What Florida Law Says About Your Comp Carrier’s Share of a Settlement Key Takeaways: Under Florida Statute 440.39, a workers’ comp carrier that paid benefits generally gets a lien on an injured worker’s third party settlement. The lien is not simply everything the carrier paid. Florida law generally uses a three-step approach. First, the lien…
Drug and Alcohol Testing After a Truck Crash in Fort Lauderdale Key Takeaways: Under federal law, a truck driver in Florida generally must take a post-accident drug and alcohol test after any crash that kills someone, whether or not the driver was at fault. Testing is also generally required after crashes where someone needs medical…
Foreign Flags and Florida Courts: What Injured Cruise Passengers Should Know Key Takeaways: Yes, you can often sue in Florida even if your cruise ship is registered in another country, because a ship’s flag alone does not decide which court can hear your case. Federal admiralty law, Florida’s long-arm statute (Fla. Stat. § 48.193), and…
Florida’s Outer Deadline for Medical Malpractice Claims Key Takeaways: Florida’s medical malpractice statute of repose, found in Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(c), generally bars a lawsuit filed more than four years after the incident, even if the patient has not yet discovered the injury. This runs alongside a separate two-year statute of limitations, which starts when…
Your Medical History Can Strengthen Your Crash Claim Key Takeaways: A pre-existing condition doesn’t have to sink a Fort Lauderdale crash claim, because records from before and after the crash can show how much the collision made your injury worse. Once you file a PIP claim, Florida law generally lets auto insurers request your past…
Falling From a Scaffold in Miami: What Federal Safety Law Requires Key Takeaways: OSHA’s 10-foot scaffold rule, 29 CFR 1926.451(g)(1), requires employers to protect employees working more than 10 feet above a lower level, typically through guardrail systems, personal fall arrest systems, or both, depending on scaffold type. Because Florida has no OSHA-approved state plan,…
How Shared Fault Can Change the Value of Your Miami Car Accident Claim Key Takeaways: Florida’s 51 percent comparative negligence bar, found in Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6), generally prevents an injured person from recovering damages if they are found more than 50 percent at fault. At exactly 50 percent or less, recovery may still be…
What Happens After You Send a Malpractice Notice in Florida Key Takeaways: After a Notice of Intent to Initiate Litigation is served on each prospective defendant, Florida law generally imposes a 90-day presuit screening period under Fla. Stat. § 766.106(3)(a) during which a lawsuit generally may not be filed. The provider or its insurer must…
What Cruise Passengers Should Know Before a Venue Fight Begins Key Takeaways: A cruise ticket’s forum selection clause is generally enforceable, but the fundamental fairness test from Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute may let a passenger challenge it by showing fraud, overreaching, inadequate notice, or a forum that leaves no realistic remedy. The burden…
The Hidden Harm Behind the Belt That Saved Your Life Key Takeaways: Seat belt syndrome is a recognized pattern of injuries caused when a restraint holds the body during a sudden, violent deceleration, typically marked by a band of abdominal or chest bruising known as the "seat belt sign." That visible mark can signal hidden…
Waking Up During Surgery: What Florida Patients Need to Know Key Takeaways: Anesthesia awareness occurs when a patient regains consciousness during a procedure meant to render them unconscious, sometimes perceiving sound, pressure, or pain while unable to signal for help, and the psychological aftermath can be lasting. In Florida, this may amount to malpractice only…
The Number Cruise Lines Cite That Federal Law Never Wrote Down Key Takeaways: The "95% detection standard" for cruise ship man overboard systems is not a federal legal requirement, it’s an industry-generated benchmark cited by cruise lines and manufacturers, with no support in federal statute. The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010, codified…
Why the Paperwork After a Grocery Store Fall Matters More Than You Think Key Takeaways: A Ft Lauderdale grocery store incident report should document the location, date and time of the fall, a description of the hazard, warning cones or barriers, responding employees and witnesses, the last sweep or inspection log entry, surveillance coverage, and…
Understanding NEC in Fragile Newborns and the Role of NICU Care Key Takeaways: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe intestinal condition that primarily affects premature, very low birth weight infants in the NICU, causing inflammation, infection, and tissue death that can progress to perforation. Because prematurity itself carries independent risk, a NEC diagnosis alone does…
What Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring Is Supposed to Catch During Labor Key Takeaways: Electronic fetal monitoring warns the delivery team that a baby may be losing oxygen, and ACOG’s updated guidance on fetal heart rate monitoring matters to Fort Lauderdale parents because those professional standards often inform what qualified physicians call reasonable care in a…
Why South Florida’s Heat Rules Matter More Than Ever for Workers on the Job Key Takeaways: OSHA’s Heat National Emphasis Program is a federal enforcement initiative sending compliance officers to proactively inspect worksites for heat hazards, generally when the forecast heat index hits 80°F or higher. Built on OSHA Directive CPL 03-00-024, it covers approximately…
Understanding the Driving Limits That Keep Fort Lauderdale Roads Safer Key Takeaways: Florida truck drivers generally follow one of two hours of service frameworks depending on where they operate. Interstate drivers typically fall under FMCSA rules in 49 C.F.R. Part 395, capping driving at 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, imposing a 14-hour…
The Injury Record Your Employer Keeps and Why It Belongs in Your Claim File Key Takeaways: The OSHA Form 300 is a federally required log of serious work-related injuries and illnesses that employers with more than 10 employees must maintain under 29 C.F.R. Part 1904, generally retaining records for five years after the calendar year…
Why Skin Injuries From a Bike Crash Deserve More Attention Than They Get Key Takeaways: Road rash is an abrasion injury caused when unprotected skin slides across pavement, and after a Fort Lauderdale crash it can range from a minor scrape to a full-thickness wound requiring debridement, skin grafting, and potentially leaving permanent scarring. Doctors…
Why a Visible Hazard Does Not Automatically End Your Miami Store Fall Claim Key Takeaways: An adjuster’s "open and obvious" label is generally a defense argument, not a final ruling on your Miami store fall claim. Florida applies a two-duty framework: a hazard’s visibility may negate the duty to warn, but the separate duty to…
