of your medical bills, and to compensate you for your pain and suffering and any future treatment that you will be obligated to pay, if necessary.

People often ask at what point after an accident should you contact a personal injury lawyer? Well, despite all of the advertising from lawyers out there who want you to believe that you must immediately call a lawyer, that’s not the case. After an accident, the most important thing that you should be worried about is yourself. Get to the doctor and get checked out first, then worry about calling a lawyer. And don’t just call any lawyer just because you saw their billboard or might remember their jingle or phone number - do your own research and hire the right lawyer for you.

A lot people ask How Much a Typical Injury Settlement is for a Florida car accident. Well, the truth is that there is no typical settlement amount. That’s because every case is different. Even if two claims may sound the same, there are different medical histories, different insurance companies, and different insurance adjusters. All of these can affect the value of a case. The only way to truly value a personal injury case is to look at your medical records, your diagnosis, prognosis, how much you owe, how much you’ve lost in income, and most importantly, look at how your injury has affected your life.

People often ask whether it is worth it to hire a personal injury lawyer or just handle their claim on their own. Well, according to studies, people who have been injured in auto accidents and who hire a lawyer recover settlements worth 3.5 times more than those who tried to handle their case on their own. This is because personal injury lawyers deal with insurance companies daily and we know their tricks, and also because we know how to properly value injury claims.

This video tip of the week is about the importance of understanding what a Contingency Fee Agreement is. TIf you have ever seen any commercials or other advertisements from personal injury attorneys, you have probably heard such sayings as “No Fee Guarantee” or “No Fee Unless You Win.” Well, here is a secret that those lawyers are not telling you, and that is that most, if not all, personal injury attorneys will not charge you anything unless you recover in your case. This is called a contingency fee agreement. A contingency fee agreement is an agreement where the fee is contingent on recovery. If you do not recover, you do not pay. And this includes any costs that were expended on your behalf. However, if you do recover, you will owe a fee plus any costs, which are treated separately. Contingency fee agreements were designed to afford injury victims the opportunity to get qualified legal representation which they otherwise would not be able to afford if paying on an hourly basis. As we all know, if you had to pay a lawyer on an hourly basis, most people simply could not afford it. If you have any questions about your personal injury case, we will be more than happy to speak with you. Simply call us at (813)419-3866 or you can visit our website at www.southshoreinjuryattorneys.com

We currently live in age where one of the primary forms of communication with friends, family, and other acquaintances is through social media. Whether its Facebook or Instagram or any other form of social media, people just can’t seem to get enough of posting about every aspect of their life. While this can be both useful and entertaining, it can also have a drastic affect the value of your personal injury claim. If you’ve been injured in an accident, posting anything about your accident or injuries online will likely come back to haunt you, whether you think your post was innocent or not. Insurance companies and their lawyers are masters at taking online postings out of context and using them against you in your case. Even the most innocent of postings, like of photo of you smiling with your children taken after a crash, will be construed by the insurance company as proof that your injury is minor, or that you’re not injured at all. So if you’ve been injured in an accident, it’s important that you refrain from posting anything about your accident or injuries on social media, or if possible, simply refrain from posting on social media at all.

This video tip of the week is about the importance of choosing the hiring the right personal injury attorney. There are a lot of lawyers out there that claim to do personal injury, but then you look at their website and personal injury is just one of 20 different areas of law that they practice. These Threshold Lawyers are those who take anything that walks through the front door and dabble in many areas of the law without focusing on anything specific. Would you take your Ferrari to Walmart for an oil change? I think not. Then why would you do that to your financial future after an accident. So if you’ve been injured in an accident be sure to consult an attorney and hire the right attorney to best protect your rights.