West Palm Beach Catastrophic Injury Lawyers
Permanent injuries also change what a case has to prove. Attendant care, replacement equipment, home modifications, and decades of lost earnings all require medical, economic, and vocational testimony to establish
Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel has tried cases of this severity out of West Palm Beach since 1927. Call our catastrophic injury attorneys at (561) 655-2028 for a free, no obligation consultation. If we take your case, you pay nothing, unless we win.
Types of Catastrophic Injury Cases
Permanent impairment is what separates a catastrophic case from a serious one. Treatment reaches the limit of what it can restore, and what is needed from that point forward becomes the substance of the case. Some of the injuries that reach that point:
- Spinal cord injury and paralysis, where loss of function below the level of injury requires decades of attendant care, equipment replacement, and changes to the home
- Traumatic brain injury, where damage to memory, judgment, speech, or impulse control can result in the inability to work or live alone even after walking out of the hospital
- Amputation and crush injuries, where prosthetic replacement runs on a schedule for the remainder of life
- Severe burns, where reconstructive surgery, scar management, and grafting continue for years after the original treatment ends
- Vision and hearing loss, where the effect on earning capacity depends heavily on occupation
- Internal organ damage, where dialysis, a transplant, or lifelong medication follows
Even with the same diagnosis, what one victim will need over a lifetime can differ sharply from another, and a catastrophic case has to prove the needs of the specific victim. Our catastrophic injury team will develop the full picture of what clients will need over the remainder of their lifetime and pursue maximum compensation from every party responsible for it.
Common Catastrophic Injury Scenarios
- Truck crashes, where the weight difference between a tractor-trailer and a passenger vehicle leaves the occupants of the smaller vehicle absorbing most of the force
- Car crashes at highway speed, head-on collisions, and crashes caused by drunk or distracted drivers
- Motorcycle crashes, where nothing separates a rider from the roadway or from the vehicle that struck them
- Pedestrians and bicyclists struck by vehicles, where the entire impact lands on the body
- Falls from height, crushing, and machinery injuries at work, including building and equipment failures on construction sites
- Falls and unsafe conditions on someone else’s property, a frequent source of brain injury in older victims
- Defective products, including equipment that fails under load and products that catch fire or explode
- Medical negligence, including oxygen deprivation, surgical error, and delayed diagnosis
Proving What a Permanent Injury Will Cost
In a catastrophic case, much of the loss has not happened yet. Care that will be needed years from now and income that will never be earned have to be calculated in advance, which takes a team of experts and the money to pay them. We advance those costs, and our clients owe nothing unless we recover.
Life Care Plans and Future Medical Costs
We retain a life care planner who works from the treating doctors’ records to identify what will be needed each year going forward. A plan can account for items like:- Future surgeries and hospital stays
- Physical, occupational, and speech therapy
- Prescription medication
- Wheelchairs, prosthetics, hospital beds, and how frequently each gets replaced
- Ramps, widened doorways, bathroom modifications, and an accessible vehicle
- Paid help with bathing, dressing, and getting around
Lost Earning Capacity Across a Working Lifetime
Lost wages are the paychecks already missed. Lost earning capacity is the difference between what would have been earned over an entire career and what they can earn now, and for someone injured young that difference can be larger than every medical bill in the case.Competing Life Care Plans
We retain a vocational expert to review education, work history, and what the victim is physically able to do now, and to identify which jobs remain realistic. An economist calculates the lost income across the remaining working years, including items like raises, health insurance, and retirement contributions. Pay stubs and tax returns usually set the baseline, and we take testimony from supervisors and coworkers about what earning potential would have been, had the injury not happened.Maximum Medical Improvement and Case Timing
Maximum medical improvement is the date a treating doctor concludes that no further recovery is reasonably expected. Measuring the permanent part of an injury is difficult before that date arrives, and settling earlier can mean settling on a medical picture that is still changing. We do not recommend resolving a catastrophic case before that picture is complete. Waiting is hard on a household that has lost its income. Depending on the case, we can:- Pursue health insurance, personal injury protection (PIP), and disability benefits for current bills and lost income
- Continue liability investigation, evidence preservation, and expert work
- Settle with one defendant while the case goes forward against the others
Florida Laws That Affect Catastrophic Injury Cases
1. Two Years to Bring a Catastrophic Injury Case
Florida’s statute of limitations for personal injury, Section 95.11(5)(a), gives two years from the date a negligence case accrues to bring a lawsuit, and wrongful death carries the same two years under section 95.11(5)(e). Deadlines run differently depending on the kind of case, and an action for injury caused by a defective product falls under section 95.11(3)(d), which allows four years. Cases that accrued before March 24, 2023 had four years, so the older deadline still applies to injuries from before that date. See Fla. Stat. § 95.11. Catastrophic cases take the longest to work up and get no extra time to do it. We open the investigation and preserve evidence while medical treatment is still going on, rather than waiting for the medical picture to settle.2. Shared Fault
Under section 768.81, Florida’s comparative fault rule, an award gets reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to the injured victim, so a $4 million verdict drops to $3.2 million when the victim is found 20 percent at fault. Anyone found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm recovers nothing, except in medical negligence cases under chapter 766, where a victim found mostly at fault can still recover a reduced award. Source: Fla. Stat. § 768.81 A rule that can end a case entirely gives the insurance company a reason to put fault on the injured victim. Several of our attorneys practiced at insurance defense firms before joining us, so we know how a shared fault argument gets built and what evidence takes it apart.3. Government Defendants and the $200,000 Limit
When the at-fault party is a government body like a county, a city, a school board, or a public hospital, section 768.28 limits recovery to $200,000 for one injured victim and $300,000 for everyone injured in the same event. Anything above those amounts can be paid only by a separate act of the Florida Legislature. Two other requirements apply:- Written notice has to be presented to the responsible agency before suit, and also to the Department of Financial Services unless the defendant is a municipality, a county, or the Florida Space Authority.
- Attorney fees on a government case are capped at 25 percent.
Finding Every Policy That Applies
Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel always pursues the maximum available compensation in every case. Our injury team has obtained multiple multi-million dollar verdicts, judgments, and settlements, including a $20,786,882 verdict in a drunk driving case and a confidential settlement of more than $12.2 million in a wrongful death case. Results at that level depend on locating every policy that applies. Insurance for the at-fault party is usually found first and is seldom the only source available.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is decided on its own facts.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Under section 627.727, uninsured motorist coverage has to be offered at the same limits as the bodily injury liability coverage unless the named insured rejects it in writing on a form approved by the state. An insurance company also has to notify the named insured every year that the coverage is available, and receiving that yearly notice does not by itself give up the right to the coverage when no rejection form was ever signed. Source: Fla. Stat. § 627.727
UM coverage sometimes applies where a victim believes it was never purchased, and it can come from a resident relative’s policy rather than the victim’s own. We obtain the policy file and the signed forms rather than accepting an insurance company’s account of what was bought.
Coverage Beyond the At-Fault Driver
More than one policy can apply to a single event, depending on who was responsible and what they were doing at the time:
- Commercial auto and employer coverage when the at-fault driver was working
- Umbrella or excess coverage sitting above a primary policy
- The vehicle’s owner, where someone other than the driver owns it
- Property owners and management companies in premises cases
- Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in product cases
- General contractors and subcontractors on construction sites
Every defendant identified brings coverage of its own into the case. We obtain policy declarations and coverage disclosures, question corporate representatives under oath about what coverage exists, and pursue responsible parties past the obvious one.
If Your Loved One Is the Injured Victim
Acting for a Victim Who Cannot Direct the Case
When an injured adult cannot make decisions, a judge appoints someone to act on their behalf. A settlement for a minor or for an incapacitated adult also goes through court approval before any money is paid out, which protects the victim from a resolution that will not cover the care they need.Care Provided by Family Members
Attendant care given by a family member can be part of the damages, and hours are far easier to prove when they are written down as they happen rather than reconstructed later. A simple log of dates, hours, and what was done supports that part of the case.Preserving Evidence in the First Days
- Photograph the scene, the vehicle, or the product before anything is repaired or thrown away
- Keep the vehicle or the product itself, and tell us before anyone releases it
- Write down the names and phone numbers of witnesses
- Save every bill, record, and letter from an insurance company
- Decline to give a recorded statement until you have talked with a lawyer
If the Injury Proves Fatal
A catastrophic injury can end in death weeks or months after the event. The case then proceeds under Florida’s Wrongful Death Act, brought by the personal representative of the estate on behalf of the surviving family. Our West Palm Beach wrongful death attorneys cover how those cases work.Next Steps for Opening Up a Case
Records and Documents to Gather
- The crash or accident report, along with the report number
- Names of every hospital, doctor, therapist, and rehabilitation facility involved so far
- Health insurance cards and any denial or coverage letters received
- Declarations pages for every auto policy in the household, including a resident relative’s
- Recent pay stubs, tax returns, and W-2s
- Any photographs and/or video of the scene
- Names and phone numbers of witnesses
Your Free Consultation
A consultation costs nothing and puts you under no obligation. Where travel is difficult, we can meet at the hospital, at a rehabilitation facility, or at home. We will ask how the injury happened, what treatment has been given, what doctors have said about the future, and what the household needs right now. We will tell you whether you have a viable case, what would have to be proven, which deadlines apply, and what we would do first. If we take the case, you owe nothing unless we recover, and we advance the cost of the experts.Calls from Insurance Companies
The at-fault party’s insurance company may call soon after the accident. An adjuster for the other side may initially ask for two things, and you are not required to provide either:- A recorded statement about how the injury happened
- A blanket authorization for every medical record ever created
Why Hire Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel
A catastrophic case takes years, costs a great deal to prepare, and gets fought hard by insurance companies with significant resources. Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel has the financial ability and the trial record to go against national manufacturers and the largest insurance companies.
- We fund the case. Life care planners, economists, vocational experts, engineers, and accident reconstruction specialists all cost money before a dollar comes in. We advance those costs, and you owe nothing unless we recover.
- We will try cases. Insurance companies pay differently when the firm across from them is known for taking cases to verdict. Our lawyers have a track record of maximizing compensation for our clients.
- We know how the other side works. Several of our lawyers and staff worked for insurance companies before joining the firm, which shows us how a defense gets built and where it is weakest.
- We work as a team. We are small enough that you will know the lawyers on your case, and resourced enough to go against national manufacturers and the largest insurance companies. Other attorneys refer catastrophic cases to us for that reason.
- We have been here since 1927. Three generations of this firm have represented injured victims in Palm Beach County, and we still take calls from the families of clients we represented decades ago.
If you or a loved one are dealing with a catastrophic injury, call our West Palm Beach catastrophic injury attorneys at (561) 655-2028 for a free consultation, and if we take your case you owe nothing unless we win.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is decided on its own facts.
