Recent News

        Florida's revised texting and driving statute has now been enforced for almost one year now. While statistics have not been released yet, (hopefully) a reduced number of distracted drivers on the roadway, traffic crashes and incidents involving pedestrians has also reflected a similar dow...

There are perhaps no easier accidents to avoid than those which result in a motor vehicle striking a pedestrian. Unfortunately, however, they are occurring at an increasingly alarming rate, both nationwide and here in Florida. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") reported ...

Pursuant to Florida Statute Chapter 316.062, persons involved in motor vehicle accidents are required to provide their personal information (name, address, vehicle registration and drivers license) to both the other drivers involved in the crash and to the law enforcement officers investigating t...

Property owners, most often business owners, can be held liable for injuries to persons who lawfully come onto their premises and are injured by the unlawful acts of third parties. The major issue regarding liability is whether the danger which caused the injury was foreseeable. As an example, a ...

Recently I was preparing a settlement demand for a client who was involved in a high-speed, rollover motor vehicle crash. Not unexpectedly, his subsequent cervical MRI revealed a traumatic disc herniation. I noted however that the radiologist's report also mentioned a "cerebellar tonsillar ectopi...

The use of "Letters of Protection" has become the norm in most personal injury cases. They can provide immediate care and treatment for those injured in accidents, however must be employed with care, as they have now become twisted by insurance company attorneys to attack the credibility of one's...

"Full Coverage" is the response I often get from new clients when I ask them about their auto insurance coverage following an accident. This was a term which was probably given to them by an insurance agent at the time they purchased their policy, but in reality has no legal significance. Too oft...

Following an auto accident, the scene is usually flooded with police investigators, fire/rescue personnel, tow trucks and traffic control officers. As soon as the police complete their investigation and send the involved drivers on their way with a copy of their preliminary or "Exchange of Inform...

Florida law provides that a person who has been the victim of domestic violence or is in "immediate danger" of becoming a victim of domestic violence can obtain an injunction to keep the threatening person away from the victim, whether at home, work or in public. Injunctions typically prohibit co...

This month the growing phenomenon of "E-Scooters" will descend upon the streets of downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. According to regulations recently passed by the St. Petersburg City Council they will only be seen on the streets. In an effort to promote safety - and learning from the growing pa...

Without question, the coronavirus has affected every aspect of our lives since early 2020. It should be no surprise that personal injury claims - how they are investigated, how injuries are treated and how claims are prosecuted have not escaped the effects of Covid-19. In short, the court system,...

The Covid-19 pandemic has wrecked havoc upon the court system nationwide, as in-person dockets have been postponed or eliminated, jury trials have been cancelled at least through the end of 2020, and both the civil and criminal discovery process has been slowed significantly. In response, the Flo...

Recently I was putting together a settlement demand for a client who had been seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident for which she required extensive treatment, including surgery. Her concern was that since she had been hurt in an accident many years ago as a child, that her current health...

After repeated lobbying of the Florida Legislature for the past four or five years, the insurance industry finally got the “PIP reform” bill they wanted passed. The resulting legislation will undoubtedly be cause for celebration in the boardrooms of “Big Insurance” at the expense of Florida's ins...

One cannot open the newspaper or turn on the television without hearing of the latest nationwide protests concerning the status of the investigation involving the shooting death of Tayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Most media commentators and every community activist, including both Jesse Jackso...

The Florida Legislature has embraced many attempts in the past to unduly restrict the rights of potential claimants in medical malpractice cases. Caps on damages, a worthless pre-suit screening process and an abbreviated Statute of Limitations are but a few that have been successfully enacted int...

Most of us have rented an apartment at one time or another in our lives. Understandably, the focus of such agreements is upon the length of the lease, the monthly rent amount, and the required security deposit. Often hidden within the “fine print” however, are provisions that attempt to limit or ...

On July 28,2011, Federal Judge Mary Scriven of the Middle District of Florida ruled, in the case of Shelton v. Florida Department of Corrections, that all Florida state laws prohibiting the sale use and/or possession of illegal drugs per Florida Statute 893 are unconstitutional. Crimes are classi...

In a previous post, I outlined the types of available automobile insurance and stressed the necessity of obtaining as much coverage as financially possible to insure that medical expenses and lost wages can be recovered in the event of injury as a result of an accident. As a corollary to that adv...

As I discussed in an earlier post, motor vehicles have previously been deemed to be a “dangerous instrumentality” by numerous previous rulings of the Florida courts. As as result, I issued the warning that private automobile owners must be particularly careful when entrusting their vehicle to ano...

Florida is blessed with beautiful weather almost year round. That is one reason why Florida is a great place to own and operate a motorcycle. Unfortunately, much of Florida, and particularly St Petersburg and Pinellas County where I practice injury law, has become very densely populated, and as a...

In my criminal practice, I have been hired to represent clients who have been charged with both misdemeanor and felony domestic violence charges. In every case , regardless of the merits of the “victim's” allegations, Florida law prohibits the Defendant from having any contact with the victim, ex...

In order to sue for breach of contract, for injuries from an automobile accident or a slip and fall, the plaintiff need only file a complaint in the proper jurisdiction and pay the necessary filing fee. ($400.00 at this time). However, in order to sue a doctor , hospital or other medical care pro...

Recently, one of my clients called me after she had been arrested for possession of a controlled substance which was discovered in her house by police officers who gained entry and subsequently searched her home under the guise of conducting a “protective sweep”. A “protective sweep” is narrowly ...

At common law, no government could be sued for damages by one of its citizens, no matter how egregious the negligence by a government agent or employee may have been. “The King can do no wrong” was the operative phrase which insulated governments from liability since Medieval times. In Florida, t...