Florida, especially the Miami area, has a huge, celebrated immigrant population. Many of the people living in Florida are permanent residents, immigrants, tourists, international students, and other non-U.S.-citizens. If you faced a serious injury in an accident in Miami or the surrounding areas, you may be wondering how your immigration status and citizenship might affect your right to sue. Rest assured that as long as you are in the United States, you should have every legal right to file a lawsuit for injuries you suffered in the U.S. Prosper Shaked, our Miami personal injury lawyer for non-citizens, may be able to help. Contact Prosper Shaked Accident Injury Attorneys PA for more information about how to file a lawsuit if you are not a U.S. citizen.
Can Immigrants, Permanent Residents, and Tourists Sue in the United States?
In the United States, the right to sue is based on the fact that you are present in the United States. Courts in the U.S. have a requirement to sue known as “jurisdiction.” State courts in Florida have jurisdiction over certain types of cases, including criminal cases, personal injury cases, contract disputes, and other common types of lawsuits. They also have jurisdiction over any events that happened within their geographical area, which typically encompasses the whole county. This means that any injury you suffered in a car accident, slip and fall, or medical malpractice case in Miami should be under the jurisdiction of the court in Miami-Dade County – or another county if you were injured nearby.
Courts have the ability to order anyone living in the state to come into their court and address claims. This includes citizens, residents, and non-residents alike. There are other complex rules that may also allow them to bring people into court if they live far away.
You, as the victim of the injury, can always volunteer to submit to the court’s jurisdiction by filing a case in that county. This means that if you were injured in Miami, you can file your injury lawsuit in a Miami court and address the case there no matter where you are from. As long as the accident happened in Miami or Miami-Dade County, you should have the right to sue and have your case heard.
Does Citizenship Status Affect Your Right to Sue in the U.S.?
Whether you are a permanent resident with your green card, a natural-born U.S. citizen, or a student in the United States on a visa, your right to sue in a Florida court should be the same. Since the court’s ability to hear a case is based on the accident happening in the court’s area of jurisdiction, your citizenship should not affect your right to sue.
If you have any doubt that your case will be heard or taken seriously because you are not a U.S. citizen, talk to an attorney. Our Miami personal injury lawyer fights for the rights of injury victims in court and works to ensure that their claims are heard and that they get fair compensation for the injuries they suffered. Prosper Shaked can fight for your rights regardless of your citizenship status and help you with how to sue for a cruise ship injury, car accident injury, slip and fall, or other accident in Miami.
Compensation for Lawsuits in the United States
If you were injured in the United States, you can take advantage of the U.S. legal system and its ability to compensate victims for injuries they suffered. In Florida, the injuries you face are commonly compensated with two types of damages: economic damages, which pay you back for any financial harms you suffered, and non-economic damages, which cover the intangible harms you suffered.
Economic damages typically include the cost of medical expenses you faced because of the injury and wages you lost because of your injury. If you go to the hospital in an ambulance and need surgeries, medical imaging, and other medical care, it can become quite expensive. These costs should be compensated as part of a lawsuit. In addition, if your injury keeps you from working or you suffer permanent injuries that make it hard to work in the future, you may be entitled to compensation for the income you lost or the reduced income you will have in the future because of the injuries.
In addition to these financial damages, you may suffer damages that you cannot prove with receipts or bills. These are known as non-economic damages. The physical pain that you suffered from the injury and the mental and emotional damage that the accident caused is not something you can see, but you can still get compensation for this harm. In cases where you sue for wrongful death of a lost loved one, non-economic damages may also include the lost companionship and emotional distress that you feel because of your loved one’s death.
If You Were a Non-Citizen Injured in an Accident in Miami, Call for a Free Consultation
Injury victims in Miami and the surrounding areas are entitled to quality legal representation and the right to bring their personal injury claims in court. For help with your legal case, contact personal injury lawyer Prosper Shaked today. Prosper Shaked Accident Injury Attorneys PA offer free legal consultations on new cases. Call (305) 694-2676 today to schedule your consultation and learn more about your right to sue in Florida.