West Palm Beach wrongful death lawyer

How Economic Damages Palm Beach Wrongful Death Cases Are Calculated

September 18, 2023 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

As Palm Beach wrongful death lawyers, we understand just how precious and fleeting life can be. No dollar figure can ever truly quantify the depth of loss when someone we love is gone from us forever. That said, one of the things our attorneys strive to identify early in these cases is the potential monetary value, as it’s assigned within the framework of the civil justice system. This can seem callous, but it comes from a place of care – because it’s how we provide grieving loved ones with a crystal-clear picture of the costs/benefits of pursuing a legal claim against those believed responsible for the wrongful death. The reality is grief and healing is exhausting work – and it leaves little energy for legal long-shots. Empowering prospective clients to make informed choices is one of our guiding principles at Halberg & Fogg. Palm Beach wrongful death lawyers

To provide an accurate valuation, one of the first things that must be determined is economic damages. For those who may be unfamiliar, the term economic damages in tort law refers to the objective financial losses one has incurred as a result of the harm caused by the defendant. These are things like:

Medical bills.
Income loss.
Future income and benefits loss.
Funeral/burial expenses.

These are different from non-economic losses, which are more subjective adverse impacts, such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of consortium. (Loss of consortium is a separate claim that may be filed by either surviving spouses or children under age 25; if those don’t exist, they may be claimed either by adult children or decedent’s parents).

As of this writing, neither economic nor non-economic damages are capped in Florida. An effort by state lawmakers to cap non-economic damages in Florida medical malpractice wrongful death cases was struck down by the state supreme court in 2017.

F.S. 768.20 states that the personal representative of the decedent’s estate is the only person who has the right to move forward with a wrongful death claim, and they do so on behalf of survivor(s).

Lost Earnings

Economic damages from lost earnings in Florida wrongful death cases stem from two elements: Continue reading

West Palm Beach Injury Lawsuit Damages Would be Capped With HB17

April 4, 2019 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

West Palm Beach injury lawyers have been watching closely the progression of HB17, a bill that would limit the amount of damages for losses like pain and suffering that can’t be easily quantified. The $1 million damage cap would affect non-economic damages in personal injury cases. Proponents claim it’s necessary to improve insurer and large corporation stability, “balance out” their legal risk resulting from high litigation costs and lower what we all pay for insurance and other products/services. West Palm Beach Personal Injury Lawyer

The Florida House Civil Justice Committee approved the cuts, and the bill is advancing.

Here’s the reality about legislative actions like this (also known as “tort reform“): It’s a “get-out-of-jail” free card for insurers and big business. Where they have been successful, it is found companies are better-shielded from litigation risks and their profits are higher. It very often does not result in savings for the public/consumers. Furthermore, it’s been proven that the people most affected by a policy like this are the individuals hurt most severely. Finally, it’s likely no coincidence the most ardent advocates of this measure receive an awful lot of campaign contributions from lobbyists for these industries.

The Case of McCall v. State Showed Damage Caps Don’t Work

Wrongful Death Product Liability Lawsuit Discovery Hits Trade Secret Legal Snag

May 14, 2018 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

A fatal automobile crash spurred a federal wrongful death lawsuit against a tire manufacturer that recently got snagged on the issue of trade secrets. The case illustrates why it’s imperative that those who have suffered a serious injury or death of a loved one due to a car accident seek legal advice from a law firm with extensive experience in handling complex litigation. This is particularly true when we’re going after the manufacturer of a defective vehicle or faulty vehicle part. Product liability laws make these cases far more complex than your typical crash-related injury claim. vehicle defect

Here, in these defective vehicle tire liability case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit certified a question to the South Carolina Supreme Court, asking if the state high court recognized evidentiary privilege for trade secrets (and thus whether the federal trial court erred in applying federal discovery standards). The state court responded yes, it did recognize privilege for trade secrets, but that it was a qualified privilege.

According to court records in the wrongful death case, this all started with the 2010 automobile crash death of a woman in Calhoun County, S.C. The personal representative of her estate filed a survival and wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturer of an allegedly defective tire, asserting claims under state law for negligence, strict liability and breach of warranty. He alleged the vehicle in which decedent was riding was struck head-on by another car that had crossed the median after suffering a tire blowout caused by a defect in the tire itself, which was designed, manufactured and marketed by defendant. Continue reading

Social Media and Your Florida Civil Injury Case: Be Careful What You Post

April 6, 2018 | by David J. Halberg, Esq.

By the end of last year, more than 2 billion people were actively using Facebook on at least a monthly basis. Instagram, meanwhile, serves about 800 million active users a month. Users of Snapchat upload approximately 10 billion videos daily. WhatsApp has about 1 billion users a month. So what does all this have to do with your South Florida injury lawsuit? personal injury lawyer

A lot if you have posted anything pertinent to:

The incident in question;
The people involved in the incident;
Any element that pertains to the incident;
Your mental/ physical condition or well-being prior to and after the incident.

Because a serious injury resulting from something like a car accident or a case of medical malpractice or a criminal attack is something that – of course – affects us very profoundly, it is understandable that many people share those details online. It’s almost become like second nature in this increasingly digital age.

But as the recent Congressional hearings of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reveal, there is an increasingly limited expectation of privacy regarding what we share on our “personal” pages – even when we limit privacy settings and contact lists. Continue reading