$1,000,050
Homestead injury attorney
You heal. He handles the rest.
The Homestead office is in the middle of the agricultural corridor that runs from Homestead down to Florida City. The work here is different from the rest of the county — more farm and packing injuries, more uninsured drivers, and a community where many people have never spoken to a lawyer before.
- 28years in practice
- 1998admitted in Florida
- $0unless there is a recovery
- Office
- 100 NE 15th Street, Suite 210Homestead, FL 33030
- Phone
- (786) 900-0184Calls answered by the office
- Court
- South Dade Justice Center10710 SW 211th Street, Miami
- Trauma center
- Homestead HospitalWhere serious injuries are taken
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.
The DAPENALAW office in Homestead
DAPENALAW
100 NE 15th Street, Suite 210
Homestead, FL 33030
- Monday to Friday
- 8:30 AM – 5 PM
- Saturday and Sunday
- Closed
Plus code FGMG+M6 Homestead, Florida
Getting here
The office is on NE 15th Street in downtown Homestead, a short drive from the Florida Turnpike and US-1. It is the closest office for Florida City, the Redland, Leisure City and Naranja, and it is the nearest one to the South Dade Justice Center in Cutler Bay.
Miami-Dade County recorded 60,000 traffic crashes in 2024, injuring 29,359 people. FLHSMV
01 Where a Homestead case is heard
02 The roads these cases come from
- US-1 / South Dixie HighwayThe main route north, and the road most serious crashes in the area happen on.
- Krome Avenue, SR-997Heavy agricultural and truck traffic, long rural stretches, limited lighting.
- The Florida Turnpike extensionHigh-speed traffic between Homestead and the rest of the county.
What people here do for work
Agriculture and packing above all — nurseries, groves and produce operations — along with construction and transport. Workplace injuries here often involve workers who are told, incorrectly, that they have no rights.
03 Matters handled from this office
- Workplace accidentsAgricultural, packing and nursery work
- Construction accidentsSite injuries across south Dade
- Car accidentsUS-1 and Krome Avenue
- Truck accidentsAgricultural freight, not warehouse distribution
- Pedestrian accidentsPalm Drive and the US-1 crossings, before sunrise and after dark
- Bicycle accidentsThe South Dade Trail runs inside the Transitway, so the trail and a bus lane cross each street together
- Motorcycle accidentsOpen road south of the Turnpike terminus
- Uber and Lyft accidentsWhich policy answers depends on what the driver’s app was doing
- Uninsured driversA recurring problem on these roads
- Hit and runCommon on the rural stretches
- Slip and fallFarm markets and packing houses, not a retail arcade
- Negligent securityApartment complexes and parking areas
- Dog bitesFlorida holds the owner strictly liable
- Medical malpracticeA presuit investigation is required before anything is filed
- Nursing home negligenceFalls, pressure wounds and staffing levels
- Wrongful deathThe Act limits who may recover and what they may recover
The full list is on the personal injury page. Communities served from this office include Florida City, Naranja, Princeton, Leisure City, Goulds, Redland.
06 Situations people in Homestead call about
These are examples of circumstances, not accounts of particular cases. Every claim is decided on its own facts.
- A farmworker is injured by machinery during packing season and is told that because he was paid in cash there is nothing to claim.
- A crash on US-1 south of Cutler Bay leaves someone with the fourteen-day PIP clock already running and no clear idea where to go.
- A family is hurt driving back from the Keys on the Turnpike extension and the at-fault driver turns out to be uninsured.
- A worker falls from height on a residential build in the Redland, employed by a subcontractor on someone else’s site.
Questions about our Homestead personal injury office
Where are Homestead cases heard?
County court matters go to the South Dade Justice Center at 10710 SW 211th Street in Cutler Bay, which serves the south of Miami-Dade.
Cases can also be filed at the main Circuit Court on West Flagler in downtown Miami. Which venue applies depends on the case rather than on where you live.
I was paid in cash on a farm. Do I have a claim?
Yes. How you were paid affects what has to be proved, not whether you have a right to claim. Pay records, text messages, sign-in sheets and co-worker testimony all establish the working relationship.
An employer paying off the books is often an employer without the insurance the law requires, which can expose them further rather than protect them.
Areas we serve
Served from this office
- Car accident lawyer serving Florida CityThirteen thousand residents, and every vehicle going to the Keys
- Car accident lawyer in Cutler BayA town with the courthouse inside it and no police department of its own
- Car accident lawyer in the RedlandAn agricultural grid with no lighting, no shoulders and farm equipment on the road
- Car accident lawyer in Leisure CityThe address says Homestead. The jurisdiction does not.
- Car accident lawyer in NaranjaWhen the driver who hit you has nothing, your own policy is the case
- Car accident lawyer in PrincetonWhen the injured person is a child, almost everything changes
- Car accident lawyer in GouldsA highway through the middle of a neighborhood, and three names for it
- Car accident lawyer in South Miami HeightsClose to a trauma center, and why the first record still decides everything
Reading
If that is the question you have right now
- How do I get my car accident report in Miami-Dade?The state portal is quickest, up to ten days after the crash. The agency that wrote the report keeps its own copy, and in the first 60 days only you, your lawyer and your insurer can get it.
- My car was towed after the accident. What can the tow yard charge?Only the fees the law lists, with a notice to you and your insurer within five business days. You can get the car out on a bond without paying a bill you dispute.
- Where is a car accident lawsuit filed in Florida?The county where the defendant lives or where the crash happened. County court up to $50,000, circuit court above that. Some claims need a notice first.
- Which hospital will the ambulance take me to after a car accident?A trauma alert goes to a state-approved trauma center, set by the county’s protocol. A stable patient who is not an alert can ask for a hospital.
- The hospital filed a lien against my settlement. What now?A hospital lien is a claim on your recovery. Miami-Dade and Hillsborough write theirs differently, and a release does not clear either unless the hospital joins it.
- My relative was detained by ICE. How do I find them?Search ICE’s locator with a name and country of birth, call the facility or field office, and have a lawyer look at the bond question quickly.
- How do I get a restraining order in Florida?Filing is free and a lawyer is not required. A judge reads the sworn petition first, and the hearing follows within the 15 days a temporary order can last.
- How do I file for divorce in Miami-Dade or Hillsborough County?Florida calls it a dissolution of marriage. You file a petition with the circuit court clerk, and the deadlines that follow start running the day your spouse is served.
- Someone I love was arrested in Florida. What happens next?Find them in the jail’s records, expect a judge within 24 hours, and know that only a judge can set or change bond.
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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 worked for insurance companies before opening his firm in 1998. He has seen the claim from their side.
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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.
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.
Free case review with a Florida injury lawyer
No fee to talk and no obligation.