FAQ
What kinds of cases does your firm handle?
Our firm’s focus is on representing victims of negligence who have suffered serious personal injuries. Our Miami Lawyers represent persons injured in automobile accidents, slip and fall and trip and fall accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death actions, nursing home abuse, birth injuries, victims of crime, traumatic brain injuries, etc.
Will you take my case?
Our philosophy is simple: we take only cases that are worthy of litigation. We refuse to prosecute frivolous claims. From the very beginning, our attorneys, paralegals and investigators vet each and every case thoroughly. Also, the cases that we accept as a rule involve, serious personal injuries and are ones in which we feel strongly committed to prosecuting. Because we always fund our own cases and devote hundreds of hours pursuing each case – we take a relatively small number of cases, every year.
What’s My Case Worth?
That’s a question that we are asked all the time. According to Florida law:
"....a victim of negligence is entitled to recover monetary compensation for resulting pain and suffering, disability or physical impairment, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience, and/or loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, experienced in the past or to be experienced in the future, property damage, past and future medical expenses, and past and future lost earnings."
There is no exact standard for measuring such damage. We use a combination of our own experience, jury verdict research and other tools to determine the “range” of values of any particular case. Our goal is to ensure that the amount awarded by a jury or paid in settlement is fair and just in light of the evidence.
Will my case be “settled out of court?”
In many cases, we attempt to obtain a pre-suit settlement through negotiations with the insurance adjusters or parties involved. Often, we are able to obtain fair and reasonable settlements for our clients before filing a formal lawsuit. In other instances, it is in our clients’ best interest to file suit immediately.
In any event, when we are reviewing a case in order to decide whether to accept it, we do so with an eye towards going to trial. In reality, most civil cases are not tried to verdict. In fact, many are settled before litigation, even more are settled during litigation and still others are settled at some point before a jury returns its verdict. That being said, Mr. Weber has tried numerous jury and non-jury trials to verdict during the course of his career and will be prepared to do so in the event that your case is accepted.
If the lawsuit is filed, what will happen and how long will it take?
If we determine that the right strategy for your case is to put it into suit, the process can take anywhere from 9 months to a several years depending upon a number of factors – the number of witnesses and experts; the volume of documents; the Court in which the cased is pending, etc. A “lawsuit” consists of 2 main parts: the first is called discovery. This is the process by which the parties learn about the important facts in a case, uncover key documents, speak with all the witnesses and conduct “depositions.” It is certain that as a plaintiff you will be required to give a deposition – answer questions of the other attorney(s) under oath. After we’ve completed discovery, which often also includes testimony of expert witnesses (these can be medical experts, biomechanical engineers, etc.), we will set your case for trial. At that point, the second part begins, which consists of mediation and trial. Mediation is an informal process by which a neutral, third party attempts to persuade the parties to reach a settlement. The mediation is a confidential process – everything that happens during mediation is confidential and cannot be used against the parties during the trial. If mediation fails, then we will go to trial. Trial consists of presenting the facts to a jury of your peers (usually 6 persons and an alternate) and allowing these persons to decide the case.
How will I pay my attorneys?
Our law firm works on a “contingency” basis only. In other words, our fee is based upon a percentage of the amount of recovery. The contingency fee percentage varies depending upon the case, but it is usually about one third. In addition, we will “advance” the costs of the litigation for you. These costs can be high. It is not uncommon for our firm to advance anywhere between 10,000 – $100,000.00 in the prosecution of a case. If we successfully recover money on your behalf, you will be required to repay the costs as well. Of course, if we don’t recover money for you, then you will NOT be obligated to pay our fees or reimburse or costs.