There is no guarantee that a survivor receives money if his or her parent (or child) is killed in an accident caused by someone else.  An insurance company that is defending the at fault person or company does not have to settle a wrongful death case.  The insurance company may want to take the case to trial if they feel that they can win. 

There is always a chance that a jury could side with the person or company that caused the accident and then the plaintiff would get nothing.  Also, if someone killed a family member and the guilty person has no insurance (or money) to pay the wrongful death claim, the family may get nothing. Most Florida attorneys are unwilling to sue the person who caused an accident if they think that they won’t be able to get paid.

This article applies to general personal injury claims and not claims arising from medical malpractice.  It also assumes that someone was at fault and they caused, in part or in whole, the death of another.  Please remember that every case is different. One different fact in a case could be the difference between getting paid a lot of money and getting nothing.

Many attorneys in Florida believe that a starting point (as to how much a Florida accidental death case is worth) is to assume that a survivor could get a minimum value of $500,000.00 (in pain and suffering) multiplied by the percentage of fault on the person that caused the accident. A formula that you could use to calculate the starting point for the value of pain and suffering only in a wrongful death claim of 1 survivor (e.g. a child or parent) is as follows:

Formula: $500,000 x % of fault of the person that caused the accident.

Example: Juan’s father was killed after a driver that ran a red light hit him. The driver admits that he was 100% at fault for running the light and crashing into Juan’s father.  Therefore, we can assume that the at-fault driver was 100% at fault.  After entering the above numbers into the formula [$500,000.00 * 100% (fault of driver)], the result is $500,000 for pain and suffering. Juan could receive $500,000 for pain and suffering assuming the other driver has bodily injury insurance limits of $500,000 (or more).

If the driver that caused the accident was drunk or reckless, a survivor (child or parent) could get more money because the jury could be angered and want to punish the at fault driver.  The closer that the survivor is with the decedent (person who died), the more money a survivor may be awarded.  For example, if a child lost a parent and the child spent 5 days a week with the parent, the child could be awarded more than $500,000 for pain and suffering.

Please remember that this blog post is only in reference to pain and suffering. In Florida, a family member (child or parent) could also recover for future loss of support and services from the date of death.

Sometimes injured accident victims may be required to repay their health insurance company from their settlement. Don’t reimburse your health insurance company from your personal injury settlement until you are sure that you understand your health insurance contract completely. The health insurance subrogation adjuster is not on your side. You could be giving away money that you may not be obligated to pay.

“Not all paid links violate Google’s guidelines. Buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web when done for advertising purposes, and not for manipulation of search results. Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such. This can be done in several ways, such as:

1) Adding a rel=”nofollow” attribute to the <a> tag
2) Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file”

I believe that the only possible way to have a link, on the main page of a practice area in Findlaw’s lawyer directory, is to pay for the link or to have Findlaw design/host your website. Last time I checked (which was probably over 5 years ago) Findlaw charged attorneys several hundred dollars to be listed on one of the top spots in a particular practice area.  The source code for the main page of the Findlaw lawyer directory does not appear to designate a link (on an attorney’s profile) to an attorney’s site as advertising. According to Google:

“Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results. Google works hard to ensure that it fully discounts links intended to manipulate search engine results, such excessive link exchanges and purchased links that pass PageRank.”

Attorneys with listings in the Findlaw lawyer directory directories may want to remove a link on these sites to their website because Google could negatively impact their website in Google’s search results.  I think that most of the attorneys in these directories are not familiar with the concept of buying links that pass page rank.

Apart from the main page in directory for a particular practice area, Findlaw allows an attorney (on their profile) to add a link(s) to the lawyer’s website(s) or blog(s) for no charge. It is ok that this link passes page rank because Findlaw is not selling this link. Although Findlaw (and “link buyers” on their site) may be negatively impacted in Google’s search results, Findlaw is more generous than lawyers.com, hg.org, and nolo.com. None of the latter  provide a free link (in their directory) to an attorney’s website.  So far it doesn’t appear that Google has penalized Findlaw or attorneys’ websites that have a paid link (in their profile on Findlaw’s main directory page for each practice area) to the attorney’s site on either directory. But Google wants the best user experience possible and Findlaw is a “big fish” and an easy target. I would be concerned if I was Findlaw or an attorney who has paid to be included in Findlaw’s directory.

Do you think that Google will negatively impact (in the search results) attorneys’ sites that have a paid link, on Findlaw?  Do you think Google will negatively impact Findlaw?

If you pay for priority placement for your business listing on Google or similar sites on the internet, the content of the advertisement will have to comply with the advertising rules listed in Rules 4-7.1-4-7.10, Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. Because you are paying for a listing, any information posted in connection with the listing will be considered adopted by you.

If there are testimonials, statements describing quality, or other prohibited information associated with your listing, you will be responsible for those even if you did not post them. You would also have to file your listing for review if it contains any nonexempt information. Therefore, if there will be postings associated with your listing that are out of your control, it is advised that you do not pay for priority placement of your business listing.

Based on this email interpreting/stating the Florida bar ethical rules regarding attorney advertising, an attorney can cannot claim that he/she did not know that the ethics rules do not allow starred reviews on attorney ads.

Attorney ads appearing in the organic results (natural results that a business doesn’t have to pay) can still have reviews associated with the listing.  However, if a Florida lawyer or law firm does anything that would give its listing priority such as pay for the listing to be posted as a sponsored link, then you will have to comply with the advertising rules.

I am against this policy of not allowing reviews to be associated with attorney advertising in Florida. I think it unfairly discriminates against attorneys.

“Not all paid links violate Google’s guidelines. Buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web when done for advertising purposes, and not for manipulation of search results. Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such. This can be done in several ways, such as:

1) Adding a rel=”nofollow” attribute to the <a> tag
2) Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file”

It appears that the only way to get a link, on an attorney’s profile, to an attorney’s website in HG.org or Lawyers.com is to pay for the link. HG.org charges $195/year to upgrade to a premium listing which gives you several links. Lawyers.com charges $49.95 for an “an Enhanced Profile” which includes up to 3 website links.  A basic listing on either site does not appear to provide a lawyer with a link to their website.  The source code for lawyer profiles on these directories do not appear to me to designated a link (on an attorney’s profile) to an attorney’s site as advertising. According to Google:

“Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results. Google works hard to ensure that it fully discounts links intended to manipulate search engine results, such excessive link exchanges and purchased links that pass PageRank.”

Attorneys that have listings in these directories may want to remove a link on these sites to their website because Google could negatively impact their website in Google’s search results.  I think that probably at least 95% of the attorneys in these directories are not familiar with the concept of buying links that pass page rank.

Although I would not have my website designed by Findlaw, at least Findlaw lets an attorney (on their profile) add a link(s) to the lawyer’s website(s) or blog(s) for no charge. That is a step up from Lawyers.com and HG.org. So far it doesn’t appear that Google has penalized Lawyers.org, HG.org, or attorneys’ websites that have a paid link (in their profile on) to the attorney’s site on either directory. But this doesn’t mean that it will not happen in the future.

Do you think that Google will negatively impact (in the search results) attorneys’ sites that have a link, on their profile on Lawyers.com or HG.or profile, to their site? Do you think Google will negatively impact Lawyers.com or HG.org?

Florida is lucky to have hundreds of miles of gorgeous coastline and a climate that offers unique boating opportunities throughout the year. Unfortunately, what should be a calm and relaxing vacation can easily lead to personal injury through the negligence and recklessness.

Boat related accidents, including those involving jet-skis, cruise ships and personal water crafts, can include a multitude of personal injury accidents. These may include, but are not limited to:

• Food poisoning
• Slipping or falling on the boat
• Pool related accidents on cruise ships
• Bodily harm that occurs due to a dangerous defect of the boat.
• Negligence of medical staff.

While a variety of factors can cause boating related accidents, in order to have a successful personal injury lawsuit, the fault must lie with the owner or operator of the boat. A few factors to keep in mind when determining fault in boat related accidents include:

• Was the operator sober at the time of operation?
• Did everyone aboard the cruise ship have adequate training in their jobs?
• Did the crew simply neglect to do their job? An example of this might be a crew member knowing that there was a spill and simply neglecting to do anything about it.
• Was your injury the result of equipment failure?
• Were you physically assaulted by any operator or crew member of the boat?
• Was your injury part of a fire or collision emergency?

If you feel that you have a claim to a personal injury lawsuit, it’s important to contact a lawyer as soon as possible. Many boating related accidents have a one year personal injury statue of limitations on lawsuits. In order to be financially compensated for your injury and to achieve justice against the person at fault, it’s best to have your claim evaluated immediately.

Annually, more than 5 million passengers cruise from Miami, also known as the “Cruise Ship Capital of the World.” Many major cruise lines — including Star Clippers, SilverSea, SeaDream, Seaborn, Royal Caribbean, Regent Seven Sea, Oceania, Norwegian, MSC, Costa, Celebrity, Carnival and Azmara — have headquarters in Miami, Fort Lauderdale or other Broward County locations.

Though only the most sensational injury cases make the news — norovirus outbreaks, passengers falling overboard or 33-foot-tall rogue waves – the most common cruise ship injuries are caused by slips and falls on the deck.

Every year, thousands of passengers slip and fall onboard cruise ships. Many of these incidents result in broken hips, displaced shoulders, broken ankles, bone fractures and other injuries; these in turn lead to surgery, pain and suffering, lost wages and high medical bills.

What most injured passengers don’t know is that no matter where they were injured, which port they sailed from and where they live, many Cruise lines (Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Carribean, etc.) require that lawsuits against them must be filed in Miami, Florida. Further, injured passengers — or their attorneys — must notify the cruise line of their intent to file within six months of the incident, and the lawsuit itself must be filed within one year.

This means that if you’ve been injured on a cruise, and want to file a lawsuit, don’t wait until you get home to consult an attorney. Instead, immediately consult a Florida attorney who’s familiar with cruise ship injury law. In cruise ship injury cases, time is of the essence!

Back in 2009, the flamboyantly public couple, known by many from their VH1 reality series, litigated a famously contentious divorce case. Subsequently, Linda Bollea has made allegations of physical abuse she says occurred throughout her marriage to the wrestler. She has made claims that the mistreatment regularly escalated to episodes of choking and hair pulling. The book paints a picture of Hulk Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea, as a rage-filled, violent spouse who regularly destroyed household belongings, slammed doors and exerted a frightening level of personal force against his now ex-wife in the midst of their heated quarrels.

Among the other salacious tidbits included in Linda Bollea’s book is the allegation that Hulk Hogan had been sexually involved with another famous male wrestler, Brutus Beefcake.

The lawsuit filed by the wrestling legend contends that all of the above allegations are utter falsehoods, and that they have damaged his professional reputation and business prospects, and have made him the object of public scorn, suspicion and outrage.

Hulk Hogan’s complaint incorporates a demand for a jury trial and a request for injunctive relief preventing Linda Bollea from publicly commenting on the lawsuit or any of the contested matters therein. The lawsuit was initiated just weeks following publication of the terms of the Bolleas’ divorce settlement. Those documents indicated that Linda Bollea had been granted over 70 percent of the couple’s marital assets, including multiple millions of dollars gleaned from brokerage and bank accounts, as well as several expensive luxury vehicles.