$1,000,050
Florida personal injury and accident lawyer
Offices in Miami, Homestead and Tampa · Representing injured people across Florida since 1998
You heal. He handles the rest.
Jose A. Dapena has represented injured people and policyholders across Florida since 1998, from offices in Miami, Homestead and Tampa. He was born in Puerto Rico. A case review costs nothing.
Case results
Florida Injury Case Results
Amounts recovered in actual matters handled by the firm. Every case is different and turns on its own facts — past results do not guarantee or predict any future outcome. Attorney’s fees and case costs are paid out of amounts recovered.
What clients say
Clients left these on the firm's Google profile in Miami and Tampa; the only thing removed was emoji. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a future outcome.See on Google — MiamiSee on Google — Tampa
Injured in an accident in Florida?
Here is what decides a Florida injury claim.
DAPENALAW represents injured people and policyholders throughout Florida, from offices in Miami, Homestead and Tampa. Jose A. Dapena has practiced in Florida since 1998 and was previously in-house counsel for a Personal Injury Protection carrier.
- Fourteen days to see a doctor. Without initial medical attention within 14 days of a crash, Personal Injury Protection pays nothing at all. Fla. Stat. § 627.736.
- Two years to sue. For most negligence claims arising on or after March 24, 2023. It used to be four years. Fla. Stat. § 95.11.
- Over 50% at fault and you recover nothing. Florida moved from reducing a recovery to barring it outright. Fla. Stat. § 768.81.
- PIP covers $10,000. And only where a provider finds an emergency medical condition. Without that finding, $2,500.
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Three Florida offices
Miami, Homestead and Tampa, with appointments and home or hospital visits. Reachable day or night.
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He knows the insurer
He was in-house counsel for a Personal Injury Protection carrier. He reviewed these claims for them.
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No attorney’s fee unless we recover
In injury cases the fee is a percentage paid out of the recovery. Expenses are set out in the written agreement.
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One attorney on the case
Jose A. Dapena has practiced in Florida since 1998, Bar number 152358. The lawyer you call is the lawyer handling it.
01 Why this firm
He worked for the insurance company first
In 2002, before he represented a single injured client, Jose A. Dapena was in-house counsel for a Personal Injury Protection carrier — reviewing claims for the insurer and deciding how the company would answer them.
He has seen how an adjuster is trained to read a gap in treatment, and which arguments a carrier reaches for when it intends to pay less than a claim is worth.
A Florida firm built around the client, not the file
DAPENALAW has represented injured people and policyholders across Florida since 1998, from offices in Miami, Homestead and Tampa. Whichever office you call, you deal with your attorney directly at every stage.
Twenty-five years of Florida injury and first-party insurance work, across Miami-Dade, Hillsborough and the rest of the state, means a case is worked where it happened — the right courthouse, the right trauma records, the right local evidence. What does not change with scale is access: clients deal with their attorney, not an intake department.
02 What the firm handles, and where
Four practices out of three Florida offices
Most of the work is personal injury — people hurt in car accidents, truck crashes, motorcycle wrecks and falls on someone else’s property, and policyholders whose insurance claim was denied or underpaid after a storm. Florida gives you fourteen days to start treatment before PIP pays nothing, and two years to file, which is why the first week matters more than most people are told.
The firm also handles family law, immigration and criminal defense. Those three are in one office for a reason rather than for breadth: a plea entered in county court is read afterward by a federal immigration court, and the consequence attaches when the plea is entered rather than when a sentence is served. Having both sides looked at before anything is signed is the whole point of keeping them together.
Miami, Homestead and Tampa
The Miami office is on Sunset Drive in South Miami and files in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, nine miles from the courthouse that hears its cases. It is also the office nearest two of Florida’s three immigration courts. Homestead covers the south of the county, on Krome Avenue.
The Tampa office is on North Habana Avenue and files in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits downtown at Edgecomb and also in Plant City — a difference of a whole working day for anyone on the east side of Hillsborough.
Where a practice meets a city, there is a page for it: a Miami family lawyer, a Miami immigration lawyer, a Tampa criminal defense lawyer and the rest, each with the courthouse, the fee terms and the questions that office is actually asked.
Inside personal injury
Florida Personal Injury Cases the Firm Handles
Eight of the twenty-five matters the firm handles. Each one turns on a different Florida rule, and that rule decides the case.
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Beyond injury
What Else the Firm Handles
Personal injury is most of the work, but not all of it. Jose A. Dapena also handles family, immigration and criminal matters.
Family
Family law
Florida rewrote alimony and time-sharing in 2023. Permanent alimony is gone and equal time-sharing is now the starting point, so advice from before mid-2023 can be confidently wrong.
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Immigration
Immigration
Immigration is federal, so a Florida-admitted attorney can represent you wherever the case is docketed. And in much of Latin America a notario is a lawyer — in the United States a notary is not, and cannot advise you.
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Criminal
Criminal defense
Florida changed its speedy trial rule on July 1, 2025. The clock now runs from the day formal charges are filed, not from the arrest — and most of what is published about it still describes the old rule.
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What to expect
What the Firm Does with Your Case
You concentrate on your treatment. This is what gets handled on your behalf, and what gets explained to you before you decide anything.
- You deal directly with your attorney at every stage of the case.
- Your PIP coverage is checked for what it pays and what it does not, before the bills pile up.
- Medical records, bills and the crash report are requested and put in order.
- The firm advances the case costs and they are repaid out of a recovery. Who is responsible for them if there is no recovery is set out in the written agreement.
- The adjusters are dealt with directly. You do not give a recorded statement unprepared.
- Medical balances and Medicare or Medicaid liens are negotiated down so more of the recovery reaches you.
- If filing suit is the right move, the options are explained first, with a recommendation.
- The decision to settle is always yours.
What to do
What to Do After a Car Accident in Florida
In order, and each one for a concrete reason. The first few days decide more than people expect.
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Call the police and get the report
A report filed days later is the first thing an insurer points to when it wants to question whether the crash happened the way you describe it.
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See a doctor within fourteen days
Whether or not you feel hurt. After fourteen days PIP pays nothing, and adrenaline routinely masks a neck injury for two or three days.
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Photograph everything before it moves
The vehicles where they stopped, the road, the signals, the weather, and any business camera nearby. That footage is overwritten within days.
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Take the witnesses’ names
One independent witness is worth more than every later argument about who had the light.
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Do not give a recorded statement
The adjuster calls early and sounds helpful. The questions are not idle — they are looking for a prior injury or a gap in treatment.
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Check your own policy
Florida does not require anyone to carry bodily injury coverage. Your own uninsured motorist coverage is frequently the only real source of payment.
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Do not stop treatment
A three-week gap for work or for a lift reads in the file as recovery, and it is priced that way.
Locations
From offices in Miami, Homestead and Tampa, the firm represents injured people and policyholders throughout Florida. Each office has its own page with the courthouse, the trauma center and the roads these cases come from.
Jose A. Dapena is admitted in the Florida state courts and in the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions About Florida Injury Claims
These are the Florida rules, not generalities. If your question is not here, call and ask it.
How long do I have to file a claim in Florida?
For most negligence claims that happened on or after March 24, 2023, two years. Before that date it was four. The deadline was cut in half and almost everything written online before 2023 still says four years.
Some claims run shorter. A cruise ship ticket usually gives one year and requires suit in Miami federal court. A claim against a city or county has its own notice requirements. The date your claim expires is the first thing worth checking.
What happens if I wait more than 14 days to see a doctor?
Your Personal Injury Protection benefits are gone. Florida Statute 627.736 requires initial medical attention within 14 days of the crash. Miss that window and PIP pays nothing at all — not reduced, nothing.
People often feel no significant pain for hours or days because of the shock of the accident. That is the single most common way a good claim is damaged before a lawyer ever sees it.
What does PIP actually cover?
Up to $10,000 total, and only if a doctor finds an emergency medical condition. Without that finding it drops to $2,500.
Within that limit PIP pays 80% of medical bills after fee schedule reductions, co-payment and deductible; 80% of prescriptions; 100% of replacement services such as childcare, housekeeping and yard work; and up to $5,000 in death benefits.
I was not at fault. Why am I using my own insurance?
Florida is a no-fault state for PIP. It does not matter who caused the crash — each person looks to their own policy first.
If you do not own a car, you may be covered by a live-in family member’s PIP, or by the PIP of the car you were riding in, or — if you were a pedestrian — by the PIP of the car that hit you. But if you owned an operable car in Florida and did not insure it, you cannot use anyone’s PIP.
I ride a motorcycle. Am I covered?
Probably not by PIP. Florida does not require motorcycle owners and riders to carry it, and auto PIP generally does not follow you onto a bike.
That makes the first hospital bill the immediate problem, and it makes uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage far more important than most riders realize.
What if I was partly at fault?
Florida changed this in 2023 as well. Your recovery is still reduced by your share of the blame, but if you are found more than 50% at fault you now recover nothing at all.
That turns the fault argument from a negotiation into the whole case, and it is exactly where an insurer will spend its effort — which is why a recorded statement given in the first week can end a claim before anyone has read a medical record.
What does it cost to hire the firm?
The fee is a percentage of the settlement or judgment, and it is due only if there is one. The fee is payable only if there is a recovery; case expenses are governed by the written agreement, which sets out who is responsible for them if there is not. It is set out in the retainer agreement, which is explained to you before you sign anything.
Case costs — medical records, expert reports, investigation, certified mail — are advanced by the firm during the case. They are separate from the percentage fee, repaid out of a recovery, and who is responsible for them if there is no recovery is set out in the written agreement.
Will I still owe my doctors after the case settles?
PIP pays first, up to its limit. Health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid may cover more, and they generally have a right to be reimbursed out of a settlement.
Whatever is left is negotiated. There is no guarantee, but the firm’s practice is to work those balances and liens down so that more of the recovery reaches you rather than the providers.
How much is my case worth?
Anyone who gives you a number before seeing the file is guessing, and you should be wary of a guarantee.
What actually drives it: the type and severity of the injury, the extent of treatment, past and future medical expenses, the at-fault party’s policy limits, what uninsured, underinsured or umbrella coverage exists, your share of the fault, and whether the at-fault party has assets worth pursuing.
Who will I actually be speaking to?
Jose A. Dapena and the firm’s staff. DAPENALAW works from three Florida offices, and whichever one you call, you deal with your attorney directly rather than through an intake department.
Most personal injury cases settle without a lawsuit. If filing is the right move, the options are explained to you first, with a recommendation. The decision to settle or to file is always yours.
Free case review with a Florida injury lawyer
Injury consultations are free; fee terms for family, immigration and criminal matters are explained when you call.