Miami Accident Lawyer Blog

May 28, 2015

A Victim Can Obtain Information About a Defendant’s Expert’s Bias

In many personal injury cases, a verdict can turn on the use and effectiveness of expert witnesses. And more than any other type, the expert witnesses in personal injury trials are often doctors who provide testimony as to the nature, severity, and extent of someone’s injuries.

The Need for Expert Bias Discovery

While most victims will use their own doctors and have those doctors testify, defendants will often use outside, non-treating doctors, to provide testimony. Those doctors can’t provide an opinion based on treating the victim, because they’re not the victim’s doctor. But they can and often do render an opinion based on review of medical records, or even a one-time medical examination of the victim.

May 22, 2015

When Does the Impact Rule in Emotional Distress Cases Apply?

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

In many cases, someone who is injured as a result of another’s negligence may not have physical injuries, but rather, emotional injuries. There are many examples where mental anguish or trauma may be even more significant than any physical harm that could have been sustained.

Although we live in an age where mental health awareness is more prevalent than ever, the law has been slow to adapt to mental injuries that don’t stem from physical ones. There has long been concern that allowing people to recover for only mental distress, with no physical injury or impact, will lead to false claims, and is too difficult for a defendant to disprove.

The Impact Rule

May 20, 2015

Jury Selection Can Make or Break an Injury Trial

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

When preparing for a personal injury trial, it’s easy (and important) to focus on the evidence and testimony that will be presented. But what many personal injury attorneys often forget is a process that is perhaps the most important part of the personal injury trial: picking a jury.

Jury Selection

Jury selection has its own very complex set of rules and laws. And while everyone is in theory guaranteed a jury of their peers, that right is balanced with the right of parties to strike jurors, and challenge jurors, with and without cause.

May 19, 2015

Norwegian Gem Drowning Incident Foreseeable and Preventable, Says Cruise Ship Lawyers at Gerson and Schwartz, PA

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Once again, a tragic event has occurred in a cruise ship pool. This past Monday May 18, 2015 a ten year old girl drowned aboard the vessel Norweigian Gem. Our Florida cruise ship lawyers are monitoring the case closely. According to attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz, PA, the cruise ship industry does not require lifeguards in their pools. It just does not fit in their business model, says Nicholas I. Gerson of Gerson & Schwartz, PA. This is alarming considering the number of children and pools on passenger vessels. Under federal maritime law, cruise ship operators only have a legal duty to provide reasonable care under the circumstances.

In the last several years, the cruise ship industry in general has been subject to scrutiny based on lack of tougher laws and enforcement of its own rules and regulations. Numerous requests for stricter rules and regulations make their vessels safe are needed for the public. Until recently, cruise ships were not even required to report violent crimes such as rape or sexual assault, nor were they required to cooperate with law enforcement. Accidents like drownings aboard ships are foreseeable and preventable. These ships should have trained lifeguards on duty whenever the pool is open. If the cruise line industry required it’s vessels operate recreational pools with an active life guard and increased safety measures like in you would find in a typical resort, would help make these floating cities safer for all. The cruise ship lawyers at Gerson & Schwartz, PA represent passengers and crew members in all types of accidents. For more information on how we can help, visit www.injuryattorneyfla.com or call toll free at (877) 475-2905.

May 15, 2015

Collateral Sources May Sound Dull, But They’re Important in Injury Cases

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Does the term collateral sources seem interesting? Probably not, and it probably sounds like a term that has absolutely nothing to do with getting recovery from a negligent party for your injuries. But in fact, collateral sources can directly affect the amount that you receive from a jury verdict in a lawsuit brought for personal injuries.

What is a Collateral Source?

Collateral sources are sources of money that you receive that compensate you for damages or injury, which aren’t part of your injury lawsuit.

May 14, 2015

Even The Best Cases Can Go Sour Based on Complex Evidentiary Issues at Trial

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Even injury cases that seem like “slam dunks,” or “easy” cases, can have complex issues, that could prevent someone catastrophically injured from recovering at trial. No case should be seen as easy, even when facts seem to look like they go in a victim’s favor. A recent case demonstrates how even when on the surface a case seems like a winner, what happens at trial can turn things around in a hurry.

The Wrongful Death Case

The case arose when the estate of the victim, who died, sued a driver in a rear-end accident. The defendant rear-ended the victim, ejecting her from her car, and killing her. It was later learned that the defendant was an off-duty police officer who had fled the scene after the accident, lied about what happened to his car, and at the time of trial, was actually in jail for charges related to the accident.

May 8, 2015

Student’s Death Highlights Importance of Medical Device Safety

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

The area of products liability is one of the biggest areas in which a personal injury lawyer can make a difference in the lives of consumers. We rely upon products that we use every day to be safe and reliable, often putting our lives in the hands of the companies that make and manufacture these products.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the area of medical products. A recent, tragic death in Chicago is a reminder of how vital it is to keep companies responsible for ensuring the safety of the products.

Chicago Law Student Dies

May 7, 2015

Recent Case Decides What Your Shoes Have to do With an Injury Lawsuit

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

Florida’s liability system is based upon what is known as comparative fault, or comparative liability. What this means is that if you are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, a jury at trial can reduce your award by any amount that you were negligent—that is, the extent that you were responsible for your own injury.

This often comes into play in a slip and fall, where a defendant may claim that you should have been looking where you were going, or in an auto accident, where a defendant may allege that you could have avoided the accident. But a negligent defendant in a recent case argued a novel theory, attempting to prove that the kind of shoes a woman wears allows a court to apportion liability to her.

Woman Slips in High Heels

April 30, 2015

Florida Supreme Court Allows Defibrillator Case to go to Jury

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

When someone suffers a heart attack, we normally think of that as a natural occurrence, unpreventable by anything that anybody could have done. However, while it certainly is a natural occurrence, more and more, law is evolving to recognize that certain property owners have an obligation to have working, operational defibrillators, and to provide training to those who may need to use them.

A tragedy during an athletic contest has now lead the Florida Supreme Court to expand significantly the instances where a defibrillator may be required.

High School Athlete Dies on the Field

April 24, 2015

Proximate Cause and Products Liability Converge in New Case

by Gerson & Schwartz, P.A.

We discuss causation (sometimes called proximate cause) often in this blog, and for good reason. It’s usually the most difficult part of an injury lawsuit to prove, and defendants often challenge proximate cause vigorously at trial. Additionally, the concept of causation is often so vague that different courts may appear to rule differently in every factual scenario.

What is Proximate Cause?

Just as it sounds, proximate cause asks whether the defendant’s negligence actually caused the injury. By way of example, assume a car rear-ends a vehicle driven by a person with a heart condition. Two days later, that person dies of a heart attack. Did the accident cause the death, or the heart condition?