Wilton Manors, located in Broward County, has become a hub of culture and nightlife in South Florida. This city which boarders Fort Lauderdale, with a large percentage of the population identifying as LGBTQ, Wilton Manors has become a progressive place to work, live, and play. That being said, with a resident population of just under 12,000 the city’s residents and visitors are also at risk of accidents and injuries.
There are several types of accidents that fall under the category of personal injury and, as a result, are governed by “tort” law. One type of personal injury is known as a “toxic tort.” Toxic tort is the legal term for harm resulting from the wrongful exposure to a harmful biological substance or chemical. Exposure may occur through inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, or skin absorption. Some examples of typical toxic tort lawsuits include cases concerning exposure to:
All toxic substances are regulated under a federal law known as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The TSCA grants the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals that are currently produced or imported into the United States. The EPA screens these substances repeatedly and can require testing or reporting of those that pose an unreasonable risk to the public. Despite the government’s efforts to protect the public’s health, millions of people are being exposed to harmful toxic substances every day in their homes, at work, or during their leisure time.
Toxic tort injuries have long latency periods; in other words, it may take months or years for the adverse symptoms of exposure to manifest themselves in a victim. A a result, many personal injury cases involving toxic torts are not brought until years after discovery of the exposure. Additionally, because it is rare for toxic exposure to affect just one victim, it is common for groups of victims who were exposed to the same toxin at the same event to bring a lawsuit together for damages. This is known as a class action lawsuit. There are many different legal theories under which a toxic tort case may be pursued to establish that the accused party is at fault. These include negligence, breach of warranty, premises liability, misrepresentation, and strict products liability.
If you have been injured in an accident in Wilton Manors or anywhere else in Florida, before you act on your own or even speak to an insurance company, contact a skilled personal injury lawyer. The insurance companies have the benefit of a legal team of attorneys and investigators on their side from the start of every claim; you should have aggressive attorneys on your side, too. Contact the Law Office of Joseph I. Lipsky, P.A. today by clicking here to schedule your initial case evaluation or calling us at 954-693-0073.