GBC Law - PA - Car Accident - Client Testimonial

Southwest Florida Car Accident Lawyers

Southwest Florida Car Accident Lawyers

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Top-Rated Southwest Florida Attorneys

“Excellent experience!”

Excellent experience with very good results, I am very happy and satisfied with the Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice & Purtz law firm I, especially Mr. Christopher Smith who at all times during the process of my case was very honest, correct and efficient. I highly recommend this firm and this attorney because they really made a big difference to the results in my case.

Sergio-Leydi C.

“Wonderful”

Attorney Purtz and the entire staff have been wonderful. They went above and beyond. Highly recommended!

Burton P.

“This law firm is awesome!”

This law firm is awesome. They were very thorough and attention to detail. If you have any issues that need quick results this is the one. Please always think of them for all your lawyer needs.

John W.

“Accident Case”

Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice and Purtz, PA was the only law firm who would take our car accident case. Andrea Pleimling Smith was very thorough, explained everything in a very detailed fashion, and was easy to reach when questions arose. She kept us informed every step of the way. Without her, we would have suffered a severe financial loss due to an accident which was not our fault. Florida’s No Fault law is terrible and very unfair. Andrea and her team were very helpful in recouping all of the money we were required to spend!

Karen and David B.

“Thank you again for everything”

Thank you again for everything you did for me. Your compassion and concern was greatly appreciated. I have all the faith in the world with you by my side. If ever I know someone who needs an attorney, I will recommend your office. Everyone I had dealings with was very professional. Good job.

Terri D.

“Great Service”

We have used Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice & Purtz in the past and presently and they always provide great customer service. They are very knowledgeable and thorough in their representation and always go the extra mile to make sure we’re represented fairly. Highly recommend!

Nick A.

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Southwest Florida Car Accident Lawyers

Serving Fort MyersCape CoralLehigh Acres, Lee County, Naples, Collier County,  Port Charlotte, and Charlotte County, FL

If you have suffered severe injuries after being involved in a car accident that you did not cause, you may be feeling worried or scared about your future. Perhaps you have medical bills piling up or you may be unable to work for quite some time and don’t know how you are going to support yourself. Our Southwest Florida car accident lawyers know exactly how to fight to get you the justice that you deserve. Call us right away to set up a free, initial consultation. We want to give you the justice that you deserve.

How These Cases Work

A basic breakdown of how most car accident cases work is as follows:

After your accident, hopefully you can collect some evidence for your Southwest Florida car accident lawyers to use later in your case. That evidence can include witness contact info, photos and videos of the scene and the vehicles involved.

After you get medical care, you will reach out to a lawyer to start your case. You and your lawyer are going to file a claim against the person who was directly responsible for causing the accident. Your lawyer is going to determine who the liable party was and if there was more than one based on their investigation of the accident.

When we pursue justice for our clients, it is going to be in the form of financial compensation. The person who caused the car accident will not be fulfilling the award out of their own pocket. Their insurance company is in charge of doing that for them. They will be the ones who give you the award.

If we cannot come up with an amount that is full and fair through negotiations with the insurance company, we are going to take the case to trial to try and get you justice.

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    What to Do Right After the Accident

    When you are involved in a car accident and you suspect that you have an injury, you need to get yourself in front of a doctor immediately. Most people are going to have adrenaline rushing through their body, which can mask some pain and give you a false sense that you are okay, but you need to take extra care after an accident. Even minor accidents can cause serious injury.

    Even if you think you are completely fine, you should always get to the emergency room or urgent care right away after your accident so that you do not end up having a minor injury become serious. The last thing you want is to make your pain and suffering go on for longer or get worse.

    If you were to delay getting medical care, the insurance company certainly will take this opportunity to claim that you either lied about the severity of your injuries or you lied about where the injuries came from. They would use your delay in medical treatment to prove these theories and depending on which, your compensation award would either be reduced or your case thrown out. Having less severe injuries means you would get a smaller award and if you lied about the cause of your injuries, they are no longer responsible for your compensation.

    You also need to make sure that you get in touch with our Southwest Florida car accident lawyers immediately. You are going to be held to a legal deadline— the statute of limitations. You have four years from the date of your accident to bring your claim. Of course, that seems like such a long time, but when you are focused on other aspects of your life and are not prioritizing reaching out to a lawyer, then you can easily let time get away from you.

    Also, car accident cases rely on evidence. If you did not collect any yourself and you waited a year and a half to talk to a lawyer, there may be little to no evidence left. In the meantime, you could make serious mistakes that might ruin your chance at justice.

    We do not want you to have to miss out on getting justice simply because you did not set up a free consultation right away.

    The One Thing You Do Not Want to Do

    As mentioned, if you haven’t met with a lawyer, there are things you likely do not know that could end up hurting you. The biggest mistake we see people make is giving a statement to the insurance company. As you may have gathered, they are often greedy and do not want to give you the money you deserve because it can get expensive for them. When you are hurt by someone else, they will reach out to you and ask you to give them a recorded statement. Do not give them one.

    They have trained their representatives to ask you questions in a way that would guide you to answer the way they want you to. They can twist your words, back you into a corner, then use what you say against you. If you even simply answered their greeting of, “Hey, how are you?” even a polite response such as, “I’m good. How are you?” could be twisted. To you, it might mean nothing aside from a standard greeting, but to them, they can use it to mean you were fine and free of pain.

    You are not legally obligated to talk to the insurance company and we certainly hope you do not offer them anything that they can use against you. Instead, let your Southwest Florida car accident lawyers handle communication with the insurance.

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    The Compensation You Deserve

    Firstly, when you file a claim, you are going to be asking for compensation to cover your economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages can be defined as monetary losses, such as medical bills and lost wages. Non-economic damages are things like your pain and suffering.

    It should be noted that not everyone who is injured in a car accident is going to be able to file a claim for compensation. Florida is a no-fault state, which means that you are going to have to turn to your own personal injury protection on your car insurance to cover the damages suffered in an accident, unless you fall into a certain category that will allow you to sue. Our Southwest Florida car accident lawyers are going to help you figure out if you have grounds to sue.

    Assuming you do have grounds to file a claim, when you go through the negotiations with the insurance company, you are going to notice that they will try very hard to reduce your compensation. Both our lawyers and the insurance companies are aware that in Florida, if the plaintiff (the injured person filing the claim) shares blame for the accident, then they can end up with a reduced compensation award.

    We do not want you to end up with a reduced award, but the insurance compensation does. Because Florida is a state that follows pure comparative negligence, if you get blamed for a percentage of the accident, you will have a reduced compensation award.

    An example of this would be if you were at a stop sign, and you thought you looked both ways before turning, but someone came flying out of nowhere and hit you in the intersection. You might share some fault if you, for example, if you did not make a complete stop at the sign before you proceeded into the intersection.

    Let’s say that the insurance company found out that your stop was not perfect. They can use this information as grounds to say that the accident may have been avoided or have been less severe had you done something differently (even if they admit that their insured was mostly at fault). In a case like this, maybe they say you were 20% at fault for the accident. If you were given $10,000 in compensation, the award would be reduced to $8,000 to account for the role you played in causing the accident.

    Our lawyers are going to fight hard to make sure that you are not penalized unfairly by the insurance company and that your results are as full as we can possibly make it. You don’t need to worry about us trying to get your case done and over with like some law firms who just want to run your case through the mill. We care about each and every one of our clients. Your success is as important to us as our own family’s case would be to us.

    Call Our Southwest Florida Car Accident Lawyers Today

    After you have been seriously harmed in a car accident, you should urgently get medical care and then call our Southwest Florida car accident lawyers to handle your case to get you the justice you deserve. When you hire our lawyers, you are ensuring that your case is in good hands and that you will have someone fighting tirelessly to give you the results that you deserve so you can be whole again. When you are ready to have someone fighting for your justice, give us a call to set up your free consultation.

    Client Reviews

    stars

    We have used Goldstein, Buckley, Cechman, Rice & Purtz in the past and presently and they always provide great customer service. They are very knowledgeable and thorough in their representation and always go the extra mile to make sure we’re represented fairly. Highly recommend!

    Nick A.

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