The deadline is either years or four years, depending on the type of case you have. In 2023, the Florida legislature changed the statute of limitations, lowering the deadline for filing for many types of personal injury claims from four years to two.

Cases founded on negligence have a statute of` limitations (deadline) of two years, starting from the date the injury-causing incident occurred. Others, like those involving statutory liability or assault and battery, have a four-year statute of limitations.

A product liability case may have either a two-year or four-year statute of limitations, depending on the circumstances.

Don’t delay

Two years may seem like a long time to file a case, but be wary. Insurance companies know the deadline very well and may try to string you along until it runs out. When you work with a reputable personal injury lawyer in Orlando you can trust that they will file your case and all motions on time.

Our attorneys will work with you to explore claiming compensation for three categories of damages: economic, non-economic, and punitive.

Economic damages

Economic damages refer to your actual losses: specific, tangible expenses associated with your injury. Your personal injury lawyer, Orlando, may include asking for compensation for the following when filing your lawsuit:

• Medical treatment, like an ambulance ride, hospital stay, surgery, and doctor’s appointments
• Prescription medications
• Rehabilitative treatment, like physical or occupational therapy
• A prosthesis and therapy to learn how to use the prosthesis
• Lost wages from time you missed at work
• Loss of earning potential if your injury is so severe that you can no longer continue in your job
• Property damage, like repairing your vehicle or replacing a damaged cell phone or watch

Non-economic damages

Non-economic damages don’t necessarily come with a price tag, but they still have considerable value. You may be entitled to collect compensation for:

• Pain and suffering from your injuries
• Emotional trauma and mental anguish
• Loss of companionship and loss of consortium
• Diminished quality of life
• Humiliation or loss of reputation
• Scarring or disfigurement

These are more subjective than economic damages, which are easily quantifiable. An experienced personal injury attorney in Orlando can properly value your case and demand fair compensation for your non-economic losses.

Punitive damages

Rather than compensate the injured party for their losses, punitive damages are designed to “punish” the negligent party by imposing a fine or other type of financial penalty. penalizing (punishing) in nature, not compensatory. Punitive damages may not be assessed in every case, and Florida law caps punitive damages depending on the overall value of the claim.

You have a lot of options when it comes to hiring a personal injury attorney in Orlando, FL. Because the statute of limitations is so short, you may not get another opportunity to start over if it turns out your initial lawyer wasn’t well-qualified to handle your claim.

Treat your initial free consultation with the lawyer like a job interview. The lawyer will indeed be evaluating your case to determine how strongly the facts are in your favor. However, you can use this time to determine if the lawyer is a good fit and is qualified to take your case.

Experience with your specific injury

Some personal injury lawyers in Orlando are generalists, meaning that they take all personal injury cases, while others choose to focus their practice on more complex types of torts, like brain injuries, product liability, or medical malpractice.

Ask the lawyer how many cases like yours they handle in a year and how much experience they have with your specific type of claim.

Track record

Ask about their record of successful settlements and courtroom victories. The details of many settlements are confidential. However, you may be able to read client reviews on their website before the consultation to get a feel for others’ experience with the firm.

Reputation

The Florida Bar Association has a wealth of resources about attorneys’ reputations, disciplinary actions, and professional education and certifications.

Trial experience

Does your lawyer typically settle personal injury cases? The plaintiff and defendant can reach a settlement agreement out of court, usually in mediation, which reduces the legal costs for both sides and concludes the case quickly.

However, if you have a case that could qualify for punitive damages, then a jury trial is the only way to get them. A lawyer with a record of only settling cases may not be the best one to litigate in court.

Communication

How often will you receive updates about your case? How can you get a hold of your lawyer with questions or concerns? Who do you call if the defendant or one of their representatives, like a lawyer or insurance adjustor, won’t stop calling you? Working out how you’ll get a hold of your lawyer when you need them and how often you’ll hear from them is crucial.

Personal Compatibility

You may be disclosing some very personal information with your lawyer, like your medical condition or any possible reasons the defense could claim you caused the accident. You need to find someone you trust.

The simple answer? We deliver results. But the relationship with your attorney should be based on more than just results. We have the resources, determination, and grit to take a case from the beginning to the end, even if that means taking it to appeal.

We also have strong relationships with Orlando lawyers who focus on different practice areas, like family law or criminal defense. We’re the legal team that our peers count on to tenaciously represent their referred clients.

The simple answer? The party who caused it. The more complicated answer is, just about anyone, like:

• Another driver who was speeding, acting recklessly, or driving drunk
• A store owner didn’t clean up a spill, so you slipped and fell
• A property owner who failed to place sufficient safety and security measures in place to protect visitors
• Your employer, in complex workers’ comp cases
• A product manufacturer or designer, in product liability cases
• A medical care provider, like a doctor or nurse, or the facility they operated out of, in medical malpractice cases
• Someone who means you harm and assaults you
• A driver who hit you while you were crossing a street

The list goes on, but the commonality is this: These are all parties whose negligent actions caused someone else harm.

Other drivers

Car accident cases are complex, but usually, the police can identify one party that shares more of the responsibility for a wreck. Car accident cases can become complicated when the other party is a commercial driver like a semi-truck or delivery driver.

Property owners or managers

Property owners and managers have a duty of care to ensure that anyone visiting the property is safe. Poorly repaired property or that which is fundamentally unsafe creates conditions where a legitimate visitor could be harmed.

Government entities

Yes, you can sue the government. For example, if a municipality doesn’t keep roads in good repair, and the potholes cause you to wreck your motorcycle, it could be liable for your injuries.

Doctors or other medical professionals

Medical malpractice and medical misdiagnosis cases are quite complicated. Fortunately, our legal team has extensive experience handling these cases, as well as resources, like expert medical witnesses, to help build a strong case on your behalf.

Other parties may be liable

We exhaustively research your case to identify all parties responsible for your injury.

Proving liability is the crux of a personal injury case. If a defendant is proven liable for your injury, only then can they be legally required to make restitution to you (pay you compensation). Liability usually rests on proving negligence, a four-prong legal concept:

1. Duty of care

The defendant was responsible for acting in a certain manner to ensure others were safe.

2. Breach of duty

The defendant abandoned that duty of care through action or inaction, breaching the duty of care.

3. Causation

The breach of the defendant’s duty of care caused an incident that hurt you.

4. Damages

You suffered losses (financial and intangible, like pain and trauma) because of the incident.