Florida reports more boating accidents than any other state, and more boating fatalities annually than California and Texas combined, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report shows.

Springtime means more boaters on Florida’s waterways. Unfortunately, it also means a rise in boating-related injuries and fatalities, say boating accident attorneys with Jacksonville’s Harrell and Harrell.

Boating is a popular pastime in Northeast Florida. The St. Johns River, the Atlantic Ocean and multiple lakes and creeks make for plenty of boating options. In fact, Florida leads the nation in the number of registered vessels – nearly 1 million. Sadly, the Sunshine State also leads the nation in the number of boating fatalities annually. Consider these statistics from 2011, the latest year for which the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) issued a report:

• In 2011, there were 742 accidents on Florida waters, resulting in 431 injuries and 67 fatalities;
• 94% of all fatal accidents in 2011 involved vessels 21 feet and under;
• Alcohol or drug-use played a role in 15% of boating fatalities;
• 51% of the operators involved in reportable boating accidents had no formal boater education.

Florida law requires that anyone born on or after January 1, 1988 complete a boater education course approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators prior to operating a vessel powered by a motor of 10 horsepower or more, and that these boaters have in their possession a Boating Safety Education ID card issued by the FFWCC while operating a vessel. Even if you’re not required by law to get the Florida boating license, it’s a good idea to take the boat safety course periodically to keep your skills sharp and to save money on your boating insurance.

To help avoid boating accidents, follow all legal rules and regulations; abstain from alcohol while operating a vessel; steer clear of fellow boaters who are drinking or failing to follow rules or common sense safety precautions; keep an eye on the weather both before and during a boating excursion by using a weather radio and studying maps that pinpoint dangerous underwater hazards.

If you or your dependent are injured in a boating crash or accident caused by the actions of another, contact an experienced boating accident attorney. Jacksonville’s Harrell and Harrell, practicing throughout Northeast Florida, Orlando and South Georgia, can be reached at 800-251-1111.

If your application for Social Security disability benefits is denied, you have the option to appeal.

If you’re applying for Social Security disability benefits, chances are your first attempt will be denied. Statistics show that 31 percent of applicants receive a “technical denial” of benefits even before the facts of the case are evaluated. Of the 69 percent of applications that make it to the evaluation stage, more than 62 percent are denied.

Technical denials typically are due to one or more of these two most common reasons:

• Your income exceeds the “substantial gainful activity” limit set by the Social Security Administration;
• You have not yet earned enough Social Security credits to be eligible for benefits.

Applications that make it to the initial evaluation phase will be judged according to the type and severity of the claimant’s condition and their ability to continue working the same job or adapt to a new one. Of the more than 62 percent of claimants denied benefits upon evaluation, less than half – 48 percent – appeal.

The appeal process begins with a review of your case by a different disability examiner and medical team with the state’s disability determination service. These evaluators will look at the evidence already submitted, plus any additional evidence you’d like to include. Unfortunately, more than 90 percent of applicants’ initial appeals are denied and of them, just 18 percent continue the process.

Next in the appeal process is a hearing by an administrative law judge who will review documentary evidence and witness testimony. You or your legal representative also can examine witnesses and present arguments. If your application again is denied, you may appeal further and request a review in front of an appeals council who can review or dismiss your application. If denied or refused a hearing, you then can take your case to federal court.

The good news is that more than 81 percent of claimants who appeal all the way to the federal level ultimately see their applications approved and their disability benefits, which potentially may include back pay for benefits lost during the appeal process, finally begin. But the process can be lengthy, confusing and ultimately in vain. To boost your chances of having your claim approved, consult an experienced Social Security disability attorney before filing your initial claim. Jacksonville’s Harrell and Harrell specializes in helping disabled workers secure the benefits they’ve earned. Call 800-251-1111 to schedule a consultation today.

Applying for Social Security Disability benefits? Having an attorney on your side can help.

Social Security disability benefits are meant to help you financially if you are permanently disabled and subsequently out of work.  They are similar to insurance policies in that they are contractual, which means that each party must meet specified terms for the agreement to remain valid. These terms include specific medical standards for disabling injuries or illnesses, and not everyone who believes they have a valid claim will qualify.

The top three questions you’ll have to answer in your claim for social security benefits are:

1. Are you working?
2. What medical conditions prevent you from working?
3. Can we prove your disability through medical evidence?

Your answers to these basic questions, and many supporting inquiries, will determine whether you are awarded or denied disability benefits. While multiple factors ultimately will be considered, the most simplified premise is that if you are able to perform your previous duties or adapt to new ones, you may be denied benefits, or your benefits may be limited to a set amount of time.

The Social Security benefit claims process can be confusing and cumbersome. To assure that you get the benefits to which you’re entitled, contact a Social Security disability attorney. Jacksonville’s Harrell and Harrell specializes in helping clients secure the help they need after a disabling injury or illness. Reach us at 800-251-1111.

Several popular LED light bulbs have been recalled after reports of damage and fire hazards.

LED light bulbs popular for their eco-friendly design have been voluntarily recalled because they can overheat and separate during use, posing a fire hazard. About 554,000 units are affected, after 68 reported incidents of product failures, eight of which were accompanied by visible smoke or fire conditions including damage to light sockets, melted fixtures, burned rugs and flooring, and damage to a lamp and a circuit.

Though none have been reported, there exists a risk of personal injury, attorneys say.

Satellite, Florida-based importer Lighting Science Group recalled the 120-volt LED bulbs, sold as 6- 8- and 9-watt bulbs marketed under the brand names Definity, EcoSmart, Sylvania and Westinghouse.  The model numbers A19, G25 and R20/PAR20 are found on the packaging and on the light-colored circular neck above the base of the bulb where the date code is also printed. The letters “CH” or “MX” may follow these affected date codes: L4010, L4110, L4210, L4310, L4410, L4510, L4610, L4710, L4810, L4910, L5010, L5110, L5210, L0111, L0211, L0311, L0411, L0511, L0611, L0711, L0811, L0911, L1011 and L1111.

If you or your dependents have been injured by one of these light bulbs, seek medical treatment immediately. Remove all bulbs from their sockets and keep the damaged parts and packaging intact, as they may be used as evidence should you file a personal injury or product liability claim. Expert personal injury attorneys Harrell and Harrell, with offices throughout Northeast Florida and Orlando, have successfully handled many such cases. Contact us at 800-251-1111 or via our online form.

The  Safe and Efficient Transportation Act is anything but safe, according to critics. If it passes, legal weight limits for tractor trailer trucks could rise to 97,000 – a major concern for drivers in Jacksonville, truck accident attorneys say.

Sharing the road with them can be nerve-wracking. Now, a new bill introduced in the House of Representatives may significantly increase the legal weight of tractor trailer trucks from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds.

Introduced last month by Rep. Michael H. Michaud (D-ME), the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (H.R. 612) is getting support from trucking companies and organizations like the Washington-based Coalition for Transport Productivity, who say the increased weight allowances will help boost productivity, while maintaining safety. They point to restrictions included in the proposed bill that requires trucks to be equipped with at least six axles and limits the weight of axles to 20,000 pounds for a single axle; 34,000 pounds for tandem axles; and 51,000 pounds for groups of three or more axles.

But others are crying foul on supporters’ claims. The Arlington,  VA-based Truck Safety Coalition opposes any weight limit increases, citing a federal study that shows a boost in fatal crash rates in Vermont and Maine after those states allowed heavier trucks on interstates for a year.

A heavy truck is defined as one that’s in excess of 10,000 pounds, in reality, most weigh between 50,000 and 100,000 pounds – even those with empty trailers. Cargo loads can significantly increase a truck’s weight and its potential for danger. Just one sudden maneuver to avoid a collision or correct a drift can cause a truck to jackknife, or its cargo to shift and overturn the entire rig.

Tractor trailer trucks are involved in upwards of 500,000 accidents a year, killing some 5,000 Americans. Of those victims, nearly 37,000 are drivers or passengers of vehicles that happen to be traveling the same road. Statistics suggest that these figures may climb with increased weight limits, say truck accident lawyers. Jacksonville residents are at particular risk, considering our vast port and logistics operations.

If you are injured or your loved one is killed in a collision involving a large commercial truck, an experienced truck accident lawyer can help secure the compensation you deserve. Contact Jacksonville’s Harrell and Harrell at 800-251-1111.

Did you know that the sun’s heat can boost alcohol’s effect on your body and your BAC levels? Harrell and Harrell offers tips for a safe spring break.

March marks the beginning of the all-American tradition of spring break – a week of fun, sun and, unfortunately, a yearly spike in auto accidents and personal injuries, attorneys with Florida’s Harrell and Harrell say.

Statistics show that auto accidents spike in spring break markets during the March-April period. Driving those stats are accidents that involve alcohol or drugs. In fact a study at the University of Wisconsin showed that 75% of college males and 43% of college females have reported being intoxicated on a daily basis during spring break. Keep in mind that three of the top spring break locations are in Florida – Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach and Panama City Beach.

Other alcohol-fueled injuries common during spring break are results of falls or fights, and criminals often target inebriated spring breakers, as their ability to fend off attackers is limited.

Many don’t realize that high-temperature weather and hot tubs, popular in spring break hotels, can boost the effectiveness of alcohol. So, drinking even a small amount can cause your blood-alcohol level to be higher than in normal circumstances.

Whether you’re a spring breaker yourself or live in a popular spring break area, take precautions during the next few months. Steer clear of known partying areas, limit your own alcohol intake, and never get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking. Travel in groups, designate a non-drinking driver and be wary of strangers. And if you or a dependent are injured by another’s actions during spring break, contact an experienced personal injury or auto accident attorney immediately.

Harrell and Harrell have offices in several popular spring break locations including Jacksonville Beach, Fernandina Beach and Orlando. Reach any Harrell and Harrell office at 800-251-1111.

Class action lawsuits allow for hundreds of plaintiffs to be represented in a single case.

If you’ve ever bought a cell phone, subscribed to cable TV or taken medication, chances are you’ve received a postcard on the mail notifying you of a class action lawsuit that you may be eligible to join. These cases typically are civil lawsuits filed in state or federal courts and involve more than 100 identifiable plaintiffs seeking compensation, often totaling in the millions, from a single defendant or class of defendants.

Though various state rules may apply, the overall process is governed by Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Among the primary requirements are:

• Certification: A state or federal judge must certify the plaintiffs as a class of victims for whom suing individually would be impractical. They all must share a common complaint against the defendants, and the defendants must share a similar defense against all plaintiffs. Only about 40 percent of lawsuits filed as class actions qualify for certification.
• Defining the class: A judge must define the scope of characteristics for the plaintiff class. For example, a plaintiff class in a lawsuit over injuries or potential injuries caused by a particular medication may be made up of patients who took that medication during a specified time period.
• Notification: All potential plaintiffs must be notified either by mail, newspaper advertisements, TV commercials, etc., depending upon the scope of the class.
• Opting out: If you fall within the defined scope of the class, then you are automatically included in the case and bound by the final judgment. However, if you prefer to file your own lawsuit or to skip participation altogether, you have the right to opt out of the class action suit. Your notice will include directions on how to opt out.
• Appointing counsel: The judge will appoint representative counsel for the plaintiffs. In most cases, this will be the same lawyer who filed the case. However, a judge has the final say on plaintiff representation depending upon whether the filing attorney is experienced in class action proceedings, is highly knowledgeable in the particular subject area, and will fairly represent the class.
• Distribution of damages: If the plaintiffs prevail, the judge will work with the appointed counsel to develop a plan for distributing any monetary damages awarded in the trial or agreed upon in a settlement. The judge also has a say in how and how much the attorneys are paid.

If you receive a notice indicating that you’re included in a class of plaintiffs, it’s always a good idea to contact an attorney independently. An experienced lawyer can help determine whether your interests will be best served in a class action lawsuit or by filing an individual case. Contact Harrell and Harrell, Jacksonville personal injury and product liability attorneys, at 800-251-1111.

Class action lawsuits involve four key components: Numerosity, commonality, typicality and adequacy.

When a large group of people collectively sues a particular defendant or class of defendant over similar injuries or losses, that’s a class action suit. A well-known example is the suit brought by people who had taken the drug combination fenfluramine/phentermine, commonly called fen-phen and marketed by American Home Products. The biggest diet pill craze of the 1990s was shown to cause potentially fatal pulmonary hypertension and heart valve problems and a class action lawsuit led to American Home Products agreeing to pay victims $3.75 billion.

Products liability attorneys with Jacksonville’s Harrell and Harrell explain the four key components in a class action lawsuit:

• Numerosity: Plaintiffs must show that the class of victims is numerous enough to make a class action suit the most practicable way to try the case. While not set minimum number of class members exists, most courts will require at least 100 members. Plaintiffs also must show that class members are identifiable via a specific criteria or information.
• Commonality: Plaintiffs seeking to file a class action suit must show that there exist questions of law and fact that are common to each class members’ claims and that the opposing party has engaged in some course of conduct that caused losses to the class members.
• Typicality: Plaintiff class members must show that losses are similar and arise from the same event or course of conduct by the defendant or defendant class, and that their individual claims all are based on the same legal theory.
• Adequacy: Finally, the plaintiffs must show that they and their attorneys are willing and able to fairly and adequately protect the interests of the full class of plaintiffs, including absentee members who may number in the tens or hundreds.

If you’ve been injured by a defendant’s product, service or course of action, contact a personal injury attorney with Jacksonville’s Harrell and Harrell at 800-251-1111.

Novartis recently announced a recall of certain lots of its popular Triaminic and Theraflu products.

Though the worst of the 2012-2013 flu season is over, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, risk of falling ill remains. In the United States, the flu season is considered October through May, and usually peaks in February. So, over-the-counter flu medications are kept handy in homes nationwide. But if you use Novartis brands, you’ll want to check the bottles before using them again, products liability and dangerous drug lawyers say.

Swiss-based Novartis International AG, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers, has voluntarily recalled certain lots of Triaminic Syrups and Theraflu Warming Relief Syrups that were manufactured in the United States before December 31, 2011. The child resistant feature of the bottle cap may malfunction, enabling the cap to be removed with the tamper-evident seal remaining intact. This means that there is no way to tell whether a bottle of medicine may have been tampered with, making it potentially unsafe.

Affected lots of the medications were sold in stores throughout the United States. A list of lot and NDC numbers of recalled units can be found here. A unit’s lot number is located on the bottom panel of the box and on the left side of the label on the bottle. The NDC number is located on the upper right corner of the front panel of the box for Triaminic products, and the upper left corner of the front of the bottle for Theraflu products. Lots reintroduced in October of 2012 are not part of the recall. They’re identified by a 7-digit lot number that has two letters as its second and third digits.

If you find an affected unit in your medicine cabinet and suffered no injuries from ingesting the medication, you can send the bottle back to Novartis for a full refund. However, if you believe that you or one of your dependents has been injured or made ill from taking doses of the recalled medications, see your doctor immediately and do not return or dispose of the bottle, cap or label. Call 800-251-1111 and talk with an experienced products liability or dangerous drugs attorney today.

The little known concept of statutes of repose can further restrict your ability to get compensation under statutes of limitations.

Most everyone is familiar with the concept of statute of limitations. But many in the general public have never heard of the statute of repose. The two are similar in that they each limit the amount of time that legal proceedings based on a particular event can be initiated. But a statute of repose takes a statute of limitations further, limiting the time allowed under the statute of limitation and in some cases, barring a claim being brought altogether.

Products liability cases in Florida are subject to both statutes of limitations and statutes of repose, often called nonclaim statutes. Products liability law allows victims to bring legal action for injuries caused by the defective design, manufacture, distribution, or sale of personal property. Here in the Sunshine State, the statute of limitation for products liability cases is four years from the date the victim knew or should have reasonably known that his or he injuries were caused by the product in question, unless a death results from a defective product. In such cases, Florida’s Wrongful Death Act imposes a two-year statute of limitations.

However, the statute of repose can further limit a victim’s ability to secure financial compensation for his or her injuries, depending upon when the product was originally made or sold.

Florida’s statute of repose provides that “under no circumstances may a claimant commence an action for products liability, including a wrongful death action or any other claim arising from personal injury or property damage caused by a product, to recover for harm allegedly caused by a product with an expected useful life of 10 years or less, if the harm was caused by exposure to or use of the product more than 12 years after delivery of the product to its first purchaser or lessee who was not engaged in the business of selling or leasing the product or of using the product as a component in the manufacture of another product.”

Thus, if the defective product that caused injury to you or your dependents originally was made or sold to the final retailer before 2000, you may be unable to secure compensation.

In any products liability case, time is of the essence. Contact an experienced products liability lawyer with Jacksonville’s Harrell and Harrell at 800-251-1111.