Personal Injury
Personal Injury
Pensacola’s roads and communities are not immune to the kind of accidents that change lives in an instant. According to preliminary data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), Escambia County continues to report thousands of traffic crashes each year, resulting in hundreds of serious injuries and fatalities. These numbers are not abstractions. They are neighbors, coworkers, and families who left the house one morning and came home with injuries they will carry for the rest of their lives, or did not come home at all.
Personal injury law exists to hold accountable the people and institutions whose negligence caused that harm. Whether you were hurt in a collision on I-110, injured in a slip and fall at a local business, attacked by a dog, or harmed by a defective product, Florida law gives you the right to pursue compensation for what you lost — your medical bills, your income, your physical wellbeing, and your peace of mind. What the law does not do is make that pursuit easy, particularly given the significant changes Florida has made to its personal injury statutes in recent years.
In March 2023, Florida enacted House Bill 837, which applies to causes of action accruing on or after March 24, 2023. The law reduced the statute of limitations for negligence-based personal injury claims from four years to two years and replaced pure comparative negligence with a modified comparative negligence system. Under the change in the statute of limitations, an injured party has less time now to bring their claims, making contacting an attorney earlier even more important to avoid the risk of having their case be barred as untimely.
The second change is especially significant in practice. Under the modified comparative negligence system, an injured party may be barred from recovering damages if they are found to be more than 50% at fault. Under the old system, an injured person could recover damages even if they were partially at fault. Under the new system, if an insurance company or jury finds you more than 50 percent responsible for your own injury, you recover nothing. Not a reduced amount — nothing. Insurance adjusters are aware of the revised fault rules, and fault allocation has become a more significant factor in claim valuation under Florida’s modified comparative negligence system. The more fault they can shift onto you, the less they owe — and if they push your share past 50 percent, their obligation disappears entirely. This makes how your case is investigated, documented, and presented from the very first days after an accident more consequential than it has ever been in Florida. Evidence gathered early, before it disappears or is disputed, can be the difference between full compensation and nothing.
At Lusko Law, we have spent over a decade fighting for injured clients in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties. We understand how Florida’s reformed tort landscape affects real people pursuing real claims. We investigate thoroughly, document carefully, and build cases that are designed to withstand the fault-shifting strategies that insurance companies now deploy as a matter of routine. Justin Lusko is a trial attorney who has taken more than 55 cases to jury verdict — and when an insurance company refuses to offer fair compensation, he is fully prepared to take your case to trial.
What Personal Injury Claims Cover
Personal injury law in Florida covers a wide range of situations in which one party’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct causes harm to another. The cases we handle at Lusko Law include, but are not limited to:
Vehicle accidents — including car crashes, truck collisions, motorcycle accidents, rideshare incidents, and pedestrian and bicycle accidents. Florida is consistently ranked among the states with the highest pedestrian fatality rates in the United States, according to national roadway safety studies. Motorcycle crashes in Escambia County and the greater Pensacola area frequently result in serious injuries or fatalities, reflecting the high vulnerability of motorcyclists in roadway collisions.
Premises liability — injuries caused by unsafe conditions on someone else’s property, including slip and falls in stores, restaurants, parking lots, and other commercial or residential spaces. Property owners in Florida owe a duty of care to lawful visitors, and when they fail to maintain safe conditions or warn of known hazards, they can be held liable for the consequences.
Dog bites and animal attacks — Florida law generally imposes strict liability on dog owners for injuries their animals cause under Florida Statute § 767.04, although certain defenses—such as comparative negligence or trespassing—may affect recovery. These injuries can be severe, particularly for children.
Product liability — injuries caused by defective or unreasonably dangerous products, whether the defect exists in the design, the manufacturing, or the failure to provide adequate warnings. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers may all bear responsibility.
Negligent security — injuries caused by inadequate security measures on commercial properties, including assaults, robberies, and other violent crimes that a property owner should have taken reasonable steps to prevent.
Our Personal Approach
No two personal injury cases are the same, and no client’s experience of their injury is the same. At Lusko Law, our approach starts with a genuine conversation — about what happened, how it has affected your life, what your recovery looks like, and what you need to move forward. We listen before we advise, and we advise honestly. If we do not believe your case has merit, we will tell you. If we believe you have a strong claim, we will tell you that too, and explain exactly what pursuing it will involve.
You work directly with an experienced attorney from the moment you contact us. You will not be shuffled to a case manager or left waiting for a callback while your deadline approaches. Under Florida’s current two-year statute of limitations, time matters more than it ever has. We move quickly to preserve evidence, interview witnesses, and build the factual foundation your case depends on — and we keep you informed at every step so that you always know where things stand and what comes next.
Transparent Service Fees
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Past Results Disclaimer (Florida Bar Required): Prior verdicts and settlements referenced in connection with Lusko Law reflect results obtained in prior cases and do not guarantee a similar outcome in any personal injury or other matter. Most cases result in a lower recovery. It should not be assumed that your case will have as beneficial a result.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by viewing this page. Personal injury claims in Florida are governed by Fla. Stat. § 95.11 and House Bill 837 (enacted March 24, 2023), which established a two-year statute of limitations and modified comparative negligence rules for causes of action accruing after that date. Statutes of limitations and fault rules may vary by claim type. Contact Lusko Law promptly to preserve your rights.
Statistical sources: Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) 2024 Crash Dashboard; Safe Roads USA — Pensacola Road Safety Overview (2024 data); Florida Highway Safety Improvement Program 2024 Annual Report (FDOT/FHWA).