Personal Injury Lawyer Miami, FL

If you or a loved one has suffered physical harm due to another’s actions or inactions, it may benefit you to speak with a respected Miami, FL personal injury lawyer as soon as you can. Chances are that you are feeling overwhelmed right now, and speaking with an attorney may not be on the top of your list of priorities. Yet, as making this effort can help you to protect your interests and possibly result in a significant compensation award, it is an effort worth making.

At the Law Offices of Needle & Ellenberg, P.A., we understand that injury victims and their loved ones often deal with a great deal of stress in the aftermath of accidents and intentionally harmful situations. Understand that our team will treat you and your case with great respect, care, and consideration, so that you can focus on healing while we work to secure the maximum amount of compensation to which you are rightfully entitled.

Case Highlight

$7,000,000 won
Car accident leaves Osceola woman with partial quadriplegia

Table of Contents

What Kinds Of Injuries Are Legally Actionable?

Before we can start building the strongest possible personal injury case on your behalf, we’ll need to confirm that you have strong grounds upon which to take legal action. Every personal injury case is unique, and is uniquely impacted by Florida’s personal injury laws. This is just one of the reasons why it’s important to connect with a reputable Miami personal injury lawyer before making any assumptions about how strong or weak your case might be, specifically. Once we’ve evaluated your circumstances, we’ll be able to assert whether your circumstances warrant a lawsuit and a sizable compensation award.

With that said, there are some general rules that apply to most personal injury cases that you can use to broadly assess whether you may be in a position to hold another party accountable for the harm that you’ve suffered. For example, most personal injury cases – including car accidents, truck accidents, and acts of intentional harm – require that the following three elements be met before an injury victim can recover compensation.

Duty Of Care

The defendant (person being sued) must have owed the plaintiff (injury victim or the surviving loved one of an injury victim who died due to their injuries) a duty of care under the law. This is a legal term that essentially means that the defendant was under some kind of legal obligation to treat the safety of the victim with a degree of care. For example, all motorists are required to operate their vehicles safely – in part – because in doing so, their behavior poses less of a risk to fellow travelers.

Breach Of That Duty Of Care

It must also be proven that the defendant breached the duty of care owed to the plaintiff. Meaning, that they failed – either due to their actions or inaction – to uphold the care for the plaintiff’s safety that the law required of them. For example, when a motorist texts behind the wheel, they are actively disregarding the law’s requirement to operate their vehicle safely for the benefit of all.

Causation Of The Victim’s Harm

Finally, it must be proven – in most cases – that the defendant’s breach of care directly caused the plaintiff’s harm. This can be difficult if an injury victim doesn’t seek a medical evaluation after being harmed, as a defendant may argue that their injuries were sustained as a result of some other cause. In a classic personal injury scenario, a plaintiff would argue that the injuries they were treated for in the immediate wake of a crash caused by the defendant were caused by the defendant’s actions that inspired the wreck in question.

Specialized Cases, Specialized Legal Requirements

With all of this said, not every personal injury case is strictly held to these specific standards. Some specialized cases, including certain product defect scenarios, premises (property-related) liability matters, and medical malpractice cases are held to slightly different standards. For example, some product defect cases can be pursued under a strict liability theory in which plaintiffs don’t have to prove the negligence of a manufacturer in order to be awarded compensation. Additionally, medical providers cannot necessarily be held liable for negligence unless they also deviated from the professional standards of care by which they are bound.

What If A Victim Is Also At Fault?

Sometimes, those who have been hurt as a result of others’ conduct are hesitant to assert their rights because they know that they were partially to blame for their own harm. Consider, for example, a motorist who was injured after being struck by a drunk driver. They are confident that they wouldn’t have been struck if the impaired driver had been driving sober and safely. However, they also know that they had turned around in their seat to retrieve a dropped bottle for a toddler just before impact. As such, they may worry that this momentary distraction could bar them from seeking compensation from the drunk driver who hurt them and their child.

Florida honors a legal theory known as “pure comparative negligence.” This means that injury victims are entitled to pursue damages from other at-fault parties, even if they themselves were between 1-99% to blame for their own harm. The consequence of being partially at fault for one’s own injuries is a reduction in the amount of compensation that a plaintiff may be awarded. If, for example, the value of a plaintiff’s harm is $200,000 and they are deemed to have been 10% to blame for their injurious circumstances, they may “only” pursue $180,000 from other parties liable for that harm. As such, it’s often still a good idea to take legal action in the event of partial liability, because injury victims can often still benefit from sizable compensation awards.

Legal Assistance Is Available

Given all that must be proven, and all that is at stake, it’s generally a good idea to connect with an experienced Miami personal injury attorney as soon as you can after sustaining harm due to another’s actions or inactions. The dedicated legal team at the Law Offices of Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. has extensive experience advocating for the interests of personal injury victims in a variety of circumstances, and the strength of our win-loss record speaks volumes about our dedication to offering client-focused, strategic legal services.

Common Kinds Of Personal Injury Cases

Depending on your circumstances, it can be helpful to know the most common scenarios that inspire others to connect with experienced Miami personal injury lawyers. That way, if you’re unsure of whether a recent situation that has affected your family may be legally actionable as discussed above, you can get a stronger sense of whether giving our team a call is an effort that is worth your while. The most common case types that our firm handles includes, but are not limited to, the following.

Car Accidents

Serious collisions involving one or more vehicles occur every day in the U.S. Some are caused by factors outside of anyone’s control, but most are caused – at least, in part – due to the negligence of at least one party. Because the cause(s) of a wreck may be largely or totally “invisible,” it’s often necessary to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of a wreck before an injury victim can build the strongest possible case for compensation.

Truck Accidents

The aftermath of truck accidents can be uniquely complex, as additional players – including a truck operator’s employer, those tasked with loading truck cargo, and even those charged with ongoing maintenance of a large commercial truck – can serve as potential liable parties in addition to any truck operator involved in a particular wreck. The complexity of a truck crash’s aftermath tends to make proper legal representation particularly important for injury victims.

Defective Products

When consumer goods, industrial machinery, and even medication is either unreasonably dangerous when used as intended, or is in some way defective, those who are harmed may potentially hold manufacturers and others in the chain of commerce accountable. Similarly, failures to properly label products as unsafe can lead to liability under certain circumstances.

Premises Liability

When people slip and fall, are bitten by dogs, are attacked in low-light areas, or otherwise suffer harm due to unreasonably dangerous property, they may be in a position to hold a property owner accountable for their injuries.

Medical Malpractice

From birth injuries to surgical errors, failures to diagnose conditions to failures to properly treat patients, physicians and other medical providers may potentially be held liable for medical malpractice. Patients generally have grounds to seek accountability when a failure to provide a professionally acceptable standard of care results in preventable harm or the exacerbation of harm that isn’t preventable.

Work-Related Harm

Some work-related harm is caused not by employers, but by third parties. In the event that a work-related crash, a defective piece of industrial equipment, a violent coworker, or a host of other third party influences results in work-related harm, a personal injury lawsuit may be warranted.

Wrongful Death

When a victim of another’s conduct dies as a result of their injuries, their surviving loved ones may be empowered to take legal action against those responsible for that loss of life. Wrongful death cases are among the most emotional matters that we handle. If you have lost a loved one due to another’s choices, know that we will treat the memory of your loved one with the utmost respect as we pursue justice on behalf of their memory and those whom they left behind.

Contact Our Firm To Learn More About How We Can Help

Especially if your case doesn’t fall into one of the broader categories noted above, you may be unsure as to whether you should pick up the phone to call the Law Offices of Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. about your situation. It is far better to be safe – and informed about your rights and options – than to be “sorry.” Don’t guess as to whether you’re entitled to compensation. Call our team for personalized guidance that will allow you to make your next moves with greater confidence.

Miami Personal Injury FAQs

The aftermath of an injurious situation can be confusing and overwhelming. If you feel like you have a million questions, you’re certainly not alone. The following are some of the questions that our Miami personal injury lawyer team is asked most often by those in need of assistance.

Will I Have To Go To Trial?

The vast majority of personal injury cases – nine out of 10, by some estimates – settle out of court. This means that there is a very real chance that you won’t have to go all the way to trial before you’re awarded fair compensation for your harm by a liable party. With that said, we’ll prepare to be successful at trial, just in case your matter is best served by that course of action.

Should I Call You Or My Insurance Company First?

It’s wise to avoid speaking with insurance claims adjusters until you’ve received personalized guidance about your rights and options. Because insurance companies operate as for-profit enterprises, their first priority is making money, not extending you a fair settlement offer. Employees of insurance companies may even be trained to reject or minimize the value of your claim if at all possible. Talking to us first can help you to protect your rights and interests moving forward.

What Is My Case Worth?

All personal injury cases are unique. Therefore, the value of what victims are owed is unique. We’ll calculate the value of your case after evaluating the cost of your medical care, lost wages, and other objective losses. We’ll also factor in non-economic harm, such as pain and suffering, before arriving at the value of your harm.

How Will You Determine Whether I Have Grounds For Legal Action?

Oftentimes, we need to thoroughly investigate an injury victim’s circumstances before we can say with certainty whether pursuing legal action is warranted. Other times, the need to file a lawsuit is plainly obvious. Every case is different. Trust that we will be straightforward with you when articulating what, if anything, we’ll need to do to assess the viability of your case.

What Do I Need To Do Now?

The first step in the process of pursuing compensation for harm is to seek legal guidance. Once we’ve been alerted to your need for assistance, we’ll provide you with personalized feedback concerning next steps. For example, we might ask you to provide us with copies of photos taken at an accident scene, medical records related to your harm, or the contact information of your insurance company.

Florida Personal Injury Statistics

In 2022 alone, Floridians experienced 104,895 hit-and-run crashes. These collisions resulted in 1,007 serious injuries and 266 fatalities. It’s important to understand that if you have been hit by a motorist who fled the scene, not all hope of accountability is lost. It is often possible to track down the perpetrator of an injurious hit-and-run scenario and to hold them accountable for the harm that they have caused.

It is also worth emphasizing that hit-and-run crashes are only some of the kinds of collisions that result in harm to Floridians each and every day. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 19,515 individuals perished on roads in Florida and across the U.S. during the first half of 2023 alone. This statistic doesn’t reflect the additional hundreds of thousands of injuries sustained by vehicle occupants, pedestrians, cyclists, and other travelers during this period of time. If you’ve recently been harmed in a motor vehicle crash, you are absolutely not alone.

Miami Personal Injury Infographic

Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. – Miami Personal Injury Law Firm

3350 Mary St 1st Floor
Miami, FL 33133

You are not alone.

All too often, injury victims feel isolated as they work to heal from the harm that another has caused them. Bills may pile up and worries may become overwhelming. If you or a loved one is struggling after being injured by another’s choices, know that you may have options.

You may be entitled to compensation.

Our dedicated legal team at the Law Offices of Needle & Ellenberg, P.A. has been recovering compensation on behalf of injured Floridians just like you for years. Allow our experience and reputation to work to your advantage. Focus on healing while we focus on maximizing your compensation.

To learn more, call (305) 530-0000 today.