Personal Injury Attorney in Pensacola, FL

Suffering an injury is more than just an inconvenience that leaves you with pain or the inability to take care of yourself. When an injury is serious, it can result in thousands of dollars’ worth of expenses in the form of medical bills and lost wages, and lead to intangible losses like pain, suffering, emotional distress, and depression.

At the law offices of Whibbs Stone Barnett, P.A., our personal injury attorneys know that accidents aren’t always minor. When you have suffered losses because of someone else’s actions, we want to help you recover the damages to which you’re entitled.

Practice Areas

Pensacola has some notorious roads, so whether you were injured on the rt 90 or interstate 110, or at your job at one of the many manufacturing plants such as Armstrong, or Pollock Industries, you will need an experienced attorney. Our attorneys have helped clients in a variety of cases. We have experience representing clients who have been harmed in the following accident types listed below, but are able to provide competent representation to all injury victims.

If you don’t see the type of accident in which you have been involved listed, please still call our law firm. During your free consultation, we can provide you with what you need to know about bringing forth a personal injury suit, and whether or not our law firm can provide you with the legal assistance you’re looking for.

• Motor vehicle accidents. Motor vehicle accidents, including car accidents, large truck accidents, and motorcycle accidents are a leading cause of injury in Florida.
• Medical malpractice. An act of medical malpractice occurs when a physician or other healthcare provider breaches the standard of care owed to you, resulting in an injury.
• Slip and fall accidents. When a dangerous condition exists on a property that leads to a slip and fall, the property owner can be held liable if they knew of the condition and failed to remedy it in a reasonable amount of time.
• Dog bites. Being attacked by a dog can be a very terrifying experience, and may leave a person with both physical and psychological injuries. Florida is a strict liability dog bite state, which means that so long as you were not trespassing at the time of the incident, you can hold the dog owner liable for your harm.
• Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect. We would like to think that elderly people in our population are receiving the care they need, but that is not always the case. We can help your family gain compensation for your damages.

In addition to the accident types above, we also represent those who have suffered serious injuries, such as burn injuries, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or amputation injuries. These injuries may be incurred in one of the aforementioned accident types, or during a pedestrian or bicycle accident, workplace accident, or sports accident.

Holding the Responsible Party Liable for Your Harm

If you have been injured by the actions of another, you can hold them liable for the damage you have incurred. The basis of a personal injury claim is negligence, which is the failure to act with the same level of care that another reasonable person in the same situation would do. As such, if the at-fault party acted negligently, and the negligence was the proximate cause of your accident and injuries, you can hold them liable.

The Defendant Owed You a Duty, and Breached It

First, you must prove that the defendant had a legal responsibility to act a certain way towards you. Then you must show how the defendant breached the duty of care through actions or inactions. Driving drunk, speeding, providing inadequate security — these are examples of duty breaches.

If you cannot prove that the defendant owed you a duty of care or cannot prove that the duty was violated, you may face a real roadblock to success in a personal injury lawsuit in Pensacola.

Proving Causation

Once you prove the first two elements, you must prove that, without the defendant’s conduct or inaction, your injuries would not have occurred. For example, had a driver not run a stop sign or a doctor not prescribed the wrong medication, you would not have been harmed.

Damage Causation

Finally, you must prove that the damages you claim are real. If you allege a car accident caused you a chronic back injury, you must have medical documentation to support your claim. The firm almost always uses expert testimony to prove medical causation in negligence cases that go to trial.

For example, if you suffer $10,000 in damages, a review of the facts can show that you were distracted by your phone at the time, and therefore you are found to be 15 percent to blame for the incident. As such, your damages would be reduced by 15 percent, and you would only recover $8,500 from the at-fault person.

Statute of Limitations for Bringing forth a Personal Injury Claim

If you are injured by the negligence of another party in Florida, another important law to understand is the state’s statute of limitations, which is the law that governs the amount of time that you have to bring forth a lawsuit after your accident occurs. The statute of limitations is four years from the date of injury, as found in Florida Statutes Section 95.11. If you do not file your case within four years’ time, it is very likely that a court will refuse to hear it, and you will be unable to recover compensation as such.

Exceptions to the Florida’s Four-Year Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

Although four years is the deadline for most personal injury actions in Florida, there are some notable exceptions:

Minors and Individuals who are Legally Incapacitated

Minors receive extra time to file a personal injury lawsuit because they are legally incapable of filing a claim on their own. The extended deadline is not open-ended, however. Instead of the standard deadline of four years, minors have seven years from the date of the injury or until the applicable statute of limitations (for their type of case) runs out, whichever time period is longer. The same deadlines apply to individuals who were legally incapacitated (such as those who are mentally ill) at the time of the injury.

Defendant Obstruction

There are various ways the defendant might try to delay a claim in hopes of “running out the clock”. Examples may include leaving the state of Florida at some point after the underlying injury occurs and before a lawsuit is filed and using a false name and/or hiding out to avoid being “served”. In such cases, the statute of limitations may be extended.

Contact Our Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Today

We know that bringing forth a personal injury claim or lawsuit may seem like a difficult thing to do, especially if you are in the process of recovering from harm. However, we also know that filing a claim may be the only way to hold the at-fault party liable for harm that you have suffered and recover the financial assistance you need to pay for your medical expenses and provide for yourself and your family moving forward. To schedule a consultation with our Florida injury team where you can learn more, visit our law offices, send us an email, or call us directly at 1-888-219-4561. Consultations are FREE for all personal injury cases.