Palm Beach wrongful death attorney

In a Florida criminal case, if you intentionally destroy/tamper with evidence, it can be a third-degree felony. But what if it’s a civil case? Palm Beach injury lawyer evidence

Anyone who files a Palm Beach injury lawsuit will soon come to understand the pivotal role of evidence. A fact can be 100 percent true, but virtually meaningless without concrete proof. More weight will always be given to assertions supported by strong evidence, as opposed to one side’s word versus another’s.

If evidence central to a civil case is destroyed, it’s called spoliation, and it doesn’t even have to be intentional for the court to impose sanctions. As for the exact penalty, the consequences depend on:

Who had control of the evidence.
Whether the possessor/controller was a party to the civil case and in some way benefited from its loss.
The extent to which the loss of that evidence prejudiced the other side in its ability to prove/disprove pivotal facts.
If the person/organization was a non-party to the case, whether they owed the duty – by contract, statute, or timely-served preservation/discovery request – to preserve the evidence.

Since the 1980s, Florida courts have repeatedly held that when physical evidence is lost, misplaced, destroyed, or otherwise made not available AND it fundamentally prejudices the other side’s chance to pursue/defend a claim, courts have the authority (and broad discretion) to impose sanctions. These can include:

The legal presumption that key facts pertaining to that evidence would have benefitted the other side.
Dismissal of the claim (when the plaintiff is the spoliator).
Granting default judgment in favor of the party prejudiced by the loss of that evidence.

Types of Spoliation in Palm Beach Injury Lawsuits

There are two basic types of spoliation: First-party and third-party. Continue reading

Every year, nearly 46,000 Americans die and another 1.2 million attempt to take their own lives, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. It’s not uncommon for loved ones to agonize for years about “what if” and what might be done differently – possibly blaming themselves or others for not seeing the signs or being more proactive in protecting the person from themselves. And most of the time, it’s a fruitless mental spiral because hindsight is 20/20 and of course you’d have intervened if you knew what was coming and had the power to stop it. Florida suicide lawsuit attorney Palm Beach

But what if an individual or organization was responsible for overseeing your loved one’s physical well-being and mental health and they managed to commit suicide anyway? What if red flags were missed? What if the people entrusted to care for your loved one – knowing their risk of self-harm – didn’t make absolutely sure they were safe?

In these cases, you may have grounds to sue for suicide. These third-party lawsuits assert that the doctor, hospital, or other organization owed your loved one a duty of care, breached that duty, and your loved one died as a result. As noted in a 2019 article published in FOCUS, The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry, suicide is a top cause of liability against psychiatrists treating adult patients.

But are such cases medical malpractice or general negligence? The answer matters because, as our Palm Beach medical malpractice lawyers can explain, the proof burden and pre-suit requirements for medical negligence cases are more time-consuming, expensive, and tedious than what’s required to initiate a general negligence action. It has a shorter statute of limitations than injury cases (2 years instead of 4), though it’s the same for wrongful death cases. Also, the plaintiff is required to provide expert witness testimony at the outset of the case just to be allowed to proceed. Naturally, anyone named as a third-party defendant in a suicide liability lawsuit is going to argue the case is medical malpractice because that will make it tougher and more costly for the plaintiff.

But just because the defense says it’s medical malpractice doesn’t mean it is. Sometimes, it’s up to the courts to decide. Continue reading

Articles Tagged with Palm Beach wrongful death attorney

Understanding Evidence Spoliation When Filing Palm Beach Injury Lawsuit

Types of Spoliation in Palm Beach Injury Lawsuits

Blame for Suicide at Florida Behavior Center is Ruled a Matter of General Negligence, Not Medical Malpractice