personal injury attorney

September 16, 2016

Johnson v. Colorado – Restitution From Criminal Case May Not Cover All Your Personal Injury Damages

For victims of a crime, such as drunk driving or a violent assault, it’s not uncommon for there to be two cases moving simultaneously through the court system: The criminal and the civil. Criminal cases are pursued by state or federal prosecutors while civil complaints are pursued by the victims who have been harmed. The goal of the criminal case is to penalize the wrongdoer, while the purpose of the civil case is to make whole (to whatever extent possible) the person wronged.

It is not unheard of for judges in criminal court to order restitution to the victim, who may or may not have a pending civil case. However, that restitution is unlikely to cover the full cost of damages. Victims may be lucky if they get even a fraction of their losses covered – and that’s assuming the defendant even pays. Although criminal restitution isn’t dischargeable in a bankruptcy, it’s not uncommon for victims to walk away without ever seeing a dime of that money. On the other hand, civil lawsuit damages take into consideration not just medical bills, but lost wages, pain and suffering and loss of consortium. Further, they are usually paid by insurance companies and other third parties, which increases the chances of the victim actually receiving the money owed.

This is why it’s imperative to discuss your case with an experienced Fort Lauderdale injury lawyer – even if the prosecutor pursuing action against the person who harmed you promises to also ask for restitution. Continue reading

August 26, 2016

Steinberg v. Sahara Sam’s – Liability Waiver Can’t Shield From Legal Action for Gross Negligence

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Increasingly, anyone who engages in an activity with the slightest risk is being asked to sign a waiver of liability. Many people barely read the language and hardly understand what rights they are signing away. The fact is, they are forgoing the right to take legal action against the owner/organizer/manufacturer – even in the event that negligence on the part of those entities resulted in a personal injury.

But even with the presence of a valid waiver (and not all of them are valid, for a myriad of reasons), not even the most careful language in such a contract can sign away rights to legal action for gross negligence. This is a step above and beyond simple negligence, which is merely the absence of reasonable care. Gross negligence is the voluntary and conscious disregard for the need to use reasonable care.

A recent case out of New Jersey, Steinberg v. Sahara Sam’s, illustrates how evidence of gross negligence can help injured victims fight for compensation, despite the presence of a waiver. The case was recently considered by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Continue reading

August 23, 2016

Am. Family Mut. Ins. v. Williams – Dog Injury Liability Case to Proceed

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

In Florida, dog owners are liable for the injury or damages their animals cause, regardless of whether they the dog was formerly declared vicious or whether the owner knew about such viciousness. Per F.S. 767.04, negligence on the part of the person who is bitten or injured that contributed to the injury will play a role in reducing the dog owner’s liability, but it won’t eliminate it.

Dog bite and dog injury cases make up a substantial part of homeowner insurance claims and payouts. According to the American Pet Products Association, some 78 million dogs are owned in the U.S. Last year, there were approximately 4.5 million people bitten by dogs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and of those, about 885,000 required medical care. Dog bites and other dog-related injuries accounted last year for a third of all homeowner insurance liability claim dollars paid out, totaling some $570 million. On average, dog bite and dog injury claims are given about $37,200, which is a slight uptick from years’ past.

The recent case of Am. Family Mut. Ins. v. Williams did not involve a bite, but did allege a dog-related injury for which plaintiff sought coverage from the dog owner’s homeowner insurance policy. Continue reading

July 17, 2016

Stept v. Met Hotell LLC – Woman Sues Hotel for Carjacking Injury in Miami

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A woman is suing a luxury hotel owner and valet service in Miami after a violent carjacking that reportedly left her with injuries.

Video of the incident shows the victim pulling up to the hotel’s valet service with her Lexus sport utility vehicle. An attendant begins unloading her belongings and she steps out of the car. Suddenly, a man who was seen in earlier frames looking on nearby approaches. He calmly gets into the car and sits in the driver’s seat. The scene quickly turns chaotic. He violently slams the vehicle into reverse. He knocks over several valets and hotel guests. Plaintiff instinctively reaches out to the door handle, but the suspect jerks forward, forcefully pulling her arm. In all, seven people were struck and four had to be hospitalized – one in critical condition.

Now, plaintiff argues the hotel and valet service knew or should have known this act might occur and done more to prepare for it or at least warn their guests. According to Courtroom View Network, the assailant had attempted to steal at least five other vehicles from this very same valet service, which operates in the South Florida region. One of those attempts occurred at the very same hotel. All of those incidents occurred in the months before this incident. Continue reading

July 6, 2016

Horrific Alligator Attack – But Is Disney Responsible?

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The alligator attack death of a 2-year-old boy at a Disney resort recently was met with horror, grief and questions about whether the theme park may be liable for what occurred.

The toddler, Lane Graves, was snatched by an alligator as he was splashing in about six-to-twelve inches of water, about one foot in at the bank of a man-made, freshwater pond, his father just footsteps away. His father wrestled with the alligator to try to free his son, but tragically, he did not succeed. The boy’s body was found intact after an exhaustive 16-hour search.

Soon after word of this nightmare emerged, it was revealed that there were “No Swimming” signs posted nearby. However, there was no mention of alligators or any other wild animal. Of course, those of us who live in Florida are familiar with the fact that any freshwater body – and even some saltwater – is a potential habitat for gators. But this was a resort and it was known many people would be staying from out-of-town. This family was no exception, as they’d been visiting from Nebraska.

But could Disney be liable for wrongful death in this case?

Based one what we know of the case, it seems plausible. Continue reading

June 17, 2016

Baby in Miramar DUI Hit-and-Run Dies, More Charges Filed

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A 39-year-old woman who was reportedly drunk when she ran into a 37-year-old pregnant woman and her two children, ages and 3 and 5, on South University Road in Miramar, now faces charges of DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident involving death.

The new charges were filed after the victim’s baby, whom doctors were forced to deliver, died.

Court records show the mother had been nearly six months pregnant with the child and the baby died within just days of the May 7 car accident. Continue reading

May 22, 2016

Grimes v. Family Dollar Stores of Florida – Parking Lot Trip-and-Fall

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Generally, if you trip-and-fall in a landscaped area that obviously isn’t intended for foot traffic, the property owner isn’t going to be responsible to compensate you for any resulting injuries.

However, as the recent case of Grimes v. Family Dollar Stores of Florida reveals, when those landscaped areas have well-worn pedestrian tracks indicating it is regularly used as a shortcut, the potentially for liability is increased.

That’s according to Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal. The court conceded there were a number of prior cases (on which defendants relied) that established property owners/ controllers aren’t responsible when pedestrians/ shoppers take a shortcut through landscaped features that aren’t designed for or used by pedestrians. (Specifically, the court relied on Wolf v. Sam’s East, Inc.) Continue reading

April 2, 2016

Premises Liability for Dangerous Spring Break Gathering

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A huge spring break party in Plantation that involved a residential home packed with 400 people ended tragically in gunfire, the death of one man and the serious injury of four others.

The Sun-Sentinel reports the body of Serge Pierre Dumas, 28, was later located inside by authorities, who combed the five-bedroom, two-story property shortly after receiving complaints about noise and parking. As the officers were standing outside, shortly before midnight, gunfire rang out. In addition to the one decedent, three women and one man were transported to Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Medical Center with gunshot wounds.

The shooter, who has not yet been identified, allegedly escaped as people started pouring out of the house. Continue reading

January 14, 2016

Two FPL Friends, Colleagues Killed in High Fog Truck Crash

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The Sun-Sentinel described the cloudy conditions that hung over the road a “pea-soup fog.” It was there that two Florida Power & Light linemen, colleagues and also best friends, were driving.

They were there to pick up some overtime, and the chance to work together made it not feel so much like work. Both men were saving up for family vacations to Europe, so they had been together a lot lately on those extra shifts.

But something happened. Investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what it was, but they do know it was about 8:15 a.m. and it was extremely foggy. The pair were on a dirt road near U.S. 27. The vehicle overturned. The truck rolled into a nearby canal. It was nearly an hour before rescue crews responded to the scene, where someone had called to report a vehicle upside down in the canal. The men were both pulled from the truck, where they were pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading

December 24, 2015

Holiday Home Fires Are Rising Concern for Florida Fire Officials

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The quintessential winter holiday is all about family, elaborate home-cooked meals, hot cocoa, a white wonderland of snow outside and a toasty fire inside. But there are many dangers associated with all that cooking, Christmas lighting, dried pine needles, candles and more. Here in South Florida, we may still have the central air blasting in late December, but that doesn’t mean we’re free of holiday fire hazard risks.

The American Red Cross reports some 47,000 fires occur during winter holidays nationally, causing some 500 deaths, 2,200 injuries and costing nearly $555 million in property damage. Some fast facts:

On average, 1 in every 22 home fires started by a Christmas tree end in death;
An average of 40 fires daily during the holidays are caused by children playing;
Fires started by candles are four times more likely to occur in winter than during any other season.

A number of fire departments across Florida have been working to drive home the importance of Christmas tree protection, candle safety, working smoke detection systems and how important it is to keep matches and lighters out of reach of children on long holiday breaks. Continue reading