Daytona Beach Personal Injury Lawyer

Our Daytona Beach Personal Injury Attorneys Handle All Types of Injury Cases

While most personal injuries are preventable, accidents still happen every minute in the United States. In Florida, a person who becomes injured in a car accident or another type of accident may be eligible for compensation if they can prove negligence on the part of another individual or entity. Working with experienced Daytona Beach personal injury lawyers can make this process easier for you and your loved one(s).

Our knowledgeable Daytona Beach personal injury attorneys Ronald Zimmet Sr. and Ronald Zimmet Jr. serving all of Florida from their Daytona Beach office can assist you with determining liability in your particular injury and help obtain compensation on your behalf.

Have you been injured in an accident or fall? Do You have question and want to know your legal options.
Call 386-255-6400 for a free consultation and remember there is NO FEE unless WE Win.

A person can sustain an injury in various types of personal injury cases, including:

When your injury was the result of someone else’s negligence, you may be able to pursue a personal injury claim against the at-fault party to recover damages and obtain fair compensation for your losses.

Thus, it is vital to establish fault in your particular accident to determine whether your case qualifies for a personal injury claim in Florida. Contact our personal injury lawyers in Daytona Beach at Zimmet & Zimmet to schedule a free consultation. Call at 386-255-6400 or complete this contact form to get legal help in your personal injury case.

How Much is My Daytona Personal Injury Case Worth?

In Florida, the financial compensation available in personal injury cases can be broken down into three categories:

Economic damages
Non-economic damages
Punitive damages

The types and amounts of damages depend on the type of your accident, the nature and severity of your injury, and other circumstances surrounding your case.

Economic damages

A person who became injured in an accident due to someone else’s negligence is entitled to economic damages to compensate for their injury-related expenses and financial losses, including:

Medical bills
Prescription medications
Rehabilitation costs
Medical transportation costs
Property damage
Lost wages due to the injury
Diminished earning capacity
Other economic losses

Non-economic damages

As their name implies, non-economic damages are not associated with a direct financial cost and do not have a price tag. Because non-economic damages are more subjective than economic damages, the value of these damages can vary greatly from one personal injury case to another. Non-economic damages include:

Emotional distress
Pain and suffering
Mental anguish
Anxiety
Depression
Loss of enjoyment of life
Permanent disfigurement, disability, or scarring
Loss of companionship or consortium

Punitive damages

Typically, punitive damages are rarely awarded in personal injury cases in Florida. Punitive damages are paid to the victim on top of compensatory damages (economic and non-economic) and are intended to punish the negligent party when their behavior is found to be especially harmful or outrageous.

Under the Florida Statute Section 768.72, a victim is entitled to punitive damages only when the defendant acted with “intentional misconduct” or “gross negligence.”

When should I hire a Daytona Beach personal injury lawyer?

It is in your best interest to speak with skilled Daytona Beach personal injury lawyers as soon as possible after your accident. If you have been injured in an accident, you need to reach out to your insurance company to provide coverage for your medical expenses and other losses.

While it is important to seek legal help from a knowledgeable lawyer, it is equally important to know what questions to ask during your initial consultation. Before hiring a personal injury attorney in Daytona Beach, it is vital to ask them several questions to ensure that you are hiring the right lawyer for your case:

Personal Injury FAQ

Have you handled similar personal injury cases before?

Hiring an experienced personal injury attorney is key to getting the maximum compensation. You need to ensure that your lawyer has handled cases similar to yours prior to hiring him or her.

Here at Zimmet & Zimmet, our Daytona Beach personal injury attorneys have proudly served clients in the state of Florida since 1975. Ronald Zimmet Sr. and his son Ronald Zimmet Jr. have won million and multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements in personal injury cases ranging from vehicle accidents involving cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians to slip and fall and premises liability accidents.

How much is my personal injury case worth?

Typically, no attorney will be able to tell you how much your case is worth without conducting a thorough review of all the details surrounding your particular case. Many factors go into determining the value of a personal injury case in Florida, which is why you need a skilled Daytona Beach injury lawyer to assess your damages based on all the factors related to your unique case.

Will my case go to trial?

The vast majority of personal injury cases are settled out of court. However, your case might be among those that go to trial. After all, parties are not always able to reach a consensus regarding a favorable settlement because the injured party may feel that the settlement offer is too low while the at-fault party may feel that the offer is reasonable or even too high.

In that situation, both parties need to be prepared to litigate their personal injury case. Your personal injury claim may eventually proceed to court if you and the other party cannot agree on a settlement offer. Your attorney will have to be prepared to take your case to court if necessary.

Is there a time limit for filing a personal injury claim?

Florida state law is very strict about time limits for all types of legal actions, including personal injury lawsuits. In Florida, you must file your personal injury claim within four years from the date of the accident if your injury was caused by the negligent acts of another individual or entity.

However, there is a shortened statute of limitations for personal injury claims against government entities and lawsuits involving wrongful death. However, just because the time limit to file a lawsuit is four years does not mean that you have plenty of time and can simply postpone taking legal action. Preparing a personal injury case is usually a time-consuming and complicated process, which is why you should seek help from knowledgeable Daytona Beach personal injury lawyers to start working on your case as soon as possible.

Can I recover damages if I was partially at fault for my accident?

If your own fault contributed to your accident, you might still be able to obtain compensation for your injury. Florida follows the pure comparative negligence system, which means you can recover damages if you were partially at fault. However, your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of your own fault.

Thus, your own negligence can limit the amount of compensation you can obtain in a personal injury settlement or verdict. For example, if you were found to be 15% at fault while the other person was deemed to be 85% to blame for the accident, your compensation will be reduced by 15%.

How much will I have to pay for my consultation with a lawyer?

If you schedule a consultation with our Daytona Beach injury attorneys at Zimmet & Zimmet, you will not have to pay anything to consult with us about your case. Our personal injury law firm in Daytona Beach offers a free initial consultation to anyone who was injured in Florida and is in need of help.

How the Florida personal injury claim process begins

Once an individual has decided to pursue compensation for a personal injury accident, time is of the essence. The claim process begins with a meeting with our Daytona Beach personal injury lawyers. Our team is comprised of experienced, client-centered professionals to walk you through the process.

First, your attorney will take the time to understand the details of your situation. This review will include all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the injury to determine if a viable lawsuit should be filed. This free consultation is available to all of our potential clients, and it is the first step in getting you the compensation that you need to recover properly.

Stage 1 – Demand letter

Depending on the case, the lawyer will start by sending a demand letter to the defendant, as well as their insurance company. The defendant is the person responsible for causing the injuries. This letter will clearly state:

What happened
Why the defendant is responsible or legally liable
What injuries were sustained
The nature and cost of medical treatments
Lost income related to the injury
Other requested damages

Upon receipt of the demand letter, the defendant has the option of paying the amount suggested, countering with an offer of a different dollar amount, or refusing to pay the demand all together. If both the lawyer and client find the response unsatisfactory, they proceed to the next step in the process.

Stage 2 – Complaint

If the case is not resolved with the demand letter, or if the personal injury attorney believes a demand letter is not suitable for the case, a complaint is then filed. The word “complaint” simply refers to the legal document a lawyer files with the court, which lists the parties involved, legal claims, facts that support the claim, and a demand for judgment that details the amount of money.

Zimmet & Zimmet is a long-established personal injury law firm in Daytona Beach, Florida. We handle cases ranging from personal injury and nursing home abuse to car accidents and wrongful death. Call us today 386-255-6400 for a free consultation. Once the complaint is filed, the defendant must respond within a certain amount of time.

How discovery is requested
What must be disclosed in discovery
When it must be disclosed
How to handle disagreements between the lawyers

During discovery, the evidence is reviewed, witnesses are interviewed, facts are investigated, and people are deposed. A deposition refers to a process where the personal injury attorney for one side questions a witness from the other side. This takes place with the witness under oath, and both attorneys present.

We recognize that depositions tend to be one of the most anxiety-inducing stages of the process, especially for those who are recovering from an injury. We believe that the key to reducing this anxiety for our clients, as well as the key to an effective discovery process in general, is thorough preparation.

Our Daytona Beach personal injury lawyers are trained to make sure that you are never entering into a situation without all the tools and confidence you need to get the damages you deserve.

Stage 3 – Negotiations

Once all of this information has been reviewed, both lawyers will enter into negotiations to try and settle the case. While lawyers are not required to settle cases short of trial, most do. There are several good reasons to consider settlement:

Settlements provide certainty in the result for both parties.
Settlements are final, and unlike trials, are generally not appealable.
Witnesses are not required to testify.
Both parties save on the time and money required for trial preparation.

When cases resolve in a negotiated settlement, our Daytona Beach personal injury lawyers discuss terms, which must ultimately be approved by their clients. Once a settlement offer has been made, it is a lawyer’s legal responsibility to inform their client about the benefits and risks of settlement versus trial.

If we think that a settlement is going to be in your best interest considering the circumstances, then we will let you know. We will also walk you through the realities of what a trial would look like and what the chances are that you will be rewarded the full damages that you deserve.

While some personal injury attorneys will take the first settlement offer as a matter of policy, we won’t rest until we believe that you are getting the best offer possible to help you with the damages.

At the end of the day, however, our client is the one who decides whether to take the settlement or proceed to trial. Either way, we will be there to guide you until the end.

Stage 4 – Trial

When cases cannot be resolved, a trial takes place. Trials can take place in front of a judge directly, or a jury. In the trial, each lawyer makes opening statements, witnesses are interviewed and subject to cross-examination, the evidence is introduced through testimony and exhibits, and the lawyers give closing arguments. The judge or jury then makes a decision about whether to award damages and if so, in what amount. This decision is appealable by either side. Appealing a decision can extend the length of a case by months or even years.

Speak with our experienced Daytona Beach Personal Injury Lawyers today

You can find out the answers to all your questions during a free consultation with our personal injury lawyers at Zimmet & Zimmet. Our Daytona Beach-based law firm has served clients across the state of Florida for more than 40 years.

Our Daytona Beach personal injury attorneys can help you recover damages by seeking compensation for your medical bills, loss of income, pain & suffering, property damage, and other losses associated with your accident. Zimmet & Zimmet injury lawyers will help you hold the negligent party responsible for your injury to get your life back on track in a timely manner.

Get a free consultation with our personal injury attorneys in Daytona Beach to discuss your particular case and explore your legal options. Contact Zimmet & Zimmet to get a free case review. Call at 386-255-6400 or fill out our contact form.

Zimmet & Zimmet serves Orlando, Deland, Deltona, Port Orange, Palm Coast and all of Florida from our Daytona Beach office.