Dog Bites
Get Legal Assistance for Dog Bite Injuries
Miami Dog Bite Attorneys: Legal Help for Pain and Suffering
Dogs can be our best friends and trusted helpers, but some of them bite. If you’re the victim of a dog bite, you likely have a right to compensation. An animal attack attorney can give you the best chance to recover what you are legally owed from the dog’s owner.
Who Can Sue for Dog Bite Injuries?
In general, you don’t have to prove that a dog owner’s negligence caused a dog bite. However, your right to recover damages after a dog bite depends on how you encountered the dog.
Who Can Sue for Dog Bite Injuries?
In general, you don’t have to prove that a dog owner’s negligence caused a dog bite. However, your right to recover damages after a dog bite depends on how you encountered the dog.
People Bitten While in Public or Lawfully on Private Property Can Recover Damages
Generally, people who sustain dog bites while in public places or lawfully on private property are entitled to compensation from the dog owners. You’re lawfully on private property if you have a legal obligation to be there or if the owner invited you. Your invitation to the private property can be express or implied.
People Bitten While Trespassing Normally Can’t Recover Damages
Trespassers typically don’t have a right to sue owners for dog bites. If the dog owner knows that you trespass on their property, they might have a duty to warn you that a dog is present, but not much more.
Determining whether you were in a public space, lawfully on private property, or trespassing can be complicated. Don’t assume that you can’t sue for your injuries before speaking to an attorney.
Economic Damages
Your economic damages are for any financial losses you incur because of the dog bite. Common financial losses you could incur as a dog bite victim include:
Calculating many of these losses can be as easy as adding together your invoices, estimates, and receipts. Calculating your future wage losses from impairments and your future medical needs is more complicated. Dog bite attorneys know how to review your medical, financial, and employment records to determine an appropriate damage award in your case.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages compensate you for your pain and suffering. Your pain and suffering can include physical and mental anguish you experience during the actual biting incident and while dealing with the aftereffects of the bite. Your pain and suffering can also include your struggles with impairments and dog bite scarring. An attorney can help you determine what these struggles should be worth in dollars and cents to maximize your damages. Although money can’t always eliminate your suffering, you have a right to compensation for your pain.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages can be the hardest damages to win in a civil lawsuit. If you want to win punitive damages, you have to prove that you were harmed because of the dog owner’s intentional conduct or their gross negligence. This basically means that you have to prove the dog owner encouraged the dog to bite you or recklessly disregarded your safety in relation to the dog. Not only do you have to prove that the dog owner’s actions were intentional or grossly negligent, you have to prove this by clear and convincing evidence. This is higher than the burden of proof in a typical negligence case.
Limitations on Damages
Unfortunately, Florida law bars or limits some dog bite victims’ access to damages. When contemplating how much you could win at trial or in a settlement, don’t forget comparative fault, punitive damage caps, and dog owner actions that can eliminate their liability.
Comparative Fault
Under comparative fault, the court reduces your lawsuit award by the amount of fault you had in causing your injury. For example, If you grabbed a dog you didn’t know in a public place and the dog bit you, the court might determine you were partially at fault. If you incurred $10,000 in damages, and the court determined you were 30% at fault, the court would reduce your award to $7,000.
Punitive Damage Limits
In a standard punitive damages claim, you can recover three times the sum of your economic and non-economic damages, or up to $500,000, whichever is greater. If you prove that the dog owner specifically intended to hurt you, there is no limit on your punitive damages.
Many Dog Owners Who Display a “Bad Dog” Sign Are Not Liable for Damages
In many cases, a dog owner is not liable for a dog bite if they display a “Bad Dog” sign and the following conditions are met:
An owner’s negligence “proximately causes” a dog bite injury if the bite was reasonably foreseeable.
Time Limits for Filing Dog Bite Lawsuits
If a loved one died from a dog attack, you have two years to file a wrongful death lawsuit. If you suffer injury from a dog bite, you have four years to file a lawsuit. This time moves quickly when you’re healing and/or mourning, so it’s important to seek treatment and legal counsel immediately.
We Can Take Care of Your Legal Woes
If you need a dog bite lawyer in Miami, Florida, or south Florida, we can be your legal champions. Lady Law Group is a women-led law firm that focuses on giving you top-notch representation and personal attention. We are dedicated to helping our clients win what they deserve for their pain. Contact us online or call us today.