Personal Injury Lawyers in Lakeland, FL
Since 1975, Howell & Thornhill, P.A. has represented injury victims throughout Lakeland and Polk County. Whether you’ve been injured in a crash on 1-4, the Polk Parkway (SR 570), US-98, or Florida Avenue, our attorneys are here to help you pursue the compensation you deserve.
Our Lakeland Law Office
Our Lakeland satellite office is located at 2115 Florida Ave S, Lakeland, FL 33803, making it easy for clients throughout Lakeland and Polk County to meet with our attorneys.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer can help you take action after someone else’s negligence leaves you injured. Howell & Thornhill, P.A. represents people hurt in car, bicycle, motorcycle, truck, workplace, and other accidents throughout Lakeland and Polk County. Insurance companies may attempt to minimize what they pay for, but our attorneys can investigate what happened, document your losses, and pursue the compensation available to you.
At Howell & Thornhill, P.A., our attorneys help injured clients throughout Lakeland and Polk County understand their rights and pursue the support they need for the future. Contact our Lakeland office to schedule a free consultation.
Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Lakeland, Florida
Our Lakeland personal injury lawyers represents clients in a wide range of negligence claims. Depending on how your injury occurred, we may be able to help you pursue compensation from the responsible person, business, or insurance company.
Howell & Thornhill, P.A. offers personal injury representation across most types of injuries, including:
When someone else causes injury to you, do not speak to the insurance company without working with a personal injury attorney as a first step. Let our legal team offer you free information and guidance.
Florida’s Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims
Do not wait to contact your attorney to discuss your case. Under Florida law, the statute of limitation is just two years. For new claims, the Florida Legislature recently reduced this from four years down to just two years. That means you have just two years to file a claim for the losses you have.
That may seem like a lot of time, but in serious accidents, it takes time to gather evidence, find witnesses, and take legal action. We encourage you to act sooner. Even if you are not ready to file a case in a court of law, reach out to our attorneys immediately so we can start working on your case and protect your rights to compensation.
Who Is Responsible for Your Personal Injury Losses?
One of the most important things a personal injury lawyer can do is help you determine who is responsible for your losses. Sometimes, it is straightforward and obvious, like a drunk driver behind the wheel of a truck that rear ends you. Other times, it could be a tired truck driver who has worked too many hours in a row due to their employer. Our goal is to understand who is at fault and, as a result, who should be paying for the losses you have.
How do we do this? There are several ways.
Investigating Your Lakeland Personal Injury Claim
One of the strategies we have is gathering evidence in your case. That includes looking for videos and photos of the incident. It means gathering insight into the police report or going further and requesting the medical records of a driver we believe was responsible due to intoxication. It may include pursuing witness statements from the people in a hospital that could have seen what happened to you or camera evidence of a dog biting you.
While the police report provides some information, our goal is to rule out any doubt about what occurred and why. That way, we can progressively work to protect your rights – helping to show you were not responsible, who is responsible, and why this occurred.
We Consult Accident-Reconstruction Professionals When Needed
In some situations, especially when there are significant losses, one of the goals we have is to gather evidence by recreating the incident. We have access to professionals who can do this for you, including highly skilled accident reconstructionists who are able to use software to show what happened. While this is not always necessary, if there is doubt about fault, this type of tool can help to gather that information.
Once we determine who is responsible, it is then possible to target that person and their insurance to cover the losses you have incurred. Our team is thorough in this process.
What Compensation May Be Available After a Lakeland, FL Injury?
Another core component of the work our Lakeland personal injury attorneys do is estimating all of your losses. Often, clients come to us with a stack of medical bills they need to pay and believe that is all they are owed. That is very often not the case, though.
Your losses, including any type of economic and non-economic losses you have experienced as a result of the incident. There are many examples of this, and here are some of them.
Economic losses may include:
● Emergency medical bills
● Hospital and emergency-room costs
● Surgical procedure costs
● Medications
● Complication treatment by specialists
● Rehabilitation in-patient centers
● In-home supportive care
● Loss of income because you cannot work
● Reduced earning capacity
These are just some of the examples of the economic losses you may have, those that often have a documented bill you have to pay.
Non-economic losses may include:
● Pain and suffering
● Emotional distress and trauma
● Loss of quality of life
● Loss of consortium
How did this incident impact your quality of life both now and into the future? Did it limit your ability to do things you love to do? Perhaps it has created turmoil in your relationships or led to a lack of being able to engage in relationships at all.
With this information, we can work to formulate how much you may be owed in your Lakeland personal injury case. We think about the costs you incurred at the time of the incident, the costs since then, and the impact this is going to have in the years to come.
How Our Lakeland, Florida Injury Lawyers Handle Insurance Claims
Even with outstanding documentation like these details, it is not always easy to obtain the compensation you are owed from insurance companies. They will do everything they can to reduce what they owe to you – it is our job to fight against that.
Before you submit a claim for compensation to the insurance company, we first recommend speaking to a personal injury attorney to ensure you have considered all of your losses and are thoroughly ready to make that claim. Then, let us do the work for you.
We can submit the initial claim for you.
The initial claim to the insurance company is likely to come back with lots of questions and numerous points of contention. The insurance company will likely work to prove that you do not have the right to make some claims. Our goal is to ensure they understand what your losses are so we can ensure you get the maximum compensation owed to you.
We Handle Communications with the Insurance Company
The insurance company may have questions for you about what occurred and the losses you have. Whenever possible, we will answer those questions for you, working to ensure that you are providing very accurate information that is clear. We do not allow the insurance company to pursue information they do not have the right to or to bully you into making statements that are misleading.
We Negotiate for a Fair Settlement
Our legal team then works to negotiate with the insurance company to get them to settle for the most possible. Though every situation is very different, there are many times when we can get the insurance company to settle your case out of court quickly. Our experience ensures they know that we are serious about the losses.
We Are Prepared to Take Your Case to Court
Most cases are settled out of court, and when we can get the insurance company to agree to a fair settlement, this is no problem. If that does not occur, our legal team will pursue legal action in a court of law, making a case for your losses. We are trial attorneys who understand what is on the line. We will fight for the compensation you are owed.
Why Trust Howell & Thornhill, P.A. with Your Lakeland Personal Injury Case
You have options when it comes to hiring an attorney to represent you, and there are many reasons to do your own research and ensure the person you choose to stand by your side is someone you trust. There are several reasons why our clients come to us and refer their family and friends to us as well.
Serving Central Florida since 1975
Our personal injury attorneys know the importance of providing quality legal representation to the community. Our attorneys were born and raised in Central Florida, and that means we are committed to helping our community get the legal guidance they need. We do not want people to find themselves suffering financially due to the negligence of others.
Decades of Personal Injury Experience
Howell & Thornhill, P.A. has served Central Florida since 1975, and with that comes a significant amount of experience representing people from all walks of life handling a wide range of personal injury cases. We know what our clients are up against because we have helped many of them find the support they need throughout our decades of service.
In our opinion, experience brings with it passion. We have seen the results of car accidents, tragic motorcycle accidents, painful medical mistakes, and dozens of other incidents and how they impact the lives of so many. We have helped many people to manage the difficult complications they are facing after a wrongful death occurs as well.
We Have the Supportive Professionals You Need
As a long-standing law firm in Lakeland, we have professionals on staff to help with your case. That goes beyond just our attorneys and legal support staff. We also have professionals who help with providing expert insight into what occurred. That includes a full-time investigator and a Registered Nurse. These professionals help us to create very accurate and thorough claims based on facts and experience.
We Are Experts
Check our reputation with judges and court staff. We are proud of our expertise in personal injury claims. We have worked with clients in a wide range of courts at the local, state, and federal levels. We work hard to be the type of attorney you want on your side. You can expect us to always provide good communication and hard work no matter how big or small your case may be right now.
We Provide No-Cost Consultations
Our clients need to know if they have a case, what steps they can take to obtain compensation, and what their first move should be. We provide a free consultation to help you to understand what your legal rights are. When providing this legal representation, we are always thorough and transparent. If we do not believe you have a case, we will be open and honest with you about that. Your time is valuable, and we want to ensure you are spending it wisely.
We do not charge you a fee or any costs related to your case unless we help you recover money. That means that if we cannot help you recover compensation for your losses, you owe us nothing. This can give you peace of mind, knowing that you are working with a legal team ready to fight for the help you need.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Our Lakeland Personal Injury Lawyers
When you contact our injury lawyers in Lakeland, FL, you get results. Set up a consultation to discuss your case with us now. There is no cost or obligation to move forward, but there are answers to your questions. You can contact us now to learn what your options are. Call Howell & Thornhill, P.A. for the legal guidance you need.
