Let our experience work for you.
Areas of Expertise
Car, Truck & Motorcycle Accidents
Bicycle & Pedestrian Accidents
Roadwork & Roadway Design Negligence
Defective Consumer Products
Insurance Disputes
Wrongful Death
If your loved one tragically passed away in an accident, Florida law provides compensation to family members that have been left behind for the great suffering they will experience. Spouses, children, and parents are entitled to recover for their suffering, depending upon family circumstances at the time of the death.
The recoveries are most commonly for the value of a family member’s personal suffering, but are also sometimes for financial support that will not now be provided to the family because of the death.
A very important note in wrongful death cases: these losses are so significant, that even if law enforcement concluded that your loved one was at fault, or even if it was a single car crash, it is important that your family hire an attorney to perform an independent investigation of the crash in honor of your loved one to determine whether a case should be pursued.
It would be Baggett Law’s privilege to discuss your family’s legal rights under Florida’s Wrongful Death Act on a free and confidential basis.
Personal Injury
Our clients come to us having been recently traumatically injured and struggling with the fallout: the pain, the stress, the financial hardship, and the uncertainly. It is our privilege to step in and relieve the burden of going through this alone and to remove the intimidation of facing an opposing insurance company without representation.
Ultimately, we aim to make our clients whole by maximizing the recovery to which they are entitled under Florida law. Our clients that have been injured in a car accident or other circumstance are entitled under the law to three primary categories of monetary recovery: (1) medical bills and any future necessary medical costs for permanent injuries; (2) lost income and any future loss of income if the client can no longer perform his or her job because of the injuries; and (3) personal losses often called “pain and suffering,” which includes compensation for dealing with bodily pain, living with physical scars, living with a disability, losing the ability to do things they loved such as hobbies and recreational activities, and for mental trauma.
Even where our clients or their loved ones were partly responsible for the crash, Florida law provides for their compensation to the extent the crash was another driver’s fault. Our independent investigation into all circumstances of the crash is critical.
It would be Baggett Law’s privilege to discuss your personal injury case on a free and confidential basis.
Negligence in Roadway Design and Construction
Most car accidents are caused by one or more drivers. But some accidents occur due to roadway conditions caused by defective design and negligence during road construction. These types of accidents commonly occur in roadway work zones. Such accidents can also occur months or years after a roadway project has been completed. Some common problems seen in roadway design and construction negligence cases are: lack of signage, incorrectly installed guardrails, lack of walls or barriers, improperly marked lanes, and lack of adequate drainage.
As any motorist knows, roadway construction work zones are sometimes very confusing and challenging to navigate. Work zone traffic might be detoured or rerouted during construction, and lane markings, speed limit signs and other traffic control devices may be changed temporarily. The process of routing traffic through an ongoing roadway work zone is commonly referred to in the construction industry as “temporary traffic control” (TTC) or “maintenance of traffic” (MOT). Every roadway construction project has a set of MOT plans designed by a professional engineer. The State of Florida has set forth certain requirements and standards that must be followed by professional engineers when designing such plans. Beyond these state-mandated requirements, engineers are required by law to use their best professional judgment and take into consideration all factors that might require certain additional features or measures to be implemented in the plans beyond those required by the state. If the MOT plans create confusion or difficulty for drivers navigating a construction zone and an accident occurs, the engineer and its firm may be responsible for the resulting injuries and damages. Likewise, if a roadway construction contractor fails to implement the traffic control measures set forth in a project’s MOT plans and such failure causes or contributes to an accident, then the contractor may also be held liable.
The same standards apply to completed construction projects. Every project for changes or improvements to a roadway in Florida starts with a set of plans designed by a professional engineer. Engineers are required to follow certain standards and specifications set forth by state and federal authorities for roadway design. Their failure to do so can subject them to liability for car accidents that result. Similarly, roadway construction contractors can be held liable for failing to construct a roadway in accordance with the design plans for the project.
If you believe a crash involving you or a loved one may have been caused by negligence in the design or construction of the road where the crash occurred, it would be Baggett Law’s privilege to investigate your case.