Captiva, FL Personal Injury Law Firms & Lawyers

First, it is probably premature to try to settle until she is released from her doctor's care and the doctor is able to say whether or not it's permanent. If she has been release and still has problems, it seems to me that it is permanent. Your method of calculating future lost wages seems reasonable, but the figure must be reduced to present value. It is reasonable to ask for it only if the doctor says her problems are permanent and you can show that her injury will cause the lost income. It might require the services of a vocational expert (but not in the early stages of negotiation, only to get it ready for trial). There are websites that have present value calculators, you should assume a conservative discount rate, such as 5% to 7%. If you do not understand present value of a future stream of income, this may be over your head. Pain and suffering is difficult to price, and may be the most valuable component of her claim. You have not given enough information for me to comment on it. For example, you mention her pain and future loss of mobility, but you do not describe the severity of her pain, nor do you describe what mobility problems she will have, and especially, how all of this will affect hr activities. I disagree with the insurance company?s advice to ?not waste your money on an attorney?. Ultimately, your case is worth what you can convince the adjuster that a jury would award, or what a jury actually does award if you take the case to trial. it is difficult to get reasonable offers for future lost wages and pain and suffering if there is no threat that you will go to trial. I would suggest finding an attorney who is willing to take a percentage of any settlement obtained over the $20,000.00 already offered. The fee structure might call for a higher than 1/3 for the second 20,000 (that is any settlement up to 40,000) because the attorney runs the risk of doing substantial work only to find that 25,000 is reasonable for some reason (the client would of course have to agree with this assessment) and there is some value in this analysis that the 20,000 is substantially fair, but it should not be worth 1/3 of 20,000. It may be worth ? of 5,000, however. For anything over 40,000, the fee could go back to the usual 1/3 (I offer fees less than 1/3 depending on the stage of proceedings where the case settles). These are suggestions, and there are all sorts of ways to structure the deal. However, believe me when I tell you, these cases are complex, and making pain and suffering arguments is a high level legal skill (I still read tons of books and go too seminars to learn better techniques for this, and I've done this for over 20 years).

The plaintiff will take money from wherever he or she can get it, but it's your insurance company's responsibility to protect you. Make sure you notify your insurer that you have received notice of a claim or lawsuit papers, then leave it to them. That's why you paid your premium.

Yes, you can. Pain and suffering are general damages awarded to an injured party. You may sue your neighbor however your claim is subject to any defenses your old neighbor has against you. In regards to the owner, that is a more difficult claim to be successful on, it would turn on the facts. Whether or not the owner knew of or had control of the dog or it's environs. Also, the rental agreement may place the burden of liability for injury on the owner or it may attempt to release landowner's liability. Either way, you will need to consult an attorney to begin your suit.