Okeechobee Injury Lawyers

Okeechobee is known as a rural but progressive region, having a small town feel while being the site of numerous dynamic businesses and unique cultural opportunities. Approximately 40,000 people call Okeechobee County home, with more than 5,000 of those residing in the City of Okeechobee, just north of the lake. Taylor Creek flows through the east side, and some 4,400 people live in that community too. It’s a popular place for fishing, scenic drives and boating (sometimes up through the Kissimmee River to the north). Visitors enjoy the Okeechobee Cattleman’s rodeo, Second Seminole War reenactments, the family-friendly Speckled Perch Festival and in more recent years, the lively Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival.

Injury attorneys in Okeechobee recognize that while this area is known generally as a safe one, it’s not free of hazards. Even those fun incidents – the festivals, the fishing, the recreational drives – carry their own risks. These include car accidents (particularly drunk driving accidents and distracted driving accidents), slip-and-fall injuries, boating accidents and work-related injuries.

The Florida Department of Health reports the annual rate of deaths due to unintentional injuries over a four-year period in Okeechobee County was 68.1 per 100,000 population – significantly higher than the state rate of 41.1 per 100,000 people.

When personal injuries in Okeechobee County and communities therein (including Taylor Creek, Upthegrove Beach, Sunshine Grove and Whispering Pines) result from another’s negligence, you may have grounds to file a claim for compensation. If the insurer involved fights you on this or tries to pay less than your claim is worth, it may be wise to file a personal injury lawsuit.

With car accidents, you may be entitled to up to $10,000 in personal injury protection benefits from your own insurer regardless of fault. However, if your injuries are serious, you may be entitled to more than that from the at-fault driver. If you suffered work-related injuries, you may also be entitled to no-fault workers’ compensation benefits, and potentially compensation from negligent third parties.

Festivals, hotels, restaurants and other property owners and controllers can be held liable if you are injured on their site or during an event they are hosting. Such cases are known as premises liability claims, and can stem from slip-and-falls, violent attacks due to negligent security or parking lot pedestrian accidents.

If your claim does go to court, it’s likely to be heard by either the Okeechobee County Court (for small claims up to $5,000 and civil matters up to $15,000) or the 19^th Judicial Circuit Court (with appeals going first to the Fourth District Court of Appeals and, as a last resort, the Florida Supreme Court).

Realistically, however, most claims for damages never go to court, much less to trial. They are often resolved before you ever need to file a lawsuit, with your injury attorney negotiating aggressively with the insurance company involved for a fair outcome in your favor.

However, if your case does need to go to trial, it’s imperative that you have an experienced injury and wrongful death attorney.

As longtime civil injury trial lawyers serving South Florida and Central Florida, we at The Garvin Law Firm stress the first priority if you are hurt in Okeechobee is to seek medical attention. This is for both health and legal reasons. Most likely, it will be at one of the following locations:

• Jupiter Medical Center
• Raulerson Hospital
• Martin Memorial Health System
• Martin Memorial South Hospital
• St. Lucie Medical Center
• Lawnwood Regional medical Center & Heart Hospital
• Hendry Regional Medical Center

If you are injured in any kind of accident – no matter what the circumstances – it’s important that you reserve any statement to others involved, witnesses or the insurance company until you’ve had a chance to speak with an injury attorney.

Call or email the Garvin Law Firm today for a free consultation and we will evaluate your Okeechobee County injury claim and determine the appropriate course of action. We have been handling Okeechobee injury cases in Florida for over the last 30 years.