West Palm Beach Legal Blog

If you have become disabled and unable to work in Florida, you may have submitted a claim for disability benefits. One of these types of benefits is Supplemental Security Income and it is available to people who meet the qualifications which include income limits as well as meeting the criteria for being disabled. Unfortunately, not everyone receives an initial approval of their request for these benefits.

If you have been denied SSI benefits, you may appeal that decision. According to the Social Security Administration, your first option is to file for reconsideration. This has your case completely reviewed by parties who were not involved in the original review. You may also submit new evidence at this time if you wish. If this reconsideration also results in a denial of benefits, you may request a hearing by an administrative law judge. This person would not have been involved in either of the first two case reviews.

Most people in Florida know that the state's laws regarding drinking and driving are tough but they may not always think about the various parties that may be identified as accountable or at least involved in a drunk driving accident. The fact of the matter is that an impaired driver may not be the only person targeted as contributing to an accident in which alcohol was a factor.

In some cases, a bar or restaurant where a driver was served alcohol might be pointed to as having some responsibility for a drunk driver's actions. An example of this can be seen in a case in which a man who worked for a restaurant eventually died in a crash. The incident took place in early December of last year but People magazine recently reported that the restaurant owner is now being sued for wrongful death by the deceased man's family.

For commercial truck drivers in Florida, fatigue has long been an identified risk and safety hazard. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration instituted what it calls its Hours of Service rule to tackle trucker fatigue and improve safety. Essentially, the Hours of Service rule places limits on how many hours in a day or work week a trucker may work or drive. It also outlines provisions for when rest breaks must be taken and for how long those rest periods must last.

To force increased and documented compliance with the HoS rule, the FMCSA has also issued a requirement for truckers to use electronic logging devices to record their driving and stopped times. The ELD mandate has been somewhat controversial within the trucking industry but a collaborative study looking at the impact of this rule was conducted by researchers from three universities across the country. The results might be surprising to some.

Are you a Floridian who was involved in a car crash? If so, you might have ended up with a little twinge of pain in your neck either immediately after the crash, or within a few days or weeks. Though it may be tempting to write this pain off, it could be a sign of damage that needs treatment.

According to Mayo Clinic, whiplash injuries are one of the most common ones that you can face after a car crash. They are caused by the "whip-like motion" your head and neck make after certain impacts, hence the name. Usually, this motion is created by a forceful hit from behind. Rear-end collisions often end with someone suffering from whiplash.