Firm News

Our client contacted us two years ago after another law firm turned down a nursing home malpractice case involving his mother. When he came to us, his focus was on one aspect of care that he thought was substandard. Once we reviewed the records we found numerous areas of serious neglect including: the nurses charted entries for days that the resident was not even at the nursing home; the facility failed to obtain numerous medical consultations despite being ordered to do so; the facility was understaffed, leaving the nurses unaware of our resident’s particular medical conditions and concerns; the facility failed to provide working equipment for suctioning and maintaining her airway; the staff called non-emergency medical transportation when 911 should have been called; and the nurses performed CPR in a completely ineffective manner given our resident’s particular medical conditions. As a result, our client’s mother suffered a heart attack with severe brain damage and eventual death. The money received will do nothing to soothe our client’s loss of his mother. However, it is the only way we know of to get the attention of the owner of the nursing home, which, in this instance, is a large national chain. Things will only change when providing substandard care actually costs more than nursing home owners save by not hiring enough nurses. Our client can hold his head high knowing that he stood up for his mother and all of the other residents of this nursing home.

Our client was injured in a serious vehicle crash. Over the next 18 months, she required extensive medical care. Despite the severe impact and the seriousness of her injuries, she was only offered $8,000.00 by the insurer. It was at that point that she realized she needed an effective accident lawyer. When we agreed to represent her, at our suggestion, the contingency fee was structured so that she did not have to pay any fee on the first $8,000.00 recovered as she had received an offer in that amount. We demanded the full $100,000.00 in combined bodily injury and uninsured motorist coverage from the insurer involved and provided a comprehensive demand package demonstrating the strength of her case. Before suit was filed, the insurer paid the full limits - a recovery of more than twelve times the amount offered before our involvement.

Our client was seriously injured when he was rear-ended on Interstate I-95 in Jacksonville. The Lawrence Law Group immediately arranged for the download of the electronic data recorders for the vehicles involved. The data demonstrated that the driver of the at-fault vehicle was travelling in excess of 60 miles per hour at the time of impact. The recovery compensates our client for his pain and suffering, replaces his lost wages and will help him obtain the medical care he will need in the future.

As of June 10, 2020, we opened a satellite office located at 2225 A1A, Suite C-16, St. Augustine, Florida, 32080. In our St. Augustine office, as with our Jacksonville office, we will focus on injury and nursing home claims.

Our client suffered very serious and unnecessary injuries following a routine medical procedure. Due to the confidential nature of the resolution, the facts and parties involved cannot be disclosed.

Our client suffered injuries to his neck when he was struck from behind while sitting at a stop light. The damage to the vehicles was minimal and it only cost approximately $1000.00 to repair each. However, our client's vehicle was equipped with a tow hitch and trailer ball, which is where the at-fault vehicle struck him. Rear end tow hitch cases can be very deceiving because they can cause serious injuries without causing significant damage to the vehicles. This is because an impact to a tow hitch is the same as an impact directly to the frame of the forward vehicle. When a tow hitch is struck, the bumper is not able to do its job of diffusing the impact. A "stiff crash pulse" results, meaning that the impact force is transferred directly to the vehicle's occupants. Even though our client never suffered from neck pain before the crash, the at fault driver's insurer only offered $4,950.00 to settle his claim before we filed suit. Armed with a biomechanical expert, a pain management expert and an expert who calculated our client's future medical expenses, the insurer paid $120,000.00 to resolve the case shortly before trial.

When an insurance company makes an unfair settlement offer, it is important to have a law firm ready willing and able to file suit and bring your case to trial. A recent personal injury settlement negotiated by our lawyers in a Jacksonville car accident case illustrates the importance of filing suit in certain cases.

Our client was injured in a high impact car collision that happened in Jacksonville’s Arlington area. He was on his way to work at the Mayport Navy base when a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction lost control, struck the median and launched into the air striking the front driver’s side of our client’s vehicle.

Within hours of the collision, the client had had to be seen at the emergency room due to neck and back pain. Over time, he treated with a neurologist, Navy doctors, a chiropractor and two pain management doctors. MRI imaging of his neck revealed two small herniated discs. Importantly, the 32 year old client never suffered from neck pain before the crash.

The at-fault driver had $25,000.00 in bodily injury insurance coverage. Before filing suit, the insurer for that driver only offered our client $9,000 to settle his claim. Because the client provided that insurer the opportunity to settle the claim for the $25,000 policy limit, the basis for a bad faith claim was put in place.

A bad faith claim against an at-fault driver’s insurer is premised on the idea that the insurer exposed the at-fault driver to a very large verdict when that insurer could have settled the claim within its driver’s insurance limits, and, if the insurer had acted fairly and reasonably, would have done so. We believed the $9,000 offer was neither fair nor reasonable.

In a bad faith scenario, if a jury awards the injured person an amount greater than the policy limit, the injured person can file a second lawsuit directly against the at-fault driver’s insurer seeking the full amount of the judgment regardless of the policy limit.

After we filed suit, the insurer began raising the prospect of paying the $25,000 policy limit; however, by that point it was too late. We proceeded towards trial and even began picking a jury when we encountered a mistrial due to inflammatory comments made by one of the prospective jurors.

The case was reset for trial. A few days before trial, the insurer, recognizing its exposure for a large bad faith verdict, agreed to pay $600,000 to settle the case. Long before that, the client’s own auto insurer paid his full uninsured motorist coverage.

On June 25, 2018, Mr. Lawrence received the honor of being recognized as one of Florida Trend’s Florida Legal Elite in the field of civil trial law. Only one percent of active Florida attorneys are awarded with this designation. The winners are chosen based on input solicited from all Florida Bar members.

Our client was working as a truck driver delivering bundled pipes to a warehouse. A warehouse employee began removing the pipes from his flatbed trailer with a forklift. As each layer of pipe bundles was unloaded, our client removed the four by fours (known in the industry as "dunnage") separating the pipe bundles. As our client bent down to store the dunnage under the trailer, the forklift operator, who was located on the other side of the trailer, attempted to load another bundle of pipes onto the forklift. Unfortunately, the forklift operator did not place the forks low enough and pushed the bundle of pipes instead of inserting the forks underneath the pipes. This, in turn, caused the bundle of pipes on the other side of the trailer to fall off of the trailer landing on our client's leg. Our client suffered a severely comminuted fracture of his tibial plateau and the "degloving" of much of the skin from his foot. He had to endure reconstructive surgery and skin grafting. Due to infection, one of his toes had to be amputated. Through this tremendous ordeal, our client maintained a tremendously positive attitude and went back to work. Since he could no longer drive a truck, he started a new career working in the mortgage industry. Due to his injuries, he has permanent physical limitations that prevent him from running or walking long distances. He also faces the likelihood of a knee replacement in the future. Our lawyers hired a medical doctor to prepare a life care plan in order to calculate his future medical expenses.

Our law firm has been featured in the October Edition as the Law Firm of the Month by the Attorney at Law Magazine. Click here to read the article.

Our firm settled our client's malpractice claim for the defendants' full insurance policy limit of $1,000,000.00. The settlement was reached without having to file suit. Our comprehensive pre-suit demand package convinced the insurer that, if the matter was not settled, a very large verdict in favor of our client was likely.

Press Release - For Immediate Distribution

STATEMENT OF THE FAMILY OF DAVID HINES

The Lawrence Law Group, along with the firm of Spohrer & Dodd, P.A., represents the three children of David Hines, a member of the Mayo Clinic's transplant team, who tragically died in the helicopter accident earlier this week.

The family is, of course, devastated by his passing. Mr. Hines was an extraordinarily unselfish and giving person. He died doing what he loved to do most - trying to help others. The family gives its heartfelt prayers to the members of the other families who have suffered from this tragic event.

Service arrangements have been made as follows:

The wake will be Monday, January 2, 2012, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Beaches Chapel by Hardage-Giddens, 1701 Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250.

The service will be Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at 12:30 p.m. at Chets Creek Church, 4420 Hodges Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL 32224.

The burial will be Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at 2:30 p.m. at the National Cemetary, 4083 Lannie Road, Jacksonville, FL 32218. At the burial, the Air Force Honor Guard Unit from Moody Air Force Base will be honoring Mr. Hines with a 21 gun salute.

The family asks that its privacy be respected during this time of tremendous grief.

Sincerely,

The Lawrence Law Group, P. A.

Gregory A. Lawrence, Esq.

Our client suffered facial injuries due to a fall while he was lost near downtown Jacksonville. The client was a resident of an assisted living facility here in Jacksonville. Most weekdays he was escorted from the ALF to adult day care. Medicaid transportation was arranged through a private transportation broker and a cab company that holds itself out as one that caters to persons with medical or special needs. Unfortunately, the ALF's report to the broker that the man had to be escorted into the day care facility due to his confusion and ability to get lost was not communicated to the driver and our client was let out at the curb. After several hours, he was found on the streets with serious injuries, presumably due to a fall. The recovery will assist the man with his ongoing needs.

The Lawrence Law Group, P.A., was hired by a woman seriously injured in a workplace accident when her foot was run over by a forklift. Although the broken bones in her foot healed well, she developed a serious nerve injury called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy ("RSD"). Through an exhaustive investigation we were able to prove that the person driving the forklift was using cocaine and was allowed to operate the forklift despite failing his employer's safety quiz about forklift operation. The settlement will allow our client to pay her medical bills and replace her significant lost wages.

A Duval County jury ruled in favor of our client and awarded her a recovery in excess of $235,000.00 for injuries resulting from an automobile accident. The defendant attempted to turn left across oncoming traffic. He did so directly in front of our client's vehicle causing a "t-bone" collision. The defendant claimed that our client must have been speeding because he thought he had enough time to clear the intersection. Using exhibits and photographs, the attorneys of The Lawrence Law Group, P.A., were able to demonstrate to the jury that the accident was not our client's fault, even if she was driving slightly faster than the speed limit. The defendant's insurer offered only $130,000.00 to settle the case prior to trial.

Sometimes winning a trial is not the end of a case. We proved to a jury that the driver of another car was completely at fault for an automobile accident and, as a result, our client was awarded a significant recovery. The other driver appealed, arguing that our client had to be at least partially at fault for the accident. The First District Court of Appeal ruled in our client's favor and upheld the jury's verdict. Although justice for our client was delayed, it was not denied.

Our client was only 16 years old when she suffered serious personal injury to her foot while being housed at a rural boarding school near Jacksonville, Florida. She suffered a crush injury to her foot while she was being required to participate in the butchering of a large hog. The apparatus used to lift the hog off of the ground fell and landed on her foot. Although she only suffered a moderate injury to the bones in her foot, as is often the case, the crush nature of the injury caused reflex sympathetic dystrophy to set in. "RSD" is a debilitating neurological injury that causes serious permanent complications including severe pain and loss of bone density, among other debilitating symptoms. Thankfully, the permanent implantation of an electric stimulator has greatly reduced her pain. We were able to prove the boarding home was negligent in the manner in which the hog was being hoisted and for failing to properly supervise the operation.

The Lawrence Law Group has teamed with the prestigious West Palm Beach law firm Searcy Denney, Scarola, Barnhart and Shipley for the handling of a wrongful death case resulting from a boating accident. The accident happened in Biscayne Bay, Florida, when two racing style boats collided at a high rate of speed.

Our firm successfully represented the mother of a teenager killed in a tragic accident. We immediately filed suit and through our investigation learned that there was a $1,000,000.00 insurance policy. The insurer initially refused to pay the policy proceeds claiming that the insurance policy did not cover this sort of accident. We prevailed by demonstrating that, if the insurance company was correct, then almost no type of accident would be covered, meaning that the insurance was essentially worthless. Prior to hiring The Lawrence Law Group, P.A., several other law firms turned down the case.

Our client suffered neck injuries when two other vehicles crashed, sending one of them into her stopped car. The two other drivers pointed the finger at each other, but after we commenced litigation and took depositions, it was clear who had caused the collision. Ultimately, that driver's insurer paid $20,000 to resolve the case. Along with a small amount from the other driver's insurance, and our client's own insurer paying an additional $15,000 under her uninsured motorist coverage, we were able to obtain a settlement that fully compensates our client.