FAQ

No. The two-year deadline for most Florida negligence lawsuits keeps running while you negotiate with an insurer. If the deadline is close, your attorney may file suit to protect your claim.

No. Most are resolved through an insurance claim, and many lawsuits settle before trial. Filing suit can still be the step that gets a fair offer.

Yes. A lawsuit usually follows a claim that did not produce a fair result. The lawsuit is built on the same underlying claim.

You can bring a claim against the at-fault driver for losses PIP does not cover, but to recover pain and suffering your injury generally has to meet Florida’s serious injury threshold.

A driver running a red light and hitting another car. A reasonable driver obeys traffic signals, so running the light is a breach of the driver’s duty of care.

In a trial, the jury decides whether the defendant acted as a reasonable person would have. In most cases, the question is argued during settlement negotiations first.

In Florida, yes, if you are 50% or less at fault. Your compensation is reduced by your share of fault.

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 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.

Es importante que centre su energía en recuperarse y volver a ponerse en pie. No puede hacerlo si está preocupado por su caso de lesiones personales. Ahí es donde entra nuestro despacho de abogados. Permítanos poner a su servicio nuestro profundo conocimiento de la ley de lesiones personales y nuestra amplia experiencia en el manejo de asuntos complejos como el suyo.

Nos encargaremos de todos los aspectos de su caso desde el principio hasta el final. Las líneas de comunicación estarán siempre abiertas: queremos que sepa que su historia está siendo contada y que las cosas están progresando sin problemas. Estaremos allí para ayudarlo a tomar las grandes decisiones a lo largo del camino. Al mismo tiempo, tendrá la tranquilidad que necesita para concentrarse realmente en mejorar.

Hay muchos abogados de lesiones personales cerca de usted. Hay un despacho al que las compañías de seguros no quieren que llame: Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers ¿Por qué? Tenemos una experiencia que simplemente no puede ser igualada. 

Los ajustadores saben que no hay ninguna ventaja cuando nuestros hábiles abogados están al otro lado de la mesa de negociación. Y saben que no dudaremos en presentar una demanda y llevar el caso a juicio si las ofertas de acuerdo son algo menos que las mejores.

Nuestros abogados trabajan en contingencia, lo que significa que sólo nos pagan si ganamos su caso. Así es: cuando representamos a nuestros clientes, estamos tan seguros de que ganaremos que estamos dispuestos a asumir todo el riesgo de litigar el caso. Cuando negociamos un acuerdo o ganamos un veredicto en el juicio, nuestro equipo simplemente recupera un porcentaje de la compensación económica. Es sencillo, y significa que no hay riesgo alguno en solicitar nuestra ayuda. 

Después de 66 años en el negocio, hemos visto cuánta influencia pueden tener los expertos y especialistas en un caso de lesiones personales. Por eso las compañías de seguros no escatiman en gastos cuando se trata de que los expertos pesen y ofrezcan su asesoramiento profesional.

Las víctimas de accidentes no suelen tener los recursos ni las conexiones para nivelar el terreno de juego. Afortunadamente, nuestro despacho de abogados sí los tiene. Llevamos décadas cultivando relaciones con los principales expertos de la zona de la Bahía de Tampa, y tenemos los recursos necesarios para traerlos cuando es necesario.

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.

At Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes, P.A., our personal injury lawyers have successfully obtained more than $675 million (and counting) on behalf of our clients. We’re able to get top results for our clients consistently – and we’ll put our tried-and-true strategies to work to help you get every last dollar to which you’re entitled.

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.

For accidents on or after March 24, 2023, you generally have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit in Florida. Accidents on or before March 23, 2023 fall under the old four-year limit. 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. The Florida statute of limitations changed with HB 837.

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 fight you every step of the way.
• You suffered damages as a result.

We have been representing plaintiffs in negligence cases for more than 70 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
• 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.

See how lawyers get paid if they lose a case.