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If you have missed work or cannot go back to work because of your injuries from a car accident, boating accident or product defect, then the Fort Myers personal injury lawyers may be able to help you recover past lost wages, benefits and salary, future lost wages and future lost earning capacity from the at-fault party.

In any personal injury case, the burden of proof is on the injured party – the plaintiff. However, many times, plaintiffs do not consider how they will prove their claim, let alone what documentation they have to support their claim, says Fort Myers personal injury attorney Randall Spivey.  

However, for the personal injury claimants in Florida only some documentation is necessary, because Florida laws are plaintiff-friendly when it comes to proving economic damages. 

Proving economic loss, including future lost earnings, can be done without paper records in a personal injury case, according to a June 2013 opinion by the Third District Court of Appeal of Florida. In Maggolc, Inc. v Roberson, the court considered the qualitative and quantitative value of the evidence the plaintiff, a personal trainer, used to substantiate his future lost earnings claim.  The plaintiff rode over an manhole pipe and was thrown from his motor scooter. He claims the manhole pipe was defectively designed.

While the Fort Meyers personal injury attorneys did not represent any of the parties in the Maggolc v. Roberson matter, they view the Maggolc case as a reminder of Florida’s laws on proving lost earnings in a personal injury claim.

Plaintiff Maggolc did not have past tax returns, receipts, appointment records, bank records, or seemingly any paper record. In addition, he did not have any client testimony about his hourly rates, numbers of training sessions, or similar details.  Despite this lack of documentation, the court found the plaintiff’s testimony and a colleague’s testimony evidence enough to prove lost earnings and future earning capacity with “reasonable certainty.” 

Florida courts view “reasonable certainty” as more of measure related to whether the accident caused lost earnings, than measuring the method of calculating lost earnings.

For example, in the 1995 case of Auto-Owners Insurance Company v. Tompkins, the Supreme Court of Florida held: “in order to recover future economic damages, a claimant must establish only that the future economic damages are reasonably certain to occur.”  Plaintiff Tompkins proved that he suffered an injury in a motor vehicle collision, and, thus, had met the threshold required to prove past, present and future lost earnings.

No Florida court has required that a plaintiff prove lost earnings only with documentary proof or filed tax returns.  Consequently, a Fort Myers personal injury attorney will be able to file your claim for lost earnings if you testify or provide a declaration, and provide an additional witness to corroborate your testimony.

The Fort Myers personal injury lawyers at Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., are experienced in collecting lost earnings for their clients, and can represent anyone who has lost earning potential or past wages as a result of a car accident, boating accident or product injury.