There are several challenges of personal injury law in Florida – but you'd be surprised to learn how these unique challenges have more to do with perception as opposed to legal concepts.

The client is the most important part of a case

According to Eric Block, a Florida injury lawyer whose practice concentrates on personal injury claims and trial work related to those claims, the client is the most important and unique part of a case. He explained:

Every case rises and falls with the credibility of the client. I tell all of my clients that a jury bases its decision on whether they like the plaintiff more than the facts and the law. It's just human nature. After all, jurors are made up of people and people are human. Therefore, it's human nature that you're obviously going to relate to people that you like more than you're going to relate to people that you don't like.

Unfortunately, it's been our experience that people who have good cases on paper, but quite frankly aren't likable folks, don't do as well and sometimes lose their case outright. Whereas, somebody who's just a likable person that doesn't have a really technically strong case in terms of the evidence will obtain favorable results. So, one of the things we have to understand is that the plaintiff, even though they're the one bringing the case, is really the one on trial and their credibility is always an issue that a jury is going to determine.

Real life obstacles

In addition to likeability, Florida personal injury law cases face some real life obstacles. Block continued:

The real obstacles aren't so much legal obstacles as they are real life obstacles – and what I mean by that is juries are very, very suspicious of people bringing personal injury cases. Everybody has seen somebody on the news at one point or another that's been awarded $5 million for an injury and then they're seen waterskiing or mowing their lawn the next day. The truth of the matter is that happens very rarely. However, those are the stories that make the news and because people have seen them on the news, they're very, very suspicious of people claiming injury from car accidents or slip-and-falls.

So, one of the greatest obstacles that we have is overcoming that prejudice and showing that this particular person really is hurt, really has been injured and really does suffer every day.

If you’ve been injured due to the negligence of another, contact a Florida personal injury attorney to discuss your situation. The consultation is free, without obligation and strictly confidential. An experienced attorney can evaluate your case at no cost or obligation, by filling out the case evaluation form on FreeAdvice.