Broward injury attorney

December 8, 2023

Broward Injury Lawyer on Car Accident Dangerous Instrumentality Doctrine

One of the more unique elements of Florida injury law is the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. It essentially allows the owner of a vehicle to be held legally responsible for damages inflicted by negligent operation of that vehicle, even if it wasn’t the owner who was driving. As a Broward injury lawyer can explain, it’s an important path to compensation when a negligent driver is young, poorly insured, and/or lacking in personal assets.

Recently, the Florida Supreme Court was asked to weigh in on whether a claimant could pursue claims of dangerous instrumentality against two parties – both parents of the driver, one the title holder and the other the “bailee.” The “bailee” is one who gains possession/control of property but does not actually own it. Here, the father of the negligent, 21-year-old driver was the title-holder. The mother was the bailee; she was the primary driver of the car, but both parents frequently permitted their son to drive it as well.

According to court records in Emerson v. Lambert et al., the young man was driving home from dinner when he struck a motorcyclist, who is the plaintiff in this case. The crash was catastrophic, leaving the motorcyclist a quadriplegic.

In the subsequent Florida injury lawsuit, plaintiff named the driver and his parents as defendants, the latter two allegedly vicariously liable under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. Continue reading

March 10, 2023

How Likely is a Default Judgment in My Broward Personal Injury Claim?

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

As a plaintiff (or potential plaintiff) in a Broward personal injury case, you may be curious what happens if the party you’re suing simply doesn’t answer or show up. What could happen is a default judgment. Broward injury lawyer

However, as our Broward injury lawyers can explain, that isn’t always the best case scenario. Default judgments are often successfully challenged. And even a Florida default judgment stands, plaintiffs may have a tougher time collecting on them than on cases with more responsive defendants, as the latter are more likely to have financial resources.

What Exactly is a Default Judgment?

To explain a default judgment in an injury lawsuit, we first need to recognize that part of the right to due process – as laid out both in the U.S. and Florida Constitutions – require that the defendant be put on notice of the proceedings and also be given the opportunity to be heard.

When the plaintiff files their injury lawsuit, they will spell out in the complaint exactly who the defendant is, what they did, how this resulted in damage to the plaintiff, and what sort of remedy the plaintiff is seeking. The defendant is considered put on notice when they’ve been served with a copy of the complaint as well as a court summons. That summons spells out clearly what a defendant has to do if they wish to defend the claim. It also tells them what can happen if they choose to outright ignore the lawsuit. The court provides the defendant a certain amount of time in which to formally respond in the form of a motion or answer that denies liability. The summons also lets the defendant know that if they don’t do anything, they might lose their case via default judgment.

Legislators and courts have concluded that justice is best served when all parties are fully informed and actively participating. However, they aren’t expected to wait forever – and unresponsive defendants aren’t rewarded for their lack of participation. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure allow plaintiffs to ask the court to issue a default judgment if the defendant doesn’t file any answer to the lawsuit by the deadline. If the court grants a default judgment, they decide the defendant is liable by default and will issue liquidated damages.

Will I Still Need a Trial After a Default Judgment?

As our Broward injury lawyers can explain, there are basically two reasons your case might still go to trial after a default judgment. Continue reading

March 15, 2022

SCOTUS Hears Florida Personal Injury-Medicaid Reimbursement Dispute

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a question that concerns Florida personal injury plaintiffs. Specifically, should the state’s Medicaid program be allowed to seek reimbursement for past medical care by siphoning personal injury lawsuit settlement funds that are expressly dedicated to future medical expenses? Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer

As our Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers can explain, this could impact how we as attorneys approach settlement negotiations.

The case that kickstarted the dispute in Gallardo v. Marstiller is a tragic one. A 13-year-old girl has been left in a persistent vegetative state after she was hit by a truck while getting off a school bus. She received a settlement of $800,000 against the owner of the truck, the driver, and the school board. (The cost of catastrophic injuries like this for someone so young can easily stretch into many millions of dollars over her lifetime.)

But then, the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration imposed a lien on her settlement money, asserting that it was entitled to seize $300,000 of the money that was set aside for past and future medical expenses. The district court in Florida ruled against the state, arguing the federal Medicaid Act barred the state from being reimbursed for past paid medical expenses from the portion of the settlement that is set aside for future medical expenses. In the summer of 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed in favor of the state’s action.

It was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in January and is expected to rule in the coming months. Continue reading

September 29, 2018

Worker Injury in Defective Ladder Fall Spurs Lawsuit Against Hotel-Casino

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Employers have a responsibility to provide a safe working environment. Failure to do so may result in a fine by government regulators. Workers’ compensation – the exclusive remedy for employees against their employers for job-related injuries – is paid on a no-fault basis. That means workers who are injured in Florida don’t need to prove their employer acted in a manner that was negligent in order to collect compensation. work injury lawyer

Third parties, meanwhile, can be liable and compelled to pay damages to the person injured on top of what he/ she receives for workers’ compensation – but only if the plaintiff can prove the third party negligent.

Many serious Florida work injuries involve some type of fault from a third party, whether that’s:

A general contractor or property owner who fails to make sure the work site is free from an unreasonable risk of hazards (known or foreseeable);
A negligent driver who strikes a work crew on the road;
A product manufacturer that designed/ made/ sold a heavy machine that is unreasonably dangerous, even when operated as intended.

August 29, 2018

How Florida Injury Lawsuit Plaintiffs Prove “Loss of Life Enjoyment”

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A South Florida woman has filed a car accident lawsuit in Broward Circuit Court, alleging negligence resulting in serious injury, pain, disability, disfigurement and something known as “loss of life enjoyment.” car accident attorney Fort Lauderdale

Such damages are typical to seek in Florida crash injury claims, but this last one is what we want to focus on here. While serious injury, disability and medical costs can be established with documentation such as medical records, bills, bank statements, pay stubs and tax returns (among other types of evidence), loss of life enjoyment is a little trickier because it is highly subjective. It’s also sometimes referred to as “hedonic damages,” “loss of life’s pleasures” or “lost value of life.” It is a type of non-economic damages, which means there is no clear-cut value for the loss, as opposed to economic damages, which are the result of monetary losses suffered as a result of an injury or wrongful death.

In this case, as reported by the Florida Record, the motorist alleges defendant struck her vehicle in December 2016, causing her to sustain severe injuries that required hospitalization and ongoing nursing care. It also had the effect of exacerbating an existing medical condition. Details of the injuries and crash circumstances weren’t given in the initial complaint, except that it occurred at an intersection of the southbound I-95 ramp in Fort Lauderdale and plaintiff alleges defendant failed to maintain control of her vehicle or exercise proper lookout for other vehicles. Continue reading

July 21, 2018

South Florida Trampoline Park Injury Increasingly Common

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Trampoline parks have been cropping up in Broward County and throughout the country, offering children a chance to literally bounce off the walls to burn some energy. They are especially popular in South Florida in the summer, where parents and caregivers need something fun and active to keep kids occupied while still keeping them out of the crushing heat. trampoline injury lawyer

However, a recent investigation by NBC6 in Miami revealed child injuries at trampoline parks have become incredibly common. Just in the last two years in South Florida, there have reportedly been nearly 300 911 calls made regarding injuries and falls at trampoline parks. In roughly 70 of those instances, paramedics were required at the scene.

Those incidents included:

A 4-year-old boy who suffered a sprained ankle;
A 6-year-old girl left injured and bleeding when a larger boy jumped on top of her;
A boy who suffered a traumatic brain injury at a Broward County trampoline park.

May 10, 2016

Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawsuit Filed After Bounce House Blows Away From Beach

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Last Memorial Day, a six-year-old child lived through a terrifying ordeal on Fort Lauderdale Beach Park when the bounce house she and two others were in took flight and sailed at least 20 feet before dropping hard to the ground.

Now, she girl has filed a personal injury lawsuit in Fort Lauderdale, accusing both the vendor and the city of negligence. The inflatable structure had been affixed to a basketball court at the park and three children were inside when a tornado reportedly swept through and picked up the structure.

A recorded cell phone video of the incident shows the horror of those involved as the structure was lifted off the ground. Screams can be heard on the jostling video. The little girl inside, now the plaintiff, would later tell reporters she was thinking, “I was about to die.” She suffered a head injury, was admitted to the Broward Health Medical Center and treated overnight.

In addition to the City of Fort Lauderdale, vendor All Star Events, based in Miami Lakes, is named as a defendant. Continue reading