Good 'Ambulance Chaser' in Orlando?

[carnutzzz]

Anyone know a good attorney in Orlando?

My sister was out with the girls and had a beer bottle broken over her head by some low-life. Plenty of witnesses attest to my sister's innocence. The perp (female) is your typical Orlando scum- with a prior record and having recently served 6 months for assault with a deadly weapon.

My sister's wedding is on October, and she had to have stitches in her forehead to seal a pretty severe gash.

Aside from criminal charges which she is of course moving ahead with, what kind of civil case can she build? I say sue the crap out of her- even if she's broke, can't you garnish wages?

[sammyg2]

There is no such thing as a good ambulance chaser.
Your sister is trying to get blood from a turnip and the lawyers will realize that. They ones that will take that kind of case (being the scum they are) will go after someone with deeper pockets who had no real responsibility or fault but will get punished anyway. Maybe the nightclub owner who had nothing to do with it should be punished instead of the persons actually involved, yeah that sounds about right. That's what those lawyers do. They are scum and so is anyone who goes along with that sort of thing. Hopefully your sister will have enough morals to resist selling out. She does know the difference between right and wrong, doesn't she?

[sammyg2]

BTW, people don't break beer bottles over someone else's head just for fun. There is ALWAYS provocation and thus both parties share some responsibility.

[Dottore]

Maybe try going after the beer company. They have deep pockets. And it being reasonably foreseeable that beer bottles will break and cause damage tissue damage when smashed by one drunk over the head of another, they probably owed a duty of care to your sister.

(Not sure how to work the green ink.)

[legion]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

BTW, people don't break beer bottles over someone else's head just for fun. There is ALWAYS provocation and thus both parties share some responsibility.

Nope. I've seen it done at a Jimmy Buffett concert. "Hey, watch this, I'm going to break my beer bottle over that guys head."

Some people get off on being dangerous jackasses.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

BTW, people don't break beer bottles over someone else's head just for fun. There is ALWAYS provocation and thus both parties share some responsibility.

Not always true, in whorelando, at the Station it can happen

what kind of civil case can she build? I say sue the crap out of her- even if she's broke, can't you garnish wages?

Well, it cost to file, no lawyer will take case without a retainer, then when they see that there is no money, they will tell your sister that it is a waist of time & money. If she did take it to court and won, it most likely will be a judgment, and she would have to file for liens on anything the scumbag owns, my guess is nothing, on the wages, the scumbag has to have a job, my guess is with a record, she doesn't. I'll PM you an attorney friend's number if you like.

[kstar]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

BTW, people don't break beer bottles over someone else's head just for fun. There is ALWAYS provocation and thus both parties share some responsibility.

That's quite a huge assumption and conclusion having absolutely no first hand knowledge of the circumstances, don't you think?

Yowsah.

Best,

[the]

With a defendant that has no assets, and with an injury that didn't result in at least a career limiting disability, or even better, a death, you won't find an "ambulance chaser" (i.e., a contingency lawyer) to take the case.

You can ALWAYS find an hourly lawyer to do anything. You just need to pay a retainer and agree to pay the hourly rate.

But most people won't agree to put up a $10K retainer and then agree to pay hundreds of dollars per hour, to sue someone who can't pay a judgment. They *think* they will when they are still mad from being injured, but when it comes to signing up to make the payments, most change their mind.

[Gogar]

Your sister needs to get well, make sure the criminal case turns out right, accept the restitution, and call it a day. Karma will take care of the wonderful lady who hit her with the beer bottle. You just might have to wait longer, that's all.

[nota]

garnish wages in Fla
well sort of but you have to go to court ON EACH AND EVERY CHECK
so in the real world it is not worth the trouble and expence

but a court may order payment to a crime victim as part of the sentence
and failure to pay will result in contempt of the court
but mostly only for real loses and expences
so no BIG pain and suffering pay outs

[stomachmonkey]

Sounds like you want revenge.

[carnutzzz]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

BTW, people don't break beer bottles over someone else's head just for fun. There is ALWAYS provocation and thus both parties share some responsibility.

You're not the sharpest knife in the drawer, eh?

[carnutzzz]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Sounds like you want revenge.

I think of it more like forced Karma.

I just don't have much faith in the system for making my sister whole. The reality of it is she's a 28 year old woman who is planning her wedding, having photos, etc. with a gash on her forehead. She may even still have a visible scar on wedding day.

It would seem that as litigious as our society has become, if people can extract cash from frivolous suits, one actually grounded in some emotional distress should be worth something.

The one 'chaser' my sister did talk to kept bringing up the bar owner- obviously we have no interest in that.

[Jim Richards]

Sammy's right. Your sister was in Orlando, so she must be partially to blame.

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by carnutzzz

I think of it more like forced Karma.

I think that's kind of an oxymoron.

Originally Posted by carnutzzz

I just don't have much faith in the system for making my sister whole.

Then why are you interested in using the system? The situation sucks, but if you're angry and distressed now, think about how you'll feel after you (or your sister) file a civil suit and deal with it every couple of days for a year and a half, and then get ABSOLUTELY NOTHING out of it. Maybe spend some of your own money to get that nothing, too.

One way or another, I'm glad she's going to be ok and hope you guys find a way to make it a distant memory asap. Hire a professional makeup artist for the Wedding Pics, it will be fine.

[Christien]

I agree that it's really not worth the time, stress and particularly the money going after deadbeats. It's a tough pill to swallow, but there's just no sense in throwing good money after bad.

I learned my lesson through work - our company will often pursue deadbeat customers who default on loans, but unless they've got a decent job which they're likely to be keeping for the foreseeable future (i.e. no minimum wage jobs) then it's not worth going after. Even when we do, costs are usually $200-$300 for small claims court filings (including default judgments and garnishments) and it's completely outsourced to a collection agency. We've collected on garnishments precisely twice (out of maybe 10 or 12 attempts). Even then, the money comes in VERY slowly - $50-$100 a month at most.

It's true what they say, you can't get blood out of a stone.

[Christien]

Originally Posted by carnutzzz

I just don't have much faith in the system for making my sister whole.

Here in Ont. the system is, I believe, set up to protect the more vulnerable. While I would agree this is a good place to start, it's quite easy to take advantage of that if you have any brains whatsoever. Still, I guess it's better to side with the vulnerable, if you have to make a choice. God only knows there's not a snowball's chance in hell of the government actually spending the time and effort to make the legal system fair and equitable to all involved.

I'll never forget the time I faced a judge for an assessment hearing in which the court wanted to know why we were going after a customer for some $4000 or whatever. He said to me "as far as I'm concerned, the days of $100 late charges [which is what our company charges for overdue loan payments] are over" before reducing the amount to a token sum. Not long after, I received a notice from the Canada Revenue Agency that I had underpaid my 04 (or whatever) taxes by $6.16. Guess what the total bill was? Yep, $106.16 - a $100 late charge. It was on that day that I lost faith in and respect for our judicial system.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Christien

Here in Ont. the system is, I believe, set up to protect the more vulnerable. While I would agree this is a good place to start, it's quite easy to take advantage of that if you have any brains whatsoever. Still, I guess it's better to side with the vulnerable, if you have to make a choice.

I don't equate poor or deadebeats with vulnerable. Children, eldery, infirmed - they are vulnerable. An able bodied adult who randomly decides to injure some unsuspecting stranger is not in the least bit vulnerable. I'd probably spend my money hiring a crew to make this woman wheelchair bound before handing it over to a lawyer and getting nothing out of it.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by kstarnes

That's quite a huge assumption and conclusion having absolutely no first hand knowledge of the circumstances, don't you think?

Yowsah.

Best,

It's called common sense.
I suppose there may be a very rare case that is completely and totally unprovoked so I guess using ALWAYS was not accurate.

Is this better? "The odds of someone getting hit over the head with a beer bottle without having any provocative involvement whatsoever on her part or on the part of her friends is so unimaginable that she should forget about a lawyer and go buy a lottery ticket".

[kstar]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

It's called common sense.
I suppose there may be a very rare case that is completely and totally unprovoked so I guess using ALWAYS was not accurate.

Is this better? "The odds of someone getting hit over the head with a beer bottle without having any provocative involvement whatsoever on her part or on the part of her friends is so unimaginable that she should forget about a lawyer and go buy a lottery ticket".

Common sense is careful use of "never" and "always".

I would agree that in most cases, actions against others are provoked in some way. HST, there are many acts and crimes that occur without any provocation, things much worse than taking a bottle to the head!

Humans can get senselessly ugly at times.

Best,