While some personal injury and wrongful death cases involve seeking just compensation from an individual (or an individual’s insurance company), many cases involve claims against businesses. If a business is responsible for your injuries or your loved one’s death, the business can—and should—be held accountable under Florida law.
Personal injury and wrongful death claims against businesses present some unique legal considerations, and this makes it extremely important to have an experienced law firm on your side. At Silva & Silva, we have extensive experience suing businesses ranging from cruise lines to construction companies, and we rely on this experience to pursue claims on behalf of individuals and families who are entitled to recover their losses.
5 Grounds for Holding a Business Liable for a Serious or Fatal Accident
Filing a claim against a business after a serious or fatal accident starts with determining your grounds to take legal action. This requires a prompt and thorough investigation—and ensuring that you have the evidence you need is a key reason to engage a law firm as soon as possible.
Broadly, there are five main grounds for seeking to hold a business liable after a serious or fatal accident in Florida. These grounds are:
1. Direct Negligence
Just like individuals, businesses can be held liable when their negligence is to blame for an accident victim’s injuries. In this context, negligence can take manydifferent forms, from failing to conduct necessary maintenance to ignoring known safety risks or safety hazards.
This also means that all types of businesses can be held liable when serious and fatal accidents occur. While proof of negligence (or other grounds for liability) is required, generally speaking, businesses that can be held liable for victims’ and families’ accident-related losses include:
- Hotels, motels, resorts, and rental properties
- Bars, restaurants, and nightclubs
- Amusement parks, stadiums, concert halls and other entertainment venues
- Construction companies, architecture and engineering firms, contractors, and subcontractors
- Retail businesses and parking garages
- Airlines, cruise lines, railroad companies, rideshare companies, and other transportation providers
- Trucking companies, delivery companies, and other businesses that use the public roads
This is just a small sampling. Numerousother types of businesses can be held liable when their negligence leads to accidents as well. If you have questions about filing a personal injury or wrongful death claim against anytype of business in Florida, we strongly recommend that you contact a law firm to discuss your legal rights.
2. Vicarious Liability for an Employee’s Negligence
While businesses can be held liable for their direct negligence, they can also be held liable for their employees’ negligence within the scope of their employment. This is referred to as vicarious liability.
Negligence on the part of drivers, pilots, captains, merchandisers, mechanics, construction workers, maintenance workers, licensed professionals (i.e., doctors and engineers), and essentially all other types of employees can give rise to vicarious liability claims under Florida law. Regardless of whether a business is directly liable for its own negligence or vicariously liable for the negligence of an employee, the business can be held fully accountable for a victim’s or family’s financial and non-financial losses in the event of a serious accident.
3. Dram Shop Liability
Under Florida’sdram shop law, bars and other establishments can be held liable for drunk driving accidents in limited circumstances. Specifically, the law allows accident victims and their families to file claims against businesses that serve alcohol if either:
- The business “willfully” serves alcohol to an underage customer; or,
- “Knowingly” serves alcohol to a person who is “habitually addicted to the use of any or all alcoholic beverages.”
This is much more restrictive than the dram shop laws that exist in many other states. However, when Florida’s dram shop liability law applies, bars and other establishments can be held fully accountable for the financial and non-financial costs of a drunk driving accident. Businesses that serve alcohol should have insurance that applies in these cases—and, typically, seeking just compensation will involve dealing with the business’s insurance company.
4. Premises Liability
Premises liabilitycases typically involve dealing with the business’s insurance company as well. Under Florida law, all businesses have a legal duty to ensure that their premises are reasonably safe for their customers, clients, patients, patrons, or guests. If a business fails to meet this duty, it can—and should—be held fully accountable.
Numerous properly-related issues can give rise to a premises liability claim against a business under Florida law. This includes everything from slippery floors to dangerous product displays. Construction defects (i.e., improper construction techniques or use of improper materials) can lead to premises-related accidents as well; and, in these types of cases, multiple companies could potentially be liable in the event that a hazard on a business’s property leads to a serious or fatal accident.
5. Product Liability
Florida law also allows victims and families to hold businesses accountable for designing, manufacturing, and selling defective products.Product liabilityclaims can involve products ranging from defective drugs and medical devices to defective construction materials and vehicle components. If you believe that a product defect is to blame for your injuries or your loved one’s death, this is a circumstance in which you should contact a law firm promptly as well.
Product liability claims are unique in that proof of negligence is not required to seek just compensation. If a business sells a defective product, this alone is enough to hold the business accountable. However, this does not mean that product liability cases are easy. Proving that a product is “defective” presents challenges of its own, and businesses (and their insurance companies) will fight product liability claims by all means available.
Steps You Should Take to Protect Your (or Your Family’s) Legal Rights
Let’s say that you think you may have a personal injury or wrongful death claim against a business in Florida. What should you do to protect your (or your family’s) legal rights?
In this scenario, to help maximize your (or your family’s) chances of recovering just compensation, you should:
- Get the Care You Need– First, and in many respects most importantly, you should get the care you need. This is true whether you were seriously injured in an accident or you are struggling to cope with the loss of a loved one. Both of these scenarios can be extraordinarily difficult, and it is important that you prioritize your wellbeing regardless of what you are going through.
- Keep Any Evidence– If you have any evidence in your possession, you should keep it for the time being. This includes any photos or videos you have on your phone as well as any physical evidence such as damaged clothing or debris. Anything you have in your possession that can be used to help document the accident or its consequences is something that you will want to keep to share with your law firm.
- Take Notes– Along with keeping any evidence, you should also take detailed notes. We know this can be hard, but it is important. You should write down everything you know about the accident and its consequences—from the weather conditions at the time of the accident to how the accident happened, and from what police or first responders said at the scene of the accident to your (or your loved one’s) diagnosis.
- Report the Accident– It is important to report your (or your loved one’s) accident promptly. However, whether you should report the accident to the police, to the business, or to your insurance company (or all of the above) depends on the circumstances involved. Once you contact us, we can take the steps necessary to report the accident on your behalf.
- Contact a Law Firm for Help– Taking legal action against a business after a serious or fatal accident requires experienced legal representation. To ensure that you are doing everything necessary to protect your (or your family’s) legal rights, you should contact a law firm for help as soon as possible.
Hiring a Law Firm to Sue a Business in Florida
We know that many people are apprehensive about engaging a law firm to represent them—even when they are clearly in need of help. This is unfortunate, because engaging a law firm can be a simple and straightforward process, and a reputable law firm will handle all aspects of your case with your (or your family’s) best interests in mind.
If you have a lawsuit against a business in Florida, here is what you can expect when you choose Silva & Silva:
- Free, No-Obligation Consultation– Your initial consultation is completely free. It is also completely risk-free. This is your opportunity to have your questions answered so that you can make informed decisions about your next steps.
- Straightforward Explanation of Your Legal Rights– Once we learn about your case, we will provide a straightforward explanation of your legal rights. This will also be geared toward helping you feel confident about what you choose to do next.
- Personalized Legal Advice– Throughout your case, we will provide you with personalized legal advice that is custom-tailored to your specific circumstances. We will be here for you when you have questions, and we will help you make important decisions when the time comes.
- One–on-One Communication– As a client of our law firm, you will communicate one-on-one with the members of your legal team. We take a personalized approach to representing our clients, and we are committed to ensuring that our clients are satisfied.
- Contingency–Fee Representation– We handle all personal injury and wrongful death cases against businesses in Florida on a contingency-fee basis. This means that you will not owe us anything unless we help you (or your family) recover just compensation.
Will You Have to Go to Court?
One of the most common questions we receive from accident victims and their families is whether filing a personal injury or wrongful death claim means that they will have to go to court. While some personal injury and wrongful death claims go to court, the vast majority of successful claims settle long before they are scheduled to go to trial.
While we can’t make any guarantees about the outcome of your case, what we can guarantee is that we will work to achieve a favorable resolution on your behalf (or on your family’s behalf) as efficiently as possible. If we believe that accepting a settlement is the best option under the circumstances at hand, we will let you know. If we think you can recover more by taking your case to court, we will let you know this as well.
Contact Silva & Silva for a Free, No-Obligation Consultation
Do you need to know more about filing a personal injury or wrongful death claim against a business in Florida? If so, we encourage you to contact us promptly. To schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with an experienced lawyer at Silva & Silva, please call 305-445-0011 ortell us how we can reach you onlinetoday.