Types of Personal Injury

Personal Injury

Personal injury is the term used to describe physical and mental injuries that occur because of someone else's negligence, intentional actions, or strict liability.

Negligence

Negligence means the other party failed to act with reasonable care. For example, imagine you are in your car stopped at a red light when another driver rear ends you because he or she isn't paying attention. If you suffer physical injuries in the crash, those could be personal injury due to negligence. (Any damage to your car is property damage, not personal injury, because the car is an object, not a person.)

Intentional Harm

Intentional harm means the other person set out to hurt you. This includes cases of battery, assault, and false imprisonment.

Strict Liability

Strict liability means that anyone involved in the production, distribution, or sale of a defective product can be held responsible if the product injures someone.

Types of Personal Injuries

There are several common types of personal injuries:

Auto accidents

Motorcycle accidents

Boating accidents

Trucking accidents

Railroad accidents

Slip-and-fall accidents

Medical and dental accidents

Sexual abuse

Dog bites

Injuries that occur because products malfunction or fail

Work-related accidents

Wrongful death

Most personal injuries fall into the category of law known as torts. Torts are a type of civil, not criminal, law. It is a way to hold someone else legally responsible for your injuries.

Negligence

Most personal injury cases involve negligence. To have a valid case, your personal injury attorney must be able to show that your injury was caused by the negligence of another party. To prove negligence, your injury lawyer must prove four separate things:

Duty of care: The negligent party had an obligation to act prudently to avoid injuring the other party

Breach of duty: The negligent party knowingly exposed the injured party to a substantial risk of injury or didn't even realize (but should have) that there was a substantial risk

Direct cause: The negligent party's deliberate acts, or lack of action, caused the injury

Harm: The injured party suffered a financial loss because of the negligent party's negligence (a medical bill, for example, would be a monetary loss)

Additionally, damages are designed to compensate someone for their injury.

Florida HB 87/ SB 1666 Shifts Burden from Banks to Homeowners!

            A bill recently passed by the Florida Legislature aims to shift the burden of proof in foreclosure cases from the Plaintiff, who is typically a Bank or Trust, to the homeowner. If the bill becomes law, a homeowner in a foreclosure case will have the burden to prove why the Plaintiff does not have the right to foreclose on their home, and—here’s the kicker—the homeowner must do this within 20 to 45 days of the date when they are served with the Summons and Complaint of Foreclosure. Upon filing, the Plaintiff can request an order to show cause. Thereafter, the judge reviews the foreclosure file, in chambers and without a hearing, and then issues an Order directing the homeowner to show cause why a final judgment should not be entered against them. The date of the hearing on the order to show cause cannot be sooner than twenty (20) days after service of the order or forty-five (45) days after service of the initial Complaint. That leaves little time for a homeowner to gather any type if evidence as the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure gives a party thirty (30) days to answer discovery requests. This truncated timeline gives the Plaintiff in a foreclosure case a huge advantage as it is speeds up the process without giving a homeowner adequate time to form a defense. A homeowner would need an attorney the day they are served with the foreclosure lawsuit to enable them to form a proper defense. Most homeowners are stressed and scared as it is with falling behind on payments, now they will have to obtain an attorney as soon as possible to even have a slight chance of not having a foreclosure judgment filed against them.

            As Florida remains to be the number one state in the country for foreclosure activity, the bill was enacted to speed up the foreclosure process and elevate the backlog of foreclosures cases in the Florida court system. But should it come at the cost of homeowners rights? There was an astronomical amount of fraud that came to light earlier in the foreclosure tornado, so much so that foreclosures were put on hold while it was taken care of, and now it seems like it will be even easier to allow the fraud to commence and continue as homeowners will not be afforded enough time to prove any wrongdoings by the Plaintiff if this bill becomes law. The only thing standing in the way of the bill becoming law is a veto by Governor Rick Scott, let’s hope he makes the right decision.

            Here at K/S Attorneys at Law we fight to defend your rights. Now more than ever homeowners must be proactive if they intend on keeping their home. Call us today for your no obligation free consultation, we offer affordable flat fees and actively fight to defend your rights.