CAR ACCIDENTS

If you have been injured in a car accident, what are your rights? While an insurance adjustor may answer your questions, the adjuster works for the insurance company and needs to protect the company's interests. The more serious your injuries - especially if they require surgery, extended treatment, or time away from work - the more you need a personal injury lawyer to advocate for your rights.

The impact of lost wages, accumulating medical bills, and other expenses can be overwhelming to injured individuals and their families. If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident, speak with a lawyer who is committed to you and your case.

Your advocate against the Insurance Company and in the Courtroom

Our law firm represents clients who have suffered serious injuries in an automobile accident, such as a Spinal Cord Injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or other head, neck, or back injury. In addition, we represent families of fatal crash victims through wrongful death lawsuits. Our lawyers offer experience, support, and guidance to clients following a serious motor vehicle accident, including:

• Car wrecks

• Truck Accidents

• Motorcycle Accidents

• DWI/DUI Accidents

• Struck by a phantom vehicle or one that leaves the accident scene

GENERAL NEGLIGENCE - SLIP AND FALLS

Trip/slip and fall accidents are usually no accidents at all. In most cases, they are simply the inevitable result of hazardous conditions that have been ignored or overlooked by a property owner, a business or its agents. Proving those conditions existed and that the owner knew about or should have known about the problem but did nothing to address it is the difficult part.

Jerry Martillotti has been achieving outstanding results in tough-to-prove slip/trip and fall accident cases for over 17 years. Our success has been no accident. It has come as the result of honest hard work and determined advocacy, and has led to consistent referrals from our peers, medical professionals and others throughout the state of Florida.

Our practice includes trip/slip and fall accidents involving:

• Hotels

• Malls

• Restaurants, bars and nightclubs

• Retail stores and other businesses open to the public

• Private residences

• Government buildings

Careful investigation and detailed preparation are often the keys to success with slip and fall injury cases. We know local, state and federal building codes, and we have a strong understanding of foreseeable risks, hazards and safety procedures on business and residential properties. In addition, our attorneys work with engineering, safety and medical experts who testify on issues ranging from serious back injuries, the coefficient of friction for flooring, and on construction design including staircase design, proper lighting and railings - all in an effort to maximize your compensation and to get you the help you need when you need it most.Maintaining the integrity of your public image is an inseparable part of your business, whether you’re a creative individual or a small company. Protecting your privacy and your public image from slander and libel is only one side of the coin; negotiating sponsorships, public appearances, and endorsements is the other. Our firm advises on both, offering litigation and dispute resolution, defamation (pre and post publication), and other image protection mechanisms—all so you can amplify and control the way you want the world to see you.

FELA RAILROAD INJURY CLAIMS

Railroad Workers are one of the very few workers in our National work force that do no have access to a State or Federal Workers’ Compensation system. If you are hurt at work, you only access to recover is the Federal Employers’ Liability Act. This law allows you to bring a case in court against your employer for damages.

The F.E.L.A. allows railroad employees to recover the following types of damages, typically paid in a lump sum: Lost earnings, both past and future. Medical expenses, if not paid by railroad or by insurance provided at railroad’s expense. Compensation for decreased earning power, such as may be involved due to the necessity of taking a lower paying job because of the injuries sustained. Compensation for pain and suffering, past and future. Such damages may include “humiliation and embarrassment” in cases of scarring, mutilation, disfigurement or the loss of the ability to enjoy a normal life or engage in the usual pre-accident activities. There is no preset cap or limitations on a FELA claim In a Worker’s Compensation claim – you are only entitled to receive payment for medical bills and 2/3 of your average past wages for a preset limited time. If you sustain a permanent injury, you also may be entitled to a loss of function payment, which is a one- time payment generally set by statute. In an FELA case, only a jury can decide the amount you recover if your case goes to trial.

The FELA is a negligence-based system. If you are injured, you and/or your attorney must prove that the Railroad did something to cause your incident.

It is not sufficient to say you were injured at work and therefore are entitled to compensation. In the FELA, the railroad must give you a safe work place and if they have even a slight role in your injury, you will be successful in your claim. Worker’s Compensation is based on a no-fault system. So if you can show an injury at work, you are entitled to make a claim, without regard to fault. Therefore, knowing your rights and having someone investigate the claim on your behalf is critical to preserving your rights. WHILE THE FELA REQUIRES AN ADDITIONAL ELEMENT OF PROOF, THE SYSTEM ALLOWS INJURED WORKER’S TO BE FAIRLY COMPENSATED WITHOUT LIMITS (like the Workers’ Compensation system). HOWEVER, THE NEED TO PROVE YOUR CASE – IS THE MAJOR REASON YOU NEED REPRESENTATION BY AN ATTORNEY.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS 

A lawsuit under the FELA for personal injury must be filed within 3 years of the date of injury. In death cases, a lawsuit must be filed within 3 years of the date of death. In cases involving occupational disease or cumulative trauma disorders (asbestosis, hearing loss, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.), the limitation period is 3 years from the date of discovery of the disease and its relationship to your 

WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION

WORKPLACE INJURIES
Workers' Compensation laws are designed to ensure that employees who are injured or disabled on the job are provided with fixed monetary awards, eliminating the need for litigation. These laws also provide benefits for dependents of those workers who are killed because of work-related injury or illness. Some laws also protect employers and fellow workers by limiting the amount an injured employee can recover from an employer and by eliminating the liability of co-workers in most work accidents. State Workers Comp statutes establish this framework for most employment. Federal statutes are limited to federal employees or those workers employed in some significant aspect of interstate commerce.

If you believe that you or a family member has suffered a severe or disabling injury on the job, contact us. We can analyze the circumstances of your injury and its causes to give you a sound explanation of your rights. We can also assemble a team of forensic experts to begin investigating the facts that bear upon proof of the defendant's liability and the full extent of your damages. At the same time, we work with you and your treating physicians to make sure that you have all of the medical treatment and diagnostic tests you need to support your physical recovery.

Another problem frequently encountered in industrial or occupational injury cases is to find a defendant who can be held accountable to you for the full range of your injuries, economic losses, and pain and suffering. Under normal circumstances, you cannot sue your own employer for personal injury damages suffered in a workplace accident, unless the employer was grossly negligent or has no workers' compensation coverage in place. If your accident was caused by the negligence of someone other than your employer, however, such as an independent contractor, a third party contactor, or even a careless driver while you were on the road in the course of your work.

We handle workplace injury claims in the following settings:

• Construction site accidents

• Commercial vehicle accidents

• Manufacturing accidents

• Electrocution or explosion resulting in burns or death

• Injuries in warehouses, freight yards, or harbor facilities

• Falls from heights or blunt force impact from falling objects

• Toxic exposure injuries

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

Whether involving a doctor or surgeon, a hospital, nursing home or clinic, the fact is that medical mistakes kill and injure thousands of people each year. Medical malpractice or medical negligence happens when a medical provider, whether an anesthesiologist, doctor, nurse, or other health care professional working in a clinic, hospital or HMO, acts in a manner that falls below the accepted standard of care in the medical community. Our firm has handled Medical Malpractice cases for over 17 years and understands the complex legal issues involving medical negligence and medical malpractice, including inadequate care, mistakes and errors in medical treatment, misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, and other mistakes made by anesthesiologists, doctors, surgeons and nurses in hospitals and clinics. Our mission is to help injured people get fair compensation for their injuries, under circumstances in which medical care provided to them falls below the level of skill and care required.

Examples of Medical Malpractice

• Anesthesia errors and anesthesiologist negligence

• Birth injuries, erbs palsy and cerebral palsy

• Brain injuries and traumatic brain injuries

• Delayed diagnosis of a medical condition

• Emergency room errors, delays and negligent treatment

• Errors and mistakes in diagnosis and treatment

• Failure to diagnose cancer

• Failure to diagnose a heart condition

• Failure to diagnose medical conditions before serious or fatal consequences develop

• Medication mistakes and prescription errors

• Injuries from misdiagnosis of a medical condition

• Obstetrical and gynecological malpractice

• Psychiatric malpractice

• Surgical mistakes, surgical errors and surgeon malpractice

• X-ray and diagnostic imaging misreading and misdiagnosis

One purpose of medical malpractice lawsuits is to hold medical providers responsible for their mistakes. Another purpose is to put patients in the position that they would be in had no malpractice occurred. Of course, money can nevermake you whole again, but it can pay the bills you have already incurred and will continue to incur as the result of medical negligence. If you believe that you might have a medical malpractice case, you should seek legal advice immediately. 

LITIGATION - TRIAL WORK

Sometimes legal matters are unusual and complex, our office is staffed with professional with years of litigation experience to handle all matters. Our law firm prides itself in trying cases and having a proven courtroom record. You will see from our verdicts and results page that we will try a case to verdict in order to get just compensation for a client. If you need assistance in any legal matter, please do not hesitate to contact us for a free consultation.we can’t remember having ever lived without them. They make our lives simpler, but behind the curtain are fluctuating challenges in protection and monetization; challenges that our firm stays two steps ahead of. We’ve helped engineers, inventors, gaming startups, and entrepreneurs develop, license, sell, and maintain ownership over their creations. We’ve also negotiated purchasing and partnership agreements for larger investment companies looking for their unicorn.