Tag: personal-injury
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Depositions, Errata Sheets, Reopening, and Termination
Sometimes, witnesses are told they can only correct errors in their deposition testimony, but that’s not true. In Florida, witnesses can make changes to both the form and substance of their testimony. Any changes are recorded on errata sheets. In a court case, a man made three changes to his deposition testimony and gave reasons…
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The Practical Limitations of the Economic Loss Rule
The economic loss rule (ELR) says that you can’t sue for just economic damages (like lost profits) caused by a defective product. You can only sue for personal injury or damage to property caused by the product. This rule helps to separate contract law from tort law, which is about causing harm to someone else.…
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The Use of Medicare Set-aside Trusts in Workers’ Compensation Settlements
The Health Care Financing Administration is cracking down on people who owe money to Medicare. They are working with the Department of Justice to go after insurance companies and lawyers who don’t get Medicare’s approval for settlements involving Medicare patients. Medicare can ask for money back if they paid for medical care that should have…
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Continued Revision of the Economic Loss Rule: Statutory Causes of Action Not Barred (Comptech International, Inc. v. Milam Commerce Park, Ltd.)
The economic loss rule has been a hot topic in Florida, with many debates and discussions on its application. Recently, the Florida Supreme Court made some important decisions to provide more clarity on the rule. In the case of Comptech, a company called Comptech sued their landlord, Milam, for damages to their computers due to…
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Mediating with Florida’s Local Governments: Tips for the Private Practitioner
This article is for lawyers who want to mediate with local government in Florida. The writer wants to let them know that settlements reached at mediation with the government are not final until the elected board approves them. They give an example of a personal injury case where the lawyer reached a settlement, but then…
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The Intentional Acts Exclusion
In personal injury cases, it’s important to know if the person you’re suing has insurance to cover the costs. If they do, they’ll have a lawyer paid for by the insurance, and you’re more likely to get a big settlement if you win. In cases where someone hurt you on purpose, their insurance might not…
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Halfway Houses and Mental Health Treatment Facilities Establishing Duty in Tort
Residential drug and mental health treatment facilities do not always have a legal duty to prevent residents from harming themselves or others. Courts have ruled that just living at the facility is not enough to create a duty of care, and the facility may not be held liable for injuries caused by residents. Each case…
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Using Medical Literature on Direct Examination to Win the Battle of the Experts
For trial lawyers dealing with medical negligence or personal injury cases, knowing how to effectively cross-examine a hostile medical expert is essential. It is also important to present your own medical expert as credible and authoritative. Using medical literature during the direct examination of a medical expert at trial can be very helpful. In today’s…
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Time Waits for No One: The Death of a Litigant
When someone involved in a lawsuit dies, their lawyer and the other side’s lawyer have to deal with a lot of issues. If they don’t handle the situation quickly, they could end up in trouble. If someone involved in a lawsuit dies, the court needs to be informed, and the party’s representative or the other…
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An Overview of Current Law Impacting Jury Selection in Civil Cases
The process of selecting a jury for a trial can be very stressful for lawyers. They have to ask potential jurors questions and decide if they are a good fit for the case. After that, they have to explain their choices to the judge. There are resources available to help with this process, but this…
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Proposals for Settlement in PIP Cases: Should U.S. Security Ins. Co. v. Cahuasqui be Overturned?
In U.S. Security Ins. Co. v. Cahuasqui, the court ruled that a proposal for settlement can apply to personal injury protection (PIP) cases in Florida. This means that if someone sues their insurance company for denying PIP benefits and loses, they may have to pay the insurance company’s attorneys’ fees and costs. This decision conflicts…
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The Other Property Problem: Applying the Economic Loss Rule to Construction Contracting Claims
The economic loss rule in Florida says you can’t sue for damages in a contract dispute unless there’s personal injury or damage to other property. That’s easy to understand when it comes to products, but it gets tricky with construction contracts because there’s no clear line between what’s considered “other property” and what’s not. This…
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Impeachment of a Civil Litigant with Criminal Convictions
About 1 in 10 adult men in Florida have a criminal record. Most lawyers don’t check if people involved in a lawsuit have a criminal past, even though it could affect their credibility in court. Knowing about someone’s criminal history can be useful in both personal injury and business cases. You can use the internet…
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Mislabeling the Pharmacist Who Does More Than Just Mislabel the Prescription: Pharmaceutical Liability Under Florida Law
Pharmaceutical liability laws in Florida are a mix of different concepts and ideas. Some are effective, but some may need to be changed. Claims against pharmacists have evolved from simple product liability to more complicated medical malpractice claims. This article suggests that the Florida Legislature should give pharmacists the same legal protections as doctors when…
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Can Two Wrongs Make a Right to Seek Indemnification of Punitive Damages From a Liability Insurance Carrier?
In some situations, an insured person may act in a really reckless or careless way, like driving drunk and causing a car accident. When this happens, their insurance company might not have to pay for any extra punishment costs, because they think it’s not fair for insurance to cover for that. However, if the insurance…
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Video Surveillance in Personal Injury Cases
The defense in personal injury cases often uses hidden cameras to record the plaintiff and try to prove that they’re not as injured as they claim. The technology for this has gotten better, making it easier to use in court. There are legal issues around using this kind of surveillance, like how it’s discovered and…
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Untangling Taxes from Personal Injury Damages
In personal injury cases, the amount of money awarded for lost future earning capacity can be affected by whether the jury considers the plaintiff’s potential earnings before or after taxes. This decision can significantly impact the final award. If the jury uses gross earnings (before taxes), the award will be higher than if they use…
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This Party’s Dead! But Will the Lawsuit Survive?
When someone involved in a lawsuit dies, it can get very complicated. There are rules from the court and from the probate process that lawyers have to follow. This can be tricky, because not all lawyers know both sets of rules well. But there are ways to handle it. The court rules tell lawyers how…
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Valuing Economic Damages in Employment Litigation from a Plaintiff’s Perspective, Part I
Valuing economic damages in Title VII cases is more difficult than other types of cases like personal injury or breach of contract. In Title VII cases, there is a seniority-based benefits loss component that is unique and cannot be recovered with new employment. This makes it a permanent loss. Expert testimony is often excluded in…
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When Must a Dispute Be Submitted to Arbitration? Who Makes the Call?, Part II
The question of who gets to decide if a dispute should be resolved through arbitration often comes up in court cases. In a famous case, the court decided that it should determine whether a contract required arbitration. However, in another case, the court ruled that an arbitration panel should decide if there was fraud in…
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Calculating Economic Losses in 11th Circuit Employment Termination Cases
The recent Supreme Court decision now protects LGBT employees from discrimination at work, and this means that lawyers need to be able to calculate how much money someone has lost if they were unfairly fired. There are nine important things to think about when figuring out this amount, including things like back and front pay,…
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Parental Consortium
In the beginning of the movie “When a Stranger Calls,” a babysitter receives scary calls asking if she checked on the children. The rest of the movie focuses on something else instead, just like a law called F.S. §768.0415. §768.0415 is a Florida law that says if someone causes serious permanent injury to a parent,…
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Statutory Strict Liability for Environmental Contamination-A Private Cause of Action to Remedy Pollu
For someone trying to sue for damages from pollution in Florida, having a specific law to rely on seems like a good thing. But there’s a debate about whether the law actually allows for individual lawsuits for damages from pollution. Different courts have ruled in different ways, making it confusing for lawyers. The law was…
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Strictly Speaking, Does F.S. §376.313(3) Create Duty to Everybody, Everywhere?, Part II
Not all cases of pollution lead to a strict liability claim under F.S. §376.313. Sometimes, you can’t get compensation for the harm to your reputation under this law. The Florida Supreme Court says that the state has strict laws to prevent pollution and allows people to sue for damages if they can prove they were…