A Florida boutique law firm focusing on cases for those in need

We help accident victims throughout Florida

While unfortunate, accidents occur at the workplace, on the road, at the supermarket, at a doctor’s office, and everywhere else, even your own home. Causes of personal injury include:

• A traffic accident
• An unsafe condition at work
• Use of a product that has a faulty design or a manufacturing defect
• Failure to be warned of an unintended or unsafe use of a product
• A misdiagnosis or mistake in medical treatment
• You tripped, slipped and/or fell due to someone’s negligence
• You were bit by a dog
• You were struck or assaulted by someone

We work hard to get maximum compensation for you

For a personal injury victim to get compensation, the injury must be due to the negligence or unreasonably unsafe action of a person or company, such as your employer, a manufacturer, your doctor, your landlord, or others. We investigate your accident to determine the people or companies at fault and aggressively pursue them for your damages. We do not get a fee unless we recover money for you.

Workers compensation laws require employers to carry insurance for their employees’ injuries.  These benefits provide employee benefits as well as benefits for the dependents of workers who are killed as a result of work-related accidents or illnesses.

Injured workers are entitled to workers compensation benefits for the following:

• Medical expenses, including the costs of hospitals, doctors, medicines, and therapy
• Disability pay, being a portion of the worker’s salary paid to the worker, either temporarily while recovering from the injury or permanently if full recovery is not possible
• Vocational rehabilitation, offered if the injury prevents the worker from returning to the pre-injury job and consists of training the worker in a new trade or business

Workers compensation laws are also designed to protect employers and fellow workers by limiting the amount an injured employee can recover from an employer and by eliminating the liability of the co-workers in most accidents.

Get help from an experienced workers compensation attorney

Because workers compensation claims are very complicated, with procedural rules and deadlines, you need the help of an experienced workers compensation law firm such as Koppel & Associates.  Our attorney fees are paid as a percentage of your cash award, meaning that if you receive no compensation, you do not have to pay any attorney fees.

If you filed a claim without an attorney and your claim was denied, you have the right to a hearing before a workers compensation judge to appeal the denial.  Let a Koppel & Associates attorney handle your appeal.

When does discriminating become discrimination?

You have probably heard the expression “life is unfair.” People have the right to treat you unfairly. For example, if an employer desires to hire only job seekers with blue eyes and you do not get the job because your eyes are brown, well, that is the employer’s right. The right to discriminate is limited under the law. Federal law prohibits discrimination based on these factors:

• Age
• Race
• Sex
• Disability
• Religion
• Genetic Information
• Police Misconduct

In Florida, it is against the law to discriminate in

• Employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap or marital status.
• Housing/real estate sale, rental, financing, appraisal, or insurance, brokerage services, or advertising on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, or familial status (e.g. children under 18, pregnant women, etc.).
• Membership in private clubs on the basis of race, color, age, sex, religion, national origin, handicap or marital status.
• Service to any person on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, national origin, or physical disability.

It is also against Florida and federal law to retaliate against an individual for filing a discrimination complaint.

If you have been treated unfairly in employment, housing, government benefits, or any other situation, you may be a victim of unlawful discrimination. Some of the laws that protect you include the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.

To find additional information, click here for resources compiled by the Florida Commission on Human Relations.

Do you have a discrimination case?

You may have a discrimination case, if you have:

• Evidence of a discriminatory motive
• Evidence of a pattern of unfairness against other people who are similarly situated
• Monetary damages

Are you a victim of medical malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional—such as a doctor, hospital, HMO, nurse, or any other individual or entity licensed to provide medical services—fails to meet the standard of proper medical practice in the field in which the medical professional practices.

That means that some action or lack of action caused injury or death to a patient because a medical professional—

• Did something that a competent medical professional would not have done
• Failed to do something that a competent medical professional would have done

Examples of medical malpractice include—

• Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis of a medical condition
• Failure to provide the proper treatment for the medical condition
• Unreasonable delay of treatment for a diagnosed medical condition
• Failure to obtain informed consent from the patient prior to treatment

Speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney

If you suffered an injury or a loved one died because of medical malpractice, speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney to evaluate your case.  A Koppel & Associates attorney can obtain all the necessary documentation such as medical reports and test results, interview experts and witnesses, deal with the hospital and insurance company attorneys, determine the viability of the claim, and give you legal advice regarding your medical malpractice lawsuit.