Tampa Personal Injury Attorneys

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Tampa is a busy place, filled with plenty to do and see for both visitors and residents alike. Unfortunately, it’s also a place where a lot of injuries happen. Whether you were injured in a car accident on I-275, you suffered an injury on a ride at Busch Gardens, or you slipped and fell at a business establishment in downtown St. Petersburg, if your accident resulted from someone else’s careless or reckless behavior, you can seek compensation through a personal injury lawsuit.

The experienced Tampa personal injury attorneys at Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys are ready to help you with your claim. We can determine liability for your accident, establish the value of your case, collect and organize evidence and witness testimony, file your lawsuit by the statutory deadline, and more.

At the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys, we have  served injured individuals in Tampa for many years now and secured many successful settlements and verdicts, including:

• A $36.7 million verdict for the family of a child who suffered catastrophic injuries because of medical malpractice.
• A $2.6 million award for the mother and 16-year-old daughter of a 46-year-old woman who died of negligence while she was recovering in a nursing and rehabilitation facility from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident.
• A $1.65 million award for a man who sustained a leg amputation because he fell off an inner tube and was waiting in the water for his party to come back for him when another boat struck him.

Our Practice Areas

How Much Do Personal Injury Attorneys Cost?

Why File an Injury Lawsuit?

Florida has thousands of laws, rules and regulations designed to protect you and your family from negligent injury. For example, a motor vehicle is very dangerous instrumentality unless basic traffic laws are followed. Thus, a distracted driver may be negligent if he or she collides with your vehicle when operating a cell phone or rear-ends you while you are stopped at a traffic light. Medical treatment can become extremely dangerous when health care providers deviate from the acceptable standard of care. Thus, a hospital and its staff may be found negligent for failing to recognize the signs and symptoms of a stroke resulting in a patient’s permanent injury or wrongful death. Legal action protects the entire community against negligent rule breakers.

Filing a lawsuit certainly may not be your first-priority following an injury, however evidence and witnesses can quickly disappear.   As such, it is important you consult with an experienced personal attorney without unnecessary delay to allow that person adequate time to complete a thorough investigation and protect your legal rights.   Below is a list of the damages you may be intitled to recover in a personal injury action:

• Past and future medical expense, including any prescribed medication, therapy and surgery
• Past lost wages
• Loss of future lost earning capacity
• Pain, suffering and mental anguish
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of companionship, comfort, affection of a loved one
• Any funeral expenses, loss of support, services and loss of earnings and net accumulations in a wrongful death action

While a personal injury lawsuit cannot bring back a loved one or heal an injury, it can provide the necessary lost economic resources for a family during difficult times following an accident.

Cases Our Attorneys Handle

Our Tampa attorneys concentrate on the following types of personal injury cases:

• Car Accidents
• Medical Malpractice
• Nursing Home Abuse
• Slip and Fall Injury
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Truck Accidents 
• Insurance Claims
• Drunk Driving Accidents
• Amputations
• Burn Injuries
• Negligent Security
• Product Liability 
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Boating accidents
• Premises liability 
• Child injuries
• Catastrophic injuries
• Back Injury

We also handle personal injury cases involving:

Pressure Sores or Bedsores: Pressure sores, often called bedsore injuries and decubitus ulcer, are caused by unrelieved pressure which results in damage to underlying tissue on a patient’s body. Pressure sore usually develop over bony areas like the tailbone, coccyx and heels and are staged from 1 to 4 to describe the extent of underlying tissue damage. Pressure ulcers are typically very painful injuries which if not treated properly can become infected and lead to septic death. Patients injured as a result may be able to file a claim for compensation with the help of an experienced attorney in Tampa.

Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries:  Brain and spinal cord injuries can have a significant impact on an injured victim’s quality of life and economic future. Our attorneys understand terrible challenges these client’s face and seek to recover all associated economic damages including the cost of current and future medical care, loss of earning capacity and the loss of enjoyment of one’s life. In traumatic brain injury cases, it is particularly critical your hire an attorney who has litigated these claims and has significant experience in the field.

Wrongful Death: When a person dies wrongfully in the Tampa as a result of negligence or carelessness of another, the surviving spouse, children and other family members may be able to be entitled to recover compensation for the loss. These include medical expenses and funeral bills, loss of support, loss of household services and the loss of companionship. Wrongful death actions are often filed against negligent drivers, health care providers and corporations, including hospitals, nursing homes and other large businesses.

Dog Bites: Under Florida law, pet and animal owners can be held strictly liable if their animal or dog bites or injuries another person in a public place or on private property in Tampa (provided the victim was not trespassing on the property at the time the bite occurred). The animal owner can be held liable even if the victim was partially to blame. In these types of lawsuits, injured victims can recover past medical expenses, past lost wages and frequently past and any future necessary plastic surgery.

What is the Statute of Limitations?

The laws which set forth the limitations of time in which you must file a personal injury lawsuit are known as statutes of limitations.  When you are injured, your right to recover money damages can be lost if you fail to bring the claim within the required time frame of the statute, regardless of merit.  In Florida, the statutes of limitations for general negligence actions, such as car accidents and slip and fall claims, medical malpractice and wrongful death cases are outlined in Florida Statute Section 95.11.

At the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys, our Tampa attorneys have years of experience in calculating these often confusing and detailed statutory deadlines.  Once retained, our lawyers and legal team will investigate your claim quickly and review all the facts to determine the appropriate statute of limitations applicable in your case.  If you or a love one has been injured due to the negligence of another person, business or organization, it is important you contact our Tampa law firm quickly to allow our attorneys adequate time to investigate your claim and protect your legal rights.

What do the clients of the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys have to say about the services you provide?

We have obtained many positive references from past clients.

They’ve made many positive statements regarding the legal services that the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys provided them, such as:

• “Contacting the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys was the wisest choice I made. They navigated me through the process from beginning to end. The outcome was positive and painless.”
• “Since this was our first accident we were lost when it came to knowing the process involving medical treatment, car rental, and other aspects with dealing with the insurance company. Tony Price was very helpful and courteous in explaining everything to us. I have referred other accident victims to The Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys and will continue to do so.”
• “I have worked with and had Frank and his staff help me on several different occasions. Each time it has been an excellent experience. The attorneys and the entire firm are the best in my opinion and give clients their complete attention which results in the best legal representation you could hope for.”

What type of cases does the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys handle?

We have experience with:

• Motor vehicle accidents, including crashes involving passenger cars, taxis, rideshares, commercial trucks, motorcycles, buses, trains, aircraft, watercraft, pedestrians, or bicyclists. Motor vehicle accidents result in the deaths of more than 36,000 people a year in the U.S., including more than 3,000 fatalities a year in Florida and serious injuries to many thousands more. The most common factors that lead to motor vehicle accidents include speeding, impairment by drugs or alcohol, failure to maintain a single lane of travel, and failure to yield the right-of-way.
• Traumatic brain injury cases. The brain is one of the body’s most important organs, controlling the voluntary and involuntary responses of other parts of the body. However, despite its importance, the brain only has a limited ability to heal from injury, which often results in permanent deficits, such as memory loss, inability to control behavior and emotions, and the inability to speak or to understand spoken communication. The most common causes of traumatic brain injuries include falls, motor vehicle accidents, and violence.
• Medical malpractice. Medical malpractice is an error made by a physician, dentist, nurse, or other health care provider because of a failure to uphold the standard of care. The standard of care is the actions that a reasonably prudent health care provider would have taken in similar circumstances. Common types of medical malpractice claims include misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis, prescription errors, birth injuries, surgical errors, failure to provide adequate follow-up care, premature discharge from the hospital, and failure to disclose the risks of a procedure.
• Nursing home negligence. Federal and state laws require Tampa nursing home facilities to provide adequate medical care to elderly residents, meet their basic living needs, and maintain their quality of life. However, nursing homes fail to hire sufficient staff or ensure that the staff they hire is qualified to handle the job. Nursing home negligence includes abuse by staff or a failure to protect the resident from abuse by others; neglect of medical care, hygiene, or nutritional needs; failure to follow the resident’s care plan; the development of new bed sores or the worsening of existing bedsores, and more. If staff conduct in a nursing home injured your loved one, contact us for answers to your legal questions.
• Premises liability. The owners of private or commercial property in Florida, as well as the agencies that manage public property, must remove hazards on the property that could injure guests. The most common type of premises liability claim is a slip and fall, which occurs when a guest trips over slippery or damaged flooring or an obstacle in the walkway and becomes injured. Other types of premises liability claims include swimming pool accidents, elevator or escalator injuries, fires, and failure to provide adequate security against criminal activity that the property owner knew there was a risk of.
• Wrongful death. Florida’s Wrongful Death Act allows for the recovery of damages by family members when an individual dies through a civil claim by the representative of the deceased’s estate. Family members who are eligible to benefit from this type of claim include the deceased’s spouse, children, parents, and other family members who are wholly or partially dependent on the deceased for support and services. A wrongful death claim can recover medical expenses for the treatment of the deceased’s final injury; loss of companionship, support, guidance, and care that the deceased provided to his or her family members; loss of wages, benefits, and prospective net accumulations to the estate; and funeral and burial expenses.

Which is better: receiving a settlement or winning an award at trial?

The best outcome to a personal injury claim is for the injured person to receive fair compensation for the impacts and expenses incurred because of the injury, regardless of whether that compensation is obtained through the settlement process or by court award. Most personal injury claims begin with settlement negotiations, and the vast majority of cases resolve outside of the courtroom.

Litigation is expensive and time-consuming, but when the at-fault party’s insurance company will not offer a settlement that fairly reflects the financial and emotional impacts of the injury, the experienced lawyers at the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys are as comfortable and confident pursuing compensation through litigation as they are with settlement negotiations.

Has your firm obtained any special awards or recognition?

Yes! Attorney Jennifer Gentry Fernandez has been earning recognition since she was in law school at Stetson University’s College of Law, where she was a member of the school’s award-winning trial team. Since then, she has been an active member of her local, state, and national bar and trial associations. She was named to the National Register’s “Who’s Who Among Business and Professional Achievers.”

She was also recognized by her peers multiple times with a Top Attorney designation from Tampa Bay Magazine.

Attorney Frank Fernandez is also an active member of local, state, and national bar and trial associations. He was recognized by his professional peers as one of Florida Trend Magazine’s Legal Elite.

How much is the average settlement in a Tampa personal injury case?

Each settlement is a reflection of the unique aspects involved in the specific case. Because of this, there is no average settlement.

Rather, the

se factors generally determine a case’s value:

• All of the out-of-pocket expenses that you have incurred because of your injury. This represents the total amount of your economic damage claim.
• The severity of your injuries. Generally, the more severe of injuries that you sustain, the more compensation your claim will warrant. Your non-economic damages will also include other costs of your injuries, such as pain and suffering.
• The total value of your case will amount to your economic damages plus your non-economic damages. Courts rarely award punitive damages, but if punitive damages apply in your case, this could increase your claim’s total value.

Other factors that can affect the value of your case include:

• The at-fault party’s insurance policy. Insurance pays the vast majority of personal injury claims. It is possible to file a lawsuit against an uninsured person and even to obtain a judgment on your behalf. However, collecting your award will likely prove very difficult, as most people do not have the money to pay for another person’s injury expenses out-of-pocket.
• The clarity of liability. In Florida, you can face partial liability for the accident that caused your injury and still file a claim against other at-fault parties. However, your compensation may decrease.
• Your age at the time of the accident. Of course, no one life is worth more than another. However, many of the damage categories involve the amount of income that you earned when someone injured you. Someone in the middle of a lucrative career would receive more compensation for income loss than a young person with little work experience or a retired person.
• Your patience. Settlement negotiations take time. Court scheduling takes time. While you may receive a settlement offer early in the process, obtaining a fair settlement offer is often a different story. Insurance companies often wait to make the fairest offer on a case until just before it goes to trial or after the trial has begun but before the court reaches a decision.

I can’t afford a Tampa personal injury attorney. Do I really need one?

Yes, you can afford our lawyers, and yes, you need to hire a personal injury attorney.

Personal injury cases are complex proceedings that involve the gathering of evidence and a thorough knowledge of court proceedings and requirements. Prior experience working on personal injury cases provides a huge advantage. Many individuals avoid hiring an attorney to save money, but the complexities of their legal claims quickly overwhelm them.

The Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys understands you may worry about the cost of hiring an attorney when facing overwhelming expenses from your injury.

To ensure that anyone who needs our assistance has access to it, we offer:

• A free case evaluation. This is time with the attorney to share details about your case, learn more about the firm, explore your legal options, and get answers to your questions about the process.
• A contingency fee payment plan. This client-friendly service means that you owe nothing for your attorney’s services until you successfully recover compensation for your injuries.

Let an experienced personal injury lawyer from the Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys help you make sense of the legal process of seeking compensation after an injury. For your free case evaluation, contact us online or by calling (813) 278-1032.