Brain Injuries And Florida Negligence Law

Most people tend to labor under the misapprehension that brain injuries only occur after severe violence, or that they only happen to the elderly. Neither is true, and if the average person is not careful, they run the risk of sustaining their own traumatic brain injury. However, if such an injury happens because of someone else’s negligence, there is a good chance that they may be able to receive compensation.

How To Prove Negligence

Negligence is a legal theory that dates back to English common law, which is the foundation on which the U.S. legal system was built. It makes sense to the average person that if someone is shown to be acting in a way that is reckless or dangerous to others, and they hurt someone, that they ought to be liable for that person’s injuries. However, it can be much more complex than that, depending on the specific facts of an individual accident, and also depending on any little modifications that a state might have in their law.

There are four major criteria that have to be proven in a negligence action: 1) the existence of a duty of care between plaintiff and defendant; 2) a breach of that duty; 3) tangible harm done to the plaintiff as a result of that breach (not necessarily physical harm, but something that will not simply go away overnight); and 4) causation – in other words, showing that the harm resulted directly from defendant’s conduct, with no other cause in between. A plaintiff in Florida cannot be barred from recovery due to their own percentage of fault being over 50 percent, unlike in other states.

Medical Advice Is Necessary

Because brain injuries can occur as a result of any significant trauma to the head, it can very often take medical expert testimony to show causation between your injuries and the defendant’s conduct. However, it is important to keep in mind that Florida law does not make it easy to retain an expert witness. Medical experts in Florida are required in many cases, to possess very specific certifications, and also to be able to attest that they have not been convicted of fraud or perjury.

Even with an expert witness to testify as to the extent of your injury, it is important that you provide all the relevant information you can. You may not recover if the fact finder (the judge or jury) does not have all the relevant information you can provide to them, like medical records or accident reports, because they may not then have enough information to show that the four criteria for negligence have been met.

Call A Winter Park Brain Injury Attorney

Sustaining a brain injury can be fundamentally life-changing, and it often requires a substantial shift in priorities to ensure quality of life can be maintained. Enlisting a knowledgeable Winter Park brain injury attorney can help make things less frightening. The experienced professionals at the Hornsby Law Group are happy to try and help you with any questions or concerns. Contact the office today to set up an initial consultation.

Resources:

leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0766/Sections/0766.102.html

www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2012/768.81