Choosing the Right Lawyer is No ACCIDENT- A Personal Injury Guide - By Jeff Adelman (2025 Edition)
If you are reading this, you likely have been injured as a result of a car accident or slipping or tripping on someone’s premises as a result of negligence. In the pages that follow, I will provide insight as to what you should expect from a lawyer (attorney) fighting on your behalf for personal injuries. This book is intended as a general guide if you are unfortunate to have had this happen to you. It has been with the least amount of “legalese” as possible, so you do not have to be a lawyer to understand it.
If you are reading this, you likely have been injured as a result of a car accident or slipping or tripping on someone’s premises as a result of negligence. In the pages that follow, I will provide insight as to what you should expect from a lawyer (attorney) fighting on your behalf for personal injuries. This book is intended as a general guide if you are unfortunate to have had this happen to you. It has been with the least amount of “legalese” as possible, so you do not have to be a lawyer to understand it.
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Choosing the Right Lawyer is No Accident
PROPOSALS FOR SETTLEMENT
Proposals for settlement are valuable litigation tools to put pressure on
parties to settle lawsuits. This strategy concerns Florida Rule of Civil
Procedure 1.442, and involves assessing attorneys’ fees and costs for a
prevailing (winning) party or party that offered to settle a case prior to
trial for a reasonable amount. At mediation, proposals for settlement
almost always come up because one or both sides likely has sent one or
more of these to their opponent.
The rule states that if the defendant in a litigation files a “proposal for
settlement” under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442, the plaintiff
must obtain a verdict of at least 75 percent of the amount proposed
by the defendant. If there is a defense verdict or the verdict is less than
75 percent of the verdict, then the plaintiff is responsible for the
defendant’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs IF the case is resolved
by a jury verdict at trial.
A plaintiff has thirty days from the date of receipt to accept or reject the
defendant’s proposal for settlement. If the plaintiff does not accept the
offer within thirty days of receipt, it is deemed rejected by law.
This goes both ways. If the plaintiff files a proposal for settlement under
the above rules, and a jury verdict exceeds the plaintiff’s offer to settle
by 25 percent or more, then the defendant is responsible for all of
the plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees and costs.
Any proposal for settlement must be in writing and contain the
following information:
a) the name of the party to whom the proposal is relevant, along with the
party making the proposal,
b) identifying the claims that the proposal concerns,
c) relevant conditions that must be clearly stated for the settlement,
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Jeff Adelman, B.C.S., Esq.
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