Car Accidents
Car Accident Lawyer Fort Lauderdale
A car accident can upend your life in an instant — leaving you with serious injuries, mounting medical bills, lost income, and an insurance company whose primary objective is to pay you as little as possible. If you or a family member has been injured in a car accident in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, or anywhere in South Florida, you need an experienced car accident lawyer who will fight aggressively to recover the full compensation you are entitled to under Florida law.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents car accident victims throughout Fort Lauderdale and South Florida. Managing Attorney Richard P. Corey is a three-time Super Lawyers Rising Stars recipient — a distinction awarded to fewer than 2.5% of attorneys in Florida — and brings a civil litigation background that means every case is evaluated and pursued with trial-ready preparation from the first day. Insurance companies know the difference between a law firm that settles cases quickly and a firm that prepares every case for the courtroom. We are the latter.
Contact us at (954) 789-0461 or legal@rcenterpriselaw.com to schedule a free consultation with a Fort Lauderdale car accident attorney today. We represent car accident victims on a contingency fee basis — you pay no attorneys' fees unless we recover compensation for you.
What to Do After a Car Accident in Florida
The actions you take in the hours and days immediately following a car accident in Florida can significantly affect the value of your injury claim and your ability to recover full compensation. Florida's legal framework for car accident claims involves specific procedural requirements and strict deadlines that must be followed precisely to preserve your rights. Here is what you need to do:
Seek Medical Attention Immediately. Florida's no-fault insurance system requires you to seek treatment within 14 days of the accident to access your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits. Delaying medical treatment not only jeopardizes your health — it gives the insurance company grounds to argue that your injuries were not caused by the accident or were not serious enough to require prompt care. Even if you feel fine in the immediate aftermath, see a physician as soon as possible and document every symptom, no matter how minor it appears at the time.
Document the Scene. If you are physically able, photograph the accident scene, all vehicles involved, visible injuries, road conditions, traffic signals, and any debris. Collect the names, contact information, and insurance information of every driver involved, as well as the names and contact information of any witnesses. Request a copy of the police report or the case number so you can obtain it later. This documentation forms the evidentiary foundation of your injury claim.
Do Not Give a Recorded Statement Without an Attorney. Insurance adjusters — including your own insurance company — are trained to obtain recorded statements that minimize your claim. You are not legally required to give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company. Politely decline and contact an experienced car accident lawyer before speaking with any insurance representative about the facts of the accident or the nature of your injuries.
Contact a Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Attorney. Florida's statute of limitations for car accident injury claims under Florida Statute § 95.11(3)(a) is two years from the date of the accident. While two years may seem like adequate time, the investigation, evidence preservation, expert retention, and negotiation process is time-intensive. Evidence degrades, witnesses become unavailable, and surveillance footage is overwritten. Contact The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC as soon as possible after your accident to ensure your rights are fully protected from day one.
Common Car Accident Injuries We Handle
Car accidents generate tremendous physical forces that the human body is not designed to absorb. Even collisions at relatively low speeds can produce injuries with long-term consequences. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents car accident victims suffering from the full range of injuries that automobile crashes cause, including serious and catastrophic harm that requires extensive medical treatment and long-term care.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are among the most serious and life-altering consequences of car accidents. They occur when the brain is jolted, compressed, or penetrated — injuries that can range from mild concussions with temporary symptoms to severe TBIs that produce permanent cognitive, behavioral, and physical impairment. TBIs are frequently underdiagnosed in the immediate aftermath of an accident because symptoms may not fully manifest for hours or days. If you experienced any loss of consciousness, confusion, headache, memory disruption, or personality changes following a car accident, seek neurological evaluation immediately and contact our office.
Spinal Cord Injuries and Paralysis
Car accidents are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries in the United States. Damage to the spinal cord can produce partial or complete paralysis — paraplegia or quadriplegia — that permanently alters every dimension of a victim's life. Even incomplete spinal cord injuries that do not result in paralysis can produce chronic pain, sensory disruption, and functional limitations that require ongoing medical management for the rest of the victim's life. The economic damages in catastrophic spinal cord injury cases — including lifetime medical care, home modification, assistive technology, and lost earning capacity — are substantial, and recovering them requires experienced litigation counsel who understands how to build and present a comprehensive damages case.
Herniated and Bulging Discs
The compressive forces generated by a car accident frequently damage the intervertebral discs of the cervical and lumbar spine — producing herniations and bulges that compress nerve roots and generate radiating pain, numbness, and weakness in the arms, hands, legs, and feet. Disc injuries are often dismissed by insurance companies as pre-existing degenerative conditions rather than acute trauma-induced injuries. Our car accident attorneys work with treating physicians and medical experts to establish the causal connection between the accident and your disc injuries — and to document the full extent of your pain, functional limitation, and medical needs.
Broken Bones and Fractures
High-impact car accidents frequently produce fractures of the arms, legs, ribs, clavicle, pelvis, wrists, and ankles. Complex fractures requiring surgical repair, hardware implantation, or extended immobilization carry significant medical costs, lost income during recovery, and in some cases permanent functional limitation or chronic pain. We document and pursue the full economic and non-economic impact of fracture injuries — including future medical care, physical therapy, and any permanent impairment that affects your quality of life and earning capacity.
Soft Tissue Injuries and Whiplash
Whiplash and other soft tissue injuries of the neck, back, and shoulder are among the most common consequences of rear-end collisions. Despite being labeled "soft tissue" injuries, these conditions can produce chronic pain and functional limitation that persists for months or years. Insurance companies routinely attempt to minimize soft tissue injury claims, arguing that they are not serious or that they predated the accident. We build thorough documentation of soft tissue injuries through treating records, imaging studies, and expert opinions — and we push back aggressively against bad-faith minimization of legitimate injury claims.
Wrongful Death
When a car accident takes the life of a family member, Florida's Wrongful Death Act — codified at Florida Statute § 768.21 — provides surviving family members with legal recourse to recover compensation for their loss. Recoverable damages include medical and funeral expenses, lost financial support, lost companionship, and the pain and suffering experienced by the deceased between the accident and death. Wrongful death cases require swift action to preserve evidence and identify all liable parties. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC handles wrongful death claims arising from car accidents with the urgency, thoroughness, and compassion that grieving families deserve.
Florida Car Accident Laws You Need to Know
Florida's car accident legal framework contains several provisions that directly affect how your claim is evaluated, how much you can recover, and what you must prove to obtain compensation. Understanding these laws is essential to protecting your rights.
Florida No-Fault Insurance and PIP Coverage
Florida is a no-fault insurance state under Florida Statute § 627.736. This means that regardless of who caused the accident, your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance pays for your initial medical expenses and a portion of your lost wages — up to the limits of your policy, typically $10,000. PIP coverage pays 80% of reasonable medical expenses and 60% of lost wages, up to the policy limit. To access PIP benefits, you must seek medical treatment within 14 days of the accident and receive a determination of an Emergency Medical Condition (EMC) from a qualified medical provider to access the full $10,000 limit.
The Serious Injury Threshold
To pursue a claim against the at-fault driver beyond your PIP benefits — and to recover non-economic damages such as pain and suffering — you must meet Florida's serious injury threshold under Florida Statute § 627.737. This requires establishing that you suffered a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability other than scarring or disfigurement, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death. Meeting this threshold is a critical issue in many Florida car accident cases, and our attorneys work with medical experts to establish and document the threshold injuries our clients have suffered.
Florida's Modified Comparative Fault Rule
Florida adopted a modified comparative fault system effective March 24, 2023, under Florida Statute § 768.81. Under this framework, a plaintiff who is found to be more than 50% at fault for an accident is barred from recovering any damages. A plaintiff who is 50% or less at fault may recover damages reduced proportionally by their percentage of fault. This change from Florida's prior pure comparative fault system makes the legal determination of fault more consequential than ever — and underscores the importance of having experienced legal counsel who can investigate the accident thoroughly, identify all liable parties, and build a compelling case for the other driver's fault.
Florida's Two-Year Statute of Limitations
Under Florida Statute § 95.11(3)(a), you have two years from the date of a car accident to file a personal injury lawsuit in Florida. Missing this deadline almost always results in the permanent loss of your right to pursue compensation, regardless of the strength of your case. Do not wait to contact a car accident lawyer — evidence preservation and early investigation are critical to building the strongest possible claim.
How Our Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyers Fight for You
Insurance companies are sophisticated adversaries with experienced claims adjusters, defense attorneys, and medical consultants whose job is to minimize what they pay on every claim. Recovering full and fair compensation for a serious car accident injury requires a legal team with the civil litigation experience, investigative resources, and courtroom credibility to match that opposition — and to make clear that if a fair settlement is not offered, the case will be tried.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC approaches every car accident case with the same preparation standards we bring to complex civil litigation. We begin with a thorough investigation of the accident — obtaining the police report, securing surveillance footage before it is overwritten, retaining accident reconstruction experts when liability is disputed, and gathering all available evidence of fault. We document your injuries comprehensively through your treating physicians and, where appropriate, independent medical experts — building the medical narrative that supports full recovery of economic and non-economic damages. We calculate your damages with precision — including past and future medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and any permanent impairment — and we negotiate from a position of demonstrated case strength.
When the insurance company's offer does not reflect the full value of your case, we file suit and prepare for trial. Our civil litigation background means we are not a settlement mill. We try cases. And the insurance companies we negotiate with know it.
Types of Car Accident Cases We Handle
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC handles the full range of motor vehicle accident cases throughout Fort Lauderdale and South Florida, including:
Rear-End Collisions
Rear-end collisions are among the most common car accidents in Broward County — and among the most frequently minimized by insurance companies. The at-fault driver in a rear-end collision is almost always the following driver, and Florida law creates a presumption of negligence in most rear-end accident cases. Despite this, insurance companies routinely dispute the extent of injuries in rear-end collisions, particularly soft tissue and disc injuries. We document and pursue the full value of rear-end collision injury claims regardless of the at-fault driver's attempts to minimize your injuries.
Head-On Collisions
Head-on collisions are among the most deadly car accidents, generating catastrophic forces that frequently produce severe traumatic injuries or death. These crashes are often caused by wrong-way drivers, impaired motorists, fatigued drivers, or drivers who cross the center line while distracted. The catastrophic nature of head-on collision injuries — including traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and fatal trauma — means that these cases involve substantial damages that require experienced legal representation to recover in full.
Intersection and T-Bone Accidents
T-bone collisions at intersections — where one vehicle strikes the side of another — generate lateral forces that the vehicle's structural design is least equipped to absorb, frequently producing severe injuries to occupants on the struck side of the vehicle. These accidents are typically caused by drivers who run red lights or stop signs, fail to yield, or misjudge oncoming traffic speeds. Intersection accident cases frequently involve disputed liability, making thorough investigation and, where necessary, accident reconstruction critical to establishing fault.
Drunk Driving Accidents
When a car accident is caused by a drunk or impaired driver, the injured victim may be entitled to pursue punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages under Florida Statute § 768.72 — subjecting the at-fault driver to financial punishment beyond the compensation owed to the victim. Drunk driving accident cases also frequently involve dram shop liability under Florida Statute § 768.125, where the establishment that served alcohol to the visibly intoxicated driver may share liability. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC pursues every available avenue of recovery in impaired driving accident cases.
Distracted Driving Accidents
Distracted driving — including texting, social media use, GPS manipulation, and other phone-based distractions — is a leading cause of car accidents in Florida. Florida Statute § 316.305 prohibits the use of handheld wireless communications devices while operating a motor vehicle. In distracted driving accident cases, phone records, vehicle data, and witness testimony can establish the at-fault driver's distraction at the moment of impact. We pursue this evidence aggressively to establish liability and support the strongest possible damages case.
Highway and Interstate Accidents
High-speed accidents on I-95, I-595, the Florida Turnpike, and US-1 in Broward County produce catastrophic injuries with substantial economic consequences. Multi-vehicle highway accidents frequently involve complex liability questions — particularly where commercial vehicles, trucking companies, or government-maintained roadway defects contributed to the crash. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC has the civil litigation experience to navigate complex multi-party highway accident cases and pursue every liable party.
Commercial Vehicle and Truck Accidents
When a car accident involves a commercial vehicle — including semi-trucks, delivery vehicles, and company cars — the legal landscape expands significantly. Commercial vehicle accidents may implicate federal trucking regulations under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), employer liability under respondeat superior, negligent hiring and supervision claims, and insurance policies with substantially higher coverage limits than personal auto policies. These cases require experienced litigation counsel who understands the regulatory framework governing commercial drivers and vehicles.
Why Choose The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC as Your Car Accident Lawyer in Fort Lauderdale?
Choosing the right car accident lawyer is the most consequential decision you will make in the aftermath of a serious accident. The difference between an attorney who settles quickly and one who prepares every case for trial — and who the insurance company knows will try the case — is often the difference between a fraction of your damages and full recovery of everything you are owed.
Managing Attorney Richard P. Corey has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in civil litigation and business law for three consecutive years — a distinction awarded to fewer than 2.5% of attorneys in Florida. He has been featured in USA Today, Yahoo News, and Influencive, and is a Member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. His TEDx Ocala 2025 speaking appearance reflects the same systems-driven, blueprint-oriented approach he brings to every client engagement — including every car accident case handled by our firm.
Our firm is boutique by design. Every car accident client works directly with Richard — not a paralegal, not a case manager, not a junior associate. You receive senior-level attention from an attorney with deep civil litigation experience who takes your case seriously from the first consultation to the final resolution. We handle car accident cases on a contingency fee basis: no recovery, no fee. You pay nothing unless we win.
Serving Car Accident Victims Throughout South Florida
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents car accident victims throughout:
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Fort Lauderdale
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Broward County
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Miami
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Miami-Dade County
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Boca Raton
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West Palm Beach
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Palm Beach County
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Pompano Beach
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Hollywood
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Coral Springs
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Plantation
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Davie
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Deerfield Beach
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Weston
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All of South Florida
We handle car accident matters in Florida state courts statewide and in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Fort Lauderdale Car Accident Lawyer
If you or a family member has been injured in a car accident in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Miami-Dade County, or Palm Beach County, contact The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC today. We offer free consultations for car accident victims and handle all personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis — you owe no attorneys' fees unless we recover compensation for you.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC
915 Middle River Drive, Suite 408
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
Phone: (954) 789-0461
Email: legal@rcenterpriselaw.com
Website: rcenterpriselaw.com
Related Practice Areas
Car accident claims frequently involve broader personal injury considerations including slip and fall liability, premises liability, and wrongful death. Visit our personal injury practice for comprehensive representation across all injury matters. When a car accident involves commercial vehicles or rideshare drivers, our civil litigation attorneys provide the trial-ready advocacy your case demands. If your accident involved an Uber or Lyft driver, learn more about our dedicated rideshare accident representation.