Boating Accident Lawyer Hollywood, FL
If you were hurt on the water in Hollywood, whether on the Intracoastal, off Hollywood Beach, or heading out through Port Everglades, the legal framework that governs your case is not the same one that applies to car crashes. Florida boating law has its own statutes, its own reporting rules, and its own fault-allocation framework grounded in the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Rules.
Our Hollywood, FL boating accident lawyer represents individuals and families injured in vessel collisions, passenger injuries, wake-related incidents, and fatal maritime events throughout Broward County. With more than 13 years of personal injury experience, our firm handles the distinctive proof and coverage questions that come with boating matters, including rental and charter liability, Boating Under the Influence investigations, and the interplay between state law and federal maritime principles. Our firm, Loshak Law PLLC, offers free, confidential consultations. Schedule yours today.
Why Choose Loshak Law PLLC for Boating Accident Cases in Hollywood, FL?
Boating accident cases require preparation that accounts for the unique body of law that governs vessels on Florida waters. Operator negligence is evaluated against the Navigation Rules. Liability may extend to rental or charter companies, and coverage often includes marine and general liability policies simultaneously. Our firm approaches these cases with that complexity in mind.
Trial-Ready Advocacy for Serious Water-Based Injuries
Brandon F. Loshak founded our firm and personally handles personal injury matters. He holds an AV® Preeminent™ rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest mark for legal ability and ethical standards. He is admitted to the bar in Florida and Texas, earned his J.D. from St. Thomas University School of Law, and holds a degree in finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Aron Gibson has tried more than 60 jury trials in Florida courts, including serious personal injury matters. He was named to the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, received the Broward County Bar Association Executive Director Award, and currently serves as President of the Broward County Trial Lawyers Association. Trial readiness matters in boating cases for the same reason it matters in any serious injury case: carriers evaluate exposure based on whether a firm is prepared to try the case if negotiations break down.
Recoveries That Reflect Our Commitment to Serious Matters
Our personal injury lawyers in Hollywood, FL have recovered millions of dollars for clients injured in South Florida, including a $2 million policy limits settlement following a catastrophic collision that required five surgeries and nearly six months of hospitalization, a $1.75 million auto accident result, a $1 million Uber auto accident recovery, a $1 million premises liability matter, and a $500,000 slip and fall recovery. Past outcomes do not guarantee future results, but they reflect the resources and preparation our firm brings to serious injury cases.
Contingency Fees for Every Vessel Injury Claim
Boating cases often require marine specialists, accident reconstructionists, and medical witnesses to affirm the cause and extent of damages. Our firm advances those costs. We work on a pure contingency basis. There are no hourly fees, no retainer, and no attorney fee is owed unless we recover compensation for you.
South Florida Waters and South Florida Courts
Our firm maintains offices in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale. Our attorneys know the waters where these incidents happen: the Intracoastal Waterway through Broward County, the inlets at Port Everglades and Bakers Haulover, the offshore reef lines that draw charter operations, and the congested weekend traffic around Haulover Sandbar. Both attorneys hold active memberships with the Broward County Bar Association and regularly appear before local courts.
“Brandon at Loshak Law was attentive, empathetic, and a pleasure to work with. He helped me navigate a very challenging time with compassion and professionalism. I am grateful for his guidance and would highly recommend his services to anyone in need of legal representation.”
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Types of Boating Accident Cases We Handle in Hollywood
Boating accidents on Florida waters take many forms, and the investigation and legal strategy shift with the specific incident. Our firm represents clients across the full range of vessel-related injury matters, from recreational boating crashes to commercial charter incidents.
- Vessel-on-vessel collisions. Collisions between two or more boats remain the most frequent reportable accident type in Florida. Fault typically turns on the Navigation Rules, right-of-way analysis, operator lookout and speed, and whether a required horn signal or other action was taken before impact.
- Wake and wash injuries. Large vessel wakes can throw passengers on smaller craft, launching them from their seats or ejecting them from the vessel. Operators have a duty to be aware of their wake, and liability often follows from the speed and location of the at-fault vessel.
- Fixed-object and grounding incidents. Collisions with docks, channel markers, bridges, pilings, and submerged objects produce serious passenger injuries. These cases often turn on operator familiarity with the waterway, charted hazards, visibility, and whether navigation aids were obeyed.
- Boating Under the Influence (BUI) incidents. Alcohol has consistently ranked as a leading contributing factor in fatal boating incidents. BUI cases carry their own criminal framework and also support aggressive civil claims, including the punitive damages framework that applies when an intoxicated operator causes injury.
- Passenger injuries and falls aboard. Passengers thrown to the deck, struck by loose equipment, injured by inadequate seating, or hurt due to unsafe vessel conditions may have claims against the vessel operator, the owner, a charter company, or the party responsible for vessel maintenance.
- Propeller strikes and person-in-the-water injuries. Swimmers, divers, snorkelers, tubers, and persons overboard struck by propellers suffer some of the most devastating injuries seen in maritime practice. These cases often involve operator inattention, failure to maintain a proper lookout, or failure to use propeller guards in appropriate circumstances.
- Rental, charter, and for-hire vessel incidents. When an accident involves a rented boat, a chartered vessel, a fishing excursion, a parasail operation, or a personal watercraft rental, the rental or charter company may bear responsibility for operator screening, equipment condition, safety instruction, and vessel seaworthiness.
- Personal watercraft (PWC) accidents. Jet skis and other PWCs account for a disproportionate share of injuries for their numbers, often involving inexperienced operators, high-speed maneuvers near swimmers, and rental operations.
Florida Legal Requirements for Boating Accident Claims
Florida’s boating statutes govern much of what happens after an incident on the water, from the duty to stop and render aid through the reporting obligations that apply in injury cases.
Duty at the scene. Under Florida Statute § 327.30, the operator of a vessel involved in a collision, accident, or casualty must render practicable assistance to anyone affected, provide identifying information, and remain at the scene. Leaving the scene of a boating accident involving personal injury is a third-degree felony under Florida law.
Reporting requirements. Under Florida Statute § 327.301, boating accidents involving death, disappearance, injury requiring medical treatment beyond immediate first aid, or property damage of at least $2,000 must be reported to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the local sheriff, or municipal police. The FWC is the primary investigating agency for Florida boating accidents.
Operator qualifications and boater education. Under Florida Statute § 327.395, any person born on or after January 1, 1988, who operates a vessel of 10 horsepower or more in Florida must successfully complete a boater education course and carry a Boating Safety Education ID card. Operator inexperience and inattention rank among the leading contributing factors in Florida boating accidents.
Boating Under the Influence. Under Florida Statute § 327.35, operating a vessel with a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.08% or higher, or while impaired to the extent that normal faculties are affected, is a criminal offense. The same framework that removes standard punitive damages caps against intoxicated motor vehicle drivers applies to intoxicated vessel operators, making BUI civil claims among the strongest categories of boating cases for meaningful recovery.
Navigation Rules govern fault. In Florida boating accidents, fault is largely determined by the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Rules, which address right-of-way, proper lookout, safe speed, sound signals, and actions to avoid collision. The application of these rules, as opposed to automotive traffic rules, is a central reason that boating cases benefit from firms like ours that have handled them.
Two-year filing deadline. Under Florida Statute § 95.11, as amended by House Bill 837 in 2023, most negligence claims must be filed within two years of the injury. Maritime claims brought under federal jurisdiction may be subject to different limitations, and early coordination with counsel helps ensure that no deadlines are missed.
Modified comparative negligence. Under Florida Statute § 768.81, a plaintiff found more than 50% at fault recovers nothing. Comparative fault arguments arise frequently in boating cases because defense counsel will often argue that an injured passenger failed to brace, chose an unsafe seat, or assumed the risk of water-based activity.
What Damages Are Recoverable in Hollywood Boating Accident Cases?
Florida law allows boating accident victims to recover the same three categories of damages available in other personal injury matters.
Economic damages cover the verifiable financial losses tied to the incident. These include emergency transport (often by Coast Guard or marine unit), emergency room care, surgery, hospitalization, rehabilitation, imaging, prescription medications, long-term follow-up treatment, assistive devices, and future medical care. On the income side, lost wages for time missed from work and diminished earning capacity when injuries affect a return to prior employment both fall within this category. Boating injuries frequently include near-drowning sequelae, orthopedic fractures from impact, propeller lacerations, and catastrophic injuries such as traumatic brain injury, which require life care planning and vocational assessment to project lifetime costs.
Non-economic damages compensate for physical pain, emotional suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement from propeller or crush injuries, loss of consortium, and post-traumatic stress, which is common after serious on-water incidents. These losses are real and legally cognizable, and documenting them carefully matters significantly to case value.
Punitive damages are reserved for cases involving egregious conduct, most commonly BUI cases and incidents involving operators who knowingly ignored safety rules. The same Florida framework that removes standard punitive damages caps against intoxicated motor vehicle drivers applies to intoxicated vessel operators.
When a boating incident causes fatal injuries, surviving family members may bring a claim under Florida’s Wrongful Death Act, which addresses funeral expenses, loss of support and services, loss of companionship, and other statutorily defined losses. Fatal boating incidents have the unfortunate distinction of placing Florida at or near the top of every annual state-level fatality report published by the United States Coast Guard.
Contact Loshak Law PLLC
If you or someone you love was hurt in a boating incident, the early days after the event are critical. Marine evidence deteriorates quickly. Vessels are repaired or moved, fuel and debris patterns dissipate, and witnesses often leave the region before statements are taken. Loshak Law PLLC is here to help preserve the integrity of your claim and seek full and fair compensation for your losses.
When you reach out, our Hollywood boating accident lawyer will listen to what happened, review any FWC accident reports and medical records, send preservation letters to vessel owners, rental or charter companies, and their carriers, identify the applicable Florida boating statutes and Navigation Rules, assess whether federal maritime principles apply, and walk through Florida’s two-year filing window.
Our consultations are free, and our firm works on contingency. No attorney fee is owed unless we recover compensation for you. Contact our office to schedule your free case review today.
