Frequently Asked Questions

Saunders Law Group practices exclusively in matters involving civil trials or claims that may result in civil trials. The practice areas include representation of individuals in claims for personal injury, wrongful death, medical negligence, nursing home claims, product liability claims, commercial disputes, collection matters and family law matters including divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, distribution of assets and liabilities and adoption.

The type of fee structure includes a straight hourly rate where the attorney is paid an agreed upon hourly rate multiplied by the reasonable number of hours expended on the particular matter, contingency fee arrangements in which the attorney is paid only if a recovery is obtained and then the payment is based on an agreed upon percentage of the recovery, a flat rate fee where an agreed upon fee is negotiated up front to perform a designated list of tasks, or a combination of such fee structures.

Generally, personal injury matters are offered on a contingency fee basis where the firm pays all the costs and recovers those costs only if the client is successful in recovering money for the claim. The same applies to the attorneys’ fees in a contingency fee arrangement: the client pays the attorney only if a recovery is obtained and that payment is based upon a percentage of the recovery. Usually, the percentage is between 33% and 40% but is subject to negotiation. Claims that result in a recovery over a million dollars and those involving claims resulting in a recovery in excess of two million dollars involve smaller percentages. Claims raised against government agencies are limited by law to 25% of the recovery.

Hourly rates are usually used in commercial matters and by law, a contingency fee arrangement cannot be used in a family law matter. Hourly rates vary from $195 per hour to $350 per hour for the attorneys. Paralegals are used whenever possible to keep client fees down and the paralegals in this firm charge between $75 and $110 per hour, depending on the level of experience of the paralegal and the type of matter being handled by that paralegal.

Flat rate fees sometimes work to the benefit of both the lawyer and the client and are negotiated on a case by case basis. Essentially, a flat rate fee arrangement is the situation in which the client describes the specific type of service desired, or where the client describes the litigation goal desired, and the lawyer agrees to perform the agreed upon services for a one-time fee regardless of whether the lawyer accomplishes the designated tasks in one hour or one year. Thus, the lawyer bears part of the risk of lengthy litigation and is encouraged to complete the assigned tasks as expeditiously as possible to maximize the lawyer’s profit. The client is aware from the beginning of the case the maximum amount of money that can be charged for the desired services.

Thomas C. Saunders is one of only a small handful of lawyers in Polk County, Florida that hold themselves out as double Board Certified. Tom is certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in both Civil Trial and Business Litigation.

Mr. Saunders will be celebrating his 28th anniversary as a litigation attorney in the spring of 2012. Tom has worked for the City Attorney’s Office for the City of Tampa, a private law firm specializing in insurance defense matters (where Tom gained valuable insight into the manner in which insurance companies evaluate and litigate personal injury and medical negligence claims as well as commercial claims), a private law firm in Polk County specializing in personal injury for the claimants (i.e. the injured person) and has opened his own practice dedicated to personal injury law on behalf of the injury party, family law matters, medical negligence matters, and commercial litigation.

Tom has had the privilege of serving as the President of the Polk County Trial Lawyers’ Association, Chairperson of the 10th Judicial Circuit Bench/Bar Committee, Chairperson of the 10th Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission (the nine member commission who makes recommendations for judicial appointments to the Governor of the State of Florida) and Chairperson of the Florida Bar Civil Trial Certification Committee (the organization that writes and grades the full day examination given to candidates for certification as a civil trial attorney). Additionally, Tom has served on the board of directors of the Willson American Inn of Court (an invitation only organization dedicated to helping mentor younger attorneys with an emphasis on the professionalism required for the legal profession).

Tom has been awarded the highest rating of “AV” by the international registrar of attorneys known as Martindale-Hubbell. Tom is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in both Civil Trial and Business Litigation.

First, there are exceptions virtually to every statute of limitations under Florida law and therefore the information contained in this answer should be considered a guide only. For the specific length of time that you have to file a particular claim, contact an attorney who specializes in that area of the law or call Tom at 863-533-6200.

Generally, you have a period of four years from the date of the accident to file a claim for personal injuries arising out of auto accidents, slip and falls, or other injuries caused by the negligence of someone (other than your employer if you were hurt on the job).

The time limit is much different for claims arising out of medical negligence because you have two years from the date you knew or should have known of two things: first that you have suffered an injury and that the injury was likely caused by the medical neglect of some medical professional. In no event, however, can a medical negligence claim be filed more than four years after the event which caused the injury unless a medical professional fraudulently prevented you from discovering the facts in which case you have seven years from the date of the incident. This two yr. limitation also applies to wrongful death claims.

Thus because each case is different in the specific application of the statute of limitations, the above should be considered a guide only. Call an attorney for the specific limitations period applicable to your claim. The limitations period for medical negligence claims can be quite involved but as a general rule, you should calculate two years from the date of the incident to be safe. There is currently an ability to extend automatically the statute of limitations in a medical negligence claim by an additional 90 days but even this automatic extension request must be filed within the statute of limitations period in order to be effective in giving you an additional 90 days.

This is a complex question, and we have dedicated a separate section for this type of claim you can view by clicking here.

In 1982, the Florida Bar began the Certification Program that was designed to assist members of the public in finding a lawyer who is qualified and recognized as competent in a particular area of the law. Not every lawyer is Board Certified in the area in which he or she may practice and in fact, recent statistics indicate that less than 2% of Florida’s 90,000 plus lawyers are certified in Civil Trial law.  Even less are certified as Business Litigation Lawyers. Even smaller is the percentage of attorneys who have been certified in both Business Litigation and Civil Trial.To be certain, there are lawyers who are excellent in their field of practice who have not become certified.

However, more often, a lawyer will hold themselves out as a “trial attorney” or advertise as a “personal injury” attorney but not have real and extensive trial experience necessary to try a complex personal injury case. In those situations in which the client wants to know if an attorney who advertises his or her services in a field of law, such as personal injury, medical negligence or commercial litigation, has the real experience necessary to handle a matter, Board Certification tells the client on the front end that this particular lawyer has met the rigorous criteria necessary to be authorized by the Florida Bar to hold themselves out as a “specialist” in the area of certification.

Board certified Florida Bar members are the only Florida attorneys allowed to identify themselves as “Board Certified,” “Specialist,” “Expert” or to use the letters “B.C.S.” for Board Certified Specialist on business cards or letterhead, in legal directories or in advertising.

To become certified in either business litigation or civil trial law, the lawyer must have practiced a minimum of five years, must have in fact tried-as lead counsel-a designated number of trials in front of a jury, must receive favorable recommendations for approval by the judges in front of whom that lawyer has tried cases, must receive the favorable recommendation of other Board Certified Attorneys, and must pass a day long and extensive written examination in each area for which certification is sought.

Ask your lawyer if he or she is Board Certified and, if not, why not? Ask that non-certified attorney to describe their experience in a courtroom since, while all cases are better served by reasonable settlement, an insurance company knows which lawyers will actually and competently try the claim if the settlement offer is not reasonable. An insurance company will be more likely to offer the full settlement value of a claim if the lawyer representing the claimant has the demonstrated ability to competently try the matter to a jury if the settlement offer made is less than the fair value of the claim. Board Certification demonstrates that the lawyer is a specialist in that area of the law-a specialist recognized by the Florida Bar.

No one can competently advise you about the specific value of your claim and anyone who tells you that they can are likely not being totally truthful with you. Be careful of anyone who tells you-on the front end-that your claim is “certainly worth” any specific amount of money. The plain fact of the matter is that so many variables go into determining the settlement value of a claim and the fact is that many of these variables are not fully known at the time of the initial interview. Sometimes, a “range’ can be offered that applies to the general population of similar claims but this “range’ is itself misleading as to the specific value of your case. Your case may be worth more or less depending on many unknowns at the time of the initial interview.

As the case gets under way, the ability of the attorney to more accurately estimate the settlement value of the claim should improve the and estimated “range” of the value of your specific case can become more focused. If trial is likely, the value of your case cannot be known until the jury in your case is selected and even then because of human beings’ individual biases and prejudices (either in favor of your claim or against your claim), this jury value will only be educated guesses based upon the lawyer’s experience with jury trials.

A lawyer’s job is to discover the facts of your particular case and advise you, as the case progresses, of the likely and apparent settlement range of your case-and any changes to that estimate-as the case progresses and more information becomes known.

Ultimately, the decision to settle a particular case or to try the case is the decision of the client’s based upon the reasonable recommendations of the lawyer who is likely to try your particular case. A lawyer can make and should make estimates of the likely value of the claim based upon experience with other and similar cases but the ultimate decision to settle or try the case remains the clients’-not the attorneys’.