According to Zest: The Florida Foodie Insider’s Guide, Spicer’s attorney filed the lawsuit in New Orleans federal court asking the court to certify a class-action status for restaurants and seafood sellers who have suffered damages from the April 20 drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The lawsuit is presumably also based on the deterioration of the tourist industry, which may account for a significant portion of her business as well as the loss of the ability to serve indigenous seafood that has either become unavailable or significantly more expensive.

For more information about the BP oil spill and how Florida residents, fisherman and restaurants are preserving their rights, contact The Florida Personal Injury law firm of Whittel & Melton at 1-866-608-5529 or online.

The news reports that the driver of the truck was not wearing a seatbelt, yet was uninjured in the serious motor vehicle crash. Generally a truck accident of this magnitude this will make an immediate impact on insurance policies. Obviously, if the driver of the work truck was engaged in some kind of employment and interesting legal scenario can evolve whereby he may have both a workers’ compensation claim with his employer’s policy, but also have a simple auto negligence claim for the actions of the 1984 Datsun. In other words, after the workers’ compensation claim is completed, the automobile insurance policies can distribute appropriate compensation for the pain and suffering that went unreimbursed during the workers’ compensation claim.

Often times, drivers involved in such a serious accident may be “uninjured” only to learn later of chronic neck and back pain. The reason for this is different in every case but commonly you will find that: 1) The Emergency Room doctors do an exceptionally poor job of determining levels of pain if it is abundantly clear that no life threatening injuries are apparent; 2) After a big collision the human body does an amazing job of masking pain to help cope with the situation; and 3) When another person is very seriously hurt, your injuries, although serious, may seem relatively minor.

If you have been involved in a truck accident or car crash in Hernando County or Pasco County, contact Florida Car Accident Lawyer Jason M. Melton for free consultation at 352-666-2121 or 727-847-2299 or contact us online.

The Defendant, Christopher Marcone is already serving 13 years in Florida State prison for DUI manslaughter. It is unlikely that Ms. Stone will recover the entirety of the $330 million, since the defendant is incarcerated, but that’s not really the point.

What’s important to take away from this case is that many people do not know what rights they have when they lose a loved one to a DUI crash. When someone dies in a DUI accident caused by another driver, the personal representative from the decedant’s estate has the ability to file a wrongful death lawsuit and to ask for punitive damages, not just compensatory damages. Under Florida law, there is no cap on punitive damages. However, there is a sort of “race to the courts” in wrongful death cases because the estate representative has only two (2) years to file their lawsuit. And in order to do this, they must first set up an estate on their loved one’s behalf to be able to sue.

According to reports, the motorcycle crashed into the median and struck a guardrail. The driver, who was wearing a helmet, was ejected from the motorcycle and ended up in the grass median where he died at the scene.

Unfortunately, motorcycle accidents are a major concern to Highway Safety advocates. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that approximately 4,800 people died in motorcycle accidents in 2006 and around 88,000 were injured. The State of Florida led all states in crashes that resulted in fatalities.

Apparently, the young man was headed back from Clearwater Beach when a female companion who was driving got into a motor vehicle accident. When she exited the car to presumably exchange information with the other driver, the story goes that this young man took the car and wound up in a high-speed chase with a Pasco County Deputy that ended in an accident. The last stop for this car chase was rear-ending a stopped vehicle at a red light that upon impact rear-ended the vehicle in front of it. Ultimately, he was involved in two accidents and was charged with Aggravated Fleeing & Eluding.

The several victims of this car chase will be faced with some interesting legal challenges. Namely, the attorneys for the several insurance polices that may or may not be applied to this accident or event will be considering their position in relation to the alleged events. Because the taking of the car, by the twenty year old in jail, may be considered an intentional tort and/or driving without permission (non-permissive driver), a defending insurance company may have a “coverage defense” for the accident. Ultimately, several insurance policies will need to be vetted by the Pasco County Injury Attorney before any injured party from this accident resolves their case.

Reportedly the man was flown to Gainesville, where officials at Shands University of Florida Hospital pronounced the young man dead. FHP has concluded the young man was not wearing his seatbelt. It is unknown at the time of this post whether or not any other cars witnessed the crash, if others were involved in the turn or have an estimate as to the driver’s speed prior to allegedly losing control.

Marion County and Ocala have incurred 30 traffic related fatalities this year. Thirty traffic homicides would suggest that we are on pace to see less deaths, as 2008 reportedly had 96 traffic fatalities. However, summer and the holiday season are still in fornt of us and these are the times when alcohol and youngsters, which are out of school, collide with sometimes drastic results.

Unlike personal injuries sustained in an auto accident, any type of injury sustained in a premises liability action does not need to be permanent in order to receive compensation for pain and suffering. Different types of Premises Liability actions can include a Slip and Fall, Hazardous Materials, Damaged Parking Lots, Unfilled Holes, Drowning, Electrocution and Electrical contact, etc.

At the time of this post, neither the driver, nor any of other drivers were charged in the accident. It does appear that the 18-year old was wearing his seat belt, however, liability for the incident has not yet been determined from the State of Florida’s point of view.

Most drivers who are injured in accidents that they are written traffic citations for believe that they forbidden from recovery in civil court for injuries. In fact, the liability or fault of any accident rests solely with a jury and no insurance company or judge can ever tell someone that because they were ticketed that they aren’t entitled to compensation. It is well-settled under Florida law that the jury is the lone determiner of liability and to that end, the fact that a citation was written in an accident is actually inadmissible in a trial.