Davenport Personal Injury Lawyer
Experienced Injury Attorneys Serving the Davenport Community
Draper Law Office helps people in Davenport who have been injured due to the negligence of another. Our comprehensive Davenport personal injury law practice includes motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, defective products, and more. Draper Law Office has been serving the people of Davenport for more than 35 years. We run a small but powerful law firm, ready to take on the insurance companies skillfully and vigorously while attending to our clients with hands-on, personal service and constant communication. If you’ve been hurt in a car accident or slip and fall, the Davenport personal injury lawyers at Draper Law Office are here to make sure you get the money you need to deal with your injuries and get your life back on track when it has been derailed by the negligence of another. We serve clients in Davenport, Kissimmee, Celebration and throughout central Florida.
Comprehensive Davenport Personal Injury Law Firm
With decades of experience handling personal injury matters in Polk County and Central Florida, the lawyers at Draper Law Office have the knowledge, skills and dedication needed to handle any negligence claim efficiently and effectively. We’ll help you recover compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering after any serious accident caused by a negligent party. Call us for help with any personal injury matter in Davenport, including:
Motor Vehicle Accidents
No-fault insurance pays for 80 percent of medical expenses and 60 percent of lost income after a motor vehicle accident, but if you’ve suffered a severe or permanent injury, you can recover for the total amount of these damages plus compensation for your pain and suffering. Draper Law Office can help you prove your case and get the maximum level of compensation available under Florida law. Our firm handles the full range of Davenport motor vehicle accidents, including car accidents, truck crashes, motorcycle wrecks, bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents and more. We also represent clients injured in crashes caused by distracted drivers, drunk drivers and uninsured motorists.
Slip & Fall
When you slip and fall on unreasonably slippery, damaged or dangerous premises, the property owner should be responsible and compensate you for your injuries. More often than not, however, they’ll only offer a small amount of money, if any at all. Most of the time, they’ll dispute that your injuries are serious, or they’ll claim you weren’t watching where you were going with sufficient care. They’ll also say they weren’t aware of the danger and weren’t given enough time to fix it before the accident happened. How do you prove the property owner’s liability to you for an accident that occurs on their premises? Our experienced Davenport slip and fall attorneys know how. We help accident victims and their families after a slip and fall, trip and fall, swimming pool drowning or other tragic incident at a hotel, theme park, apartment complex, grocery store, restaurant, shopping mall, retail establishment and other public and private property.
Dog Bites
Dog bites are painful, traumatic experiences. They can be severe and even fatal or leave the victim with lasting physical and emotional scars and fear of other animals or public places. Dog owners in Florida are strictly liable for the harm caused by a bite or attack, regardless of whether the dog had ever bitten before or showed signs it might be dangerous. Even though strictly liable, dog owners still find ways to avoid paying victims’ claims, reducing the amount victims can recover or avoiding liability altogether. We know Florida dog bite law, and we take an aggressive approach to make sure you are treated fairly and get the compensation due to you. If you’ve been the victim of a dog bite in Davenport, call Draper Law Office for a free consultation.
Insurance Disputes
The whole point of insurance is to protect you and support you when you need it most. Nothing is more frustrating than paying insurance premiums month after month, year after year, and when one day you need to file a claim, the insurance company gives you the runaround. They delay your claim for months, ignore your requests, demand documentation that is impossible to produce, and eventually deny your claim or even cancel your policy. Some of these tactics are illegal, and others are simply typical of the nature of the industry. Don’t let your insurance provider push you around. Whether you have a good faith dispute with your insurer over coverage or liability or you believe they are acting in bad faith, call the Davenport insurance dispute attorneys at Draper Law Office to advocate on your behalf with the insurance company. We’ll make sure they treat you fairly and work to see that you get the benefits you deserve.
Property Damage
When you’ve been in an accident and suffered property damage, getting that property repaired or replaced can be a primary concern, especially if you don’t think you were hurt initially. Getting the full value of your property recognized by the insurance company can be a challenge. They’ll want to minimize the damage, deflate the value of your property, control where you go for repairs or what parts you can use, all to protect their bottom line. We get a lot of calls from people frustrated with getting their property damage adequately covered by the insurance company. If you were in an accident with property damage, be sure and get yourself checked out medically as well, since you may be more seriously hurt than you know. Call Draper Law Office for help getting medical care and property damage covered in your Davenport car accident or other personal injury.
Wrongful Death
When another’s negligence results in the death of a loved one, the lives of the surviving spouse, children, parents and other family members can be thrown into turmoil. Dealing with an unexpected, sudden loss is both emotionally devastating and financially disruptive. We can help you understand the steps required under Florida’s wrongful death law to hold the responsible party accountable to you. We seek justice for your beloved family member, along with valuable compensation to help you with medical and funeral expenses, lost income and the many ways this loss will affect your family.
What To Do After a Personal Injury in Davenport
The steps you take immediately after an accident can have a significant impact on the outcome of your personal injury claim. First and foremost, seek medical attention as soon as possible, even if you do not believe you are seriously injured. Many injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, soft tissue damage and internal bleeding, do not present obvious symptoms right away. Prompt medical treatment not only protects your health but also creates documentation that directly links your injuries to the accident.
Follow your doctor’s treatment plan carefully. If you have been prescribed physical therapy, follow-up appointments or other forms of ongoing care, commit to keeping those appointments even if they are inconvenient. Consistent medical treatment establishes the severity of your injuries and demonstrates that you are taking your recovery seriously. Insurance companies will look for gaps in treatment as evidence that your injuries are not as serious as you claim.
Keep copies of all medical bills, receipts, prescriptions, and records of any expenses related to your injury. Maintain a log of the time you have missed from work, including dates, hours and lost income. Document your mileage for trips to the doctor, pharmacy, physical therapy and other appointments. Save all property damage repair estimates and invoices. Providing your attorney with thorough documentation strengthens your claim and helps ensure that no element of your damages is overlooked.
Avoid giving recorded statements to any insurance company other than your own without first consulting an attorney. Insurance adjusters are trained to ask questions designed to elicit responses they can use to reduce or deny your claim. Once you retain Draper Law Office, we handle all communications with the insurance companies on your behalf so you can focus entirely on your recovery.
Comparative Negligence in Florida
After an accident in Davenport, the insurance company for the at-fault party will often try to argue that you were partially responsible for the accident or your injuries in order to reduce the amount they owe you. Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence system, your total compensation is reduced by whatever percentage of fault is attributed to you. If you are found to be more than 50 percent at fault for the accident, you are barred from recovering any damages at all.
For example, if your total damages are $150,000 and a jury determines you were 25 percent at fault, your recovery would be reduced to $112,500. Insurance companies aggressively pursue these fault arguments because even a small percentage of comparative fault can save them significant money. At Draper Law Office, we thoroughly investigate every accident to establish the true facts and fight back against attempts to unfairly shift blame onto our clients.
Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury in Florida
Florida law sets strict deadlines for filing personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. For most personal injury claims, you have two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit. For wrongful death claims, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of death. If your accident involved a government employee or government-owned property, different procedures and shorter deadlines may apply. Missing these deadlines can permanently eliminate your right to pursue compensation, regardless of how strong your claim may be. Contact an attorney as soon as possible after your accident to ensure your legal rights are fully protected.
Davenport Personal Injury FAQs
How much does it cost to hire a Davenport personal injury lawyer?
Draper Law Office handles all personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. There is no upfront cost to hire our firm, and you pay no attorney fees unless we successfully recover compensation on your behalf. Our standard fee is one-third of the settlement amount. This arrangement allows anyone who has been injured due to someone else’s negligence to access experienced legal representation without financial risk.
What types of compensation can I recover after an accident in Davenport?
Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may be entitled to recover compensation for past and future medical expenses, lost wages and diminished earning capacity, property damage, pain and suffering, emotional distress, scarring and disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. In wrongful death cases, surviving family members may recover funeral expenses, lost financial support, loss of companionship and mental pain and suffering. Our attorneys carefully evaluate every element of your damages to maximize the value of your claim.
What if I was partially at fault for my accident?
Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence law, you can still recover compensation as long as your percentage of fault does not exceed 50 percent. Your total recovery will be reduced by whatever percentage of fault is attributed to you. Our attorneys thoroughly investigate every case to determine the true allocation of fault and protect our clients from being unfairly blamed for accidents they did not cause.
How long will my personal injury case take to resolve?
The timeline for a personal injury case depends on several factors, including the severity of your injuries, how long your medical treatment takes, the complexity of the case, and whether the insurance company is willing to offer a fair settlement. Most cases are resolved after you have completed treatment and your doctor has made a determination about whether your injuries are permanent. If a fair settlement cannot be reached, filing a lawsuit may be necessary. Our attorneys work to resolve your case as efficiently as possible while ensuring you receive the full compensation you deserve.
Should I accept the insurance company’s first settlement offer?
In most cases, the insurance company’s initial settlement offer is significantly lower than what your claim is actually worth. Insurers make early offers hoping that accident victims will accept a quick payment before they fully understand the extent of their injuries and damages. Once you accept a settlement, you cannot go back and ask for more money, even if your injuries turn out to be worse than expected. Before accepting any settlement offer, consult with an experienced personal injury attorney who can evaluate whether the offer fairly compensates you for all of your losses.
Your Davenport Personal Injury Law Firm, Here When You Need Us
If you or a family member has been hurt in a car accident or other personal injury in Davenport, call Draper Law Office for a free consultation at 407-846-0075. We are proud to serve the people of Davenport, Kissimmee, Celebration and throughout central Florida. Our attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, so you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. Hablamos Español!
