Practice Areas
Bruce Botsford, Esquire concentrates in personal injury and complex tort litigation across Florida — from disputed-liability collisions to catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims. Select an area below for Florida-specific guidance, deadlines, and answers to the questions clients ask most.
Personal Injury
A Florida personal injury claim compensates someone harmed by another party's negligence. You generally have two years from the date of injury to file, your recovery is reduced by your share of fault and barred above 50%, and damages include medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Car Accidents
After a Florida car accident, report the crash, get medical care within 14 days to preserve PIP benefits, photograph everything, and avoid recorded statements to the other driver's insurer. Claims above the no-fault threshold proceed against the at-fault driver, generally within two years.
Truck Accidents
Commercial truck claims differ from car crashes because federal safety regulations apply, several parties can be liable, and critical evidence such as electronic logs and telematics data may be overwritten within months. Preservation letters should go out immediately, and claims generally must be filed within two years.
Motorcycle Accidents
Florida motorcyclists are not covered by PIP, so medical bills are typically paid through health insurance, MedPay, or the at-fault driver's liability coverage. Most crashes involve a motorist violating the rider's right of way, and rider bias makes early scene evidence especially important.
Wrongful Death
Under the Florida Wrongful Death Act, a claim is brought by the personal representative of the estate on behalf of the estate and statutory survivors. Recoverable losses include lost support and services, loss of companionship, mental pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, and lost future earnings. The deadline is generally two years from the date of death.
Slip & Fall
In Florida, a business is liable for a slip and fall on a transitory foreign substance only if it had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition. Constructive knowledge is shown by how long the hazard existed or by a pattern of recurrence, which makes surveillance video and inspection logs essential.
Premises Liability
Premises liability holds property owners and occupiers responsible for injuries caused by unsafe conditions they knew about or should have discovered. Duties vary by the visitor's status, and claims range from structural defects and code violations to negligent security and inadequate maintenance.
Dog Bites
Florida imposes strict liability on dog owners for bites that occur in public places or lawfully on private property, without requiring proof the dog bit before. Recovery may be reduced by the victim's comparative negligence, and homeowners or renters insurance usually pays the claim.
Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury claims require proving both the injury and its permanence, often when imaging appears normal. Neuropsychological testing, treating-physician opinions, and testimony from family and coworkers about cognitive change are what document a TBI and support lifetime care and lost earning capacity damages.
Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord injury claims center on lifetime cost. Complete and incomplete injuries, paraplegia, and tetraplegia require attendant care, adaptive equipment, home and vehicle modification, and ongoing medical management, which a life care plan quantifies alongside lost earning capacity.
Burn Injury
Burn claims arise from fires, explosions, scalding, electrical contact, and chemical exposure. Damages account for surgical debridement and grafting, infection risk, permanent scarring and contracture, and the psychological impact of disfigurement, often over years of reconstructive treatment.
Medical Malpractice
Florida medical negligence claims require a pre-suit investigation with a corroborating affidavit from a qualified expert in the same specialty before suit can be filed. The limitations period is generally two years from discovery, with a four-year statute of repose and limited exceptions.
Product Liability
Florida product liability claims proceed on strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty theories for design defects, manufacturing defects, and failure to warn. Anyone in the distribution chain may be responsible, and preserving the product itself is essential to proving the case.
Construction Accidents
Injured construction workers usually receive workers' compensation from their employer, but a separate third-party claim against a general contractor, subcontractor, property owner, or equipment manufacturer can recover pain and suffering and full wage loss that comp does not pay.
Workplace Injury
Florida workers' compensation covers medical care and partial wage loss for on-the-job injuries without proof of fault, but it does not pay for pain and suffering. When a party other than your employer caused the injury, a separate negligence claim can recover the full measure of damages.
Insurance Bad Faith
Florida insurers owe a duty of good faith in handling claims. When a carrier unreasonably delays, undervalues, or refuses to settle within policy limits and the insured is exposed to an excess judgment, a statutory bad faith claim may follow the filing of a civil remedy notice and a 60-day cure period.
Boating Accidents
Boating injury claims on Pensacola Bay, Santa Rosa Sound, and the Gulf may proceed under Florida negligence law, federal maritime law, or both, depending on where the incident occurred and the vessel involved. Operator inattention, excessive speed, alcohol, and inexperienced rental operators cause most serious incidents.
Maritime Injury
Injured maritime workers may have remedies unavailable to land-based employees, including Jones Act negligence claims for seamen, unseaworthiness claims against the vessel, maintenance and cure benefits, and Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act coverage for dock and terminal workers.
Bicycle Accidents
Florida cyclists have the rights and duties of vehicle operators. When a driver causes a crash, the cyclist may recover through the driver's liability coverage and, importantly, through the cyclist's own household PIP and uninsured motorist coverage even though no car of theirs was involved.
Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrians struck by vehicles in Florida can recover through the driver's liability coverage and through their own household PIP and uninsured motorist coverage. Drivers must yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks and exercise due care to avoid anyone on the roadway.
Uber & Lyft Accidents
Rideshare coverage in Florida depends on the driver's app status. Offline, only personal auto coverage applies. Waiting for a request triggers contingent limits of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per crash. En route to a passenger or during a trip, a $1 million liability policy applies.
Nursing Home Neglect
Florida law grants nursing home residents statutory rights to adequate care, dignity, and freedom from neglect. Claims commonly involve pressure injuries, falls, dehydration, medication errors, elopement, and understaffing, and are subject to a pre-suit notice process under Chapter 400.
Catastrophic Injury
A catastrophic injury permanently alters a person's ability to work and live independently — paralysis, severe brain injury, amputation, major burns, or multiple trauma. These cases are valued on lifetime medical need and lost earning capacity, and they require early expert involvement and a complete coverage investigation.
No fee unless we recover
Free Consultation
If you've been injured because of someone else's negligence, speak directly with Bruce Botsford, Esquire to discuss your legal rights and options.
(954) 222-FIRM · (954) 222-3476 · Legal@BotsfordLegal.com