Hiring a vacation injury lawyer can help you win compensation for injuries and wrongful death. Contact Leighton Panoff Law to get advice on whether you should file a personal injury lawsuit.
Florida is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world. People travel from all over the country and internationally to experience our culture, food, and, of course, the fantastic beaches.
There’s also a massive cruise industry based in South Florida that attracts millions of people each year.
When you come to Florida on vacation, the last thing you expect is to deal with legal issues. Unfortunately, though, thousands of people are hurt or die in the state annually. They fall in hotels, drown in pools, and crash recreational vehicles.
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These are just a few examples, but there are a ton of different ways people find themselves in the hospital or without someone they love.
Accidents that result in injury or death are horrible, but they happen all the time. What happens, though, when an incident isn’t your fault? Is it fair that you’re then saddled with a life of trauma or physical therapy to regain some sense of normalcy? No, of course not.
In many instances, injuries or wrongful death happen to guests of a hotel, resort, cruise line, or some other tour operator. These companies have a duty of care for people on their property or using their goods. When something terrible happens, they may be liable for injuries or death.
How can you know whether you have a case? The team at Leighton Panoff Law are experienced vacation injury lawyers in Miami and the rest of South Florida. We’ll work with you and your family to win justice and seek appropriate damages.
Let’s take a look at how vacation incidents happen and what you can do if something happens to you or someone you know.
Cruise lines typically have lengthy safety plans in place. They are supposed to post signs at pools, near any wet areas, elevators, stairways, or anywhere else of concern. The staff is usually trained in basic first-aid. There is also often training for passengers on what to do in the event or any security event.
With all of these measures in place, it’s easy to think that a cruise line or any other tour company has your best interests at heart. What they’re doing, however, is limiting their legal exposure. They are distancing themselves from blame.
If you think about it, you’ll see that it’s the reason why every time you parasail, rent a jet ski or go on a boat tour, they make you sign a waiver that tries to remove them from responsibility (the waiver may not prevent them from being liable).
They do this because they know if someone dies or falls on their property, it can be an expensive proposition for the company, especially if they were negligent.
To win compensation for death or injury, you must prove the company or some other liable party had a duty of care, failed in that duty, and their failure directly contributed to a safety incident.
Gathering evidence and proving negligence isn’t easy. You need a vacation injury lawyer with experience representing victims in these types of cases.
How can a vacation injury lawyer help? Well, the first thing they can do is look at the circumstances surrounding your injuries to determine whether a case is worthwhile pursuing.
It’s true, sometimes accidents happen. People drink too much and fall down a flight of stairs. That’s not always a hotel’s or a cruise’s fault.
However, vacation injuries happen a lot in Florida because of the sheer number of people traveling here and the fact that we have good weather year-round. It’s a numbers game, and bad things eventually happen.
Here are some examples of vacation injuries:
The bottom line is, a lot can go wrong. People on vacation tend to let their guards down. We relax and fall into the trap of thinking everything is taken care of by the people we’re paying for fun or relaxation. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
Here’s a list of things you can do to avoid injury or death while on vacation.
How do you know when an accident is your fault versus when a company or property owner is liable? It’s a good question. So let’s take a look. Here are some examples of vacation injuries and how we’ve helped represent the victims in personal injury cases.
This type of injury happens a lot. In Florida, we’ve got a ton of hotels and other venues with beautiful, smooth marble and granite floors. They look great, but they easily mask spills. As a result, they become slippery quickly, and companies and property owners are responsible for cleaning up spills to prevent falls. At the very least, they must clearly mark areas with wet floors. If they neglect to maintain a space and someone falls, they are often liable for injuries.
Obstructed roads, sidewalks, paths, and waterways are another risk to vacationers. Again, property owners and operators must clearly mark obstructions and offer people an alternate path. People who trip and fall may have a case against a company or property owner who failed to maintain or mark impacted areas.
Unfortunately, criminals also know how popular Florida is with tourists. They know people travel here with their most expensive jewelry and cash to spend while having fun. Tourists are easy targets. Hotels, cruise ships, malls, and other places must provide adequate security commensurate with local crime risks. They may be liable for negligent security if there is poor lighting, broken locks, or a failure in security procedures that leads to injury or death. Our team is one of the nation’s top negligent security and violent crime injury law firms.
It’s easy for locals to point the finger and blame car accidents, bike accidents, or boat accidents on visiting tourists. That, however, is not always the case. Don’t agree or assume blame simply because you’re visiting. Instead, talk to a vacation injury lawyer about the incident, and they will advise you on the best action going forward.
It’s rare, but sometimes tourist location employees become the assaulter. Sexual assaults, robberies, assaults, and other crimes happen on occasion. You need an expert sexual assault vacation injury lawyer to hold the business, individual and their employer responsible when it happens.
Water is a major attraction in Florida. At all hours of the day, you’ll see people parasailing, riding on jet skis, and riding around on boats. Unfortunately, the high traffic sometimes results in collisions. Most of the time, boating or something like parasailing is very safe, but a single operator mistake or a faulty part can leave devastation behind.
These are just a handful of vacation injury examples. If you or someone you know needs a vacation injury lawyer, talk to the team at Leighton Panoff Law today!
John Leighton, the founder of Leighton Panoff Law, is a leader in Resort Tort Law in the United States. He has successfully represented victims of negligent security, slip and fall injuries, and other negligence for years.
John led the effort to pass the first parasailing law in the U.S. that mandated specific safety standards to protect visitors and customers. He regularly features as a guest speaker and writer on resort and vacation safety and has a track record of fighting against the powerful Florida vacation industry lobby.
Pursuing a personal injury case against a resort, a large cruise operator, or an amusement park requires resources and industry expertise. The team at Leighton Panoff Law fights aggressively to win justice for victims.
If you or someone you know needs a vacation injury lawyer, talk to Leighton Panoff Law about how we can help. We’ll take a look at your injuries and seek compensation to cover:
We offer free, no-obligation consultations to help you hold responsible parties liable for negligence and other factors that led to your injuries. Our team is committed to the public and focused on keeping Florida visitors and tourists safe from harm or wrongful death.
A nationally-recognized trial lawyer who handles catastrophic injury and death cases. He manages Leighton Law, P.A. trial lawyers, with offices in Miami and Orlando, Florida. He is President of The National Crime Victim Bar Association, author of the 2-volume textbook,Litigating Premises Security Cases, and past Chairman of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America’s Motor Vehicle, Highway & Premises Liability Section. Having won some of the largest verdicts in Florida history, Mr. Leighton is listed inThe Best Lawyers in America (14 years), “Top Lawyers” in the South Florida Legal Guide (15 years), Top 100 Florida SuperLawyer™ and Florida SuperLawyers (14 years), “Orlando Legal Elite” by Orlando Style magazine, and FloridaTrend magazine “Florida Legal Elite