Partner
Mark J. Miller
Read about Mark’s legal background, trial experience, and work representing injured people.
Meet Mark →Your child needs care. You need answers.
Fort Lauderdale Child Injury Lawyer
Your child was hurt in Fort Lauderdale, and the explanation you received may be only a few sentences. You are focused on care while wondering who was watching, what was unsafe, and what needs protecting. We can help your family work through those questions and review a possible claim.
Free consultation. No attorney fee unless we recover compensation.
50+ years
Combined legal experience
230+ trials
Combined trial experience
South Florida
Served from Pompano Beach
Free consultation
A conversation about your child
You do not need every answer yet
A short report may leave out the part you need to understand.
A school message, a hotel incident form, or your child’s account can be the first piece of the story. Tell us what is missing or disputed. We can look for supervision records, video, witnesses, and other information that may explain what happened.
Get the care your child needs first. Keep the discharge instructions and restrictions, and note any new symptoms or worries for the treating team. Save messages from the place of the injury without asking your child to keep repeating a distressing account.
Our Fort Lauderdale personal injury team can review the circumstances without expecting you to arrive with a legal theory.
The part a report cannot show
You are trying to reassure your child while you still have questions.
A cast, pain, or fear of returning to an activity can change ordinary family routines. Tell us what you have noticed. The account should include your child’s recovery and daily life, not only the wording on an incident form.
Looking beyond the word “accident”
Who controlled the place, and who was supposed to supervise?
The review asks what reasonable care required in the circumstances and whether a failure caused the harm. An injury at a Fort Lauderdale school, pool, rental property, or activity can involve different duties and legal rules.
Care and supervision
School, daycare, or camp
A review may look at staff assignments, incident reports, safety rules, and what adults knew before the injury. Public school claims can involve special notice and immunity rules under Florida law. A report to the school is not necessarily the required legal notice.
Property and activities
Pools, hotels, and attractions
For a pool or hotel incident, we may need to identify the operator, property owner, maintenance contractor, and people overseeing the activity. Gates, warnings, equipment, and the response all deserve review. The business name on a booking may not identify every relevant party.
Traffic and transport
A ride, a crossing, or a parking lot
If your child was hurt near a school, crossing, or parking area, keep driver information and the exact location. Passenger, pedestrian, and bicycle incidents raise different insurance questions. Available video and witnesses can help assess the account.
Other causes to investigate
A dangerous product or an animal
Injuries from dog bites or defective toys or products involve their own rules. Keep the owner’s information, product details, and photos when safe. Do not test, repair, or keep using a suspect product to find out what failed.
If the concern is an injury caused by treatment, our Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice guidance explains a different review process.
A first conversation
Start with the question you cannot get answered.
Our South Florida team can discuss the injury and the facts still missing. You do not have to decide whether to sue before making that first call.
Families here and families visiting
A Fort Lauderdale visit can leave the evidence far from home.
A family may return home while a hotel, activity provider, or local hospital still holds important records. Tell us where your child is receiving follow-up care and who has the incident documents. We can discuss how the review can proceed across locations.
If your family lives nearby
If you live nearby, keep school or childcare messages, missed attendance, and the treating team’s restrictions. Identify who was responsible for your child when the injury happened and whether the explanation has changed.
Useful records: school attendance, treatment notes, activity restrictions, and the names of people who saw what happened.
If you have already returned home
If you have left Fort Lauderdale, save the booking, activity agreement, report number, and names of staff. Keep the local treatment records alongside follow-up notes from home. A first conversation does not require another trip.
Useful records: booking confirmations, staff messages, discharge papers, and follow-up care records from your home state.
MILLER & JACOBS • POMPANO BEACH OFFICE
1600 S. Federal Highway, Suite 1101 · Pompano Beach, FL 33062
From the first account to a supported claim
The claim should explain the safety failure and your child’s needs.
An incident form can describe an injury without explaining why it occurred. We review the underlying records, responsibility, and consequences together, including any evidence that needs preserving promptly.
1
Find the records behind the account
We identify witnesses, available video, supervision assignments, incident records, and the condition of the area or equipment. Records held by a Fort Lauderdale business or public agency may require different request procedures.
2
Work out who had responsibility
We examine the people and businesses involved, the duty each may have owed, and the connection to the injury. Medical or other qualified experts may be needed to test that explanation.
3
Account for what your child needs
We examine treatment and supported future needs before discussing an offer. A child’s settlement also requires an assessment of the proper decision-maker, court approval, and protection of funds under the applicable rules.
Do not assume the clock waits until age 18.
Florida generally gives two years for negligence actions under section 95.11. The dates, type of claim, and defendant must be checked. Product, medical, and government claims can follow different rules.
Being a minor does not automatically pause that deadline. Section 95.051 allows limited exceptions involving the absence, incapacity, or conflicting interests of a parent or guardian. Have the actual timeline reviewed promptly.
Seeing the effect over time
Recovery belongs in the account, even when a report calls the injury minor.
A claim may address more than the first medical bill. The losses must be tied to the injury and supported by the facts. We look at the care your child needs and the changes you see along the way.
Treatment and practical support
Medical care, therapy, equipment, and supported future care costs may matter. Keep the treatment plan and ask the treating team about the follow-up your child needs.
School, play, and daily comfort
Pain, emotional harm, and limits on normal activities can be part of the review. Brief notes about missed classes, sleep, or activities may help show changes that a bill cannot explain.
Needs that reach beyond today
For a lasting injury, qualified medical and other experts may assess future treatment and effects on independence or earning ability. Those needs should be supported, rather than guessed.
Keep records of a parent’s missed work and added expenses too. Whether those losses are recoverable, and who may claim them, requires a separate review.
Before a release is signed
A child’s settlement needs its own safeguards.
A parent’s agreement with an insurer may be only part of the process. Florida law protects the child’s interests when a claim is resolved and the money is handled.
The offer and the amount your child receives are different.
The gross settlement is the total offer. The net settlement is what remains for the child after applicable fees, costs, and other deductions. Different safeguards use different amounts.
The proposed payment plan matters too. The money belongs to the child. It is not automatically available for a parent’s ordinary expenses.
Read Florida’s rules for natural guardians, settling a minor’s claim, and independent settlement review.
Court approval after a lawsuit begins
Once an action has begun on the child’s behalf, a settlement is not effective without the court’s approval. Smaller settlements should not be assumed to escape that rule.
Protecting the child’s funds
A net recovery above $15,000 generally calls for a property guardianship. Court-approved payment arrangements can affect the process. We review the plan and the court’s requirements before funds are distributed.
An independent check of the settlement
A guardian ad litem protects the child’s interests during review. Florida generally requires one when the gross settlement equals or exceeds $50,000, with a statutory exception for an existing guardian who has no potential adverse interest.
Meet Miller & Jacobs
The partners behind the firm
Mark Miller and Rick Jacobs bring decades of combined legal and trial experience to the firm’s work for injured people and their families.
Partner
Rick S. Jacobs
Read about Rick’s legal background, trial experience, and approach to representing clients.
Meet Rick →Questions parents bring to us
You are allowed to ask before deciding what to do.
Bring the report, the offer, or the form you were asked to sign. A review starts with your family’s facts and the decisions in front of you.
The school called it an accident. Can I still ask for a review?
Yes. That description does not decide whether someone failed to take reasonable care. A review looks at what happened, supervision, known hazards, and the link to the injury. Some accidents happen despite reasonable care, so the evidence matters.
I signed an activity waiver. Does that end the claim?
Not automatically. Florida permits certain parental waivers of risks inherent in commercial activities, subject to specific requirements. The wording, provider, activity, and cause of the injury all matter. Keep the entire form and have it reviewed.
The insurer offered to pay the bills. Should I sign?
Have the offer and release reviewed first. A release may resolve more than the bills you have today. Your child’s prognosis, supported future needs, and any required court approval should be considered before a claim is closed.
Can we wait until our child turns 18?
Do not assume that is safe. A child’s age does not automatically stop Florida’s filing clock. The claim type, dates, defendant, and limited exceptions need prompt review, even while treatment is continuing.
Our child was hurt on vacation. Can we call from home?
Yes. Tell us where the injury happened, where you live, and where treatment is continuing. We can assess the proper forum and how records and evidence may be obtained. Calling does not require another trip to Fort Lauderdale.
What if the parents share custody or disagree?
Who may act for the child depends on parental responsibility, legal authority, and any conflict of interest. Bring relevant custody or guardianship orders. The child’s interests must be protected when a claim is filed or a settlement is considered.
What does it cost to talk with Miller & Jacobs?
The consultation is free. For injury cases we accept, there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation. The representation agreement explains the fee and how case costs are handled.
Related Fort Lauderdale guidance
Follow the issue that fits what happened.
Different causes can involve different duties, insurance, and procedures. These pages explain the surrounding issues.