Personal Injury Attorney in Gainesville, FL

Sustaining injuries in an accident can be an overwhelming experience, leaving you with physical pain, mounting medical expenses, and the financial strain of lost income. During this challenging time, you may be uncertain about the best course of action.

At Meldon Law, our Gainesville personal injury lawyers provide clients with answers and compassionate support. We won’t back down when it comes to fighting for the rights of people injured by acts of negligence or carelessness.

Call us today or contact us online to arrange your free consultation.

Cases Our Gainesville Personal Injury Lawyers Handle

If you were injured in an accident caused by someone else’s carelessness, we can tell you about your legal options. Our personal injury lawyers provide representation for many different types of negligence cases, including:

• Car accidents
• Truck accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Bicycle accidents
• Boat accidents
• Catastrophic injuries
• Dog bites
• Premises liability
• Slips and falls
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Wrongful death

Meldon Law can help you decide what your next steps should be after an accident that wasn’t your fault.

How Much You Can Get for a Personal Injury Claim

Every personal injury case is unique, and your potential settlement or court award will be based on the details of your accident and the aftermath. That said, these are some of the case results we secured for our clients in 2023:

• $950,000 Settlement: Golf Cart Accident (May 2023)
• $450,000 Settlement: Motorcycle Crash (April 2023)
• $350,000 Settlement: High Impact Collision (January 2023)
• $300,000 Settlement: Car Crash (June 2023)
• $150,000 Settlement: Dog Bite (March 2023)

The only accurate way to get an estimate of your case’s worth is to let your Gainesville personal injury lawyer investigate your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.

Our Gainesville Personal Injury Lawyers Help Our Clients Through Every Step

If you have suffered a serious injury in Gainesville or the surrounding areas, we can help you. Call now for a free consultation with a law firm that will provide you with an honest, straightforward, easy-to-understand discussion about your case.

We begin working on your case immediately by answering all of your questions and setting well-defined expectations. We will continue to keep you updated and informed through the resolution of your claim.

At Meldon Law, we provide expert legal aid and compassionate client care to victims of all types of personal injury. You don’t have to go it alone against the insurance companies.

There Is a Time Limit to File a Gainesville Personal Injury Claim

Florida limits the amount of time personal injury victims have to seek compensation for a personal injury. This limit is two years in most cases. If you believe that you have a case, it is important to contact our Gainesville attorneys as soon as possible.

Once Meldon Law takes your case, you will have nothing to worry about other than receiving treatment for your injuries.

"Some of the staff have been there for many years and they always make me feel welcomed when I contact them. They have been so much help over the years. Meldon Law’s knowledge and experience always gets the job done right and my results haven amazing."

Catherine P.

December 2024

"It has been a real pleasure to deal with Jeffery and Stacy. Jeffery is all about his clients. What is best for the clients well being. He is a great attorney. If you need an accident attorney or a referral this is the man to be talking with. He will now be my attorney for life. Jeffery and Stacy, thank you ever so much."

Hazel J.

March 2025

"Jeffrey and his team were great throughout the whole process of my settlement for an auto accident! They handled everything which made it much easier on me! They were able to navigate the ins and outs of the insurance companies and helped me receive my settlement in a timely manner! Great customer service all around. Would definitely recommend them! They made it much easier to move on from my auto accident! Thanks again!"

Justin W.

April 2024

"My first experience with meldon was amazing. The whole staff willing to talk and listen. They were very helpful and guided me threw the whole process. If you went anywhere else I’m sorry for you !!!!!"

Jabari A.

June 2024

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How a Gainesville Personal Injury Lawyer Determines Fault

Upon accepting your case, your attorney begins an investigation centered on the “three legs” of an injury case. The three vital points that must be proven and documented are:

Who Was at Fault?

Florida is a comparative negligence state, which means more than one person—even the victim—can be blamed for an accident. Because of this, it is of vital importance to immediately and thoroughly start an accident investigation before the evidence gets cold. Our team can look at:

• The Vehicles Involved: In motor vehicle accident cases, an accident investigator can examine the car or truck, take photographs, and take measurements to determine crush damage and other important information. A vehicle’s “black box” can be used to determine speed and other factors. We may also hire an accident reconstruction engineer to evaluate the vehicles from an engineer’s expert perspective.
• The Scene of the Accident: An accident investigator will visit the scene to take photos and look for any factors that could have contributed to the accident.
• The Witnesses: Any witnesses to the accident need to be interviewed by an accident investigator as soon as possible, before the witnesses become hard to find or their memories fade.

Were There Any Injuries Caused by the Accident?

We can document any injuries caused by the accident using:

• Medical records from before and after the accident, EMS reports, hospital records, and records from all doctors who have treated your injuries
• Your doctor’s evaluation of the injuries caused by the accident
• Medical bills from the accident

Under Florida law, you must have a permanent injury, significant scarring, or a loss of a bodily function in order to recover for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and other similar damages.

What Insurance Is Available for Compensation?

You must request compensation from insurers representing all at-fault parties, which may include:

• The owner of the vehicle
• The driver
• The driver’s employer (when appropriate)
• A property or dog owner

We will also consider whatever insurance policies you may have, such as uninsured motorist coverage, health insurance coverage, PIP, and medical payments coverage.

An experienced personal injury attorney knows of all the possible ways to find these potential benefits.

What Is a Demand Package?

A demand package is a compilation of all records that is sent out to the insurance company. It may consist of these types of documents:

• Crash reports from the Gainesville Police Department
• Photographs of vehicles and scene
• Property damage reports
• EMS report
• ER records
• All doctor reports
• All diagnostic tests, including X-rays and MRIs
• Medical bills
• Prior medical records
• Final medical evaluations
• Expert witness reports
• Witness statements
• Evaluation of future medical expense
• Statement regarding the effect of the accident on the victim and their family members

This package also includes a letter from the attorney that summarizes all the facts and information about the case. It demands that the insurance company pay a certain amount of money within a certain period of time (on average 30 days).

You want your demand package to be as complete and as persuasive as possible, which is why hiring a personal injury lawyer to put it together for you is so important.

Negotiations Now Begin Between Your Attorney and the Insurance Adjuster

After the insurance company receives the demand package and evaluates the claim, they might make an initial offer to settle the case. This offer may:

• Reflect the full extent of the victim’s losses and be accepted by the client
• Be insufficient to cover the victim’s needs, prompting negotiations

Our Gainesville personal injury lawyers will consult with you about the strengths and weaknesses of the case and make recommendations on how to proceed. The final decision is always up to you, but it is important to listen to your attorney’s advice.

At this point, negotiations and offers to settle can go back and forth numerous times until an offer is accepted or a lawsuit is filed.

Advantages to settling a case outside of court include:

• Lower attorney fees and costs
• Getting your money sooner
• Avoiding the stress of a drawn-out lawsuit
• Being able to focus on future plans
• Guaranteed outcome

Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit

If you choose to file suit, the next step is to file a complaint. Your attorney will serve the complaint on the defendants (the people legally at fault for the accident and injuries).

Filing a lawsuit means that the case will be scheduled to be presented and argued at trial in front of a judge and jury. To do this, our legal team must put together:

• Interrogatories or questions for all parties
• Requests or subpoenas to produce records or other information from all parties involved and all witnesses, including doctors
• Depositions or sworn statements taken by the attorneys from all parties involved and all witnesses
• Legal motions to be filed with the court

Judges Often Order Mediation in Personal Injury Cases

Mediation is when both sides sit down together with a mediator. Mediators are usually an attorney or a retired judge that have special training in helping to settle cases. Present at the mediation are the attorneys for all sides (insurance companies hire an attorney to defend them) and their clients, an insurance company adjuster, and the mediator.

Both sides take turns explaining their case and can present exhibits, if desired. Negotiations then begin with each party going to a separate room. The mediator then goes back and forth between the other party and your Gainesville personal injury lawyer trying to arrive at a settlement.

If a settlement is reached in mediation, the insurance company will write a check to the injured person within an agreed-upon period of time, the lawsuit is then dropped, and the case is over.

Trial in Front of a Judge and Jury

If a settlement was not reached in mediation, a date is set for trial. The trial can last from a few days to a few weeks.

There is no way to accurately predict what a jury will decide. Attorneys and insurance companies use their past experience to make educated guesses regarding the outcome of the case. This is another reason to get an experienced accident attorney to help you decide if your case should go to trial.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in a Personal Injury Claim

Here are some of the common mistakes that you do not want to make as you pursue your personal injury case:

• Failing to seek immediate medical attention: It is important to seek medical care. Do not ignore the pain or think it will get better with time.
• Failing to be honest about what happened: If you provide incomplete or inaccurate information, the insurance company and the jury will think you are unreliable.
• Failing to accurately document your pain: Insurance companies and juries will not believe you are in pain just because you say so. When they review your records, they will be looking to see how soon you reported pain after an injury and how long you continued to report it.
• Failing to report if your injury is affecting your ability to work: If your injury impacts your ability to work in any way, it is important to tell your doctor and get it into your medical records in addition to informing your employer.
• Stopping medical treatment too soon: Insurance companies and juries often believe that, if a person stops getting medical treatment for an injury, the injury must be all better. Big gaps between treatments may also suggest that someone must have healed from one injury and suffered a new injury unrelated to the first.

Making any of these mistakes could leave you unable to prove your case and unable to receive the fair compensation you deserve. Meldon Law’s Gainesville personal injury lawyers can provide legal guidance throughout your claim to keep your case on track.

Speak to Our Gainesville Personal Injury Law Firm Now

Call us today for a free consultation with our legal team. The Gainesville personal injury attorneys at Meldon Law can use our decades of combined experience and genuine care for our clients to fight for the compensation you need.

Questions Our Lawyers Often Get

An injury can leave you with dozens of questions. Our personal injury lawyers in Gainesville, Florida, have answers.