The purpose of personal injury law is to help compensate victims when they have been injured due to someone else’s negligence or carelessness. In Florida, personal injuries can come in many forms, including broken bones, spinal cord injuries, soft tissue damage, traumatic brain injuries, or permanent disabilities. If you have suffered an injury caused by someone else’s negligence, you should seek help from an experienced personal injury lawyer.
When you are recovering from accident-related injuries in Florida, you can trust the team at Brian D. Guralnick Injury Lawyers to provide personalized service and decades of experience. For more than 30 years, Brian D. Guralnick has been helping his clients protect their legal rights while assisting them through the legal process.
What is a personal injury claim?
You might think that consulting with a lawyer automatically means you will have to file a lawsuit. Fortunately, many accident claims can be settled without ever going to court, and sometimes without ever filing a lawsuit. The term “personal injury” can relate to various scenarios where an individual suffers harm due to someone else being careless or causing an accident. Under Florida law, when you are injured in an accident, you may be entitled to hold negligent actors responsible for any resulting injuries.
The steps for holding a negligent party responsible are not always the same for every case. You may be able to recover compensation for your injuries without filing a lawsuit or dealing with the legal process. The attorneys at Brian D. Guralnick Injury Lawyers have obtained successful settlements for their clients without filing a lawsuit.
What are the first steps after an accident?
If you are injured in an accident and have questions about a potential injury claim, your first step should always be to consult with a credible personal injury lawyer. It is important to contact an attorney before you speak with an insurance company so you aren’t pressured into accepting a settlement amount that isn’t fair. Insurance companies are often motivated to settle cases quickly for nominal amounts before attorneys get involved so they can try to convince you to take a settlement that doesn’t reflect the true value of your claim. Don’t let this happen to you—call our team at Brian D. Guralnick Injury Lawyers for a free case evaluation so you can get the money you deserve.
You might also want to consider discussing with a personal injury lawyer before selecting your treating physician or medical provider. It is important that you seek medical treatment from a provider who knows how to properly document and treat your injuries and is willing and able to provide testimony in court as your advocate, if necessary.
Can I settle my claim without filing a lawsuit?
Once all the necessary information has been gathered, your attorney will be able to determine if you can negotiate a settlement. In many cases, once a personal injury lawyer gets involved in the process and presents all the evidence to an insurance company, there is a real possibility of agreeing on a reasonable settlement amount without filing a legal claim. This can save you a great deal of time and additional legal costs so you can get back to focusing on the important things in your life.
At Brian D. Guralnick Injury Lawyers, we understand how to negotiate with negligent parties and their insurance companies. An insurance company often attempts to settle an injury claim for as little as possible instead of a fair amount for the injured victim. Brian and his team have successfully negotiated for innocent victims for over three decades. We have the experience and knowledge to bargain for appropriate compensation to help our clients return to normal after a devastating injury. We have helped our clients recover money for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, property damages, and much more. Over the past 30 years, our team of professionals has been able to recover tens of millions of dollars in settlements for our clients. In many of these cases, Brian and his legal team successfully negotiate settlements without filing a lawsuit.
What happens if I can’t settle my claim before filing a lawsuit?
Some cases can’t be settled before a lawsuit is filed. Sometimes the negligent party or their insurance company isn’t willing to accept liability for causing injuries, or they dispute the existence or causation of your injuries. Sometimes there are disputes about how much responsibility should be assigned to multiple careless parties. When pre-lawsuit negotiations aren’t successful, an experienced personal injury lawyer is prepared to file a lawsuit and seek compensation through the legal system.
Filing a lawsuit can create advantages for your injury claim. For example, once a lawsuit is filed, your attorney will be able to participate in the discovery process. Your attorney can:
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- Submit written discovery requests to the other party seeking information.
- Subpoena important information and records.
- Ask the opposing party to admit to certain facts.
- Question witnesses under oath at proceedings called depositions.
In many cases, these procedures are useful to your lawyer as they continue negotiating to resolve your claim. The evidence uncovered in discovery can put pressure on the negligent party to resolve the case without going all the way to trial.
Can mediation help resolve my claim?
In Florida, most courts require the parties to a lawsuit to participate in a process called mediation. During mediation, the parties present their respective positions to a neutral third-party, called a mediator. The mediator’s job is to help the parties reach a settlement by examining the facts of a case and suggesting compromises. Usually, parties can agree to mediate a case at any point in the legal process, but many mediations occur after the parties have had a chance to engage in discovery. Mediation can be an incredibly helpful mechanism for helping you reach a resolution to your injury claim.
What happens if I am forced to go to trial?
If a trial becomes necessary, you want to rely on an attorney who is a board-certified civil trial attorney in the State of Florida. Less than 1% of all Florida attorneys have received this certification. At Brian D. Guralnick Injury Lawyers, we have a board-certified civil trial partner on the team. While most cases can be settled before trial—and some can be settled before a lawsuit is filed—Brian’s team is ready to fight for clients all the way through trial.
When you suffer injuries in an accident, you might face a long physical recovery process, and you may also face financial and emotional stress. Call the professionals at Brian D. Guralnick Injury Lawyers today. We have helped injured victims settle their claims for more than 30 years all throughout Florida. Our dedicated team is here to serve you and help you recover fully from any accident.
