St Petersburg Personal Injury Attorney Blog

If you have been in a car accident, you are well aware that the effects do not end when you leave the scene. Even the most minor impact can jolt your body in ways that it is not designed to withstand and cause injuries. While most injuries are obvious, many can linger or be masked by the pain from somewhere else. For example, a broken bone is an obvious injury that can be reported and verified easily. But, pain in your back or your neck is much more difficult to diagnose. I often have clients report low back pain after an accident. As they get treatment on the low back pain and it begins to heal, they realize that their mid and upper back also is in pain. They could not recognize these other injuries because the lower back pain was so intense, it blocked or masked the pain from nearby. While the above scenario is common, another example of a long term effect of a car accident that is often not immediately recognized by victims of car accidents are injuries to their head. Concussion...

A demand is a required step in every personal injury case. To the layperson, a demand is simply a way to present your damages to the insurance company. While a demand is not a technique that is exclusive to personal injury cases, it is something that is utilized more in this area of law than any other. You may have heard your lawyer or paralegal mention a demand throughout your treatment. A demand technically can be sent at any time, but the timing of when it is sent is often strategic. For example, in a car accident case , if the other driver only has $10,000 of insurance, you might want to send a demand as soon as you have had your MRI and found positive findings (meaning herniated or bulging discs). But, if the at-fault driver has a larger insurance policy, you likely will not want to rush out a demand until you are finished with your medical treatment. So, there are many strategic decisions that can be made surrounding the demand , including what goes in it. At St. Petersburg...

Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed if you have some hiccups in your past. According to a study by The Sentencing Project , between 70 and 100 million Americans have some type of criminal record . That amounts to about one third of the entire country! At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQUaid & Douglas, we have represented many people with past or present criminal and traffic priors. In fact, I, Sean McQuaid , devote a large portion of my law practice to defending people charged with crimes. I almost exclusively handle Pinellas County cases because that allows me to be familiar with the prosecutors and the judges that my clients appear before. So, I am an expert at understanding priors based on my criminal defense practice . Also because I have a large criminal and traffic defense client base, many of those same clients inevitably get injured in accidents due to no fault of their own. Then, they become my personal injury clients. In the personal injury world, priors ca...

\You have been in an auto accident . You have called the police, they came to the scene, investigated, and even wrote the other driver a ticket. You felt pain, went to the doctor, and started medical treatment. You reported the incident to your insurance company and got a claim number. You set up an appointment with an auto accident attorney . You did everything right. But, you get a call from your insurance company that your claim is delayed because the other driver’s insurance is still investigating. That means you can’t get your car fixed, can’t get a rental car , and don’t know if there will be any money to pay for your injuries. If you have experienced this situation and wonder what is going on it is likely because the other driver hasn’t reported the accident and isn’t cooperating. So, what do you do now? The purpose of this article is to explain what happens regularly when dealing with auto accident injury claims in St. Petersburg , Pinellas County and the Tampa Bay Region. ...

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the way people drive. If you have been on the roads recently, there is abnormal driving everywhere. I have seen some people driving recklessly, seen elderly drivers leaving grocery stores that should not be driving, and a lot of distracted driving. All of these unusual events combined certainly are going to lead to more car accidents . In St. Petersburg, we have not yet had a lockdown order. But, bars and nightclubs are closed, and restaurants are take-out only. That has led to people drinking a lot at home or at friends’ homes. At the liquor store on Central Ave., the owner told me that the purchase of alcohol has spiked and that he is unusually busy. His refrigerated beer selection was about half empty. Inevitably, with these changes to our world, people are going to get behind the wheel and we are going to see strange accidents. Ways that Our Driving is Being Changed: As mentioned in the above, cars are being driven differently as a result of th...

Riding a motorcycle in St. Petersburg can be very dangerous. No matter how experienced of a rider you are, it is often not a question of if you will be in an accident, but when. There are many factors that contribute to motorcycles being at a higher risk. Because St. Petersburg is completely developed, there are not a lot of clear sight lines. We also have a lot of elderly drivers, tourists, and visitors to the area. But, perhaps the most dangerous condition is that our roadways are simply too congested. When you put these numerous risk factors together, unfortunately it is often the motorcyclist who suffers the consequences. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in representing motorcyclists who have been injured by the negligence of other drivers on the roads. This article has been written to address frequently asked questions and provide ways to improve the value of any motorcycle injury claim. How Long Do You Have to File a Claim? In ...

At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in personal injury cases in St. Petersburg and throughout Pinellas County. We understand how confusing it can be after an accident. When you are in pain, your vehicle might be damaged, and you are getting bombarded by calls from insurance companies, you need someone to help you take control of the situation. In this article, we discuss what should happen after a personal injury accident . We hope that it will answer some of your questions in your time of need. This is the advice that we would like all of our clients to follow and it is being presented here free of charge! Always Call the Police or Report the Incident to Someone in Authority While reporting the accident might seem like common sense to most people, you would be surprised how frequently people do not follow this advice. They leave stores without telling the manager or getting an incident report or, in the case of an auto accident , they si...

Getting into an accident involving a rental car can be extremely confusing. There are multiple layers of insurance coverage that can frustrate even the most savvy of people. Because of the complexity of rental car accidents , you really should speak to a rental car accident lawyer immediately. Trying to handle these claims on your own will inevitably lead to problems with your claim down the road. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in handling accidents involving rental cars . We are located in Pinellas County and close to the beaches; therefore, we are constantly getting calls and cases from accidents involving rental cars . Most of these accidents involve visitors, tourists, or snowbirds who are driving a rental car and cause the accident . But, regardless of whether you were in the rental car or injured by someone in a rental car, we can help. The following article was written to serve as a resource for those who may have questions a...

As of the time of this article, our world has been upended as a result of the coronavirus . While I am certain that we will get through this and emerge as a stronger and more united community, there are still hardships to endure. I am not a politician or a medical doctor, so this article has a limited purpose to provide some legal guidance should an accident befall you during this challenging time. Gyms have now been closed and people have been ordered not to congregate. Since people have been restricted to their homes, they have been looking for options to get out of the house in order to break the monotony and get exercise. This has led to a massive increase in people jogging and riding bicycles . Because of this increase in pedestrian and bicycle traffic sharing the roads, accidents are bound to happen. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in accidents resulting in injuries to joggers, pedestrians and bicyclists . These accidents happen...

In a new case from Hillsborough County, the Second District Court of Appeal reversed Hillsborough Circuit Judge Paul Huey’s decision to grant a new trial. This overreaching by the appellate court resulted in a miscarriage of justice and is an example of the risks of personal injury lawsuits. In this case, it was undisputed that a car pulled into the lane of a motorcycle. The motorcyclist was seriously injured . Despite abundant evidence of the fault of the car, the jury found that the driver of the car was not negligent. Judge Huey properly ordered a new trial based on the fact that it was so obvious that the car was at fault. But, the Second District Court of Appeal, also sitting in Tampa , decided to reverse Judge Huey and reinstate the verdict in favor of the car. This article will address what happened in the case and the legal basis for the appellate court’s decision. As St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in both car accidents and moto...

Falls at condo associations are extremely common. The responsibility of condo associations to keep their common areas properly maintained is often neglected due to property management groups or volunteer boards who are stretched too thin. Fortunately, condo associations normally carry insurance to protect them in case of an accident on the property . Historically, most accidents at condos occur on sidewalks or entryways, pools, or in the case I will be discussing herein, near an unfinished dock. At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in pursuing compensation against homeowners and condo associations when our clients have been injured in an unforeseen accident . We have handled countless of these cases in St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and the Tampa Bay area. This article will address a case from Miami where a visitor to a condo association was injured after falling in a hole. We pride ourselves on being up to date with all of the legal tren...

Slip and fall cases against supermarkets and grocery stores are quite common. By virtue of the fact that liquids and foods are often spilled, dangerous conditions frequently exist that inevitably lead to slip and falls . At St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas, we specialize in slip and fall claims at grocery stores . We have handled countless claims against Winn-Dixie , Publix , Walmart, and Aldi . We routinely monitor the results of slip and fall cases throughout Florida. In a recent case from Miami, the court dismissed a slip and fall lawsuit against Winn-Dixie. In my opinion, it appears that the injured person had a viable claim, but through the lack of cooperation of Winn-Dixie and their employees, the claim was thwarted. A full discussion of the case will follow below. However, the lack of cooperation by the employees of Winn-Dixie is no surprise to me. In my dealings with Winn-Dixie cases, their employees are routinely less cooperative, less friendly...