Miller & Jacobs · Serving Hollywood
A day on the water ended with an injury. Now the rental desk, vessel owner, and insurer may be giving you different answers.
Miller & Jacobs helps people hurt in boat, yacht, charter, and Jet Ski accidents involving Hollywood. We review what happened, identify the parties and coverage, and seek records before a vessel is repaired or rental data is lost.
Our Pompano Beach office serves Hollywood residents and visitors. The consultation is free. No attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Start with the trip date, waterway, and the concern you need help with now.
Discuss the incident and the next step.
Serving people injured in Hollywood.
Private outings, rentals, and charters.
A written fee agreement explains representation.
Getting help after the trip
A boating injury claim needs evidence of responsibility, the injury and resulting losses, and any coverage that may respond.
If we represent you, we investigate the incident, request relevant records, review the policies, and communicate with insurers. A passenger may know who booked the outing without knowing who owned the boat. We work from the information available.
Tell us whether the injury happened aboard a private boat, during a paid trip, on a rented personal watercraft, or while boarding. Those details can change which duties and rules need review.
Our Hollywood personal injury overview explains the firm's broader claim support. You can begin by phone without a complete accident file.
While details are still available
Medical care and rescue take priority. Once you are safe, save what you already have. You do not need to board a damaged vessel, confront its operator, or recover equipment yourself to seek legal help.
01
Save the confirmation, receipt, listing, vessel name or registration, photographs, and passenger contacts. Note who arranged the trip and where you departed or returned.
02
Tell us if the boat will be repaired, sold, returned, or moved. Relevant photographs, navigation records, maintenance files, and available footage may need preservation requests.
03
Send insurer letters, release requests, and court papers promptly. Keep treatment records, work restrictions, receipts, and notes about the help you now need.
Responsibility and available coverage
Florida's vessel liability statute treats careless-operation liability differently from ordinary car-owner liability. We review who operated the vessel, whether its owner was aboard, and any separate conduct that contributed to the injury.
Speed, lookout, wake, passenger movement, and the sequence of the collision may matter. A citation is evidence to review; it does not resolve every issue in the injury claim.
A rental livery and a crewed charter can have different duties. Keep the agreement, safety briefing details, insurance information, and the names of staff or crew.
Steering, propulsion, maintenance, and safety equipment may require technical review if a defect or poor upkeep is suspected. Preserve the facts before deciding who caused the failure.
The owner's, operator's, or business's policy may contain relevant limits and exclusions. A policy limit does not establish the claim's value or guarantee payment.
Reporting and legal deadlines
Report duties concern the incident itself. A civil filing period concerns the injury claim. The waterway, trip, parties, and applicable law need review before choosing a deadline.
Florida accident reporting
Under Florida's boating accident reporting law, an operator must promptly notify FWC, the county sheriff, or applicable local police when the statutory threshold is met, including injury needing care beyond immediate first aid.
Florida negligence actions
The current Florida filing-period statute sets two years for negligence actions. The incident date, claim type, and any exceptions still matter. Do not assume this period governs every boating case.
Maritime injury claims
The federal maritime injury filing-period statute generally provides three years, except as otherwise provided by law. Contracts and other proceedings can add requirements. Let us review the actual trip and papers.
Send the full document, including dates and attachments. We can explain what needs attention before you respond.
Hollywood's waterways and trip records
A trip through the Intracoastal Waterway or off Hollywood Beach may leave records at a rental desk, marina, aboard the vessel, and with the responding agency. Tell us the actual route and boarding point rather than trying to name the correct jurisdiction.
Intracoastal crossings
Identify the nearby bridge or channel, other vessels, and anyone who saw the wake or impact. Photos and available recordings can help test conflicting accounts.
Hollywood Beach and offshore trips
A booking address does not necessarily show where the accident occurred. Keep the route, phone location records, and rescue details available to you.
Paid charters and rented watercraft
Florida's rental livery rules address instruction and vessel conditions. We review the business model, what instruction was given, and the records that may support it.
Going home after a visit
Save records before closing travel or rental accounts. Tell us where you live and where you received care. We explain what can begin remotely and any later case steps that need your participation. If the injury happened farther north, our Pompano boating accident page explains help for that area.
What the injury has changed
Recoverable losses depend on the governing law and the evidence. Treatment records and specific examples of daily restrictions help us assess what the injury has cost you.
Care
Emergency care, surgery, therapy, medicines, and future treatment supported by medical evidence.
Work
Pay records, missed shifts, reduced duties, and evidence of an injury's effect on future earning ability.
Physical harm
Medical findings and accounts of symptoms, mobility, sleep, and activities affected by the injury.
Help at home
Keep notes and receipts for help with personal care, household tasks, transportation, or other needs caused by the injury.
Property
Photographs, repair estimates, and receipts may support damage to the vessel or belongings. Review any property release separately from the injury claim.
A family loss
Tell us about the family and any estate documents. Who may bring a claim and which losses apply depend on the facts and the law. We explain the next steps without asking you to assemble everything first.
The weeks after the water
You may be arranging care, taking time away from work, or depending on someone else for tasks you handled on your own.
Tell us about those changes as well as the accident. We help put the records and claim questions in order so you can understand the decision in front of you.
The office serving Hollywood
Miller & Jacobs serves Hollywood from its Pompano Beach office. Start with a free conversation about the injury and the documents or decisions in front of you. We explain whether we can help and how representation would work.
POMPANO BEACH OFFICE
1600 S. Federal Highway, Suite 1101
Pompano Beach, FL 33062
954-465-8733
Meet the partners
Mark Miller and Rick Jacobs have each been Florida Bar members since 1995. Their biographies explain their trial backgrounds. Ask how the firm would approach the specific issues in your claim.
Partner
His biography describes work as a prosecutor and insurance-defense lawyer, followed by civil trial practice.
Partner
His biography describes work as a Miami-Dade prosecutor and extensive jury-trial experience.
The consultation is free. A written agreement explains fees and representation before you hire the firm.
Questions after a Hollywood boat or Jet Ski injury
Answers for passengers, renters, and visitors deciding what to do next.
Yes. You can begin by phone after returning home. Keep booking, vessel, rescue, and treatment records. Tell us where you live and received care. We explain what can begin remotely and whether later testimony, an examination, or another step may need your participation.
The signed document needs review before that conclusion. Keep the complete agreement, confirmation emails, and safety instructions. Its wording, the conduct involved, and applicable law affect its significance. Do not assume a waiver either ends the claim or has no effect.
No. Florida's careless-operation statute does not impose liability on an absent owner simply because someone else operated the boat. Separate negligent conduct, business relationships, and applicable maritime rules may require review. Tell us who operated the vessel and what the owner actually did.
Not necessarily. Tell us when and where it was returned, who repaired it, and what photographs or records remain. Keep the receipt, vessel details, messages, and witness contacts. We can assess available evidence without promising that lost records can be recovered.
Start with the trip date, departure point, waterway, booking information, passengers, and the agency that responded if you know it. Photographs or receipts may help identify the vessel and report. You do not need to locate every document before the first conversation.
No. An insurance review or criminal investigation does not itself preserve the civil claim. State negligence, maritime, contract, and court-notice rules can differ. Send notices and agreements promptly so the applicable filing and response dates can be assessed.
