Personal Injury

March 4, 2016

Partial Fault for a Florida Automobile Accident

Automobile accidents are prevalent here in Florida. As it turns out, automobile accidents are one of the leading causes of injury and death in Florida. Are you a victim of such an accident at the fault of another person? If so, are you hesitant on initiating a claim because you may have been partially at fault for the accident? True, this would be a huge problem in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia because these states follow the “Contributory Negligence” rule. Per said rule, an injured person (“Plaintiff”) will not recover from the at-fault driver (“Defendant”) if Plaintiff was at fault to any degree. Fortunately, this rule does not apply in Florida.

It is critical that you hire an experienced attorney for your case. The personal injury and accident attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz PA are here to help. Our experience spans over 43 years with significant results at both the trial and appellate levels. We have successfully represented injured drivers and passengers in every imaginable automobile accident scenario.

Florida’s Pure Comparative Fault

February 26, 2016

Sexual Assault, Battery, and Molestation in Florida

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Today, the subject of childhood sexual abuse and molestation is of much attention. As a matter of fact, 28 to 33 percent of women and 12 to 18% of men were once victims of childhood or adolescent sexual abuse. Recently, a 32 year-old man, Jack Kelly, was arrested and charged with sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation. He allegedly sexually abused his 7-year-old daughter and admitted to inappropriately touching her more than 100 times. Officers discovered that he also sexually battered the girl at least twice.

If you or a loved one is a victim of such a horrendous crime, it is imperative that you hire an experienced attorney. Doing so will better your chances of adequate compensation. Such attorneys can be found at Gerson & Schwartz PA. We truly understand that being a victim of sexual assault, battery, and molestation is a traumatic and life changing event. We will fight effortlessly to get you or your loved one the compensation deserved.

Effects of this Crime

February 12, 2016

Airbags and Catastrophic Injuries

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Today’s vehicles are built in a way to ensure the safety of each and every individual riding within them. Yet, manufacturing defects do occur. Some defects can lead to catastrophic injuries or even death. Defective airbags can lead to such injuries. Recently, six fatalities were traced to the Takata airbag defect. For drivers involved in airbag-deployment accidents, instead of their airbag saving them, it shoots out shards of metal right through the airbag. This led to millions of recalls. In March of 2015, a 2003 Honda Civic crashed in Florida, and its driver did not survive. Police reports later linked the driver’s fatality to a faulty airbag inflator that basically ruptured in the crash.

If you or a loved one is injured in a similar fashion or incurred other catastrophic injury, it is critical that you retain an experienced catastrophic injury attorney. The Miami, Florida catastrophic injury attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz PA are here to help. We have helped catastrophically injured people for more than 40 years. We are well versed in the law and know how to get you adequate compensation for your loss.

The Basics of Florida’s Products Liability Law

February 5, 2016

Personal Injuries and Hoverboards

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Hover boards were a highly popular gift, if not the most popular gift, during the holiday season of 2015. Yet, beyond their popularity lurks countless cases of personal injuries relating to the hover boards. Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital has seen over 10 hoverboard-related patients with injuries involving broken bones, concussions, and contusions. In one Miami, Florida case, a child was riding on a hoverboard when its batteries died and “locked up.” The child “snapped his arm in half and broke his wrist.” This injured child’s parents say the manufacturer should be held liable as they had knowledge that their hover boards were dangerous; “[t]hey know that there are issues of safety and they’re selling them anyway.”

Product liability cases, or defective product cases, run rampant here in Florida. If you or a loved one are injured at the hands of a defective product, you should hire an experienced products liability attorney. The products liability attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz P.A. are well versed in the complex law of products liability and are here to help ensure that you are adequately compensated for you injuries or loss.

Florida’s Product Liability Law

January 1, 2016

Five Killed in 1-95 Crash in Miami Gardens

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

In late December five people were killed in a car accident on 1-95 in northern Miami-Dade County when a woman traveled the wrong way down the opposite lane and crashed into a sedan carrying four people. The woman was driving southbound in the northbound lane when she struck the sedan, killing all four people in the car. Two of the passengers were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected from the vehicle. Both vehicles were moving at a high rate of speed and collided head on. Two more people were sent to the hospital in critical condition.

The four people inside the sedan were family members getting together for the holidays. Jose Martin Labrador, 52, and Gisela Gil-Egui, 48, were husband and wife and both worked at local colleges. Labrador was the director of education technology at Housatonic Community College and Gil-Egui was a professor of communications at Fairfield University.

If you were injured or lost a loved one in a car accident, contact an experienced Miami Car Accident Attorney.

December 25, 2015

Two People Dead in Florida Plane Crash

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Two people died in Madison County, Florida from a plane crash. WCTV reported that 32-year-old James Swiggart and 18-year-old Maitland Harvey, who were cousins, both died in the crash. They were flying from Ocala to Tallahassee in an experimental RV-4 plane and lost contact with air traffic controllers before the crash. If you lost a loved one in a plane accident, contact a Miami Wrongful Death Attorney.

The crash occurred in a heavily wooded area and it took authorities a long time to both locate and reach the crash site. There were no witnesses of the crash, although some area residents reported hearing a noise.

Swiggart was a navy pilot although the plane he was operating was a personal aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the crash.

October 16, 2015

In the Blink of an Eye, Everything Can Change

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

A tragic car crash occurred in Miami resulting in the death of one person and serious injuries to seven others. News reports indicate that a vehicle was traveling east on Northwest Seventh Street when a collision occurred at the intersection with 35th Avenue. Two elderly individuals (one of whom passed away later on at the hospital) and six teenagers were involved in this awful wreck. Our team of Miami car accident lawyers are deeply saddened to hear about another preventable car crash in which live were forever changed.

This terrible crash is an example of just how precious life is and the fact that, in the blink of an eye, everything can be turned upside down. Just think, the elderly couple involved in this wreck was simply going about their day. Now, a spouse is dead and the other is left to pick up the pieces.

The six teenagers involved in the crash ranged in age from 17 to 19. Two of the teenagers had to be transported to Jackson Trauma Center due to the severity of their injuries. The students just finished with class at Green Springs High School when the crash occurred, according to 7 News.

October 2, 2015

Construction Accidents – Understanding Your Rights

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Construction sites can be extremely dangerous, especially for the workers who are operating in and around the sites on a daily basis. With numerous contractors and sub-contractors at the site, there may be a number of different tasks taking place. Unfortunately, our team of Miami construction accident injury lawyers commonly discover that not all work tasks were being done in accordance with safety standards and protocols at the job site.

Injured on the Job – How to Get Compensated

Injured construction workers are entitled to apply for worker’s compensation insurance. Basically, worker’s comp allows you to receive financial benefits for your lost income while you are disabled and incapable of returning to work, along with reimbursement for medical expenses. In some cases, depending on the severity of the injury, you could be eligible to pursue lifetime permanent disability payments and/or a lump sum settlement.

September 17, 2015

Drunk Drivers Remain a Menace on Florida Roads

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Nearly 30 percent of deadly car wrecks in Florida are attributable to drunk drivers. That percentage translates to nearly 700 car crash deaths caused by drunk driving in the state of Florida. To our team of Miami car accident lawyers, that is 700 deaths too many.

Statistics from Mothers Against Drunk Driving reveals that someone is seriously injured by a drunk driver almost every 90 seconds and an average of 28 people die as a result of drunk driving accidents.

How Florida Punishes Drunk Drivers

August 12, 2015

Three Ways You Can Ruin Your Personal Injury Claim

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

As experienced Miami personal injury attorneys, we have handled dozens of serious personal injury cases including car accidents, truck accidents, cruise ship injuries, and accidents resulting in wrongful death. Unfortunately, not every case is resolved favourably for our clients and some clients have weakened their cases with self-inflicted wounds. Below are some preventable mistakes that can torpedo your personal injury claim.

Failing to Get Medical Treatment

A major mistake one can make is ignoring an injury and not going to the doctor. If the nature of the injury seems minor or the true nature of the injury is not readily visible, some people choose to “tough it out” and not seek immediate medical attention. This gives the insurance company the basis to argue that you were not really hurt that badly and that you only eventually got treatment so you could sue the negligent party. Don’t give the insurance company this ammunition. After a serious accident, go to the hospital or visit your primary care physician. It is better to be safe than sorry.