West Palm injury lawyer

The Florida Supreme Court handed down a significant victory for injured workers and the attorneys who represent them in the recent case of Castellanos v. Next Door Co. et al., a challenge to state limits on workers’ compensation attorney fees.

It’s significant because many injury lawyers have been reluctant to take on workers’ compensation cases, knowing they may not be fairly reimbursed for their time. Plaintiff attorney in the Castellanos case, for example, was reimbursed $1.53 an hour for 107 hours of legal work (a length of time which lower courts agreed was in line with what was necessary to adequately prepare the case).

The ruling comes just one week after the 1st DCA ruled in Miles v. City of Edgewater that it was unconstitutional for the state to restrict a workers’ compensation plaintiff to a strict contingency fee structure with her lawyer, and prohibit a retainer fee or hourly fee payment plan. Continue reading →

Florida law requires drivers to use reasonable care in the operation of their motor vehicle. Failure to do this is met with punishment from the criminal justice system, and sometimes accountability through the civil system when people are hurt or property is damaged.

Generally, “reasonable care” means abiding by all traffic laws and taking every precaution to operate the vehicle safely and avoid accidents.

However, there are some scenarios in which drivers get a pass. It’s not often, and it’s usually not a given. But if a defendant can show he or she was grappling with a “sudden emergency” at the time of accident and that sudden emergency is what caused the accident, it’s likely he or she will evade both criminal charges and civil liability. Continue reading →

Articles Tagged with West Palm injury lawyer

Florida Supreme Court: Workers’ Comp Fees Unconstitutional

Frazier v. Drake – Sudden Emergency Defense in Car Accidents