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Support Walk Like MADD, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving, on Sept. 28. The event included 162 runners, 191 walkers, 18 dogs, 65 volunteers and two goats who took 3.514 million steps. But it’s not over. Donations to support Walk Like MADD will remain open until Nov. 28 to reach the goal of $60,000. You can still join 32 teams and 16 financial sponsors to help support victims and fund awareness programs for 15,000 students a year (In fact, donations are welcome all year long). Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman Rice & Purtz have sponsored the walk for the past two years and has committed to sponsoring next year’s walk planned for Sept. 26, 2020. “As a personal injury firm, we deal with terrible tragedies from drunk driving, and this is really our chance to give back to MADD, help MADD help those who are involved as victims as well as try to prevent drunk driving,” said Christopher Smith, partner and firms team leader for the event. The team through individual participants raised $1,500 in addition to the firm’s presenting sponsorship. The Support Walk Like MADD event, which included honoring survivors, 48 victims and 79 members of law enforcement, featured canine Deputy Chance and search and rescue dogs Maggie and Mercy, important in drunk or drugged driving crashes because the dogs can search for the offender and help find victims who may have been ejected from their vehicle. Support Walk Like MADD Established in 2013, MADD SWFL provides free programs to over 15,000 people annually in the Southwest Florida community through its underage drinking prevention initiatives, its campaign to eliminate drunk driving, tie one on for safety campaign and DUI offender education. In addition, the local MADD chapter supports law enforcement, hosting an annual law enforcement recognition program and free DUI training benefiting over 300 local law enforcement professionals. Most importantly, MADD SWFL supports victims and survivors of drunk, drugged and substance-impaired driving crashes, providing over 1,500 free services annually, facilitates grief and community groups and holds an annual a tribute event. CLICK HERE for information on how to donate.

Learn about the qualifications to look for in a personal injury attorney among other commonly asked questions in this video. Give us a call. Whenever you are hurt as a result of the negligence of someone else or if a family member is hurt or killed, you should hire a personal injury attorney. Why? If there is an injury or a death then you have to be concerned for covering medical expenses, taking care of your family, and so on. Those factors can become very difficult for any person and can really throw a wrench in someone’s life. Hiring a personal injury attorney can help with those factors and more. When looking to hire a personal injury attorney, you want to know if that attorney is local, experienced, and is board certified in your state. We have four board certified trial attorneys which means that we have been certified by the Florida bar. The Florida bar is the managing organization for Florida attorneys. You want an attorney who has tried a lot of cases and who really has experience in all sorts of injury law, which we do. When doing your research to hire an attorney, you can look online at our website where you can see our attorneys and their different accomplishments, different verdicts we have had in front of different juries, and the type of law that we handle. Experience makes a big difference in the way an attorney works and we are offering free confidential consultations to get started on your case so we can help you. Give us a call our schedule your free consultation by going to our website. We look forward to hearing from you soon and helping you with your case. If you or a loved one has been severely injured, watch this video to learn the qualifications to look for in a personal injury attorney among other commonly asked questions. Then, contact our dedicated and experienced Southwest Florida Personal Injury Attorneys to schedule your free confidential consultation and legal case evaluation. Like us on Facebook

Did you lose a loved one due to negligence in Florida? Read the 4 things you need to know about a wrongful death, then call our lawyers today. 1. Filing a Claim The wrongful death action in Florida is brought by the personal representative of the estate. A deceased person cannot bring their own wrongful death case. A family member doesn’t bring a wrongful death case directly in that person’s name. It would be the personal representative of the estate. Our law firm actually has an estate department that can set that estate up, which makes it easier on you because you don’t have to hire multiple different law firms. Our law firm will set up the estate, name a personal representative. Usually there’s an agreement amongst family members that it would be one of the family members, but sometimes the family members feel stressed out and don’t want to be involved in that regard, so we can have an attorney act as the personal representative of the estate. It’s really whatever is best for the family of the deceased because the family is grieving and going through a lot, so we want to try to help make this is as easy as we can on them and do what they want to do to make them comfortable. If there’s a wrongful death case, the personal representative brings that case. Our law firm can set that up, and then also handle the wrongful death action. 2. Wrongful Death Claims The most important thing to know about a wrongful death claim in Florida is that the insurance company is probably going to try to deny the claim or defend the claim; that is what they do to try to wear down on the family members that have lost their loved one. You need to hire the appropriate attorney that can handle the case, that has an understanding of the value of the case and has the assets to be able to push that case forward and fight the insurance company, and or firm has that. We’ve been around for nearly 60 years. Our law firm handles these sort of cases all the time. We have board-certified civil trial attorneys who try wrongful death cases, and the insurance companies know that. The number one thing is to understand that because there is substantial value in wrongful death cases, the insurance company is likely going to try to beat you down. We don’t let that happen when we’re involved in a case. 3. Case Value You have to look at multiple different factors. You have to look for who is at fault for the incident. There are many different kinds of wrongful death cases. They can be a negligent security case, where a loved one is killed on a property where there wasn’t proper security, such as a gas station, where they know that there’s prior problems with shootings and someone is shot at a gas station. You can have a wrongful death claim from a car accident, motorcycle accident, trucking accident. You can have a wrongful death case from a fall-down, and we’ve recently handled a fall-down wrongful death case where we recovered over $10 million. The value all depends on how you can prove who was at fault, whether it be the premises owner, whether it be the truck driver, whether it be the vehicle driver. The second step is what are the damages that are involved, that is pain and suffering, loss of the familiar relationship. There are different family members who have different rights under the wrongful death act to make different claims for damages. You need an attorney that can navigate those things. 4. Case Timeline It depends on the insurance company and how reasonable they’re going to be with you early on. Oftentimes the insurance company will deny, delay, and defend in a case, especially a case that will have substantial value if there’s a loss of a loved one. You need an attorney that can push that case forward. Sometimes we can settle the case early on because we have a reputation as a firm that tries cases, so the insurance company knows that they’ll need to resolve the case, but sometimes you have to file a lawsuit. If we do have to file a lawsuit, our firm has four board-certified trial attorneys, which is the highest certification you can get in trial. We spend a lot of time in trial and we understand how to try these cases to get the maximum value for these cases. Sometimes just by filing the lawsuit you can get the insurance company to be reasonable without having to actually go to trial. If the insurance company is reasonable, great; we can settle the case early on. More often than not, though, they’re not going to be reasonable and the case can take months, if not a year or more. You need an attorney that understands that and can be in it for the long haul to try to maximize the value of the case. Have you lost a loved one due to the negligence of another person in Florida and have questions about the 4 things you need to know about a wrongful death? Contact our experienced Southwest Florida wrongful death lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation. Like us on Facebook

Have you suffered serious health issues related to a faulty medical device? Read these 4 ways to get ahead on your medical device case today. 1. Mistakes To Avoid After an Injury Claim One of the biggest mistakes people make with a medical device injury claim in Florida is not preserving the defective product, called an explant. When an implant is replaced, the explant, the old part, should be preserved as evidence because, many times, the explant will have evidence of the defect. Most times and many times, that explant is not preserved because of burial hazard issues and things of that nature, but at all costs, if you particularly think you have a medical device injury claim that you should preserve the old product and many hospitals and doctors would be willing to do that for you, but you have to ask in advance. Be sure to preserve the evidence. It’s very critical in these cases. 2. Recall Lawsuits If your medical device was recalled, that’s evidence that the device was defective, which can be used to support a claim of a defective medical device. It may depend, however, on the length of time the device has been in your body. Most microdevices have a life expectancy based on the state you live in at the time. If it’s somewhere between 10 and 15 years and the device has been implanted longer than that, then the fact it’s been recalled may not be relevant to support a claim; if it’s been less than that, then obviously, it will support a claim. The fact that the device has been recalled is strong evidence that the device is defective and therefore would support a claim for medical device. 3. Available Damages Florida allows compensation for multiple types of damages in medical device injury claims in Florida, such as what we call special damages, medical expenses, lost income, loss of ability to earn money, and things of that nature. That way you’ll have noneconomic damages as well that are compensable under Florida law to include pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of capacity to enjoy life, disability and disfigurement. All of these different types of damages are put into the hopper, so to speak, when we evaluate those claims because the jury is free to award these damages when there’s proof of them in a medical device injury claim. 4. Case Going to Trial The vast majority of medical device injury claims in Florida settle because most of them are combined with other injury claims all over the country in what’s known as multidistrict litigation. Very few of those cases actually go to trial unless there’s going to be some test cases that might be tried early on to give the two sides a better idea as to how the jury or the public views these types of claims. The chance of your case going to trial is small but not impossible here in Florida. Have you suffered serious health issues related to a faulty medical device in Florida and have questions about these 4 ways to get ahead on your medical device case? Contact our experienced Southwest Florida medical device injury lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation. Like us on Facebook

Due to Hurricane Ian, Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice & Purtz has extended the Golden Ticket campaign free adoption event to May 2023. Gulf Coast Humane Society after Hurricane Ian Before the storm, which for several days before landfall was expected to impact Tampa or the Panhandle, Gulf Coast Humane Society (GCHS) took in animals from other shelters in Labelle and Glades County anticipated to receive impact from tropical force winds. By the time Hurricane Ian changed course and impacted Fort Myers, GCHS had 175 dogs and cats at the shelter. Five staff members rode out the storm with the animals, concerned about the high winds. Fortunately, all animals were fine after the storm passed, but the facility, fences and grounds were damaged. The cat lanai, which was remodeled earlier in the summer, the breezeway and the animal rehab play area were destroyed. The administrative office roof blew off and went through the windshield of the GCHS’s newest van. The water pressure was impacted when the water line was damaged, and the generator was hit by lightning. Without phones, staff started reaching out via text to partners throughout Florida and as far away as Chicago, San Diego and other parts of the country. By placing animals at other shelters, GCHS was able to bring their animal count down to 20 within two or three days to allow for assessment and repairs to the facility. Animals Impacted by Hurricane Ian After Hurricane Ian decimated Southwest Florida leaving many people without homes, many animals were left homeless, too. New animals are coming in to GCHS that became lost after the storm or from families who don’t have a home to keep them. In five days, GCHS took in 30 animals, with more than 40 scheduled for next week, including owner surrenders and intakes from other shelters such as Lee County Domestic Animal Services. The kennels are filling up each day. Gulf Coast Humane society is calling the newly surrendered animals and the dogs that rode out the hurricane at the shelter the “Hurricane Ian Survivor Crew”, including more than 20 dogs. Pets like Dorlisa, a calm, sweet 3-½ year old terrier mix, and Roxy, a fun-loving and playful 2-½ year old terrier mix with expressive ears. Meet these Hurricane Survivors Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice & Purtz extends Golden Ticket Adoption Event In recognition of the impact of Hurricane Ian on the community and animals in Southwest Florida, Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice & Purtz has extended its free adoption event through May 31, 2023. The firm sponsored 60 free pet adoptions in honor of its 60 th anniversary before Hurricane Ian disrupted Southwest Florida, including flooding the firm’s office it has occupied in downtown Fort Myers for 60 years. The adoptions are made possible with “Golden Tickets” that will be distributed at events hosted by the firm and the humane society to people wishing to give cats and dogs at the shelter “furever” homes. To find an event where you can get a “golden ticket” for a free or reduced-price adoption, visit https://www.facebook.com/GoldsteinBuckley/events If you want to support the GCHS financially to support rebuilding the facilities, visit https://gulfcoasthumanesociety.org/donate/

Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice & Purtz shares Hurricane Ian resources as well as help with insurance claims for hurricane property damage. Here are a few Hurricane Ian resources available to help our community recover. We are heartbroken by the devastation and hardship caused by Hurricane Ian to the community, our staff and our clients. However, we know through 60 years of service that Southwest Florida is a community that supports one another. We share sadness with all who have been impacted but remain resolved to stand with our community to come back strong. General Hurricane Ian Resources FEMA Disaster victims can obtain additional information and apply for disaster assistance through FEMA in several ways. A toll-free number has been established by FEMA for disaster victims to apply for certain types of disaster programs and obtain information about others. Phone: (800) 621-FEMA (3362) FEMA Disaster Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721. https://www.fema.gov/disaster/hurricane-ian#apply dissasterassitance.gov State Disaster Recovery Center A collaboration with more than 10 agencies, including FEMA, it is designed to provide a one-stop shop for individuals and businesses looking for disaster help. In addition, mental health professionals can offer counseling and support, and five SpaceX Starlinks are in place to provide internet and cellular access. Lakes Regional Library 15290 Bass Road, Fort Myers, FL Open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Port Charlotte Town Center 1441 Tamiami Trail Open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily Additional Disaster Recovery Centers will be opening in the coming days and other areas. Locations will be updated at floridadisaster.org. I nternal Revenue Service has a disaster relief page with additional details on returns, payments and tax-related actions qualifying for the additional time. Hurricane Ian Resources for Businesses Small Business Administration Disaster Loans The Small Business Administration provides low-interest disaster loans to help businesses and homeowners recover from declared disasters. Enterprise Florida For businesses affected by Hurricane Ian, Enterprise Florida has provided a Disaster Assistance Resources Page with state and federal resources available for businesses. Hurricane Ian Resources for Homeowners S. Army Corps of Engineers Operat i on Blue Roof Allows people with roof damage in Lee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Collier Counties to apply for a roof tarp to be provided and installed to cover their damaged roofs until arrangements can be made for permanent repairs. The service is free to homeowners. Crisis Cleanup For assistance with damage from Hurricane Ian, call 800-451-1954 to ask for help. Crisis Cleanup connects residents with volunteers from local relief organizations, community groups and faith communities who may be able to assist with: Cutting fallen trees Drywall, flooring and appliance removal due to flooding Tarping roofs Mold mitigation Services are free, but not guaranteed due to overwhelming need. The hotline will remain open until Oct. 28, 2022 Housing Assistance If your family has been displaced, visit FloridaHousingSearch.org. This free, statewide search platform is updated to ensure all listings are accurate and can help you quickly locate an affordable rental property. If you do not have Internet access, you may also call the following toll-free number for assistance in conducting a search: 1-877-428-8844. Hurricane Ian Insurance Claim Help As our community recovers, we are here to help with property insurance claims and helping clients fight insurance companies who deny claims for hurricane repairs. Richard L. Purtz or Chris Smith, managing partners, emphasize personal injury, wrongful death and insurance claims litigation. Purtz was an insurance adjustor before becoming a lawyer. Click here for a free consultation.

Drinking while boating does not go together well like water and whiskey might. Why? Because not all drunk driving happens on the road. According to the United States Coast Guard, drinking while boating is a contributing factor in boating accidents that result in death. Also, alcohol is one of the top five contributing factors in boating accidents that result in injuries. While places to go boating in Florida have not increased, the number of boat owners has, making Florida the top state for boaters. In 2021, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) noted 1.01 million recreational boats were registered in Florida. Three years earlier, there were 950,000 registered recreational boats. Lee County had the third-most boat registrations across 67 Florida counties. In a 2020 report, the U.S. Coast Guard found that nearly seven people died in boating accidents for every 100,000 recreational vessels registered throughout the country. This was an increase from 5.2 deaths per 100,00 registered recreational vessels in 2019. More boats seem to equal more accidents. Lee County ranked No. 4 in Florida and Collier County No. 8 for boating accidents in 2021, according to the FWC. “With more boats on the water, we want to spread the word about boating safety to both residents and visitors enjoying Florida’s year-round boating season,” said Maj. Rob Beaton, Boating and Waterways Section Leader for FWC. “A safe day while boating is a great day. Nothing can ruin a fun and memorable experience on the water faster than a boating accident.” In Florida, it is illegal to operate a vessel with a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher, the same as operating a vehicle. Why Drinking While Boating is a Bad Idea The impact drinking has upon driving a vehicle on land is well-studied. However, less is known about how drinking while boating impacts ability. For example, motion, the effect of waves and engine noise can intensify effects of substances. Water, sun and wind can impact how alcohol is absorbed. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, these stressors can make a boater’s coordination, judgment and reaction time decline even faster with alcohol. Also, boats don’t have brakes and operate a lot more like an airplane in some ways than a car. Boat US Foundation did a test to understand the impact of alcohol consumption on boat operations. Two men and two women were asked to perform a slalom course, a steerage-speed run and a docking test. After two 1-ounce drinks of 80-proof vodka or rum, all four did poorly on standard DUI field sobriety tests. However, they appeared more relaxed and confident for the on-the water tests. After three drinks, with a BAC of .08% to .12%, boat speed varied greatly. Two boaters hit the dock and one hit a buoy. After the fourth round of drinks, a male and female test subject had reached .15% BAC, nearly twice the legal threshold in many states. They experienced great difficulty trying to accomplish the water test. Safe Boating Tips The National Safe Boating Council recommends these tips for boaters: Take a boating safety course. Anyone born after Jan. 1, 1988, is required to have a boater ID card. Check equipment. Schedule a free vessel safety check with the local Coast Guard Auxiliary to make sure all essential equipment is present, working and in good condition. Always let someone on shore know where you are going, when you plan to return, and make sure they have your boat type and registration number. Make sure everyone wears a life jacket – every time. Use an engine cut-off device – it is the law. It will stop the boat’s engine should the captain fall overboard. Watch the weather. Always check the forecast before departing on the water and frequently during the excursion. Know what is going on around you at all times. Nearly a quarter of all reported boating accidents in 2020 were caused by operator inattention or lack of a lookout. Be familiar with the area, local boating speed zones and always travel at a safe speed. Help Us Stop Drinking While Boating We are passionate supporters of MADD and the firm is a presenting sponsor for Southwest Florida’s Walk Like MADD 5K at JetBlue Park in September. Our attorneys have seen the impact of drunk driving personally, as well as through the clients we represent, reinforcing our advocacy for MADD. You can support our team, or form a team of your own to help MADD ensure there are no more victims. The sad truth is that drinking while boating or driving can injure or kill people. It is against the law to operate a boat while drinking. If you are injured in a boat accident, we are here to help. Contact us for a free consultation.

Were you hurt due to the negligence of a business or property owner in Florida? Check out our negligent security injury tips, then call us. Mistakes After a Negligent Security Claim A common mistake that someone may make if they have a negligent security case in Florida is not really realizing they have a negligent security case. A negligent security case is where a property owner, whether it be a gas station or some sort of big-box retailer, know that there are some issues on their property, say with crime. They have violent crimes where they’ve had people mugged or they’ve had shootings, and then they don’t appropriately protect the people that are coming on their property. If they don’t appropriately protect someone and that person is injured, then there’s a case. You see these sort of things happen all the time and the person just thinks, “Well, the person that assaulted me is really the at-fault party,” but, no, the at-fault party can be the actual place of business that you’re going to, where you have an expectation that you’re going to be safe. That’s what a negligent security case is. Another common mistake is not hiring an attorney right away. In a negligent security case, oftentimes there will be video that will show the incident, if you’re at some sort of business premises where they have video cameras, and the person doesn’t hire an attorney, so we can’t get the appropriate evidence, can’t get the witnesses and statements from them, so we can’t build your case appropriately. You really need to hire an attorney right away that knows what they’re doing. Case Value That comes down to multiple factors. First of all, you have to prove that the defendant was in some way negligent; that’s called liability. The way you do that is, say if there’s an assault that happens on a property or if there’s a shooting that happens on a property, you need to look at the history on that property. There are different call logs through different police departments where you can find if there were similar crimes in the past, and that’s kind of how you build your negligent security case. You need an attorney, first of all, that can show you how to do that, that can pull the right documents to be able to prove that the defendant was negligent in some way, that they should have had security on the property because there’s a history of bad behavior on the property. The second part of that is damages. Damages can be lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of the capacity of the enjoyment of life, and medical bills. All of those factor into determining the value of a case, and the damages portion is a lot about the attorney’s skill in maximizing each of those elements of damages and understanding the history of what has happened in similar cases around the state. Case Timeline If we have someone that comes to us with a negligent security case where they were hurt on a property, because the property owner didn’t have proper security and there was an assault or a shooting, something to that effect, they want to know how long that negligent security case is going to take. We tell them that that really depends on a lot of things. First of all, it depends on if the insurance company is going to deny, defend and delay in the case or if they’re going to come with reasonable money quickly, and sometimes they do. As your attorneys, we can act quickly. We can preserve all the evidence. We can get statements, so we can put together a special damages letter within the first few months after the accident, and we can settle the case. Even when we do that, at times, the insurance company will just deny the case or defend it because they know sometimes attorneys will not put the case into lawsuit or go the next step to recover for their client. Have you or a loved one been hurt due to the negligence of a business or property owner in Florida and have questions about negligent security injury tips? Contact our experienced Southwest Florida Negligent Security lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation. Like us on Facebook

Marine Corps veterans have been trying for decades to get relief for health issues from water contamination at Camp Lejeune. This happened from 1953 to 1987 at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Investigations identified more than 70 chemicals in some of the wells at the base during this time. These harmful chemicals had concentrations from 240 to 3,500 times levels permitted by safety standards. As a result, people were drinking, bathing, washing their clothes and cooking in water potentially contaminated. Chemicals in the water included benzene, which is highly poisonous and can cause rapid death. Congress mandated a United State Military Corps online registry. More than 135,000 former base residents are on the list for possible exposure. At least 900,000 veterans, family members and civilian employees may have been exposed. Conditions associated with the contamination include: Various cancers Leukemia Miscarriage Female infertility Hepatic steatosis Myelodysplastic syndromes Neurobehavioral effects Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma Renal toxicity Scleroderma Parkinson’s disease Multiple myeloma Mesothelioma, among others. What Happened to the Water at Camp Lejeune? Two of the eight water treatment plants at the base had contaminated water. Contamination likely came from an off-base dry-cleaning company, cleaning military equipment and underground fuel storage tanks. Water sampling in 1980 discovered the contamination at the base. However, action was not immediately taken. Exposed people were denied compensation or treatment for their injuries, while officials debated the potential of harm from the water. The first public statement on the contamination at Camp Lejeune was made in 1997. In 2005, veterans began filing more than 850 lawsuits against the government for harm. Four years later, the federal government began to investigate allegations as well as failures to act on the issue. The Janey Ensminger Act passed in August 2012. The law provides Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits for specific illnesses linked to contamination. But the VA has often denied claims and made the process difficult. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in 2014 that the contaminated water increases the risk of multiple diseases, including liver cancer, kidney cancer and ALS. Still, in 2016, the court dismissed all 2005 lawsuits, saying federal and North Carolina law barred the claims. What has Changed for Camp Lejeune Residents Exposed to Contamination? On August 10, 2022, the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 was signed into law by President Biden. The act allows Marine Corps veterans to seek compensation for health conditions related to contaminated water exposure at Camp Lejeune. It overrides the laws that barred previous lawsuits, allowing veterans two years from when the law was signed to sue the government for damages. Section 804 of that law, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, provides damages for past injuries from Camp LeJeune toxic exposure. Also, it is the first law that provides compensation to the civilian family members of veterans stationed at the base as well as those who came onto the base for work. The new law allows veterans with certain service experience to seek compensation, even without proving an in-service injury or illness. Disability compensation usually requires evidence of a current disability, an in-service injury or illness, and a link between the illness and disability. Instead, the new law presumes exposure to contaminated water for active duty, reserve or National Guard in service at the base for a total of at least 30 days between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987, expanding the rights and benefits available to people exposed to toxic water while working or serving at Camp Lejeune. Exposed at Camp LeJeune? You Have Options The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 also outlines the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund. This fund is administered by the VA. Its purpose is to pay for health care and benefits associated with exposure to environmental hazards during military service. Exposed to contaminated water at Lake Lejeune from 1953 to 1987? You can get a free, no-obligation consultation. We will help you understand the actions you can take to protect your rights and to file a strong claim for the compensation you deserve. Filing a claim with the federal court is separate from filing a claim with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. So, it is important to work with a qualified, knowledgeable attorney.

Have you suffered an injury of someone being negligent and have questions about personal injury case expectations? Call our Florida lawyers. 1) Mistakes After a Your Injury Claim The value of a personal injury claim in Florida is what the question presents and that is it’s personal. These are personal injury claims, personal to you. The value of that claim depends on many factors and many things that go into looking at what that claim is worth. It starts from the insurance company’s perspective with your medical bills. What did it take to treat these conditions that resulted from the accident or the incident? The value of the claim also includes things like your wage loss if you missed work as a result of the accident and your injuries. That goes into determining a value of the claim. It’s so much more than that. The value of the claim is personal— how this claim has affected you, how it’s affected the way you go about your daily activities, the things that you enjoy doing, your hobbies, your interests. The value of the claim varies based upon many factors that go into a case. 2) Pre-Existing Injury Personal injury claims and pre-existing conditions are things that are at the forefront of most cases that are handled in Florida. Those are things that do impact cases. Insurance companies like to look at pre-existing conditions and try to blame the effects of the accident on those pre-existing conditions. Luckily, when you have an experienced attorney like us at Goldstein Buckley Cechman, Rice & Purtz, we know how to flip that argument on its head because what the law tells us is that simply because you were suffering from some form of pre-existing condition, be it a prior spinal cord injury, be it prior neck pain or back pain, just because you may have those things in the past doesn’t mean that you cannot collect damages you deserve from suffering an aggravation or an exacerbation of those prior conditions, again, things in your past that have been reignited, brought to life, and intensified as the result of the accident in question. While it is certainly something that is at the forefront of cases when those pre-existing conditions exist, having the right attorneys to know how to deal with those situations in the right context and how to make those situations most beneficial for you folks that suffer from those sort of things in your past is so paramount and important to making sure you are choosing the right attorneys. What we do when we get a case is, we certainly ask about the accident and your injuries as a result of the accident. What we do is take a deep dive into your medical past, not in an effort to undervalue your claim but in an effort to get that ammunition we need to try and prove what we know to be true, and that’s that the accident and the injuries more times than not have caused those underlying conditions to be reignited, brought to the forefront, and you are now suffering worse than you ever had before. 3) Taking the First Settlement Offer In Florida, insurance companies will make an initial offer generally early on in the process. More times than not, it is not advisable to take their initial offer. Insurance companies work to try to turn files over, which means get it off their desk and get you candidly out of their hair. What we do at Goldstein Buckley Cechman, Rice & Purtz is we put together comprehensive damages packets that we will send out to insurance companies at the right time. Timing is important because those first offers generally are not the best offers. We work hard to put together that information, give the insurance company all they need to evaluate your case, and the vast, vast majority of the time, we see offers increase as we continue to work through your case putting together the accident, your injuries, the damages, and how those have affected you. Holding out a little longer while time can obviously be a factor more times than not is generally in your best interest and we will be with you the full view of the way to get you to a point where you get to decide what justice is for you and what we should do with offers from the insurance company. 4) Medical Bills To have a personal injury claim in Florida, there is no minimum amount of medical bills necessary. Medical bills are an important part of your case because when evaluating your case, as insurance companies do, they like to see what those medical bills amount to and have to say. That is not the end all, be all in your personal injury case in the state of Florida. Your damages include things like economic damages, those would be the medical bills in the past that we just discussed. There is also the need for future medical care in the future. You also have a wage loss component to your case if that comes into play and you missed work as a result of the injury sustained in the accident or the incident. Then you also have a claim for what’s called loss of future earning capacity. That would mean that the accident and your injuries have hindered you from performing and earning money in the way that you did in the past. Above all those other economic dollars and cents type damages, there’s also damages in Florida for things called pain and suffering. It includes more than just pain and suffering. It includes inconvenience, what you had to go through as a result of the injuries, the medical care and treatment, and your ongoing issues. It includes your loss of capacity for enjoyment of life, those things that were near and dear to your heart that have been affected as a result of your injuries and your inability to perform as you did before. It also includes things like mental anguish and distress, what you have had to go through as a result of these trying times, these injuries that you’ve suffered, the medical care and treatment that you’ve had to endure. While medical expenses are a part of your claim, there is no concrete money dollar value that you must have in order to present a claim in Florida. It is all encompassing on the person and the personal aspect of these cases and that’s why they’re called personal injuries. Have you suffered a serious injury at the hands of someone who has been careless or negligent and have questions about personal injury case expectations? Contact our experienced Southwest Florida personal injury lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation. Like us on Facebook

Have you been injured in a bicycle accident? Read our 4 bicycle accident recommendations for you, then call our Southwest Florida lawyers now. 1) Insurance Investigation Hire a personal injury attorney as quickly as you can so that the attorney can help you with communications involving the insurance company. Unfortunately, we oftentimes see insurance companies put words in people’s mouth or try to get them to settle their cases early on before they really know the full extent of their injuries and damages. For that reason, it’s important to get someone who specializes in personal injury but also specializes in bicycle accidents to help you with your case. Unfortunately, in bicycle accident cases, there’s often situations where they will try to blame the bicyclist. 2) Partial Fault One of the things that we often see unfortunately with cases involving bicyclists is that there’s often an effort to try to blame the bicyclist for a crash. That’s why you need an attorney representing you as soon as possible after the crash so that an investigation can be done and that someone is fighting for you from the beginning to make sure that you’re properly compensated for your damages. 3) Mistakes After a Claim To Avoid Some of the most common mistakes that we see people make when they’re involved in a bicycle accident case in Florida is Number One, not hiring a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. It’s important to hire an attorney as soon as possible because you will likely be contacted by insurance companies very soon after the crash. Unfortunately, what we see oftentimes is people give statements or are talked into settling their case very early on before they even know the full extent of their damages. Oftentimes, what insurance company adjustors tell you is not accurate. You need someone fighting for you who is going to represent your interests and your interests alone to recover your damages. Secondly, the biggest mistake we see people make is with respect to the attorney that they hire. You want to make sure that you hire someone specifically with the knowledge to handle your bicycle accident case. Unfortunately, there are a lot of attorneys out there, but not all of them specialize in personal injury and specifically bicycle accidents. You need someone who has the ability to perform a proper investigation and also potentially hire the experts that are needed if your case needs to be litigated. 4) Case Value The value of your bicycle accident injury case in Florida can vary. There are certain things that go into determining the value of a case. The factors that we consider when talking about value of a bicycle accident injury case are Number One, is there any dispute about liability? Is there any claim that you were at fault for the crash? If there is, we want to make sure that we have done a proper investigation and hired any experts, if necessary, to try to dispute those claims. Secondly, the other factor that comes into play when talking about the value of your bicycle accident injury case is the severity of your damages and how you’ve recovered from those injuries. We want to know from your doctors in particular what your injures were, whether they were permanent, and how you’ve recovered from those injuries. Those factors all come into play when talking about the value of your bicycle accident case. Thirdly, another important thing to consider is whether you have hired an attorney who specializes in personal injury and bicycle accident cases in particular. The reason for that is that insurance companies oftentimes know which attorneys will try a case and which will not try a case. You want an attorney who will try your case because that maximizes the value of your case and maximizes the amount of money that we recover for you. Have you or a loved one been injured in a bicycle accident in Florida and have questions about our 4 bicycle accident recommendations for you? Contact our experienced Southwest Florida bicycle accident lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation. Like us on Facebook

Have you experienced a recent death in the family and have questions about wrongful death claims in Southwest Florida? Watch this video, then call us. Question: What is considered a wrongful death claim? Answer: The most important thing to know about a wrongful death claim in Florida is that the insurance company is probably going to try to deny the claim or defend the claim; that is what they do to try to wear down on the family members that have lost their loved one. You need to hire the appropriate attorney that can handle the case, that has an understanding of the value of the case and has the assets to be able to push that case forward and fight the insurance company, and or firm has that. We’ve been around for nearly 60 years. Our law firm handles these sort of cases all the time. We have board-certified civil trial attorneys who try wrongful death cases, and the insurance companies know that. The number one thing is to understand that because there is substantial value in wrongful death cases, the insurance company is likely going to try to beat you down. We don’t let that happen when we’re involved in a case. If you’ve lost a loved one and you have a wrongful death case, we’d be happy to consult with you and happy to help you in that regard. Please feel free to reach out to us. Have you lost a loved one due to the negligence of another person and have questions about wrongful death claims in Southwest Florida? Contact our experienced Southwest Florida wrongful death lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation. Like us on Facebook