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.

The first of those has to do with unliquidated damages. Unliquidated damages – those not expressly stated in a contract or objectively known and quantifiable – must still be decided by a jury if they aren’t resolved in settlement talks. For example, let’s say you’re injured in a crash. Part of your damages include $5,000 in property damage to the vehicle itself. You get a bill from the auto body shop. Those damages are liquidated. Clear, objective, quantifiable. However, let’s say you’re also claiming damages for the pain and suffering caused by your injuries. These are unliquidated damages. They’re subjective, not easily quantifiable. They must be proven to the court and decided on by a jury.

The second reason you might still end up having the case go to trial following a default judgment is that the defendant successfully challenges that finding. As previously mentioned, courts don’t favor default judgments. They would rather cases be resolved according to merit. For this reason, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure do allow for relief from a default judgment in cases of excusable neglect, surprise, inadvertence, or mistake. In addition, they must also have a meritorious defense – meaning they have a reasonable case to be made about a factual point of contention in the case, such as liability or damages.

Excusable neglect means that they have a good reason for why they didn’t respond in a timely fashion. They can’t simply say, “I forgot.” Examples of excusable neglect might be hospitalizations, emergencies involving immediate family members, or good faith settlement negotiations in which the defense believed no default judgment was being sought. The courts generally wish to avoid wins based on technicalities, though they can happen.

If you are considering filing a personal injury or wrongful death case in South Florida, it’s a good idea to consult with an experienced injury lawyer to fully understand your legal options.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

ASK JUDGE SMITH: ‘DEFAULT JUDGMENTS AND DAMAGES’, Jan. 3, 2023, By Judge J. Layne Smith, Florida Bar News

More Blog Entries:

Florida Wrongful Death Lawsuits Bring Closure, and a Safer Future, Aug. 1, 2022, Broward Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

As our Fort Lauderdale truck accident lawyers can explain, underride collision truck accidents occur when a passenger vehicle collides with a semi truck and is forced underneath the trailer. Whereas an average passenger vehicle is about 40 inches high, the lowest point of the average trailer is about 45 inches off the ground, meaning the smaller vehicle can get trapped underneath. During these crashes, the trailer or truck might “intrude” into the passenger compartment, which almost always leads to either severe injuries or death.

Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a rule updating two Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards intended to bolster protections for drivers and passengers in rear underride crashes where the front end of the smaller vehicle crashes into the back of a larger vehicle (such as a semi truck) and slides under that vehicle.

Noting that truck underride crashes are often fatal, the new rule requires rear impact guards on trailers and semis with sufficient strength and energy absorption to protect occupants of passenger vehicles in multiple crash scenarios, keeping drivers safe and preventing deadly crashes. The final rule amends FMVSS No. 223 and FMVS No. 224 pertaining to rear impact guards and rear impact protection.

In addition to setting these new standards, the rule also requires more research on these crashes and establishes an advisory committee on underride protections. Rear impact guard designs are going to be more closely studied, with state tracking of underride crashes more systematic.more

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, there have been 219 fatal underride crashes involving large trucks reported each year. Although these represent less than 1 percent of all traffic deaths, we know this figure is likely an underrepresentation because there is a great deal of variability in state and local data collection on these crashes. Further, police officers responding to crash scenes may receive limited information about how to identify and record truck underride crashes. Another study by the NHTSA estimates annual truck underride deaths number around 500 annually, with injuries topping out at around 5,000.

Many Florida truck side underride crashes involve one of the following scenarios:

• A trucker was attempting a U-turn.
• A truck driver was backing out of a parking lot or driveway into a busy road.
• A truck driver is trying to cross or turn into a street or highway.

Rear underride crashes typically often involve one of the following:

• Dim, dirty, or inoperative tail lights.
• Failure to use reflective triangles or emergency hazards when truck is broken down.
• Poorly-marked trucks slowly entering a road or slowing down.

As longtime Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers, we recognize that when it comes to personal injury claims, Florida truck accidents are trickier than most other types of traffic incidents. That’s firstly because trucks tend to cause greater harm, which means the cases are automatically higher stakes. But beyond that, trucking cases tend to be complicated by the fact that there are usually numerous defendants. The driver may not be employed by the carrier, which may be separate from the shipping company. There are layers of liability protection for each, though there should be higher insurance coverage for commercial drivers carrying larger/more dangerous loads.

If you have been injured in a Florida truck accident, our dedicated Broward injury attorneys are here to help.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Heavy-Vehicle Crash Data Collection And Analysis to Characterize Rear and Side Underride and Front Override in Fatal Truck Crashes, March 2013, NHTSA

Let’s start with the fact that with very few exceptions, seat belts are required by Florida law for all drivers and passengers in motor vehicles.

Florida’s no-fault car insurance law holds that all vehicle owners must carry personal injury protection (PIP) coverage that provides up to $10,000 in compensation for any insureds injured in a crash with that vehicle – regardless of who was at-fault in causing the crash. An injured person can step outside the state’s no-fault PIP system and pursue a claim for additional monetary damages against any at-fault parties IF their injuries meet the serious injury threshold. As set forth in F.S. 627.737, they must prove their injuries – caused by the crash for which the defendant is responsible – resulted in significant/permanent loss of a bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant/permanent scarring/disfigurement or death.

It’s worth noting that Florida is recognized as a pure comparative fault state when it comes to negligence claims. Per F.S. 768.81, that means each person/entity can only be held legally responsible to pay for the damages they caused. So for example, if one suffers $100,000 in damages and Defendant A is responsible for 40 percent and Defendant B is responsible for 60 percent, Defendant A will be ordered to pay $40,000 and Defendant B will be ordered to pay $60,000.

But what if one of the people responsible for a plaintiff’s injuries is the plaintiff themself? That is what we call contributory negligence. By way of their own negligence, they contributed to their own injuries. So if you suffered $100,000 in damages – but are 20 percent responsible for your own injuries – the most you can expect to be awarded is $80,000.

That brings us to the seat belt defense.more

What is the Seat Belt Defense?

Because the law mandates that drivers and passengers wear seat belts, and because it’s well-established that failure to do so can significantly exacerbate the injuries one sustains in a Florida car accident, failure to wear one can be grounds to assert contributory negligence, thus reducing the total amount of financial compensation to which one is entitled. This is called the seat belt defense. It’s something that the insurance company (or the defendant, if the case proceeds to litigation) will bring up to reduce the overall damages to which the plaintiff is entitled.

The validity of the seat belt defense was affirmed in the 1996 Florida Supreme Court case of Ridley v. Safety Kleen Corp. That case concerned a 1992 intersection truck accident involving a pickup truck driven by plaintiff and a service truck driven by a cleaning company employee. The injured plaintiff sued the driver/his employer/truck owner for negligence. The defense raised the issue of plaintiff’s failure to wear a seat belt as an affirmative defense. The trial court denied a defense request to instruct the jury on Florida law requiring motorists to wear seat belts. At trial, the jury found the cleaning company 100 percent liable for the crash.

Upon appeal, Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal reversed, finding the trial court substantially erred in refusing to give the defense instruction on the state’s seat belt law. The court reasoned that because the seat belt violation constituted evidence of negligence, the jury should have been adequately informed of it. The Florida Supreme Court backed the appeals court, finding that failure to wear a seat belt makes a plaintiff comparatively negligent, and their recoverable damages should be proportionally reduced accordingly.

Subsequent rulings have stipulated that in order to prevail with the seat belt defense, defendants in Florida car accident cases must prove three things:

1. The plaintiff did not use a seat belt that was both available and operational.
2. This failure to use a seat belt was not reasonable, given the circumstances.
3. The failure of the plaintiff to use a seat belt either caused or contributed significantly to plaintiff’s injuries.

Defense attorneys would be responsible for outlining the extent to which not wearing a seat belt caused the plaintiff’s injuries or financial losses. For instance, one’s failure to wear a seat belt may not cause a crash – but it could contribute to the severity of a head injury, particularly if the car occupant was ejected from the vehicle (a scenario far more likely when someone isn’t wearing a seat belt).

Because the seat belt defense can significantly alter the value of your Fort Lauderdale injury case, it’s imperative you work with an experienced civil injury lawyer, experienced in identifying and presenting relevant evidence in your favor.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Ridley v. Safety Kleen Corp., May 30, 1996, Florida Supreme Court

More Blog Entries:

Will PIP Cover All My Damages in a Fort Lauderdale Car Accident? May 15, 2022, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer Blog

As Fort Lauderdale accident attorneys, we generally advice against this. The problem is that information on social media accounts – particularly anything that relates to your accident, injury or recovery – could undercut your personal injury claim. Such posts can provide defense lawyers with a valuable source of information that refute the cause of your injury, impeach your credibility or poke holes in the amount of damages you claim to have suffered.

This isn’t to say that people posting about their case are lying about anything. In fact, it’s more likely that they post because they feel they have nothing to hide. The problem is you aren’t looking at the information through the same lens as a lawyer. The intent and implications of certain pictures, posts, videos or comments could be twisted by the defense team. It’s better to limit your social media engagement while your case is pending, if possible. If you have questions about specifics, direct them to your accident attorney.

There are a few general guidelines for social media from which virtually any personal injury client can benefit:

• DON’T post pictures or talk about the accident. The pictures and words you share about the accident, your injuries or how it’s impacted your life could potentially cost you a lot in court. That doesn’t mean you have to take down your social media accounts or forego posting anything altogether, but do be cautious. With every post, ask yourself whether you’d be comfortable with it being shown or read aloud in court.
• DO change your privacy settings. Whether your case is to be settled in negotiations with insurers or settled in court, it’s a good idea to block strangers from having access to your social media pages. Updating your privacy settings to ensure your pages are restricted and not public is one way to help prevent the content therein from becoming fodder in your personal injury case. That said, always presume that everything you post could potentially become subject to scrutiny.
• DON’T post online about your hospital stay. It’s understandable that you want to keep friends and family informed, but it’s best to do so privately so you can sidestep any possible issues with your claim. Your medical bills will be the subject of scrutiny in a personal injury claim, and you want to make sure you are compensated for the full amount. You don’t want to unintentionally say something that could compromise that. Plus, the majority of people on your friend list probably don’t need to know the details of your care.
• DO a quick Google search of yourself. Open a window in Incognito mode to see what information about you is public. If you think anything that pops up could be a potential issue, discuss these with your Fort Lauderdale injury lawyer.
• DO talk to a counselor or therapist. There is a lot at stake in your personal injury lawsuit. You could have thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. Using your social media page as a support group isn’t smart when the things you say could come back to haunt you in court. Discuss questions and concerns with your attorney. Work through the emotional trauma with a counselor or therapist who will keep your conversations confidential. (Further, the cost of these sessions could be recoverable in your claim as well if the mental/emotional turmoil your experiencing is directly related to the accident.)

Expect that defense lawyers will be looking for any evidence that could undermine your claim, and proceed with caution when it comes to your online presence.

Call Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

More Blog Entries:

Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyers on Handling Crashes With Uninsured Drivers, Feb. 1, 2021, Fort Lauderdale Accident Attorney Blog

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.

Given that sometimes psychologists are called as expert witnesses in civil injury litigation to establish loss of life enjoyment, a case law analysis by the Psychology Department at the University of Nebraska is insightful. The study noted that while it can be difficult to quantify non-economic damages in general, judges often make assumptions about quantification, with total damages for harm generally being higher when those for pain and suffering (physical) are treated as a separate issue from loss of life enjoyment (mental/ emotional). Courts across the country have varied on whether to allow this, with judges and justices finding against it reasoning that it results in duplicative damages. Florida courts do allow it to be sought separately.

The study noted the primary factor considered for loss of life enjoyment is the effect of the injury on a person’s lifestyle (which has correlated with jurors’ perceptions of injury severity and thus damage awards). As Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers, we establish this by showing how active, happy, fulfilled one’s life was before the crash, how much life they had left to live and how the crash has negatively impacted that. Although it may seem somewhat unfair, for this particular type of damages, those who will tend to receive higher loss of life enjoyment awards are:

• Younger;
• Have young families/ loving spouses/ other close and meaningful relationships;
• Are active and involved in their communities and recreation;
• Are in the prime of a successful career or on the verge of a promising one.

These aren’t the only factors, but they often come into play. This particular type of damages is one of the primary reasons one will want to be cautious about what they post in social media and other public forums after a crash. This is because while we all know our social media presence is a projection of our “best selves,” it can be construed by defendants in a courtroom as one not having suffered as severely mentally and emotionally as alleged.

If you have been in a serious crash in Fort Lauderdale, it’s important to discuss these issues with an attorney as soon as possible, before agreeing to a settlement with an auto insurance adjuster.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Lawsuit claims I-95 car accident left woman disabled and disfigured, July 29, 2018, By Janie Mallari-Torres, The Florida Record

More Blog Entries:

Court: Crash Case Defendant/ Employer Not Entitled to Summary Judgment, June 3, 2018, Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney Blog

The Orlando Sentinel reported the sad news after a year-long fight for his life that ended recently in a hospice facility in Central Florida. He was just 40-years-old. Friends and family told reporters Liddy loved the open road, whether it was driving his tractor-trailer or bicycling across the state – a hobby he had fervently dedicated himself to in recent years.

The truck accident that caused his injuries occurred last July. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Liddy’s truck collided with another tractor-trailer on the Turnpike in St. Lucie County one morning shortly after 5 a.m. Investigators later told WPTV NBC-5 that the two trucks were traveling southbound with the other truck a short distance ahead of Liddy. For an undetermined reason, Liddy’s semi struck the rear trailer of the other vehicle. Liddy then struck a median guardrail and jackknifed.

The violent collision resulted in tomatoes barrels of tomatoes to be scattered all across the highway. Liddy, meanwhile, was left critically injured. He suffered a serious skull fracture and had to undergo numerous injuries. For months, he was in a medically-induced coma.

Still, his family and friends held out hope that he would improve. After all, he not only had a beloved wife and three children – ages 22, 9 and 15 months – he had built strong friendships with those in the Florida cycling community. Those cyclists rallied around him and his family for the full year, cooking meals, doing yard work and organizing numerous fundraisers, including a 100-mile ride in his honor.

He transferred medical facilities a number of times, but there was hope of his improvement. He awoke. He could, with prompting, squeeze someone’s hand or raise his arms. He was even able to say a few words. He told his wife he loved her. He told her he missed her. He said her name.

But then, his condition started to decline. He suffered sky-high fevers and seizures. Then last month, he was transferred to a hospice unit. His cycling friends kept vigil by his side.

Now that he has passed, the family is no doubt reeling with what happens now.

Our Fort Lauderdale truck accident lawyers know that in terms of financial security, there may be several avenues worth exploring. Of course, health insurance may cover some of the costs and community fundraisers are welcome. But long-term, those aren’t going to make up for the wages Liddy would have earned to help support his family.

Because Liddy was on-the-job at the time of the crash, we would first want to explore whether workers’ compensation benefits might be available. These benefits generally cover medical bills and a portion of lost wages and survivor benefits when an injury or death happens at work – regardless of who is at-fault.

Beyond that, we would want to look closely at what caused this crash. Generally when one vehicle rear-ends another, there is a rebuttable presumption that the driver in the rear (in this case, Liddy), is at-fault. It would be necessary to see whether any evidence suggests he was not at-fault or that the other driver may have shared some of the blame. This would allow for a third-party civil action against the other driver and/or that driver’s employer and/or the owner of that truck.

Another element to examine is whether any mechanical issues may have played a role in the crash that might give rise to a product liability claim.

It can be difficult in the wake of such tragedy to think about finances, but it’s often critical to helping families form a steady foundation for the next chapter.

Call Fort Lauderdale Injury Attorney Richard Ansara at (954) 761-4011. Serving Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Additional Resources:

Central Florida cyclist Chris Liddy dies after yearlong battle with crash injury, June 2, 2016, By Bethany Rodgers, Orlando Sentinel

More Blog Entries:

Sorenson v. Batchelder – Injury Lawsuit Nixed Due to Misfiled Paperwork, May 29, 2016, Fort Lauderdale Truck Accident Lawyer Blog