South Florida Personal Injury Attorney Blog

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Florida's minimum wage just went up 36 cents at the first of this year. It's now $7.61 per hour. The minimum wage for tipped employees went up by the same increased amount to $4.65 per hour. This is the first wage increase since 2009.

Florida's minimum wage is the result of a 2004 voter-approved amendment to the Florida Constitution, and it applies to all Florida employees who are covered by the federal minimum wage. Under federal law, employers are required to pay either the federal minimum hourly wage or the states', whichever is higher. Since Florida's 2012 minimum hourly wage will remain higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, employers must follow Florida law.

Florida Employment Law and Wage and Hour laws are very specific and designed to protect the worker. Sometimes employers do not honor your employment rights and our employment lawyers can help you. If you feel your paycheck does not reflect what you're owed, look for some of the common things employers do to reduce the amount of money they owe you for your work:

• Denied overtime pay?


• Told to arrive to work early and start before you punch in?


• Fewer hours than you actually worked reflected in your pay stub?


• Paid in cash?

These are just a few of the areas our employment lawyers can address to help you get the wages you earned at your workplace. For a free consultation contact the Law Offices of Robert Rubenstein at rubensteinlaw.com or 1800-FL-Legal (355-3425). You pay nothing unless we recover money for you.

This Presidents Day weekend has been a rough one for the family of 36-year-old, Aaron Cohen. An avid cyclist, Cohen was struck and killed in a hit-and-run accident on the Rickenbacker Causeway Wednesday. Crash investigators used debris from the crash site to piece together what happened and ultimately traced the vehicle back to Michele Traverso of Key Biscayne. On Friday, Traverso was jailed after breaking probation on a previous criminal case. He was charged with possession of cocaine last May and had been previously charged with possession of marijuana back in 2009, according to public records. More charges are pending in the death of Cohen, a father of two.

Florida bike accident lawsuits are high because Florida has one of the worst bicycle crash rates in the country, especially regarding fatalities, according to the Florida Bicycle Association. Because there is no protection for the cyclist, aside from a helmet, the rate of serious injury or death is very high. Though bicycle lanes have been implemented in most areas, statistics indicate that these lanes interfere with the normal flow of traffic and can actually put bicyclists in more danger rather than giving them a safe lane to ride in. In the case of Aaron Cohen's bike accident, witnesses say he was riding in a designated bike lane on the Rickenbacker Causeway when he was stuck. The result was a fatal traumatic brain injury that is often the case in these types of bicycle/auto accidents.

There are exclusive concerns which must be addressed when handling a bicycle accident claim, such as issues involving the design of the road as well as the measures taken to protect against personal injury. The Law Offices of Robert Rubenstein, P.A. have handled hundreds of claims relating to bike accidents in and around the Miami, Florida area and have a team of professionals equipped with the necessary tools to insure that your claim will get sound attention. Contact our Miami, Florida personal injury attorneys and our Broward County personal injury attorneys today for a free case evaluation. 1-800-FL-Legal (355-3425) or rubensteinlaw.com.

New information in an early-morning tractor-trailer accident that shut down several blocks near the intersection of Coral Way and S.W. 84ht Avenue in Miami finds some of the teens involved may have been racing, according to police. Witnesses say two cars were traveling westbound on Coral Way when the Honda Accord collided with the tractor trailer as the truck was making a left turn. Four people, all between 18 and 20 years old, were taken to Kendall Regional Hospital's trauma center and Baptist Hospital respectively. One teen had to be taken out of the car with the Jaws of Life, and is in critical condition. The driver of the truck walked away unscratched.

Police are still investigating the cause of the crash, but say there is more than 150 feet of skid marks, so at a minimum, these individuals were traveling at 108 feet per second, possibly racing.

Miami-Dade police identified the four other people with injuries after the crash as Ana Posada, 18, who is in critical condition, Jovanni Oliva, 20, Anthony Emmanuel Del Rio, 18, and Moises Arnold Alvarez, 18.

For more information on Florida truck accident law, contact the Law Firm of Robert Rubenstein. We have offices in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. 1-800-FL-Legal (355-3425) or rubensteinlaw.com.