Ocala Personal Injury Attorneys
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 31 million people went to emergency rooms throughout the United States in one year to seek treatment for accidental injuries. Accidental injuries can range from relatively minor cuts to life-changing spine or brain injuries. No matter what type of injury you suffered, however, you will likely face financial losses such as medical bills or lost income.
The experienced Ocala personal injury attorneys at Meldon Law are committed to helping victims of accidental injuries recover from their losses whenever they can. If you would like to learn about your legal rights following a personal injury, please call our office today to discuss your specific situation with an experienced member of our legal team.
Meldon Law, Your Brick City Attorneys
Accidental personal injuries can occur in many different ways. In many cases, these injuries happen because someone else acted negligently. Negligence means that someone did not act with the amount of care that was legally expected to in a certain situation. In such instances, injured victims have the right to seek compensation from the negligent party by filing a personal injury claim.
- Auto Accidents
- Amputation Injury
- ATV Accidents
- Bicycle Accidents
- Boat Accidents
- Brain Injury
- Burn Injury
- Bus Accidents
- Car Accidents
- Catastrophic Injury
- Distracted Driving Accidents
- Dog Bite
- Drunk Driver Accidents
- Fractures & Broken Bones
- Head-on Collision
- Hit & Run Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Rear-End Collision
- Rideshare Accidents
- Rollover Crash
- Scooter Accidents
- Slip & Fall
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Truck Accidents
- Uninsured Driver Accidents
- Wrongful Death
Negligence can be a complex legal concept and there can be a wide range of negligent acts that lead to personal injury claims. The type of evidence needed to prove negligence and the legal questions that may arise in a particular case will depend on the specific act that caused your accident and injuries. For this reason, you want to ensure that your attorney has experience handling cases that involve the type of accident that happened to you. To best serve injured clients, the attorneys at Meldon Law regularly handle a variety of injury cases.
Motor Vehicle Accidents in Ocala
Millions of people sustain injuries in traffic-related accidents every single year. Motor vehicle accidents can happen for many reasons, many of which involve negligent drivers. Drunk driving, distracted, driving, and violating traffic regulations can all lead to both injuries in crashes and legal liability for any injuries that resulted. Traffic accidents can involve different types of vehicles, which can contribute to the nature and severity of injuries suffered.
- Car Accidents – The majority of traffic accidents involve passenger vehicles such as cars or SUVs. Even with all of the safety features and modern technology in vehicles these days, occupants of cars still regularly sustain severe injuries in crashes.
- Big Truck Accidents – When you drive around Ocala, you will likely encounter a number of large commercial trucks. Because these trucks are so much larger and heavier than passenger vehicles, truck accidents can result in devastating injuries and damage to motorists and their cars.
- Motorcycle Accidents – Motorcyclists have no seat belts, airbags, bumpers, or frame of a vehicle around them to protect their bodies from the impact of a crash. Even helmets cannot prevent all head and brain injuries in a motorcycle accident. For these reasons, motorcyclists can sustain debilitating injuries in accidents.
Following any type of traffic accident, you should always follow the advice of any emergency medical personnel if they tell you to go directly to the hospital. If you can remain on the scene, you should wait for law enforcement to arrive and ensure they hear your side of the story. If another driver is intoxicated or has violated the law, police can arrest the driver or issue citations, which can only help with your case. As soon as you know your physical health is stable after an accident, your next call should be to our skilled personal injury attorneys to determine the best course of action for you.
Other Types of Accidents
Of course, people can be injured in accidents that do not involve motor vehicles at all. Many other types of accidents occur because a property owner was negligent in the upkeep of their premises. When a business owner or property owner allows unsafe conditions or hazards to exist, customers and visitors can be injured in the following ways and more.
- Slip and Falls – While everyone has likely slipped and fallen at some point in their lives, some slip and falls you may never forget because of the severe injuries that can result. Many people are injured if they slip and fall due to dangerous flooring conditions, liquid spills, or other hazards on another party’s property.
- Falls – In addition to slips or trips, many people may fall from heights due to dangerous conditions. Falls down the stairs, from landings or balconies, or other heights can result in severe injuries.
- Dog Bites – Many property owners have dogs or other animals on the premises. If a dog or animal attacks and bites you, you may suffer lacerations, torn ligaments, scars, infections, and emotional trauma. We can help you hold animal owners liable for your losses.
- Brain Injuries
Medical Malpractice
Another unfortunate yet common cause of injury to Ocala residents is medical negligence. While you should be able to trust that your doctor will take proper care of you, medical professionals commonly make serious errors that can result in unnecessary injuries and extensive financial losses. Some common forms of medical malpractice include:
- Failure to diagnose
- Surgical errors
- Medication errors
- Birth injuries
- wrongful death
Proving that a medical error rose to the level of negligence can involve complex analysis and technical evidence, so you always want an attorney with experience representing medical malpractice victims.
Personal Injury Checklist
It is the job of an experienced Ocala personal injury attorney to help a person get fair compensation for a reasonable amount of money if they have been injured in an accident that was not their fault. Here is a complete list of tasks that we do at Meldon Law in order to accomplish this goal and “work up” a personal injury or accident case, wrongful death, medical malpractice, slip and fall, or other serious accident cases from car, motorcycle, buses, trucks, and scooters crashes, in order to get the best possible results for our client. Every case is unique, and not all of these tasks may be required or relevant for every case. They include:
- Initial interview with the client.
- Educate client about personal injury claims.
- Gather evidence and records from the accident to support the claim including: crash report, medical records, and bills.
- Analyze the client’s own automobile insurance policy to see what coverage is available to pay for the client’s damages and losses.
- Begin initial investigation of the client’s claim, including: gathering witness statements, photographs, diagrams, and physical evidence.
- Analyze the legal issues such as comparative negligence and assumption of the risk.
- Obtain and review medical records (past and present) or talk with the client’s physicians to fully understand the client’s condition.
- Obtain specific reports from experts to support the client’s claim.
- File any necessary claim forms.
- Analyze client’s own health insurance or governmental benefit plan to see whether any money must be repaid.
- Analyze and address the validity of any liens asserted against the client’s settlement recovery (various healthcare providers, insurers, governmental agencies may file liens seeking reimbursement for benefits already paid to or on behalf of the client).
- Contact the insurance company to put them on notice about the claim and conduct periodic discussions with the insurance company about the case so that the appropriate reserves are set aside to settle the case.
- Conduct negotiations with the insurance adjuster in an effort to settle the claim.
- Decide with the client whether to negotiate with the insurance company or to file a law suit.
- Prepare and draft the summons and complaint to file in court, if a lawsuit will be filed.
- Perform investigation to locate the defendant so that personal service of the summons and complaint can be achieved.
- Arrange for personal service of the summons and complaint on the defendant as required by law.
- Prepare and draft written questions for information from the other side (called interrogatories and requests for production).
- Prepare the client for their deposition.
- Prepare for and conduct the deposition of the defendant and other lay witnesses.
- Meet with client’s physicians to prepare for their own deposition requested by the defense attorney.
- Prepare to take the deposition of the defendant’s experts, including medical experts.
- Prepare the client for their medical examination by the defendant’s medical experts.
- Produce to the defendant all of the pertinent data for the claim, such as medical bills, medical records, and tax returns.
- Review and analyze the client’s medical records and billings.
- Hire other necessary experts to support or prove the client’s claim, including: other physicians, economists, engineers, vocational experts, etc.
- Review and analyze expert reports about the case.
- File necessary documents in court as required by the judge, including: witness lists, trial readiness, pretrial conferences, etc.
- Prepare client and witnesses for trial.
- Create and prepare exhibits for trial.
- Organize records and other documentary evidence intended to be introduced at trial.
- Prepare for mediation or arbitration by organizing records and other documents for submission to the mediator or arbitrator.
- Research and write briefs and file motions to keep out or let in certain evidence at trial.
- Create mock trials or focus groups to prepare for trial.
- Go to trial and try the case over the course of several days, or longer, in front of a judge and jury.
- Analyze the verdict and research any issues that may have come up in trial.
- Write briefs or motions following the verdict to obtain post-trial relief, including motions for attorney fees, or to overturn the verdict.
- Analyze trial record to determine if appeal is warranted, if either side has solid grounds to appeal the case.
- Research and write briefs and motions if appeal is filed.
- Negotiate subrogation claims asserted by the client’s insurance company, workers compensation carrier or governmental agency that provided benefits to the client.
- Negotiate medical bills for the client.
Contact Our Ocala Personal Injury Attorneys for a Free Consultation
At Meldon Law, our personal injury attorneys are dedicated to helping you in any way possible following your accident. We will evaluate your situation and determine whether you have a viable claim. We will work with insurance companies to obtain a settlement from them if at all possible. We will also seek compensation for you in court when needed to ensure you receive full financial recovery for your injuries.
If you have been injured, you want a law firm on your side with the experience and resources necessary to help you recover. Please call our office at 800-373-8000 for a free consultation today.
