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0 6 Driving Safety Tips | Florida Personal Injury Attorney Robert Gluck
Driving Safety Tips that may have prevented many of the injury cases I have handled since 1989. I have been representing victims of traffic crashes in Florida since 1989. During that time, I have seen first hand how failing to follow basic driving tips and basic defensive driving strategies have cost the lives of innocent victims on our roadways. In this blog post, I will discuss six driving safety tips for defensive driving that, if followed, may have prevented many of the thousands of injury and death claims I have handled over the years. Driving Safety Tip #1: Pay Attention To The Cars In Front of You Most people understand that they should pay attention to the vehicle in front of them. What you should also keep in mind is that the driver of the vehicle in front of you may be distracted and not paying attention to the traffic or roadway ahead. By paying attention beyond the car in front of you to the road and traffic conditions ahead of that car, you could be prepared, even if the car in front of you is not. Driving Safety Tip #2: Manually Check Blind Spots Many accidents I have handled over the years involve lane changes where a blind spot prevents the driver from seeing along side of him or her. Many new vehicles have lane assist features and warn of a car in a blind spot. If your car does not, and even if it does, you should manually turn your head and look before lane changes. Sometimes a vehicle comes into the lane along side of you at the same time you are attempting a lane change. Clipping a vehicle during a lane change at a high rate of speed on the highway for example, causes spin outs and crashes into retainer walls and other vehicles. A quick look to the left or to the right over your shoulder could prevent many of these collisions. Driving Safety Tip #3: Be Aware and Slow Down at Intersections At intersections, don’t always assume the other vehicles will stop for you. It is a good practice to look ahead and at least take your foot off the gas as you enter, in case you need to take evasive action for other vehicles that may not be stopping as they should. If you are waiting at a light and it turns green, wait two seconds before you begin to move. Many times, you could avoid a crash by doing this when the vehicles on the cross road may be trying to “beat the light” as it changes from yellow to red. Driving Safety Tip #4: Keep Your Distance Rear end collisions are a very common cause of crashes involving injuries that I have handled over the years. Many of them could have been prevented if drivers would stay back at least one car length per every ten miles per hour. Assume that the car in front of you may make a sudden stop at any point. Traveling far enough behind to be able to come to a complete stop and avoid a crash requires time and distance. If you are one car length behind the car in front of you on a highway traveling 60 miles per hour for example, there is no way you would be able to avoid a crash if the car in front stops due to a tire blow out or even a sudden stop by a car in front of them. Driving Safety Tip #5: Wait For Traffic to Clear Before Making A Left One of the most common types of crashes I see involve cars making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic while waiting at a solid green light. Obviously, the vehicle going straight has the right of way but many times, the vehicle waiting to make a left turn misjudges the distance and speed of that oncoming vehicle. It is always best to just wait for traffic to clear completely or for a turn arrow. If it is a busy intersection and you are forced to make a left quickly due to no separate turn arrow, consider making a right turn one block ahead, another right turn and then another right turn. This should take you where you want to go safely. Driving Safety Tip #6: Put Your Phone Down Finally, we all know the biggest safety tip for drivers is to remind them to put the cell phone down. Texting and even involved telephone conversations can be very distracting. Loud music that prevents you from hearing the sounds of the roadway, such as horns honking, etc. should be avoided. Certainly, you should never drive with iPods in your ears. Distractions within the vehicle from other passengers should also be avoided. WHAT TO DO AFTER AN AUTO ACCIDENT Check for anyone injured and call 911; Take a photograph on your cell phone of the other driver’s identification; Take a photograph of the rear of their vehicle with the tag number as well as the sides if a commercial vehicle with writing on it; Take a photograph of all property damage to all vehicles at the scene as well as any tire marks or debris on the roadway; Take names, addresses, phone numbers, emails from any witnesses; Diagram or take photos of the location/intersection of the crash; Do not discuss the details of the accident with the other driver or accept blame for the accident; Seek medical attention right away if injured; Call an attorney to represent you before you begin talking with insurance adjusters. In conclusion, these are some of the driving tips I have found to be most helpful and ones which, if followed may just keep you alive one day. If you or someone you love has suffered injuries in a Florida accident, contact the Law Offices of Robert Gluck. We handle various Florida personal injury claims such as those arising from motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, slip and falls, product liability, and wrongful death. Robert Gluck has been handling these cases since the early 1990s and will be happy to discuss your case with you. Just call him at 877-GluckLaw or email him at [email protected]
0 Bicycle Safety Tips | Florida Bicycle Accident Attorney
Bicycle Safety Tips If you are a cyclist in Florida, then access to bicycle safety tips and information is critical. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, Florida roadways result in over 50% more deaths than the next closest state. They report that in 2020, there were 5,935 bicycle crashes. This is down from 2019, which had 6,665 reported cycling crashes. There were also 161 fatalities in 2020, and 157 in 2019. This is surprising, considering the use of bicycles has significantly risen in Florida during the Covid-19 pandemic. Florida Bicycle Injury Statistics: It is no surprise why Florida is notorious for being a dangerous state for cycling. See below bicycle accident statistics for the last 3 years. 2020: There were 5,935 reported bicycle crashes, 5,568 injuries from bicycles, and 161 fatalities. 2019: There were 6,665 reported bicycle crashes, 6,229 injuries from bicycles, and 157 fatalities. 2018: There were 6,590 reported bicycle crashes, 6,183 injuries from bicycles, and 160 fatalities. Sharing the road with motor vehicles makes cyclists in Florida much more vulnerable than those using other modes of transportation. With some basic knowledge and information on bicycle safety, you can proactively avoid being a statistic. My Top Bicycle Safety Tips Include: Obey The Laws: In Florida, bicycles are legally defined as vehicles and bicyclists are considered drivers. A bicyclist has the same rights to the roadways as motor vehicles and must obey the same traffic laws. Those laws include requiring Florida bicyclists to wear a helmet if under the age of 16, lighting equipment when riding at night and working brakes. A bicyclist can be charged with a moving violation for running stop signs or a signal or riding on the wrong side of the road – against traffic. Following these laws will not only keep you legal, they will keep you alive. Visibility: Wearing some type of light reflector is required by law and having more than one is just common sense. Many drivers are distracted and you want to do everything possible to make sure they can see you. That would include red bicycle lights that flash in back, and white lights in front. Wear bright colored clothing and try to ride on well-lit bicycle routes. Maintenance: Before each ride, check your bicycle to be sure it is in working order. If your brakes fail while riding in traffic or around others, where a sudden stop becomes necessary, that could cause serious injury or death. You have a duty to maintain your bicycle in a reasonably safe condition and to avoid any risk of harm to others caused by your failure to do so. Wear A Helmet: As mentioned above, if under the age of 16 in Florida, a helmet is mandatory, but for the rest of us it is very necessary as well. The law may not require it, but again, common sense does. If you become ejected from a bicycle for whatever reason, striking your head on the ground becomes likely. Head injuries can be avoided by following this simple safety tip whenever you get on a bicycle. Distractions: Be aware of your surroundings. Don’t wear headphones or earbuds because they will prevent you from hearing possible alerts, car horns, etc. Pay attention to your surroundings and always assume that a vehicle driver does not see you before you make a move. Parked cars always pose a risk as well if a car door opens in your path. Finally, don’t ride impaired. Following these basic bicycle safety tips just might keep you alive. If you have any questions about bicycle accidents or injuries caused by bicycle accidents, contact my law firm at (877) Gluck-Law and schedule your free consultation any time.
0 Florida Bill Watch | House Bill 273, House Bill 719 and Senate bill 420
The Florida Legislature is in action and several bills are up for consideration this year that may significantly affect the rights of personal injury victims. The bills that I would like to discuss are House Bill 273, House Bill 719 and Senate Bill 420. Together, the effect of these bills is to fundamentally change the way automobile collision cases are handled in Florida. These bills seek to remove Florida’s No-Fault or P.I.P. (personal injury protection) laws that require all parties injured in an accident in Florida to be responsible for the first $10,000.00 of their own medical bills, no matter who’s fault an accident is. These bills currently being debated in the Florida legislature seek to replace that system with a “fault” system where the party that is at fault for a traffic crash, not the injured party, would be responsible for carrying mandatory bodily injury insurance coverage to pay for injuries caused to another party. This “re-write” of our automobile accident laws will be the first major change since the early 1980’s and some say is long overdue. The insurance industry would argue that chiropractors, MRI companies and other medical practitioners take advantage of the current no-fault system, billing for excess services that are not necessary or for over-billing for services that are. Either way, they would argue the current system is rampant with fraud and a change is necessary. On the other side, the medical providers would argue that the system should remain as it is so that medical treatment could be guaranteed for anyone injured in an automobile accident, no mater who is at fault. If the changes are made to the current system, as sought in these bills up for consideration by the Florida legislature, it will be even more important to have the right personal injury lawyer representing you if you are injured in a car accident in Florida. Under this new system, if it happens, your lawyer will have to prove it is the other party’s fault or NONE of your medical bills will be paid. If this “fault” system will work, it will be necessary for each driver to be required to carry at least $25,000.00 of coverage for injuries they may cause to others. Even this may not be enough. You will then need to consider adding uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy to pay for your injuries that may be above and beyond the coverage available to the party that was responsible for your injuries. With the escalation of medical bills, with an MRI or CT Scan in a hospital costing over $5,000.00 in some situations, it is critically important to require all drivers and owners to carry enough coverage to pay those whom they harm. If the legislature does not make the minimum required bodily injury limits high enough, millions of Floridians will be left unprotected from car accident medical bills. Please check your uninsured motorist coverage before the legislature acts and make sure you have enough to cover a hefty hospital bill and possible future loss of earnings or ongoing medical expenses. If you have questions about Florida’s current No-Fault system or the ramifications of a switch to a “fault” based system for car accident cases in Florida, feel free to contact me with your questions or concerns and I will respond on social media to share your question and my response with others. Also, I am offering a free review of your auto insurance policy to all Florida residents. If you think you might have a case that we can help you win, please call me today for a FREE consultation: 954-583-8999 in Broward, 239 403-3728 in Naples and throughout the state of Florida at 877-GluckLaw.
0 The Law Offices of Robert E. Gluck Announce That Its A+ Rating and Accreditation With The BBB Has Been Renewed For Another Year
03/28/2021 It is with great pride that the Law Offices of Robert E. Gluck, P.A. announces that its A+ rating and accreditation with the Better Business Bureau for Southeast Florida and the Caribbean has been renewed for another year, through February 2022. Each year, all members requesting renewal of their business’s accreditation with the Better Business Bureau undergo a complete re-evaluation to ensure that their strict standards of lawful business practices, ethical advertising and positive customer experiences are continuing to be met by the company seeking such accreditation. The Law Offices of Robert E. Gluck, P.A. is honored and humbled to be approved for this continued prestigious affiliation and pledges to all potential clients our law firm’s ongoing efforts to provide the finest legal representation possible for your situation. Robert Gluck is a Personal Injury lawyer serving the state of Florida. He graduated from the University of Miami Law School (cum laude) in 1989, and has been a practicing trial lawyer ever since. The Law Offices of Robert Gluck has locations in Plantation and Naples, FL, and is accepting cases throughout the state. If you would like to discuss your personal injury case with Robert Gluck, call 877-Gluck-Law.
0 3 Secrets Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know
3 Secrets Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know There are three secrets I have discovered during my 32 years of practicing law that insurance companies don’t want you to know about your personal injury case. 03/26/2021 First Secret Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know: First, whether it is Allstate, State Farm, Geico, Progressive, U.S.A.A., Nationwide or any of the other large insurance companies that are likely going to be on the other side of many car accident cases or homeowner’s insurance claims involving injuries, or other premises liability claims, they have what I would call a team of “nice adjusters” who are specifically assigned to communicate with anyone bringing a claim that is NOT represented by a lawyer yet. Once a lawyer is in the picture, the file is usually transferred immediately to the “regular” adjusters that deal with lawyers in handling most personal injury claims. This group of “nice adjusters” have as their main goal to prevent you from feeling as if you need to go out and hire a lawyer. They want you to believe that they are going to help you to get the most fair settlement possible and that the more you cooperate with them the better off you are. They will usually assure you that they will be fair with you, and that you don’t need to hire an attorney. The fact is, most studies show that unrepresented injured parties receive significantly lower settlements than injured parties that have hired a lawyer to represent them. The lawyer will know the full value of your claim, based on the legal damages allowable under the law applicable to the location where your injury occurred. Insurance companies know that a lawyer who documents the claim properly and makes the correct legal arguments to the insurance company on your behalf will almost always get you a better result than you would be able to get on your own. Second Secret Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know: The second secret Insurance Companies don’t want you to know is that you don’t have to, and in most cases should NOT settle your case right away. Many of the elements of damages in a personal injury case are not known at the beginning and until someone recovers fully from their injuries. This may take months or longer, and therefore it is impossible to know the full value of the case right away. Most automobile or slip and fall cases in Florida carry a 4-year statute of limitations. That means you have plenty of time to make sure you are aware of all your damages and if and when you will recover fully from your injuries before you settle your case. Once you sign a release, upon settlement, it is too late at that point to come back and recover more, even if the injuries get worse. Let the lawyer decide when it is time to settle. Third Secret Insurance Companies Don’t Want You To Know The third and final secret Insurance Companies don’t want you to know is that a good lawyer does make a difference. Once you are finished treating with your doctors and your lawyer presents an injury demand package to an insurance company in an attempt to settle your case without a lawsuit being filed, the more organized, thorough and well documented your demand package is, and the more knowledgeable your attorney is, the more likely the initial settlement offer will be higher. Ultimately this will likely result in more money in your pocket at the end of the case. Before you go it alone, think about what a personal injury lawyer could do to significantly increase the value of your case. The insurance companies already know this and that is why the hope you never hire a lawyer. Be safe and be smart. I hope you enjoyed this blog post which discusses 3 secrets insurance adjusters don't want you to know. You can find other informative blog posts by clicking here. If you or someone you love has suffered injuries in a Florida accident, contact the Law Offices of Robert Gluck. We handle various Florida personal injury claims such as those arising from motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, slip and falls, product liability, and wrongful death. Robert Gluck has been handling these cases since the early 1990s and will be happy to discuss your case with you. Just call him at 877-GluckLaw or email him at [email protected]
0 How to Prove the Seriousness of an Injury in a Personal Injury Case | Personal Injury Herniated Disc
How to Prove the Seriousness of an Injury in a Personal Injury Case | Personal Injury Herniated Disc As a personal injury lawyer in Florida since 1989, many clients have asked me over the years how I go about proving the seriousness of an injury in a typical automobile accident or slip and fall injury claim. A common injury in these types of personal injury cases involves a herniated disc in the neck, mid-back or lower back area of the spine. Many times, an insurance adjuster for the large insurance companies, Allstate, Geico, State Farm, Farmers, Nationwide and U.S.A.A., just to name a few that I deal with regularly, will try to downplay a spinal injury as just being “whiplash” or a “soft tissue” injury only and therefore, nothing serious. Your lawyer needs to be well versed in the tools that can be used to persuade an insurance adjuster of the seriousness of your injuries, thus increasing significantly the value of your case. One of these tools is the use of diagnostic testing to objectively prove an injury. That way, an insurance adjuster does not have to rely solely on the truthfulness of the injured person but instead can see, if presented properly by the lawyer, how the objective diagnostic testing corroborates the patient’s subjective complaints of pain. When the science matches up perfectly with the complaints of the injured party, it is like two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together. A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine is basically a group of large powerful magnets, radio waves and a computer that create images by evaluating, slice by slice, how much light passes through your body one thin layer at a time. The image created from this technology is much more reliable and in depth than a regular x-ray. A regular x-ray, by the way, is the typical diagnostic test performed in an emergency room after a crash or injury. The x-ray shows broken bones but cannot diagnose things such as disc injuries and other injuries to the spine. One of the things that we look for on an MRI, as a typical result of many collisions or falls, is the effect on these discs that make up the space between the vertebra in your spine. They are in your body to act as a “shock absorber” between the bones and on heavy impact they sometimes rupture, causing the material inside the disc to migrate to the adjoining tissues and nerves. When this extruded disc material touches or impinges upon the nerves in the spine, it could cause numbness, tingling or pain in the area of the rupture as well as possibly radiating into the extremities. Typically, if a disc is ruptured, also known as a herniated disc, it would cause symptoms following a particular nerve distribution pattern. As a lawyer, if I can “put the pieces of the puzzle” together for the insurance adjuster, I make their job easier and it results in the client obtaining a larger settlement. If I can show that the complaints are consistent with the same nerve distribution pattern as would be expected from a disc that herniates in a particular level of the spine, correlate that with the other medical testing, along with evidence of the extent of the impact on the vehicle, these are the pieces of the puzzle necessary to show an insurance adjuster why my client is entitled to a larger recovery. Using this approach, I just turned a very minimal Geico offer into a $100,000.00 settlement, by showing the adjuster how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. In conclusion, I would say, after 32 years of settling cases with insurance companies, that every case is a puzzle waiting for an experienced lawyer to put the pieces together. If you have any questions about your situation or how to prove the seriousness of an injury in a personal injury case, call me any time to discuss it. I look forward to speaking with you. If you need immediate assistance from a lawyer that you can reach 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, call the Law Office of Robert E Gluck, P.A. right now. All of Robert’s clients receive his cell phone number so that they can reach him when they need him. Call or Contact our office with any questions you may have now at 954.583.8999. I am currently accepting cases throughout the State of Florida. Contact the South Florida law offices of personal injury attorney Robert Gluck by calling toll-free at 1-877-GLUCK-LAW or you can email me directly at [email protected] Serving Broward, West Palm Beach, Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Fort Myers/ Naples. There is no fee unless you win.
0 Why you should only let your lawyer speak to the Insurance Adjuster
Why you should only let your lawyer speak to the Insurance Adjuster Often Insurance Adjusters attempt to discover any information that may show that your claim should be denied or that it should be worth less than what you are expecting. As a practicing trial lawyer in South Florida over the past 32 years, I have spoken with thousands of insurance adjusters regarding automobile accident cases, slip and fall cases and various other types of injury claims. Make no mistake, their job is not just to gather information that helps prove your claim, but to also attempt to discover any information that may show that your claim should be denied or that it should be worth less than what you are hoping for or expecting. Reporting the claim on your own, without the assistance of an attorney, or providing a statement of the details of the incident to the insurance adjuster without talking to a lawyer first, could be a huge mistake and one that may cost you tens of thousands of dollars in settlement value. I offer two examples of how this could happen. One involving an automobile accident claim and another involving a slip and fall or trip and fall incident while on someone else’s property. Don’t forget, below are just two examples. These types of pitfalls await you when you present any injury claim. Navigating around them is the reason you want a lawyer by your side. As my first example, if you were in a car accident where the other driver ran the red light, many insurance adjusters will still attempt to argue that even though it was mostly their driver’s fault, that you also are a small percentage responsible for not applying your brakes sooner or turning the wheel to avoid the collision. It does not matter who received a traffic ticket because Florida law allows this type of reduction in the value of the case, even if their driver received the citation and the police report states no improper driving on your part. In this example, if an insurance adjuster labels you 25% at fault, your case value just decreased by many thousands of dollars. In a slip and fall case, if you speak to the insurance adjuster after falling on a puddle of dirty water that had been there for hours, they may ask you if you were looking down at the ground or straight ahead as you were walking towards the spill on the ground. Either answer, if not responded to correctly, with a lawyer’s advice and preparation, could result in a significant percentage of fault attributable to you, even if they admit the floor had a dirty puddle that should have been cleaned up long before you arrived there as a customer. Comparing fault among all people in an accident under Florida law is called “Comparative Fault” and if you say the wrong thing to the insurance adjuster it could cost you tens of thousands of dollars in the total value of your case. Don’t make that mistake. Hire a lawyer right away to protect your rights. If you need immediate assistance from a lawyer that you can reach 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, call the Law Office of Robert E Gluck, P.A. right now. All of Robert’s clients receive his cell phone number so that they can reach him when they need him. Call or Contact our office with any questions you may have now at 954.583.8999. I am currently accepting cases throughout the State of Florida. Contact the South Florida law offices of personal injury attorney Robert Gluck by calling toll-free at 1-877-GLUCK-LAW or you can email me directly at [email protected] Serving Broward, West Palm Beach, Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Fort Myers/ Naples. There is no fee unless you win.
0 Trial Lawyers Suing Nursing Homes for Covid-19 Deaths
After the governor denied a request from business leaders last week for blanket immunity for any claims involving people contracting COVID-19 on their property, the first wave of lawsuits has begun. The largest personal injury law firm in Florida is suing two nursing homes in Central Florida where there have been at least 34 deaths so far. Immunity would have protected any business faced with a lawsuit such as these. That would have allowed these nursing homes to get away with illegal activity, such as falsifying medical records regarding fever levels of patients and failure of the staff to wear N95 masks, causing risk of a massive outbreak. To date, 40% of Florida’s infections are in nursing homes. Are these Nursing Home Abuse lawsuits just an example of attorneys trying to profit off a crisis or are these lawsuits necessary to force the nursing home industry, and other industries, to comply with basic rules and standards designed to keep invitees safe while on their property? I would suggest the latter. As this Coronavirus crisis continues, many more such lawsuits will be filed, and many more businesses, not just nursing homes, will beg for help, claiming without protection from these lawsuits, they will go out of business. I would suggest that these lawsuits must be allowed to go forward. If a nursing home can show that it acted in good faith and attempted to comply with regulations, but an inevitable outbreak occurred anyway, then they will win their case. On the other hand, if they lied, hid evidence and failed to protect residents, nothing, other than the threat of even more lawsuits, will stop them. Operators usually own more than one facility, and even if one is shut down, they will just move the same method of operation to the next one. We need these lawsuits to protect society from the bad players in all industries, including the nursing home industry, home to our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly. In our society, personal injury lawsuits serve as the watchdog and enforcer of rules that the government is either unable or unwilling to enforce, even though they know that compliance with these rules is necessary to protect society. If you or someone you know has a claim against a nursing home, assisted living facility or any other business where injury occurred or an infectious disease was contracted, call the Law Office of Robert E. Gluck, P.A. Robert Gluck has been a civil litigation attorney for over thirty years and can assist you right away at [email protected] or 877-Gluck-law.
0 Sued for Failing to Protect You from COVID-19?
In an article published in the New York Times today, it is reported that business groups are attempting to get the Federal Government to limit all lawsuits brought by customers or employees who have claims arising out of contracting COVID-19. “Immunity” from lawsuits is traditionally limited to governmental agencies. This type of immunity is called Sovereign Immunity, and it shields all governmental agencies from lawsuits, due to their negligence, except under very limited circumstances. Furthermore, if a lawsuit against the local, state or federal government is allowed to go forward, there is a “cap” on what you can recover as damages. A blanket “immunity” from any lawsuits for all businesses in the entire country arising out of COVID-19 infections would be unfair, even though it sounds like a reasonable approach to preventing “financial ruin,” as companies begin to re-open after months of quarantine. As we all know, as the country opens back up, there are specific rules and regulations that businesses will be required to follow, such as maintaining social distancing, requiring limited occupancy, providing guests and employees PPE’s (personal protective equipment), cleaning and decontamination practices and procedures, etc. These practices will cost businesses money to comply. Some of them, such as restaurants, won’t even be able to comply with the severe social distancing requirements imposed on them, and many experts predict two out of every three restaurants in this country will not survive. In an effort to save our economy from a depression, we must resist the urge to give away some of the protections we all need for a civil society. All of the safety protocols we talk about businesses being mandated to comply with, such as those mentioned above, are meaningless without any real enforcement. In our society, if the government fails to act fast enough to protect people, private lawsuits will usually step in and impose a financial punishment on business for noncompliance. That is why a company that makes a dangerous product that kills someone, for example, won’t continue to make that dangerous product anymore, if they are hit with a huge wrongful death lawsuit by the family of the person killed due to the product defect. Traditionally, the threat of a lawsuit in America has kept big business in check and has forced them to comply with burdensome regulations. If a restaurant knows it can ignore the social distancing requirements because the government really cannot do much more than impose a small fine, or if a retail store fails to provide its employees masks and gloves when dealing with the public because they are expensive and difficult to find, then we are destined to have a significant increase in the infection rate. As a society, we expect the “rules of the road” to be followed by all businesses, but if they fail to do so and someone gets infected, or dies, shouldn’t the business be held accountable in some way for failing to comply with mandated safety precautions? If not, and without any enforceable rules, where are we as a society? I would suggest that before we rush to eliminate any responsibility of a business owner to protect its customers and employees, we need to consider striking a balance. That balance, I would suggest, would be to allow a lawsuit against a company to proceed for violations of mandated safety precautions if a Plaintiff can show unreasonable exposure. The Plaintiff would have the burden of proving that proper safety measures were not being followed and that this failure caused the person to contract the coronavirus. The basic legal requirement of “causation” would limit most lawsuits against a company anyway, even without the need for a blanket “immunity,” because in most cases it will be extremely difficult for a Plaintiff to prove where he or she contracted the coronavirus. Robert Gluck is a trial lawyer practicing for the past 32 years in South Florida, with offices in Naples, Florida and Plantation, Florida, specializing in Personal Injury Litigation, including premises liability claims against businesses whose negligence causes injury to others. If you have any questions regarding premises liability claims against a business or any other personal injury matter, just contact Mr. Gluck by visiting his website at www.robertgluck.com or emailing him right away at [email protected]
0 Jury Awards $1.2 Million to Woman Diagnosed Years After Car Crash
Attorney Robert Gluck. The hard part for Plantation attorney Robert E. Gluck was getting the jury to believe. When he entered the courtroom, Gluck had to sell a difficult premise: A case teetering on his ability to convince the jury that his client's hip and ankle injuries, which went undiagnosed for years despite medical treatment, were the result of an old traffic collision on Interstate 95. Gluck didn't expect an easy day in court. Opposing counsel was more confident. Its strategy turned on disputing causation and introducing multiple other explanations for the injuries in the years since the accident. Its best settlement offer was $100,000 — not nearly enough to cover years of medical expenses. "I'm glad they forced me to go to the trial," Gluck said. "We were willing to settle for $250,000 right before trial started." As it turned out, a Miami jury sided with Gluck and awarded his client $1.2 million. Gluck represented Sasha Madrigal, who was involved in a highway crash in February 2012 with Mitchell's Lawn Maintenance employee Jose Ernesto Mendoza. Madrigal claimed she was driving southbound in the express lane on Interstate 95 when Mendoza crashed into the car in front of him. The impact caused Mendoza's 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck to careen past the plastic barriers dividing the main lanes from the express lanes, causing a collision with Madrigal's 1999 Honda CRV, according to the complaint. "That's everyone's worst nightmare, driving along in the express lanes and someone comes right over the barriers in front of you," Gluck said. Doctors initially diagnosed herniated disks in Madrigal's lower back — a common injury after the violent impact of a traffic collision. For years, they assumed a connection between the back injury and hip and foot pain Madrigal suffered until a magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed a ruptured tendon in her ankle and a hip labral tear. Madrigal medical bills mounted, passing $200,000 after two corrective surgeries. In court, defense attorney Lynn Bagley-Nader, Miami staff counsel for insurer Travelers, rebutted with arguments that Madrigal had suffered injuries unrelated to the crash in the years that followed the accident. For instance, Bagley-Nader argued Madrigal had reinjured her left ankle at the gym and needed a second ankle surgery. At trial, Gluck argued his client had no prior complaints of back, hip or ankle pain before the accident and the injuries were the direct result of the crash, despite the delayed diagnosis. He believes a sympathetic plaintiff helped him clinch the victory. Madrigal, a young mother of two, had a 3-year-old and a newborn at the time of the accident. On the day of the crash, she was headed to pick up her son from day care after registering for college classes. In the time it took the case to get to trial before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jose M. Rodriguez, her attorney said Madrigal juggled child care, college, three major surgeries and dozens of trigger-point injections as part of a pain-management regimen. The jury awarded $255,000 for past medical expense, $370,000 for future expenses and $575,000 for past and future pain and suffering, disability or physical impairment, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience, aggravation of a disease or physical defect, or loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life. "It's so hard to get money from a jury these days, but when a client is working so hard to overcome her injuries, juries sometimes notice," Gluck said. "The jury saw it all. She kept going to school and trying to better herself for her kids. This client deserved this verdict … because of how hard she worked to overcome all the hardships." Original post Samantha Joseph, Daily Business ReviewSeptember 25, 2017