Car accidents can be traumatic and have lifelong consequences. If you’ve been involved in a serious accident, you may be facing a mountain of medical bills and a long recovery process. That’s where our Miami car accident lawyers come in.
At The Schiller Kessler Group, we have helped countless accident victims recover the compensation they deserve after a crash. Our team of personal injury lawyers in Miami will work tirelessly to secure a fair settlement or court award on your behalf.
Contact us today by phone or by completing the contact form on this site to schedule a free consultation.
Common Car Accident Injuries
Motor vehicle collisions can cause various injuries, ranging from minor to catastrophic. An experienced Miami car accident lawyer can help you seek full compensation for all you’ve endured.
Common car accident injuries include:
- WhiplashThis common injury occurs when the head is suddenly jerked back and forth in a collision, straining the neck muscles and ligaments. Symptoms include neck pain, reduced range of motion, and headaches.
- Broken bones: Fractures and breaks commonly occur in collisions, especially in the ribs, vertebrae, arms, and legs. These may require surgery and extensive physical therapy.
- Spinal cord injuries: High-impact crashes can damage the spinal cord, resulting in partial or total paralysis.
- Head trauma: A blow to the head can cause concussions and more serious traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Severe brain damage can cause cognitive, behavioral, and physical impairments.
- Lacerations: Shattering glass and sharp, twisted metal inside a wrecked vehicle can cause deep cuts. Permanent scars may remain after stitches are removed.
- Internal injuries: The impact of a crash can lead to ruptured organs, like the spleen, kidneys, or liver. These injuries require major surgery and can be fatal if not treated promptly.
If you or a loved one suffered an injury in a Miami car accident, an experienced attorney can help you seek damages. The Schiller Kessler Group has a proven track record of successful case results and will fight for the settlement or court award you deserve.
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Compensation After a Miami Car Accident
Your Miami car accident attorney can help you calculate both economic and non-economic losses caused by your wreck.
While every case is unique, we often recover the following damages for our clients:
Medical Expenses
Car accident injuries often require expensive medical treatment. Your attorney can help you seek fair compensation for emergency medical care, hospitalizations, physical therapy, and other accident-related medical costs.
Lost Wages and Earning Potential
Did you have to take off work to recover from the injuries you sustained in the collision? In this situation, you can secure compensation for the income you would have earned if the accident hadn’t happened.
If you are unable to return to your job due to a permanent disability, your attorney could also work to get you money for “reduced earning potential.” You can discuss this situation when you reach out to our team.
Property Damage
Unless you were a passenger in someone else’s vehicle, your car accident claim should include property damage. Our team can help you seek damages for the costs of repairing or replacing your car. We can also seek compensation for damage to smaller items. For example, we may seek funds to cover electronics damaged in the crash.
Non-Economic Losses
Finally, we can help you seek damages to cover your pain, suffering, and mental anguish. We take the emotional effects of car accidents seriously, working to ensure our clients receive funds to address these intangible losses.
If your loved one passed away in the crash, you may qualify for money for funeral expenses and other damages. One of our Miami wrongful death lawyers can explain your legal options after a fatal accident.
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Dealing With Insurance Companies After Your Miami Accident
If you already reported the accident to your own insurance company, you do not have to speak to the other driver’s insurer if they contact you. It is best to speak to an attorney first to protect your rights. Once hired, your attorney will handle communications with insurers.
If the at-fault party’s insurance company offers you a settlement, think carefully before accepting. You may not yet know the full extent of your injuries and losses. The insurer knows what personal injury claims are typically worth and may offer much less. Accepting an early settlement could mean leaving money on the table.
Insurance adjusters may seem friendly, but their job is to pay you as little as possible. Common tactics they could use to avoid a large payout include downplaying your injuries or blaming you for the accident. Don’t fall for these tricks; consult with a knowledgeable attorney instead.
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How a Miami Car Accident Lawyer Can Help After a Crash
A car accident attorney can help you in several ways after a collision. When you hire a lawyer, they will immediately take over every aspect of your claim, allowing you to focus on healing from your injuries and rebuilding your life.
Your attorney will take all the necessary steps to ensure you recover the compensation you need through an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit.
The steps they will likely take include:
- Investigating the collision to determine who is at fault
- Collecting evidence
- Determining which damages you are eligible to claim
- Calculating the full value of your claim
- Filing the required paperwork
- Negotiating with the insurer or opposing attorney to reach a fair settlement
- Presenting your case at trial if necessary
Throughout the insurance claim or litigation process, your attorney will keep you updated on the status of your case. They will inform you of any settlement offers you receive from the other party and advise you on how to proceed.
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Helpful Evidence in a Car Accident Case
When pursuing compensation for your car accident, certain types of evidence can be crucial to proving your case and obtaining full compensation.
Key evidence to gather can include:
- Police report: The official accident report contains specific details about how the crash occurred, witnesses’ statements, determination of fault, and any citations issued. This report is invaluable because it provides objective evidence.
- Photographs: Pictures of the accident scene, vehicle damage, and injuries are also helpful to your case. Photos taken should vividly illustrate the extent of your property damage and injuries.
- Video footage: Video from surveillance cameras, dash cams, and eyewitnesses’ mobile phones can prove how the accident happened and who was at fault.
- Medical records: Doctor, hospital, and physical therapy records substantiate your injuries and treatment costs incurred due to the accident. Keep meticulous records.
- Receipts: Keep receipts for all accident-related expenses, such as medical bills, vehicle repairs, rideshare services, and accommodations due to your injuries.
- Journal entries: Consider chronicling your symptoms, their effects on your daily activities, and any work opportunities you missed. These records help show the accident’s impact on your life.
- Expert testimony: Testimony from accident reconstruction experts, doctors, and vocational experts can strengthen your case.
- Witness statements: Eyewitness accounts of the crash and aftermath from passengers, bystanders, and others can help persuade a jury in your favor.
A seasoned car accident attorney knows how to gather, analyze, and use the available evidence to maximize your insurance settlement or court award.
Proving Negligence in a Miami Car Accident
To receive compensation after a Miami car accident, you must prove the other driver acted negligently. This means they failed to act with reasonable care, resulting in the crash and your injuries.
The key elements to establishing negligence in a car accident are:
- Duty of care: All drivers have a responsibility to drive safely and follow traffic laws. This is the “duty of care” they owe you and others on the road.
- Breach of duty: A driver breaches their duty of care by driving carelessly or recklessly. Examples include speeding, ignoring traffic signals, distracted driving, and driving under the influence.
- Causation: This means an at-fault driver’s negligent actions directly caused your injuries. For example, the defendant was texting and did not see the red light, causing the collision that harmed you.
- Damages: As a result of the crash, you suffered physical injuries, vehicle damage, lost wages from missed work, or other losses.
An experienced Miami car accident attorney can help investigate the crash, prove negligence occurred, and fight for full compensation for your medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other losses. With strong evidence and compelling legal arguments, your lawyer can build a case that holds the negligent driver fully accountable.
Filing Your Car Accident Claim on Time
In order to protect your right to recover compensation, you must file your car accident lawsuit on time. In 2023, Florida modified itsstatute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits. While accident victims used to have four years to file, they are now restricted to a two-year filing window.
If you don’t submit the necessary paperwork for your lawsuit within this period, you could be out of options for pursuing compensation. However, it is critical to understand that exceptions to this time limit apply in certain situations.
The best way to identify the filing deadline for your particular case is to contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible after your accident. Your car accident lawyer will review your case to determine if any exceptions apply and ensure that all paperwork is filed on time.
Comparative Negligence in Florida
Along with updating the personal injury statute of limitations, Florida also changed its rules regarding negligence in 2023. While they had previously used a pure comparative negligence model, they switched to a modified comparative negligence rule.
Under the previous system, accident victims could pursue compensation from anyone who held any level of responsibility for their accident as long as they weren’t 100% at fault. However, under the new contributory negligence rule, accident victims can only recover compensation if their level of responsibility is 50% or less.
However, the amount of money you can recover will be directly proportional to your fault level. Therefore, if you are 20% at fault and your case is worth $100,000, you can only recover $80,000 rather than the $100,000 at which your case is valued.
Paying for Your Miami Car Accident Lawyer
When you hire one of our attorneys, you won’t have to worry about whether or not you can afford their services. Our personal injury lawyers do not charge a retainer fee, as is common with many other types of attorneys. Furthermore, we will not charge you a high hourly rate for the work we put in on your case.
Instead, our lawyers get paid on a contingency fee basis. That means that we will only collect a fee if we can secure compensation on your behalf. We will not be paid for our services if we fail to get you money for your damages. If we succeed, the fee we charge will be a set percentage of the money you recover.
This fee will be paid directly from the settlement or court-ordered payout you recover. That means you won’t have to pay anything out of pocket. This system also aligns your attorney’s interests with yours, ensuring they do everything in their power to get you the money you need. Additionally, it makes it possible for all accident victims to afford a lawyer.
Free Consultation With a Car Accident Lawyer in Miami
At The Schiller Kessler Group, our team of car accident lawyers will do everything possible to ensure you recover fair compensation from the at-fault party. We have helped countless car accident victims secure favorable outcomes for nearly three decades. Our team of Miami car accident attorneys is ready to fight for you.
Schedule a free consultation with one of our team members today. You can reach us by phone or through the contact form on this website. We will review your case, answer any questions you have about your situation, and advise you of your options moving forward. There is no obligation to retain our services, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us today.
Call or text 800-350-3476 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form