Hillsborough County Broken Bones Attorney
Fractures are among the most painful and disruptive injuries a person can suffer, and they rarely happen in isolation. A broken bone usually comes with missed work, extended medical treatment, physical therapy, and sometimes permanent changes to how you move through your daily life. When that fracture happened because of someone else’s negligence, whether on a job site, in a vehicle accident, or on someone else’s property, the financial weight of the injury gets layered on top of the physical one. A Hillsborough County broken bones attorney at Kobal Law works to make sure the people and companies responsible for that injury are the ones bearing that financial weight, not you.
How Fractures Actually Happen in Hillsborough County, and Who Pays
The Tampa Bay area’s construction industry is one of the most active in Florida. High-rise development along the waterfront, road and infrastructure work throughout Hillsborough County, and commercial build-outs across suburban corridors mean that workers are regularly exposed to fall hazards, falling objects, and equipment accidents that produce serious fractures. Construction site fractures often involve multiple broken bones and complex surgeries, and the workers’ compensation system, while available, frequently fails to fully compensate for what those injuries actually cost.
Beyond the job site, Interstate 275, Interstate 4, US-41, and the Selmon Expressway all generate serious accident traffic in Hillsborough County. High-speed collisions on these corridors are a common source of broken arms, legs, ribs, clavicles, and spinal fractures. Commercial vehicle crashes, in particular, tend to produce more severe fractures because of the force involved. Warehouse and distribution work, which is a significant employer throughout the county, contributes its own share of forklift accidents, loading dock falls, and heavy equipment incidents that break bones.
The question of who pays is often more complicated than it looks. Workers’ compensation applies when the injury happens on the job, but a third party, a driver who caused a crash near the worksite, a property owner, a contractor whose equipment failed, may also carry independent liability. At Kobal Law, attorney Jason Kobal looks at the full picture of what happened before deciding what claims to file. A workers’ comp claim and a negligence claim can coexist, and in cases involving serious fractures, pursuing both may mean the difference between being made whole and being left short.
What a Fracture Claim Actually Covers, and Why Insurance Companies Fight It
The medical side of a broken bone injury is rarely just an ER visit and a cast. Depending on location and severity, fractures require orthopedic consultations, imaging, surgery to set or pin the bone, hardware implantation, post-surgical monitoring, and months of physical therapy. Femur fractures, pelvis fractures, and spinal fractures can involve hospitalization measured in weeks and rehabilitation measured in months. Compound fractures, where the bone breaks through the skin, carry infection risk and frequently require additional surgical procedures.
Long-term effects matter too. Fractures near joints often lead to post-traumatic arthritis. Poorly healed bones may require corrective surgery years later. Some people never fully recover the strength or range of motion they had before the injury, which affects their ability to perform physical work for the rest of their lives.
Insurance companies are aware of all of this, which is precisely why they work hard to minimize what they pay out on fracture claims. They will argue that a fracture was less severe than documented, that the treatment was excessive, that the victim contributed to the accident, or that projected future medical costs are speculative. These are not good-faith positions; they are negotiating tactics. Having an attorney who has handled fracture cases and understands both the medical reality and the legal framework for damages puts you in a position to push back on those arguments with evidence.
The Overlap Between Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Liability in Bone Fracture Cases
Jason Kobal has worked on both sides of workers’ compensation law, including time representing insurance carriers. That background shapes the way Kobal Law approaches cases where both a workers’ comp claim and a third-party negligence claim are potentially available.
Florida’s workers’ compensation system limits what an injured worker can recover in terms of pain and suffering, but a third-party personal injury claim does not carry that limitation. If a construction worker suffers a broken leg because a subcontractor‘s scaffolding was improperly erected, the workers’ comp carrier may cover medical bills and a portion of lost wages, but the negligent subcontractor can face a separate civil lawsuit that compensates for the full measure of the injury’s impact. These cases require careful handling because any recovery from a third-party lawsuit may be subject to a workers’ comp lien, meaning the insurer wants reimbursement for what it paid. Knowing how to negotiate those liens is part of getting the full value out of a case.
Not every fracture case has this dual-track structure, but for the ones that do, the difference between identifying it and missing it can be worth a significant amount of money to the injured person. This is part of why Kobal Law takes the time to examine how an injury actually happened before filing anything.
Questions People Ask Before Hiring a Broken Bones Lawyer in Hillsborough County
How long does a fracture injury claim typically take to resolve?
It depends heavily on the severity of the fracture and whether the case settles or goes to trial. A straightforward claim involving a single broken bone and clear liability might resolve in several months. A case involving multiple fractures, disputed liability, or a contested workers’ comp component can take considerably longer. One general principle: it is usually better to wait until medical treatment has progressed far enough to understand the long-term picture before settling, because once you settle, that is the end of it regardless of what happens later.
What if I was partially at fault for the accident that broke my bones?
Florida uses a modified comparative fault system. If you are found to be partially responsible for the accident, your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault. You lose the right to recover only if you are found to be more than 50 percent at fault. Being partially at fault does not end your claim, and whether your share of fault is accurately represented is something an attorney can address directly.
Can I file a lawsuit even if I’m collecting workers’ compensation benefits?
Sometimes, yes. Workers’ compensation in Florida generally prevents you from suing your employer, but it does not bar claims against third parties whose negligence contributed to your injury. Whether a third-party claim is available depends on the specific facts of how the injury happened and who was involved. This is worth examining in any serious fracture case.
What types of damages can I recover for a broken bone injury?
In a personal injury case, recoverable damages can include medical expenses already incurred, the projected cost of future medical treatment, lost wages from time missed at work, loss of future earning capacity if the fracture affects your ability to work long-term, and compensation for pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life. Workers’ compensation operates under different rules and covers a narrower set of damages, which is one reason third-party claims matter when they are available.
What happens if the insurance company’s settlement offer seems low?
Low first offers are common, and accepting one means giving up any further claims. An attorney can evaluate whether an offer reflects the actual value of your injury, including future costs that may not be obvious from the initial treatment record. If negotiations do not produce a fair result, the case can proceed toward litigation. The existence of that option often changes how insurers approach settlement discussions.
Does Kobal Law handle broken bone cases on a contingency fee basis?
Yes. All cases at Kobal Law are handled on a contingency fee basis. Fees are a percentage of what is recovered, and if there is no recovery, there is no fee. There is no upfront cost to getting representation.
Should I talk to the other driver’s or employer’s insurance company on my own?
It is generally not advisable. Insurance adjusters are trained to gather information that can be used to limit what they pay. Recorded statements, seemingly casual conversations, and early settlement offers are tools in that process. Speaking with an attorney before making any statements protects your ability to get full value for your claim.
Talking to a Hillsborough County Fracture Injury Lawyer at Kobal Law
Kobal Law is available around the clock for case evaluations, and the office handles matters in both English and Spanish. Attorney Jason Kobal has spent nearly two decades representing injured workers and accident victims throughout Tampa and Hillsborough County, and he has been recognized by his peers as a leading workers’ compensation attorney in the Tampa Bay area. For anyone dealing with a fracture injury caused by another party’s negligence, the place to start is a direct conversation about what happened and what options are actually available. A Hillsborough County broken bones lawyer at Kobal Law can tell you clearly what your case may be worth and how to move forward.
