Practice Areas

Jimmy De La Espriella of DLE Lawyers actively litigates cases involving catastrophic injuries and cases involving wrongful death on behalf of the victims and their families. These cases include car accidents, product liability, medical negligence, nursing home abuse/neglect, trucking catastrophe, industrial manufacturer negligence, insurance disputes, premises liability, drowning victims, airline accident, burn victims, and others.

Auto Accidents

Do I automatically win the case if I can prove that the defendant was breaking a traffic law at the time of the accident?

No, but it is very good news for your case. To win on this, you will need to convince a court (or the opposing party if you are negotiating a settlement) that the defendant’s violation of the traffic law amounted to negligence under the circumstances. You will also have to prove that the defendant’s traffic violation actually caused the accident.

Can I claim against the automobile manufacturer if I was injured because my airbags failed to deploy during a car accident?

You can claim against the airbag manufacturer if you can prove that they were unreasonably dangerous and in a defective condition due to a manufacturing defect, a design defect, or inadequate warnings. You can’t claim against the airbag manufacturer for the accident itself, but you can claim for the extent to which your injuries were increased by the failure of the airbags to deploy.

What do I have to prove to win? Do I have to prove my case “beyond a reasonable doubt”?

There are four formal elements of proof in a car accident lawsuit:

The defendant owed you a duty of care (the duty to drive safely while on public roads)
The defendant breached this duty (in other words, the defendant behaved negligently by, for example, running a stop sign)
The defendant’s breach of duty actually caused the accident; and
You suffered damages (such as pain and suffering) as a result.
The defendant’s breach of duty actually caused the accident; and
You suffered damages (such as pain and suffering) as a result.
The defendant’s breach of duty actually caused the accident; and
You suffered damages (such as pain and suffering) as a result.

You do not have to prove any of these elements “beyond a reasonable doubt”, but you must prove each by a “preponderance of the evidence”, which means about a 51% likelihood.

Falls & Slips

Ways to secure compensation:

To secure compensation for a slip and fall accident, you must identify the appropriate defendant and select the law under which you will seek compensation. Most slip and fall accident victims seek compensation on one of the following bases:

The workers’ compensation system: Workers’ compensation applies when you are injured on the job. Its big advantage is that you don’t have to prove that your employer was at fault to win. Its big disadvantage is that you cannot pursue damages for pain and suffering. Not all workplace accidents are subject to workers’ compensation rules, however.

Premises liability law: If you are injured by a dangerous condition on premises that belong to someone else — a shop owner or the owner of a private residence, you can pursue liability under premises liability law. A property owner is responsible for keeping his property safe for visitors.

The slip and fall accident lawyers at DLE Lawyers can negotiate with workers’ compensation representatives, insurance companies, and property owners to resolve your claim at the settlement table instead of in the courtroom. If push comes to shove, however, we are ready to fight it out in court — and our stellar courtroom track record proves that we mean business.

What are you entitled to?

The job of a personal injury lawyer is more than just seeing to it that you are reimbursed for your medical bills.

Medical expenses: You are entitled to reimbursement for all of your medical expenses — past, present and future. If you anticipate long-term future medical expenses, it is absolutely critical that you estimate them accurately so you will know how much to claim. We know exactly how to do this.
Lost earnings: You may have lost significant work time during your recovery, and you may even discover that your injuries prevent you from returning to your old job. You are entitled not only to compensation for the work you missed, but also for any loss of future earnings all the way up to retirement.
Pain and suffering and other intangible damages: You aren entitled to compensation for your psychological suffering — pain and suffering, mental anguish, etc. This compensation could far exceed what you receive for medical expenses.
Punitive damages: You might be eligible for punitive damages if the party responsible for your injury caused it by acting in a particularly outrageous manner.

You Pay Nothing Unless You Win.

At our law firm, we don’t believe our clients should pay for nothing. Smooth-sounding arguments are useless if they don’t result in compensation being paid to you. We don’t charge by the hour – we charge by the results we achieve. We don’t charge up-front fees, and you will never owe us anything until and unless we win your case and your compensation has already arrived.

Brain Injuries

The Advantages of Hiring a Brain Injury Lawyer

When a person is deciding if he or she should seek legal representation for his or her case, it is always best to think about the advantages and disadvantages. A few individuals might recommend that the person should decline legal representation, or the individual might think that self-representation is a better way to save money. Though, without a brain injury lawyer’s skilled assistance, the person could make his or her situation even worse.

Skills of a Brain Injury Lawyer

Legal Knowledge:
Lawyers have studied brain injury law, which can apply to an individual’s case and understand the very best way to safeguard their client’s rights. Each case is different and having a lawyer to guide a person through every turn in the legal process can not only simplify the process but it can also accelerate the legal proceedings and give the individual a more elevated opportunity of success.

Personal Skill:
If a person hires an experienced brain injury lawyer, his or her personal knowledge of the individual’s situation can turn out to be vital. Brain injuries can be very excruciating, traumatic, and complicated. Most brain injuries can lead to severe harm, long-term brain damage, or other long-term side effects that ought to factor into the person’s case. If the individual works with a lawyer who knows this, it can aid his or her case.

Negotiation Skills:
Like any other personal injury case, brain injuries can be very complex and frequently involve many back-and-forths between insurance companies. Having a legal representative to deal with settlement negotiation, counteroffers, or litigation can cause a person’s brain injury case to be convenient.

Why call us?

While it might appear more expensive for a person to work with a brain injury lawyer, it will probably assist him or her in saving time and money and evade unwanted stress. Rather than attempting to deal with a brain injury case by themselves, the individual can consult an expert for instrumental assistance and legal advice.

Truck Accidents

Can I file a claim against the trucking company?

There is no simple answer to this question. A lot depends on whether the driver was an employee of the company or an independent contractor. A private company is responsible for the negligent acts of its employees under the legal doctrine of respondeat superior. If the driver was an independent contractor rather than an employee (as most commercial truckers are) you cannot win a lawsuit against the trucking company unless you can prove that the company itself was negligent (if it violated trucking regulations enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, for example).

How are large truck accidents different from ordinary car accidents?

A tractor trailer weighs up to 40 tons, while most automobiles weigh one or two tons. The additional momentum of a truck lengthens stopping distances by 20 to 40 percent, making an accident more likely. It can also crush a car like an accordion. Wrongful death damages are available to family members if the victim does not survive the accident.

The insurance company wants me to release my medical records. Should I sign a release form?

Absolutely not. Although you may need to release at least some of your medical records at some point, there is no point in signing a blanket release of all of them. Consult with your accident attorney regarding exactly which information to release. Any extra information will operate as an invitation to the insurance company to try to find an excuse to deny your claim (a pre-existing injury, for example).

Can I sue the manufacturer for a defective brake drum if it caused the accident?

Yes, you can. You can win a products liability claim if you can prove that the brake drums were “defective and unreasonably dangerous” (a design defect, a manufacturing defect or insufficient product warnings) at the time they left the manufacturer’s possession. Not only can you win without even showing that the manufacturer was at fault, but you can also sue the distributor of the brake drum.

How do truck accident claims differ from car accident claims?

There are many reasons why a truck accident claim might differ from a car accident claim, including:

There is often more than one defendant (the driver, the trucking company, the freight loader, etc.);
Accident victims typically claim higher damages due to the typical severity of truck accidents;
Insurance claim limits are typically higher because truckers are usually well-insured;
The truck driver probably has a Commercial Driver’s License; and
Since the trucking industry is highly regulated, a violation of a trucking regulation may be involved.

Can the IRS tax my personal injury compensation?

It depends on what you are being compensated for. Compensation is mostly tax-free, although there are exceptions:

Punitive damages are taxable (keep in mind, however, that most truck accident victims do not receive punitive damages anyway)
Interest that is assessed on your compensation is taxable.
Your tax burden might be affected if you deduct medical expenses for a tax year in which you received personal injury compensation.
Please consult a tax lawyer for detailed questions on tax matters.

What is the effect of proving that the truck driver violated a trucking regulation?

Under the right circumstances it could cause you to win your claim. To win by proving a regulatory violation, you must show that the regulatory violation was a substantial cause of the accident and convince the court that it amounted to negligence under the circumstances.

You Owe Me Nothing Unless You Win

At my law firm, results are what matter, and results are the only thing you pay for. Since I don’t charge upfront fees, feel free to contact me without a dime to your name. Your bill will not come due until your case is won and your money is already in the bank. And if you don’t win, you don’t pay. It is the quality of your claim, not the size of your bank account, that I care about.

MOTO ACCIDENTS

How a Miami Motorcycle Accident Attorney Can Assist You

For an individual to assist his or her Florida motorcycle lawyer in helping him or her in the best way possible, the person must never sign anything without talking to his or her lawyer first. The individual must remember that insurance companies—no matter how sympathetic they act—are just interested in their economic outcome. Insurance adjusters are taught to utilize any strategy possible to get a person to settle for less than he or she deserves. Therefore, the individual must always talk to his or her lawyer before signing away crucial rights. The person must not talk about his or her accident or injuries and not post pictures or discussions of his or her accident on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media channels, no matter how sound it might appear. The individual must keep a meticulous record of his or her injuries by jotting down everything relating to his or her accident and injuries and keeping all medical receipts, no matter how minute. Most accident victims keep a journal to assist them in remembering information they may otherwise fail to recall—and which can be very crucial to the case. The person must never miss an appointment with his or her doctor for any reason and obey any advice given to him or her by his or her doctor.

Statute of Limitations for an Individual’s Motorcycle Accident

There are deadlines in each state concerning the tie a person has in which to file a claim for damages after a personal injury. In the state of Florida, an individual has four years from the date of his or her motorcycle accident to file a personal injury claim, and two years from the date of a loved one’s demise in a motorcycle accident to file a wrongful death claim. The person must file his or her claim in an opportune manner, or the individual could be forever impeded from being reimbursed for his or her damages due to a motorcycle accident in which someone else was at fault.

Wrongful Death Claims

Wrongful death is a claim brought to civil action against the individual or parties thought to be responsible for the demise of another individual. In many cases, the claim is filed by the blood relative the decedent. For a family to claim wrongful death in a car accident, their motorcycle accident attorney must be able to gather enough evidence indicating the other driver’s negligence or misbehavior. Usual indicators of negligence consist of inferior vehicle maintenance, intoxication, careless driving, and failure to obey the rules of the road.

WRONGFUL DEATH

Types of Wrongful Death Cases

Any personal injury can become a wrongful death claim if the victim dies from his injuries. The types of accidents that can give rise to a wrongful death claim include (but are not limited to):

Car Accidents: Over 35,000 Americans die yearly in car accidents – about one person every 15 minutes. Of course, sometimes the accident is the fault of the injured driver, and sometimes the accident is nobody’s fault. In many cases, however, responsibility can be traced to a third party – another motorist, a pedestrian or even a badly-maintained roadway.
Truck Accidents: Because an out-of-control truck is an 80,000-pound rolling missile, truck accidents are far more likely to result in death than accidents involving sedans. Although trucking companies are typically not responsible for the negligence of the truckers who work for them, truckers themselves are almost always heavily insured.
Motorcycle Accidents: Motorcycle accidents are frequently fatal due to a motorcycle’s complete lack of frame protection In a two-vehicle accident, the fault often lies with the other vehicle, due to the fact that many automobile drivers simply don’t watch out for motorcyclists and don’t see them until they hit them.
Slip and Fall Accidents: About 20,000 people fall to their deaths every year in the US – more than half as many as the number of people who die in car accidents. Slip and fall accidents can be resolved under workers’ compensation law or under premises liability law, depending on whether the accident occurred at work.
Brain Injuries: Any of the foregoing type of accidents can result in a brain injury, as can many other types of accidents and intentional injuries. Because the brain functions as the body’s command and control center, brain injuries are frequently fatal.

Call the Ft. Lauderdale Wrongful Death Attorneys at DLE Lawyers

The Ft. Lauderdale, FL, wrongful death attorneys at DLE Lawyers serve the families of wrongful death victims throughout South Florida. Even if your loved one survived the accident, our Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorneys can also handle your case. Either way, you are going to need a personal injury/wrongful death lawyer in Fort Lauderdale to handle your claim from beginning to end.

If your loved one has been killed for reasons that you suspect may be someone else’s fault, contact our law firm today at (305) 363-7855, any time 24/7, or fill out our online contact form, for a free consultation with our Ft. Lauderdale wrongful death attorneys. Remember — if we don’t win, you don’t pay.

If you don’t win, you don’t pay

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