If you or someone you love has been badly hurt, this is probably the hardest thing your family has faced. You are not alone in it. We handle the legal side so you can put your attention where it belongs, on recovery and on each other. When an injury changes what you can do for the rest of your life, the case changes too. The fight is not really about the emergency room bill. It is about what the next 30 or 40 years will cost, and the pay you will never earn. Templer & Hirsch have handled these cases for more than 35 years, and insurers do the same thing every time: they put a price on the claim using only the medical records they already have, before anyone knows what your future care will cost. Our job is to prove that future first, with your own doctors, a life care planner and an economist, so the offer covers a lifetime instead of a few months.
Florida Catastrophic Injury Lawyers

Traumatic Brain Injury

Brain injuries run from a concussion that never fully clears to an injury that needs care for life. The hard part is proof. A mild brain injury often looks normal on a CT scan while the person cannot follow a conversation, keep a schedule, or go back to the job they had. We build these cases with neuropsychological testing, the treating neurologist, work records that show the drop-off, and family and coworkers who can say what the person was like before.

Spinal Cord Injury and Paralysis

Spinal cord injuries have the most predictable future costs of any injury, and the largest: daily attendant care, wheelchairs that have to be replaced on a schedule, pressure sore and bladder care, changes to the home and the vehicle, and the health problems that show up years later. Because those costs can be predicted, they can also be proven. A well built life care plan is usually the most valuable document in the file.

Amputation, Severe Burns and Vision Loss

Losing a limb means prosthetics that have to be replaced for decades, more surgeries, and long term pain treatment. Severe burns mean staged reconstruction, scarring claims, and real emotional harm that the law does pay for. Losing sight or hearing changes what work you can do. Each one is priced a different way, and each one needs doctors who can explain what comes next.

Finding Every Policy That Applies

In serious cases the first insurance policy anyone finds is rarely enough. We look for extra and excess coverage, employer and business policies, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage across every car in the household, a product claim if a defect played a part, and other at-fault parties such as contractors, property owners or vehicle owners. The difference between a fair recovery and a poor one is usually how many policies get found.

Damages in a Catastrophic Case

The claim covers care you have already had and care you will need, rehab and attendant care, lost pay and lost future earning power, changes to your home and vehicle, pain and suffering, and, for a husband or wife, the loss of the relationship. Future costs have to be worked out in today's dollars and backed by expert testimony. That is why we bring in your treating doctors, a life care planner and an economist early, instead of at mediation when it is too late to fix gaps in the record.

What To Do Now

Go to every appointment and follow the treatment plan, because missed care is the first thing the other side points to. Keep a short daily note of your symptoms and what you can no longer do. Do not give a recorded statement or take an early offer while the doctors still do not know the outcome. Call Templer & Hirsch for a free consultation. If getting to us is hard, we come to the hospital or your home.

Why $10,000 of PIP Never Covers a Catastrophic Injury

Florida's no-fault system was built for fender-bender injuries, not for a brain or spinal cord. Personal Injury Protection pays 80% of reasonable medical expenses up to $10,000, and only if a physician determines you had an emergency medical condition. Without that finding, the cap drops to $2,500 (Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)(a)3-4). Either number is spent in the first days of a serious head or spine injury.

How much of your medical bills your own PIP pays

Florida no-fault benefits, per person, for one crash. A brain or spinal injury passes either amount in days.

With an emergency medical condition
$10,000 maximum
Without that finding
$2,500 maximum

PIP pays 80% of covered medical expenses up to these caps, and only for care that begins within 14 days of the crash (Fla. Stat. § 627.736). Everything past the cap has to come from a liable party, an employer, or your own uninsured motorist coverage.

14 daysTo start treatment or lose PIP entirely
2 yrsDeadline to sue in most negligence cases
51%Fault share that bars recovery completely

The threshold usually is not the problem here. In a Florida auto case you can only recover pain and suffering if the injury involves a permanent injury, a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, significant and permanent scarring, or death (Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2)). Catastrophic injuries clear that bar by definition. The real fight is over how much: future care, lost earning capacity, and the life care plan. That is where cases are won or lost, and it is why we bring in treating physicians, life care planners and economists early rather than at mediation.

Where We Handle Florida Catastrophic Injury Lawyers Cases

We handle catastrophic injury claims from our Aventura office and across Florida, including:

The Attorneys Who Handle These Cases

Aventura injury attorneys David L. Templer and Mark Hirsch of Templer & Hirsch
David L. Templer and Mark Hirsch at the firm's Aventura office

David L. Templer and Mark Hirsch have practiced from the same Aventura office for more than 35 years and have recovered over $100 million for injured people. You speak with an attorney, not a case manager, and the attorney you speak with is the attorney who handles your file.

Consultations are free and there is no fee unless we recover money for you. Call 305-937-2700 or send us the details.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as a catastrophic injury?

There is no single definition in Florida negligence law. In practice a catastrophic injury is one that permanently changes what you can do: a traumatic brain injury, a spinal cord injury with paralysis, an amputation, severe burns, blindness, or an injury that ends your ability to work. The legal significance is that the damages are dominated by future costs rather than by the bills you have already received.

How is a brain injury case different from an ordinary injury case?

The evidence is different. A mild traumatic brain injury often does not show on a standard CT scan, so the proof comes from neuropsychological testing, treating physicians, and people who knew you before the injury and can describe the change. Insurers routinely argue that a normal scan means no injury, which is why documentation from the first days matters so much.

How much PIP covers my medical bills after a serious crash?

At most $10,000, and only 80% of covered expenses, and only if a physician determines you had an emergency medical condition. Without that determination it drops to $2,500 under Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)(a)4. Care must begin within 14 days of the crash. Anything beyond the cap has to come from the at-fault party's liability coverage, your uninsured motorist coverage, or another responsible party.

Can I still recover if I was partly to blame?

Yes, unless you were more than 50% at fault. Florida uses modified comparative negligence under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, so your damages are reduced by your share of fault, and at more than 50% you recover nothing. In catastrophic cases insurers push hard on comparative fault precisely because the numbers are large.

What is a life care plan and why does my case need one?

It is a costed, year-by-year projection of the medical care, equipment, therapy, medication, home modifications and attendant care you will need for the rest of your life, prepared by a qualified life care planner and supported by your treating doctors. It is what converts a lifetime of need into a number a jury or an insurer can evaluate.

How long do I have to file a catastrophic injury claim in Florida?

Most negligence claims must be filed within two years of the injury under Fla. Stat. § 95.11, cut from four years by the 2023 HB 837 reforms. Medical malpractice and wrongful death claims run on their own clocks. Evidence in catastrophic cases degrades fast, so waiting costs more than the deadline alone suggests.

Explore more ways Templer & Hirsch can help, and use our settlement calculators for federal maritime claims.

Sources & further reading (verify before relying on them)

This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change; confirm the current statute and speak with an attorney about your situation.