personal injury attorney

Published on: September 21, 2022

Fort Myers Injury Lawyer Tips for Talking to Insurance Adjusters

Despite warm-and-fuzzy slogans such as “like a good neighbor” and “you’re in good hands,” insurance companies are not, in fact, looking out for your best interests. In fact, adjusters actively pursue every opportunity to minimize or deny claim payouts at every turn possible; most often they are looking out for their shareholders or the interests of the corporation. As Fort Myers injury lawyers, we’ve become closely familiar with all the ways in which insurance adjusters lull claimants into a false sense of security as they seek out the slightest inconsistency that may allow them to cite a coverage exemption or a reduction in payout.

On the other hand, Insurance companies do have a legal responsibility to act in good faith, per F.S. 624.155. Examples of bad faith insurance would be things like unnecessary delays on claims, misrepresentations of coverage, ambiguous policy exclusions, denying valid claims without just cause, or extremely lowballing payouts.

But even when insurers don’t cross the threshold of bad faith, they can still undermine your claim in a number of ways.

Published on: February 9, 2022

Differences Between Florida Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Cases

by Leland Garvin

Southwest Florida personal injury lawyer When it comes to civil litigation, there are many similarities and differences between Florida personal injury and wrongful death cases. As longtime South Florida injury attorneys, we will do our best to explain some of these – and why they matter.

Let’s start with some of the ways in which personal injury cases and wrongful death cases are analogous. To start, they are both torts, which are claims stemming from a wrongful act that resulted in legal liability. They can result from the same types of accidents, including:

Car accidents.
Slip, trip and fall accidents.
Medical malpractice.
Dangerous/defective products.
Dangerous property/premises liability.
Nursing home neglect and abuse.
Workplace accidents.

Both are claims for which civil litigants can pursue damages (financial compensation for losses). Further, both have a set period of time in which they can be filed, called a statute of limitations.

But there are numerous key differences, namely who files the claim, what type of damages they can collect and how much time they have to pursue it. Continue reading

Published on: August 26, 2019

Cape Coral Car Accident Lawyers: Tort Reform Doesn’t Slash Insurance Costs

by Leland Garvin

Tort reform advocates are once again beating the same old drum, insisting that if Florida would only lower its litigation costs, auto insurers could lower their rates for the rest of us.

personal injury lawyer

Cape Coral car accident lawyers know the main problem with this line of reasoning is it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

As one auto insurance lobbyist testified not long ago, “It’s a misnomer to ever really believe that your rates are going to go down. There are so many pressures for it to go up: Medical costs continue to go up, the cost of the vehicle continues to go up, the amount of wages that you have to compensate for continues to go up. So maybe what you do is slow the rate of rise.”

Even that is a pretty big “maybe.” More than likely, what happens is insurance firms and other large corporations benefit, while those most seriously injured receive less compensation. Continue reading

Published on: August 12, 2011

$10,000 for Anyone Involved in a Car Accident ?

by Leland Garvin

Sound too good to be true? Well it probably is…We’ve all heard the catchy jingles on our favorite radio stations announcing that after a car accident, we may be entitled to $10,000 in lost wages and benefits. DJ’s and “attorney spokesmen” encourage us to call one of these hot-lines from the scene of the accident—but is what they’re selling us for real?

The long and short answer is: Yes and No (answered like a true lawyer…I know.), but we realize, you probably already knew that. Many people, especially in South Florida, come to personal injury attorneys after even a minimal car accident looking for the $10,000 check that they’ve been hearing about on the radio or billboards.

What all these advertisements are referring to is your PIP (or Personal Injury Protection) Insurance, also referred to as No Fault Insurance. This insurance, which has long been the center of fierce debate in Florida, is the only type of mandatory auto insurance that Floridians are required to purchase. You may have even heard about this insurance from news reports of fraud, staged accidents, and Florida lawmakers constantly trying to regulate it in one direction or another.