Fort Myers Personal Injury Attorney

Let an Exceptional, Board Certified Fort Myers Personal Injury Lawyer Get You the Just Compensation You Deserve

Florida law permits up to two years from the date an injury is sustained to file a claim for negligence. If the accident involves a death, you still only have two years from the accident date to file a lawsuit. However, there are exceptions. Accordingly, it is very important to have skilled legal counsel review your case as early as possible in order to help you properly establish the date from which the statute will begin to run, as well as any deadlines that may apply. A Fort Myers personal injury attorney is available to you 7 days a week at the Spivey Law Firm. 

Obtain the Outcome to Which You Are Entitled by Working with a Fort Myers Personal Injury Lawyer

While certain cases can be settled in advance of litigation, some personal injury cases will need to be resolved through the court system. That said, hiring effective Fort Myers personal injury lawyers who will advocate for your rights is the best way to ensure a positive outcome. The overwhelming majority of cases are successfully settled without a jury trial. Having an experienced Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney like Randall Spivey can help successfully resolve the case.

Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A. has extensive experience navigating the process of filing complaints, serving and answering discovery, filing and responding to motions in the course of litigation, mediation, settling cases before trial and taking cases successfully through the litigation process. If your personal injury lawyer is Randall Spivey, you can rest assured your rights are well-protected at every stage of the litigation process.

The Damages You May Be Entitled to Recover

Under Florida law, if your case involves a claim of negligence, you may recover for all losses you have sustained and can prove by a preponderance of evidence at trial.  The only “cap” on damages is for punitive damages, which, in a personal injury case, are typically limited to the lower end of $500,000 or three times your other damages under Section 768.73 of the Florida Code.

Based on the specifics of your case, you may be entitled to recover for past and future medical expenses, property damages, past and future pain and suffering, and other economic losses such as past and future lost wages and certain other unique or statutory damages where applicable.

Do You Need a Lawyer for Pain and Suffering Damages?

Yes, you need a lawyer to fight for compensation related to pain and suffering. Pain and suffering, as well as damages related to lost earnings, loss of future earnings, medical expenses, and others may be an important aspect of your personal injury lawsuit. When you are represented by a Fort Myers injury lawyer at Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., we will help determine how much you may be entitled to for all damages sustained and will work to ensure you get just compensation.

How Fault Affects Your Recovery in a Personal Injury Case

Florida is a true comparative fault state. Comparative fault means that the allocation of responsibility for a victim’s losses is divided between various defendants, the plaintiff, and even non-parties to add up to 100% fault. Each party is then responsible for its own share of those losses. Thus, if you are a plaintiff and the defendants in your case are found to be 80% at fault and you are 20% at fault, and your total losses are $500,000, you can recover $400,000 from the defendants. At this point, one of the most important jobs of your Fort Myers personal injury attorney is to help minimize your own exposure to an allocation of fault in the final settlement or verdict.  Having an experienced Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer like Randall Spivey can help accomplish that goal.

Was Negligence Involved? Our Fort Myers Personal Injury Lawyers Will Review the Facts

Negligence is a common theory in personal injury cases, in that defendants will be found liable if the plaintiff (the injured party) can prove that the defendant was negligent. Negligence is a failure on the defendant’s part to behave with the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised under the same circumstances. The behavior usually consists of actions but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act.

More specifically, negligence means that the defendant has breached a duty of care. The complicating factor is that there are various types of duty of care. For starters, everyone has a legal obligation to act reasonably to avoid injuring other people. 

In automobile, bicycle, pedestrian, or motorcycle accident cases, drivers who cause accidents are responsible for all damages caused by their negligence.  Negligence is often equated with carelessness.  Even if it was just an accident, careless drivers are fully responsible for all damages they cause.

Examples of other types of duties include property owners, who owe a duty of care that depends on the status of the plaintiff, meaning was the plaintiff an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser? Based on the label given to the plaintiff, the duty of care changes accordingly. Another example involves manufacturers of various consumer products. Manufacturers owe a duty of care to the people who purchase or use their products to design and manufacture them in a reasonably safe way. They must also market the product so that its approved uses and any hazards are made clear and include adequate warnings.

Once the duty is clear, the plaintiff must prove that the duty of care was breached and that the breach caused the accident and your injuries. If you succeed in proving negligence, you have to be sure that you’re seeking all of the compensation to which you are entitled. Again, it is important to have the Fort Myers personal injury lawyers at Spivey Law Firm on your side to be sure you’re claiming all available damages.

Is the Defendant Strictly Liable?

Strict liability is a different legal theory that does not revolve around any duty of care. Instead, these claims are based on the fact that a person or entity is at fault for certain accidents regardless of whether the defendant was negligent.

Strict liability is most commonly used in product liability cases and dog attacks. Manufacturers are strictly liable for injuries proven to be caused by defects in either the way the product is designed or how it was produced if such injuries were reasonably foreseeable. Dog owners are strictly liable for injuries caused by their pet if the harmed individual was on public property or lawfully on private property when attacked.

How Our Fort Myers Personal Injury Lawyers Will Handle Your Case

If you’ve recently experienced an injury in Florida due to someone else’s carelessness, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Whether you are injured in a car accident, slipped on a dangerous surface, or experience an injury due to a defective product, our experienced Fort Myers personal injury lawyers have the skills necessary to help ensure your claim is successful. Our team has extensive resources and knowledge to navigate your claim efficiently and effectively. We meet with each of our clients to understand their specific issues and make recommendations on the best possible approach to achieving a successful outcome. 

Investigating and Preparing the Claim

Once you’ve decided to work with our firm, the attorneys assigned to your case will begin by investigating and processing your claim. Preparing your case is incredibly important because your claim will encompass the amount of damages owed to you -- a determination that will be based on the likelihood that your claim would be successful in court. The objective is to make your insurance company believe that it is in their best interest to pay out your claim in a settlement instead of taking the case to court. 

As such, preparing your claim includes an investigative period of gathering all of the relevant documents and records that discuss your accident and subsequent injury. Our Fort Myers personal injury lawyers will retrieve copies of your medical records, employment status and current records, a police report related to your accident, and any witness statements that are already on file. Attorney Randall Spivey will use all of these documents to determine how much to demand in monetary compensation as part of your claim.

It is imperative to present a claim that is inclusive of all of your damages and presents your entitlement to these funds in the best possible light by including as much evidence as possible. That is why we always recommend working with an attorney instead of attempting to go it alone -- your personal injury attorney has a skill set and experience that ensures that your claim’s presentation is successful.

Your Fort Myers Personal Injury Attorney Will Negotiate With the Insurance Company

While your attorneys may have taken care to present your claim in the best possible light, it is unlikely that the insurance company will immediately make an offer that suits your claim. Instead, they will attempt to negotiate with your lawyer and reach a settlement. Again, this is why it’s imperative that you work with an attorney who understands the typical negotiation tactics insurance companies will use to win their case. Our Fort Myers personal injury lawyers will aggressively pursue negotiations to ensure that you get what you deserve.

Contact Us Now for a Free Consultation with Fort Myers Personal Injury Attorney Randall Spivey

Be diligent! Contact us today to schedule your consultation with Randall Spivey and get started on the road to recovery for your personal injury claims. Our office is standing by and ready to help you prevail. We help clients throughout Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Port Charlotte, and more. 

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