Clearwater Personal Injury Lawyer

Accidents are stressful. It will take time for you to recover from your injuries. You’ve been through enough – and hiring an injury lawyer is a win-win. It gives you the opportunity to focus on getting better and increases the likelihood of winning your case. If you’ve suffered a personal injury, reaching out to our accident lawyers in Clearwater is the best way to protect your future.

Did you know that people injured who hire injury attorneys:

• Are more likely to win their personal injury claims, and
• Typically secure up to 3.5 times more compensation than if they’d handled the matter themselves.

It’s simple: hiring a lawyer can put more money in your pocket.

The defendant(s) (at-fault party) in your case will be prepared to fight you every step of the way. They’ll be well-represented by savvy adjusters and teams of skilled attorneys. The truth is that they’ll have an advantage from the start. They’ll know how to manipulate you during a moment of stress, confusion, and uncertainty.

The best thing you can do is level the playing field by hiring a Clearwater accident lawyer with extensive experience. You’ll have an advocate in your corner who will stand up for you and work tirelessly to hold the defendants fully accountable for your injuries. Contact us for a free consultation. During our meeting, we will provide legal advice and discuss what occurred to better understand your case.

Insurance companies – and any other at fault party you might face – have seemingly endless resources at their disposal. They’ll dip into those resources to help them reach a low-cost settlement or verdict. To them, the cost of experts, investigators, and specialists is a drop in the bucket compared to what they might have to pay you for the full value of your personal injury claim.

How can you compete when the other side has so much to work with? When you hire a lawyer, you’re not just getting a legal advocate. You’re also getting the force and weight of the law firm you hire. That includes the firm’s network of respected experts and professionals who can provide invaluable insight into your case.

Every case is different. Ultimately, the value of your case will depend on answers to questions about your injury (or injuries) and life after your accident.

• What types of injuries have you sustained, and how severe are they?
• Has your ability to earn an income changed because of your accident?
• What out-of-pocket costs have you incurred?
• What future expenses will you likely have?
• What kind of emotional toll have the accident and your injuries taken?

Generally, personal injury claims with more serious injuries and more extensive trauma are worth more.

After an accident in Florida, you’re typically entitled to seek both economic and non-economic damages.

• Economic damages are awarded to make up for your out-of-pocket expenses and injury-related costs like medical bills, disability, rehabilitation and therapy, or funeral expenses if an accident is fatal.
• Non-economic damages are paid to compensate for the consequences of an accident that don’t have a set value. Think pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, and loss of consortium.

Our personal injury lawyers have won hundreds of millions of dollars for injury victims and families. Over and over again, we’re able to help our clients win by making sure that we identify all damages a client should be entitled to under Florida state laws and work with leading experts to ensure we understand the present and future value of each and every one.

The Florida statute of limitations for most personal injury lawsuits has been changed. A four-year time limit applies to accidents occurring on or before 3/23/2023, and a time limit of tow years applies to accidents taking place after that date.

That timeframe is also two years for cases alleging wrongful death cases. You’ll lose the right to demand compensation if you don’t file your claim on time.

There are exceptions to these deadlines in some cases. So, it’s critical to reach out for the help of an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as you can after you or a loved one gets hurt.

Most – but not all – personal injury claims in Florida are based on negligence. Negligence means that someone else didn’t act reasonably under the circumstances and, as a result, you got hurt.

When it comes down to proving negligence in a lawsuit, it’s far from this simple. You’ll have to establish that the defendant owed you:

• Duty of care
• Breached that duty
• Caused your injuries. This can be complicated – especially when the negligent party and/or insurance company fights you every step of the way.
• You suffered damages as a result.

We have been representing plaintiffs in negligence cases for more than 66 years. It’s what we do – and it’s what we excel at.

At Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers, we serve all neighborhoods in Clearwater and the surrounding areas, including:

• Antietam Acres
• Clearwater Point
• Coachman Lakes Estates
• Country Club Estates
• Downtown Clearwater
• Glenwood
• Island Estates
• Misty Springs
• Old Clearwater Bay
• On Top of the World
• Sand Key
• And more

Florida has modified comparative negligence rules with a 51% bar to recovery. So, you can still potentially get money for your injuries after an accident, but your compensation will be reduced if you’re assigned some of the blame. Insurance companies and other negligent parties will try to shift as much of the blame for an accident to you as they can.

If you do nothing, you could watch your compensation dwindle – or disappear altogether.

Our accident attorneys know insurance company strategies like this all too well. We’ll be prepared with evidence that can disprove these claims or, at the very least, minimize how much fault is ultimately assigned to you. The less fault you share, the higher your take-home award can be.

Most personal injury lawyers work on contingency. This means there’s no upfront cost to hire them to represent you.

Instead, their fee is entirely based on whether or not they win your case. If they don’t win a settlement or verdict, you don’t pay.

When your case is successful – meaning that you agree to a settlement deal or win a jury verdict – the accident lawyer recovers a percentage of your financial recovery.

Typically, this ranges from about 33% to 40%. Every law firm has its own fee structure – be sure to discuss this with an attorney during your initial case assessment.