South Florida Personal Injury Blog

Broward accident attorney Andrew Alitowski represents south Floridians in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties in a variety of personal injury lawsuits, including swimming pool injuries, employment discrimination, harassment at work, nursing home abuse and neglect, and motor vehicle accidents. He also represents plaintiffs who have suffered injuries from another person’s animal. Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer Alitowski says that these injuries are most commonly dog bites, although injuries from other animals can and do occur.

Canine attacks can be terrifying for adults and children alike. They may even cause lifelong injuries, as well as a fear of “man’s best friend.” Pet owners have a responsibility to ensure that their animals do not injure other people who may come across them. Hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer serious injuries from dog bites every year, in the Fort Lauderdale area and around the nation.

According to Fort Lauderdale accident lawyer Alitowski, the state of Florida is serious about holding pet owners responsible for the actions of their animals. Under state law, a dog owner is liable for the injuries his dog inflicts in almost all cases. If the owner warns of the presence of a dangerous animal through a sign, however, then he may not be liable, unless the injured person was a young child.

Dog bites are occurring more frequently in Florida, although animal control officials are unsure why the numbers are rising. In any case, if you are bitten by a domestic or wild animal, take immediate health precautions. Because even a domesticated pet could carry rabies, it is important to report the incident to animal control authorities as soon as possible, so that they can take precautions for your safety and the safety of other people who could be affected by an animal’s poor health. Likewise, if your pet is bitten by another animal, take similar precautions.

Rabies is not always easy to detect to the naked eye, so any biting animal without sufficient veterinarian and vaccine records should be tested or kept under observation. Animals in the later stages often display odd behavior and may appear to have difficulty walking properly. Wild animals, like raccoons, may seem unusually friendly towards humans. In domesticated animals, cats are more likely to contract rabies than dogs.

Broward injury lawyer Alitowski reminds Fort Lauderdale residents to remain especially vigilant about dog bites affecting children. Children are less equipped to escape from a dangerous dog and may suffer devastating injuries if attacked. They should not be permitted to pet unfamiliar animals, who may seem friendly to a child accustomed to a family’s dog or a neighbor’s pet.

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West Palm Beach injury lawyer Andrew Alitowski is familiar with the injuries associated with motorcycle accidents. These types of motor vehicle accidents are more likely to be fatal or to cause serious bodily injury, especially to the driver of the motorcycle or moped, due in part to the limited amount of protection available from the bike itself.

Palm Beach accident lawyer Alitowski reminds drivers and passengers of motorcycles and mopeds of the importance of wearing a helmet to reduce the likelihood of death, traumatic brain injury, and other life-threatening complications resulting from an accident. Florida has relatively liberal motorcycle helmet laws. Under Florida law, a person under 21 years of age must wear a helmet when driving or riding on a motorcycle. On a moped, anyone under 16 years of age must do so.

Mandatory helmet laws are controversial in some circles, because they deprive the rider of his or her ability to make these safety decisions. On the other hand, the laws aim to provide protection and to reduce public health and emergency services costs. The Florida law, requiring helmets only for young drivers, strikes some semblance of a balance between these competing interests.

Following a motorcycle accident, it is important to get immediate medical attention. Certain injuries, particularly head injuries, do not manifest themselves until hours or even days after the accident, so the motorcycle driver may be unaware initially that he is actually hurt. Head injuries are the most common motorcycle accident injuries, according to Palm Beach motor vehicle accident attorney Alitowski, but many other injuries can occur, such as limb injuries causing amputation.

After receiving medical attention for your injuries, contact an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer. The attorneys at Alitowski & Moore, P.A., have particularized knowledge related to motorcycle accidents. If another driver was responsible for your injuries, the driver or his insurance company may be liable to you for monetary compensation.

If you have suffered head injuries, amputation, or other common motorcycle and moped accident injuries, we can also negotiate on your behalf with your own insurance company. You may not be able to go to work for medical reasons and you could suffer psychological ramifications, such as post-traumatic stress disorder related to the accident. The motorcycle accident lawyers at Alitowski & Moore can also help you find the most qualified doctors, including neurologists and plastic surgeons, to treat your injuries.

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Head trauma is one of the scariest injuries a person can incur. Fort Lauderdale accident attorney Andrew Alitowski knows that families are often devastated to hear that a loved one has suffered a head injury, especially a traumatic brain injury, which can occur in motor vehicle collisions and other accidents.

Head injuries are one of the most common reasons why children are hospitalized. About 0.3 percent of the general population will experience a head injury in any given year. Serious head injuries appear to be significantly more common in North America, where approximately 25 out of every 100,000 people die every year of head injuries, compared to just nine of every 100,000 in the United Kingdom. Motor vehicle accidents, falls, accidents in the home or workplace, and even intentional attacks by another person are the most common causes of head injuries.

Concussions are one of the most well-known types of head injuries, according to Broward accident lawyer William Moore. A moderately bad concussion can cause some degree of amnesia, in which the affected person experiences some degree of memory loss regarding the events before or after the injury or the events culminating in the injury. A concussion can also cause other symptoms, such as making the victim feel tired, dizzy, depressed, or ill.

Certain types of head trauma can lead to hematomas, which involve bleeding. An epidural hematoma is rapid bleeding out between the tissue surrounding the brain and the skull itself. Generally, patients will have lost consciousness and regained it, only to lose it again later. This is a serious condition that can develop even just moments after the head trauma occurs. A subdural hematoma is caused by a torn vein near the cerebral cortex. Subdural hematomas can cause death or serious, long-lasting complications and should be treated urgently.

Other types of head injuries people who have been in motor vehicle accidents may experience include cerebral contusions and diffuse axonal injury. A cerebral contusion occurs when the brain is actually bruised due to head trauma. These injuries are considered relatively severe head injuries and the prognosis varies significantly depending on the area of the brain affected. Diffuse axonal injuries, like cerebral contusions, vary from injury to injury.

Skull fractures are a fairly uncommon, but problematic injury seen with motor vehicle accidents. Skull fractures are often associated with bleeding on the brain. It can also lead to brain infections in some cases.

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Broward motor vehicle accident attorney Andrew Alitowski provides outstanding legal representation to people who have been hurt in car accidents. Unfortunately, dozens of motorists and their passengers are injured in traffic accidents in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area every week – often in accidents that are in no way their own fault. Even if the injured person was somewhat at fault, he may still be able to recover monetary damages for his injuries.

Florida law requires drivers to purchase minimum amounts of car insurance to protect themselves and others in the event of an accident. Every driver must have $10,000 of personal injury protection and $10,000 of property damage liability. The latter covers damage to the vehicles while the former protects the driver. Specifically, personal injury protection provides payments for the medical care of the driver and family members who reside with the driver, if they were passengers.

Unfortunately, Broward car accident lawyers Alitowski & Moore know all too well that many motorists drive without car insurance, which they are required to have. Many drivers opt to purchase insurance to cover their own injuries or damages if they are hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist. Although such insurance is not required by Florida law, many insurers recommend it as an extra precaution.

Other frequently recommended insurance includes bodily injury coverage. This add-on provides for the medical expenses and other associated costs in the event that you injure another person on the roads. Likewise, if you are seriously injured and sue the other driver to cover the costs of your injuries, these will likely be paid from their bodily injury insurance coverage if the other motorist had elected to purchase that coverage.

The Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorneys of Alitowski & Moore understand the complex nature of insurance claims and litigation. Some motorists who are injured are inadequately reimbursed by their own or the other driver’s insurance, or are perhaps not paid any compensation for their injuries at all. Motorists are frequently injured on the south Florida roadways due to the negligent driving behaviors of others, such as speeding, careless or reckless driving, and even drunk driving. These dangerous behaviors hurt innocent people who deserve to be compensated for the medical bills and other expenses. Each year there are approximately six million car accidents in the United States, which cause about three million injuries. Although these injuries range in severity from the very minor to critical, they can be tremendously expensive. Even a simple injury, such as a broken arm, can cost well over $10,000 when the x-rays, follow-up visits, and even surgery or an ambulance ride are factored in.

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In the state of Florida, most workers are "at will" employees, according to Fort Lauderdale employment discrimination attorneys Andrew Alitowski and William Moore. That means that employment is at will, or for so long as the employer and employee both want it to continue. Although most workers and employers generally think that employees should give two weeks of notice prior to leaving the position, the employee is not required to give any notice at all. Likewise, even though an employer might be doing the "right" thing to tell workers about layoffs in advance, before the date at which the employees must cease their work, the employer is not required to give the workers any such notice at all. Broward employment lawyer Alitowski counsels workers on employment issues as part of his employment discrimination law practice.

A contract can alter at will employment. For example, a contract for a specified period of time prevents an employer from firing an employee before the end of the project or date at which the contract ends, as long as the contractual employee is completing his obligations in connection with the agreement.

There are cases, however, when at will -- not contractual -- employees cannot be fired. For example, they cannot be fired for discriminatory reasons, such as their race, sex, or national original. An employee cannot be fired because she is pregnant or could become pregnant. An employer also cannot fire a worker because of her religion, whether it is because it is not the same as her employer's faith, she is not religious at all, the employer does not approve of her religion, or any other reason associated with discrimination on the basis of religion.

Employers cannot fire at will employees for the wrong reasons. Both state and federal law protect "whistleblowers" -- employees who alert management within the company or outside governmental agencies about illegal activities occurring in the workplace. For example, a company cannot fire a worker for retaliation if she alerts federal inspectors that the meat processing plant is not in compliance with regulations. If the company fired her, she could sue for wrongful termination and receive back wages. Contact wrongful termination lawyer Andrew Alitowski for more information if you believe you have been wrongfully terminated or you lost your employment due to retaliatory measures.

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Florida is home to an unusually high percentage of elderly residents, many of whom come to Palm Beach and Broward Counties to spend their retirement years in the sun. As they age, some move into retirement homes, assisted living facilities, and even nursing homes, depending on the level of care required to maintain their health. Unfortunately, some nursing homes and assisted living facilities do not adequately provide the care that they are obligated to give their residents. In other cases, they actually engage in extremely negligent behavior, neglecting residents’ needs, like the treatment and prevention of bedsores. Worst of all, there are regular news reports about incidents in which the elderly residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities are actually abused. Palm Beach nursing home abuse lawyer Andrew Alitowski believes that the elderly should always be treated with respect and receive the care that they deserve.

A Delray Beach resident of an assisted living facility in Palm Beach County was found dead this week on the facility’s grounds. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call regarding Marcella Dublar, 84, who was found dead, floating in the water of a pond on the grounds. She apparently wandered away from the dining room at approximately 1:45 p.m. and was found in the pond an hour and a half later. Dublar had only recently come back to the assisted living facility after spending some time in a rehabilitation center for more extensive care.

West Palm Beach nursing home abuse attorney Alitowski knows that the differences between retirement communities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes can be confusing for the elderly and the general public. A retirement community is one usually available only to residents of a certain age – perhaps 55 and older. They live separately, either in condominiums, villas, or homes, but within the same property. They pay a fee, like dues to a homeowners association, which covers the groundskeeping and other services. The retirement community generally has activities and services for the residents. It may also offer very low levels of assistance to residents.

Assisted living facilities are built upon the same model as a retirement community, but have more nursing care and other assistance available fore the residence. For example, nurses may dispense medicine, help with bathing, or monitor a resident’s eating to make sure she is healthy. An assisted living facility is still substantially different from a nursing home, however, which provides extensive nursing care. A nursing home usually houses residents in rooms with hospital beds. Staff and nurses may help residents eat, administer all medication, and provide all care. Nursing home residents have little independence compared to residents of retirement communities or assisted living facilities.

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