A countywide claim with lasting consequences
A catastrophic injury can involve several organizations before anyone agrees on responsibility.
Miller & Jacobs helps injured people across Broward County examine the incident, the available coverage, and the medical and financial evidence of lasting harm. We focus on the facts that connect a defendant's conduct to the loss and the care the injured person may need.
Your consultation is free. No attorney fee is owed unless compensation is recovered for you. The written fee agreement explains fees and costs.
Reported Recoveries for Injured Clients
Combined Legal Experience
Combined Jury Trials Across Their Careers
Experienced Trial Attorneys
Responsibility map
A responding agency, employer, property manager, and insurance company may all appear in the paperwork. They do not all have the same role. We identify what each entity controlled, what conduct is alleged, and which documents can confirm the relationship.
Driver activity, ownership, employment, dispatch information, and permission can matter after a commercial collision. Other rules may apply to an injury at work. We review the event rather than assume that a company logo creates liability or a workers' compensation claim resolves every issue.
Leases, maintenance agreements, service records, and the condition of equipment can help identify who had relevant control. More than one theory may require investigation. Each must have a factual basis; naming every organization connected with the location is not a substitute for proof.
Applicable liability policies, exclusions, limits, and other potentially responsible parties need review. The severity of the loss does not enlarge a policy automatically. Coverage questions and damages questions should be answered separately so a family understands the practical limits.
Care after discharge
Emergency treatment, inpatient rehabilitation, and later outpatient appointments may be handled by different providers. Save names, dates, restrictions, and referrals so an important part of the history is not missed. A diagnosis on one page may not explain how the impairment affects independent living.
Keep instructions about supervision, personal care, medicines, transfers, and therapy. Ask who will teach family members any tasks they are expected to perform.
Discuss stairs, bathrooms, entrances, and equipment with the clinical team. Save recommendations and estimates for changes linked to the injury.
Keep referral details, appointment schedules, transport needs, and work restrictions together. Let providers know about barriers that could prevent attendance.
Following the person through recovery
Tell us about assistance at home, work changes, and necessary travel for care. Those facts help identify records and potential expert questions. The legal assessment should reflect supported needs, including uncertainties, rather than describe every serious injury as the same case.
Documenting the loss
A claim for lasting impairment needs a clear explanation of the past and a supported assessment of the future. The appropriate experts depend on the medical condition and the issues in dispute. We avoid treating a diagnosis as a fixed dollar category.
Care over time
Medical recommendations may support a life-care plan covering treatment, assistance, equipment, and replacement schedules. The plan should identify assumptions and costs. It must distinguish care reasonably expected from possibilities that the medical evidence does not yet support.
Income and employability
Employment history, earnings, restrictions, training, and feasible work options can inform future earning loss. Economic calculations do not establish the medical restriction by themselves. Separate evidence should show why the injury changes the person's ability to earn.
Life outside work
Pain, loss of independence, and changed activities deserve an accurate personal account alongside clinical records. Necessary home support and transportation may also matter. We assess the available categories and guard against duplicating an expense in more than one damages calculation.
A relative’s help does not make the need disappear. Record the tasks, time, and provider recommendations. Whether that assistance supports recoverable damages depends on the evidence and applicable law.
Evidence sequence
The injured person may be unable to gather evidence during early care. A family member can often identify record holders and save existing materials. Access to protected information or authority to act for the injured person requires appropriate consent or legal authority.
Retain original photographs, witness contacts, incident information, and relevant messages. Keep damaged property or identify its custodian. Do not rely on a social-media copy when the original file is available; original details may help reconstruct the event.
Business surveillance, electronic vehicle data, maintenance histories, and insurer files may require targeted requests. Knowing the exact location and time helps. A lawyer can evaluate preservation notices and lawful methods to obtain records that are not in the family's possession.
Compare the reports with witnesses, physical evidence, and treatment history. A conflict can concern causation, identity, or the claimant's contribution. In covered negligence actions, section 768.81 may reduce recovery and bars it when claimant fault exceeds 50%.
Call 954-465-8733 for a free consultation about preservation, responsible parties, coverage, and long-term losses. Bring any insurer letter or proposed release. Fees and costs are explained in the written agreement if the firm accepts representation.
When you are helping someone else
You can contact us to explain the situation. If the injured person can make decisions, we work with them and include others with permission. Their voice remains central.
Tell us about any existing power of attorney or guardianship papers. We can review what authority exists and explain whether further legal steps are needed. A family relationship alone does not answer every authority question.
Determine who is being released, which losses are addressed, and what deductions or liens may affect the net amount. Future care may remain uncertain. A consultation can identify what information is missing before a final decision is made.
Before resolution
A proposed payment should be considered with the release, future evidence, coverage, and reimbursement obligations. Our Broward County personal injury overview provides the wider context for an injury claim.
Many current negligence actions have a two-year limit under Florida section 95.11. Product claims, government notice rules, and other circumstances can involve different periods. A catastrophic label does not suspend the calendar or create one deadline for all causes.
Read Florida’s limitations statute ↗Investigation may lead to negotiation or litigation where appropriate. Each route has costs, time, and uncertainty. We can discuss the evidence and practical choices without guaranteeing a recovery, a trial date, or a specific resolution.
Read Florida’s comparative-fault law ↗More help for a specific injury
A person may be coping with more than one diagnosis. We consider how the injuries interact, while these guides explain issues that may matter for each type of harm.
Read about documenting symptoms, changes in daily function, and the need for support.
Explore claims involving paralysis, mobility, personal assistance, and accessible living.
Learn about treatment, scarring, and the circumstances that can affect responsibility.
Limb loss, loss of sight, organ damage, and multiple severe injuries may also call for a review of lasting care and work needs.
Meet the partners
Partners Mark J. Miller and Rick S. Jacobs serve Broward County clients from the firm's Pompano Beach office. Your consultation can address the evidence, the applicable claim, and the decisions ahead.
Partner
Mark's biography describes work in insurance defense and prosecution before his plaintiff-side practice. That background informs the firm's evaluation of liability disputes and insurance positions.
Read Mark’s biography
Partner
Rick's biography describes his service as an Assistant State Attorney in Miami-Dade County and his trial work. Read the published background for details of his professional experience.
Read Rick’s biographyExperience figures reflect the partners’ broader careers, not catastrophic-injury verdict counts. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Our South Florida office is at 1600 S Federal Highway, Suite 1101, Pompano Beach, FL 33062. Call 954-465-8733 before visiting.
Questions families ask
Your questions may change as care progresses. These are starting points for a discussion about your circumstances.
Serious brain or spinal injury, amputation, severe burns, and other lasting impairments may fit the ordinary description. The legal claim depends on the cause and the evidence, rather than the label. Medical prognosis and effects on daily function help define the extent of the loss.
Potentially, if the facts and law support a duty, breach, and causal connection for each. Contracts, control, employment relationships, and actual conduct matter. Being involved in an incident or carrying insurance does not by itself make an organization legally responsible.
No. Medical, life-care, vocational, economic, engineering, or reconstruction work may address different questions. The disputed issues and available evidence guide what is useful. Expert expense should have a purpose; more reports do not automatically make a claim stronger.
Supported future care may be recoverable under the applicable law. Treating recommendations and expert evidence may help establish the need, duration, and reasonable cost. A projection remains subject to proof and dispute, and insurance or collectability can limit the practical recovery.
The allegation needs to be tested against the evidence and the governing legal theory. Florida's modified comparative-fault rule applies to covered negligence actions; it reduces recovery and can bar it above 50% claimant fault. Different causes of action can require a different analysis.
Start with the date and place of the event, provider names, report information, and any insurer request or offer. You can call before obtaining everything. Miller & Jacobs serves Broward County from its Pompano Beach office; the consultation number is 954-465-8733.
