An injury to the Achilles tendon can cause serious, long-term impacts on the victim’s life, ranging from overall mobility to even the amount of weight that can be carried on that particular side because of structural weakness in the foot and leg in question. These types of injuries happen due to many different possible accidents, but when someone else is responsible for your injury, whether due to negligence, recklessness, or even malice, it can be extremely frustrating to suffer the myriad consequences and endure this pain.
Fortunately, the Florida catastrophic injury lawyers at Fasig | Brooks is available to help you fight to get the compensation that you rightfully deserve after suffering an Achilles tendon injury that someone else caused. This tendon is an essential component of your mobility, and even a seemingly minor injury to it can cause widespread negative impacts, many of which have measurable damages associated with them, all of which we will be happy to help you fight for in a settlement or through a personal injury lawsuit.
Read more below about Achilles tendon injuries, and how a personal injury claim or lawsuit can help you recover the damages that you have suffered as a result of someone else’s behavior. The most important thing for you, the victim, to realize is that whether you are filing a personal injury lawsuit or if you are filing a claim with the responsible party’s insurance company, the reality is that the defendant will be taking all possible steps to pay you as little as possible. Working with a personal injury attorney is the best way to push back on their efforts and to make sure that you get what you deserve, and not just what they want to pay.
Determining Fault and Calculating Damages After an Achilles Tendon Injury
When you file an insurance claim after any injury, including one to your Achilles tendon, there will be two major questions to be answered—concurrently—in order to ultimately decide how much money you are entitled to. The first is that of fault, which will establish who caused the accident, and therefore who is liable to pay for the damages. The second question is that of the actual damages you have suffered, and therefore the amount that the responsible party must pay. You and your attorney will work together in order to establish fault, and you will be able to discuss this issue in great detail during your initial consultation.
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Pure Comparative Negligence in Florida
After an accident involving multiple parties, there is typically one individual who is most at fault, but oftentimes there is the possibility that even the victim contributed some amount to the accident. In some states, even taking responsibility for 1% of the accident can invalidate a victim’s claim entirely, but fortunately, Florida uses a rule known as “pure comparative negligence” when it comes to assigning blame.
Using pure comparative negligence, a victim can seek compensation regardless of their negligence, but their final award will be reduced by their amount of negligence. For example, if you contribute 10% negligence in the accident that you were injured in, your final settlement will be reduced by 10%. This is an extremely helpful rule to keep you from having your entire claim invalidated if you were at all negligent, but it can also be used by the insurance company or defense as a way to save money. Your Florida personal injury lawyer will fight to ensure that you do not accept any negligence beyond that which you absolutely contributed.
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Economic Damages
Once the matter of fault is established, economic damages are the foundation of the damages that you will seek in your claim or lawsuit. They include any damage that has a financial value associated with it, such as medical bills or lost wages. These are the easiest damages to calculate since they come with receipts, invoices, tax statements, earning reports, and other financial tools. As such, the insurance company or defense will spend less energy fighting these damages, and will instead focus on poking holes in your non-economic damages as a way to save money.
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Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are much more complicated to calculate, and as such, are much more aggressively contested by the defense or their insurance company. They seek compensation for damages that do not have measurable dollar values, such as the pain and suffering you have endured following your Achilles tendon injury, or the depression or loss of quality of life you may experience as a result of your injury and limited mobility. There are a variety of methods for calculating these damages, each of which is best left to an experienced legal professional to ensure that these calculations will hold up through the negotiations that will ensue.
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