Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Non-Economic Damages?

Non-economic damages are hard to quantify. It’s very important to hire an experienced attorney, so that they can recover non-economic damages. These damages are pain and suffering, emotional distress, as well as the loss of enjoyment of life. To break those down a little bit more, pain and suffering is not just physical pain. It’s also the mental suffering that you go through. Same thing with the loss of enjoyment of life, as well as any emotional distress that people go through after a personal injury event occurs.

What Are Economic Damages?

Economic damages are first, your medical expenses. That could be a hospital bills, doctor’s bills, any specialists or surgeries that you occurred you also have lost wages, sometimes people miss work as a result of a personal injury case, as well as any property damage, whether personal property or damage to your vehicle.

Are You Available 24 Hours A Day, 7 Days A Week?

Yes, our law firm is staffed in a way that you can always reach one of our employees. It does not matter what day of the week or what time of the week, we will have someone that is ready to speak to you and, if need be, an attorney will jump on the line.

How do you know if you need an attorney?

In the vast majority of cases, you do need an attorney. These insurance companies are billion-dollar companies. They’re going to have attorneys, investigators, and experts working on the case right away. There have been studies done where if you obtain an attorney, your case on average settles for multiple times higher than people who did not hire an attorney.

We will go to bat for you from the day you sign up for us. We’ll make sure that all the insurance companies are put on notice. Any videos will be preserved, any evidence that needs to be preserved will be preserved, and we will make sure that you have a fair fight with the insurance companies, because they will have people working for them on your case.

No. We work under a contingency fee. We only get paid if we are able to get you a recovery. So, you are always more than welcome to come into the office or call our office, talk to an attorney, get a free consultation, and there’s no charge for that.

At our office, you will meet a lawyer. It is our job to represent you and advocate you in a courtroom and against the insurance company. If I don’t know the person that I am representing on a personal level, how am I going to be able to get that person the best result possible? So, you’ll hear from an attorney, either with an in-person meeting or a phone call within the first week of you signing up.

In the event your injury prevents you from traveling to our office, we will meet with you at your house, the hospital, or any meeting place you designate.

The answer typically is no. Sometimes you may have to give a recorded statement to your own insurance company. However, we want to be a part of that conversation. So, never give a statement or a recorded statement to an insurance company without first contacting an attorney and getting that attorney to represent you.

Yes. Our law firm is staffed in such a way that our employee can be reached 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. We are ready, willing, and able to discuss a claim with you 24/7.

We are paid on a contingency fee, which means we get a percentage of anything that we recover for you. So, if, unfortunately, we’re not able to get your recovery, 33 ⅓ or 40% of 0 is still 0. So, you do not have to give us money for us to begin our representation for you.

You do not pay us per phone call, per appointment, or for any meetings you may have with the attorney or paralegal. All of that is technically free until we are able to get you a recovery, at which point we will take a percentage of the recovery.

The answer is no. You do not want to sign anything that is going to allow the insurance company to access any of your medical records or information. If you retain us, we will get all your medical records and reports and provide to the insurance company what they need to properly evaluate the claim. So, never sign anything to the insurance company.

The answer is no. Some cases are able to be resolved without ever filing a lawsuit and getting the court system involved. It is our job as attorneys to properly advise you and tell you what is in your best interest for your case. We are able to resolve cases through what we call “Pre-Suit,” which means settling the case before a lawsuit is ever filed.

If you are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence and you are confident adult over 18 years old, you can bring a claim on your behalf. If you are a minor, you will need the natural parent and legal guardian of the minor to bring the suit on their behalf.

But it is important to note, there are certain instances where a spouse may also have a claim, even if they are not injured as a result of someone else’s negligence. Let’s call it a loss of consortium, which means a loss of partnership with their spouse.

In Florida, the statute of limitations was changed to two years in 2023. So, you have two years, from the date you are injured, to either settle the case or file a lawsuit against the appropriate defendant.

It is your case. You have a right to choose your legal representation. If you are not happy with an attorney who is representing you, you have every right in the world to let that attorney go and choose new representation. That attorney who had been working on your case will be entitled to a lien, depending on the amount of work they have done on your case. It is important that you get to choose your attorney and that you are comfortable with your attorney.

In Florida, in March 2023, the law was changed to where if you are deemed 50.1% at fault, you are not able to recover anything. That is why it’s important to get an attorney involved right away, so that they can work up the liability and prove that the other party was 100% at fault, or at least over 50% at fault, so that you are entitled to a recovery.

A study has been conducted that shows people who retain an attorney, on average, get several times more than people who do not retain an attorney. So, a lot of times insurance companies are contacting you to get you to settle because they know that the case will resolve for less money than what the case will resolve for if there’s an attorney involved.

That is a classic question that everyone always asks me, and the answer is, “What are your damages?” In Florida, you have six elements of damages. Those damages are, your past medical expenses, your future medical expenses, your past lost wages, your future lost earning capacity, your past pain and suffering, and your future pain and suffering.
So, there is not one generic answer of what a case is worth. It all comes down to what your damages are. And the other key point is what type of insurance the other side has. So, no two cases are alike. And so that strictly comes down to meeting with your attorney, your attorney getting to know you, and you properly identifying all those damages, so that you can recover the maximum amount that you deserve.

That is a classic question that everyone always asks me, and the answer is, “What are your damages?” In Florida, you have six elements of damages. Those damages are, your past medical expenses, your future medical expenses, your past lost wages, your future lost earning capacity, your past pain and suffering, and your future pain and suffering.

So, there is not one generic answer of what a case is worth. It all comes down to what your damages are. And the other key point is what type of insurance the other side has. So, no two cases are alike. And so that strictly comes down to meeting with your attorney, your attorney getting to know you, and you properly identifying all those damages, so that you can recover the maximum amount that you deserve.

Yes. In addition to personal injury, we handle wrongful death, professional malpractice and social security disability. Specifically we handle almost any type of injury or death including but not limited to the following:

Injury attorneys at Brooks Law Group are highly trained in Florida automobile injury claims. Our law firm offers Florida accident attorneys with over 40 years of experience.

We encourage you to review other parts of the firm’s website to give you more background and insight on Brooks Law Group.

Our injury attorneys fight insurance companies everyday. We are well known and respected by the insurance industry and opposing attorneys. We have built a solid reputation for successful injury litigation.

Our law firm offers a caring, responsible team of Florida injury attorneys, paralegals, case managers and legal secretaries that will work to achieve the compensation you deserve. Any accident involving a vehicle can result in difficult hospital situations and insurance companies that do not have your best interest in mind. Consult our automobile accident attorneys to determine the following about a Florida automobile injury.

The answer should be no. However, insurance is a contractual obligation between you and the insurance company. When your period comes up for renewal, the insurance company has a right to increase their rates if they want. You, as well, have a right to shop around and find better coverage.

Now, insurance companies should not increase your rates just because you’re involved in a case, but that does not mean that your rates will stay the same after a claim, just because they can’t raise them. They typically will raise their rates every single year, and you have a right to shop around and find the best possible coverage for you and your family.

Yes, we can help. That is one of our main jobs, to make sure that all your medical expenses are taken care of after a settlement or verdict. We will work with health care providers to make sure that their bills are held and put into a status to where you do not have to pay out of pocket for any medical treatment until your case is resolved.

Many people have heard that Florida is a no-fault state, and what that means is your insurance policy through your car insurance has personal injury protection. Personal injury protection will reimburse you for 60% of any lost wages up to $10,000. Now that is only 60%, but you have two other damages that you are able to pursue from the at-fault company or driver. And those are for your past lost wages and future lost earning capacity. So that is something that is our job, to make sure that you are fairly compensated for any work that you miss as a result of someone else’s negligence.

At Brooks Law Group, we are a state wide law firm. We can represent injured people anywhere in the state. Depositions and mediations are all done remotely over zoom. You can have contact with your attorney over zoom. We are also willing to meet you wherever you are located throughout the state. So, just because you are not located in one of those counties does not mean that we cannot help you.

The answer is no. Do not sign a release. Once you sign a release, you’re releasing all claims by that party. Never sign your release unless you have retained an attorney, that attorney has advised you that it is a fair settlement, and that the release has the appropriate language in there. Never sign a release because you cannot pursue a claim after that release to signed, and you want to make sure there’s no language in there that should not be located in that release.

That is a very case-dependent question. You have six elements of damages. Those damages are your past medical expenses, your future medical expenses, your past lost wages, your future lost earning capacity, your past pain and suffering, and your future pain and suffering. It is our job to make sure that we understand each one of those six elements, that we properly identify them, lay them out, and document them so that a jury fully understands what those damages are, and that we are able to get you the highest possible recovery.