Hiring a Lawyer After an E-Bike Crash

When a Lawyer Is Genuinely Worth Involving

Not every incident needs one, and it is worth being straight about that. A minor fall with no lasting injury and no third party involved may not justify it. Several situations in e-bike cases genuinely do, and most of them are structural rather than a matter of severity.

• The coverage question is unsettled. No policy attaches to the bicycle under Fla. Stat. § 316.20655(2), and whether PIP reaches an e-bike rider turns on undefined language in § 627.736(4)(e). Working out what can actually pay is not a task to do alone.
• Uninsured motorist coverage may exist and be denied. Fla. Stat. § 627.727(1) requires it unless a named insured rejected it in writing on a compliant form. Somebody has to read the policy and the rejection.
• A component failed. A product claim means engineering examination and a chain of distribution, sometimes offshore. See product liability.
• A government body may be responsible. Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6)(a) makes written presentment within 3 years a condition precedent. Missing it ends an otherwise good claim.
• Fault is contested. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6) being found more than 50 percent at fault means recovering nothing at all.
• The injuries are significant or still developing. Settling before the medical picture is clear is final.

A free consultation costs nothing but the time. If the answer is that you do not need representation, that is a useful answer too.

What to Ask Before You Sign Anything

These questions are worth asking of any firm, including this one. A straight answer to all of them is a reasonable minimum.

1. Who will actually handle my file day to day, and how do I reach them?
2. Have you handled e-bike cases specifically? The classification, coverage, and product issues do not arise in ordinary car cases.
3. What do you think the real obstacles are here? A useful answer names problems, not just prospects.
4. How are fees calculated, and what happens to costs if there is no recovery? Fees and costs are different things. Get both in writing.
5. What do you need from me, and by when? Preserving the bicycle and identifying cameras are usually urgent.
6. How and how often will I hear from you?
7. What happens if I want to end the arrangement?

Then read the written agreement before signing it. Contingent fee arrangements in Florida are governed by Rule 4-1.5 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, which requires the arrangement to be in writing and regulates what may be charged. The terms that bind you are the ones in the document you sign, not the ones on any website — including this page. If something in it is unclear, ask before signing rather than after.

Legally Reviewed By

David I. Shiner, Esq.

Founder, Shiner Law Group · AV Preeminent® rated · Florida Bar member since 2002

David I. Shiner founded Shiner Law Group and has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2002. He is a graduate of Nova Southeastern University’s law school and holds an AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell. The firm represents injured people across Florida from offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Wellington, and Belle Glade, and handles these cases on a contingency basis with free consultations and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.

Content on this page legally reviewed by David I. Shiner, Esq. · Fla. Bar No. 572721 About this site →

Why Timing Matters More Here Than in a Car Case

The evidence in an e-bike case sits almost entirely on the injured person's side, and nearly all of it expires. Nobody is preserving the bicycle for you, no adjuster is photographing it, and no statute requires a private camera owner to keep footage.

• Video is routinely overwritten within days.
• The scene is gone as soon as traffic resumes.
• A road defect may be repaired within weeks, which removes the condition entirely.
• The bicycle is repaired or thrown out — and with it, any product claim.
• Witnesses leave and are rarely recoverable.

Against that, the deadlines are the outer limit rather than the working timetable: two years for negligence under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a), and the separate presentment and suit periods in § 768.28 where a public body is involved. Being inside the limitation period is not the same as having a provable claim.

What Representation Does and Does Not Change

Worth setting expectations honestly, because the alternative is disappointment.

Shiner Law Group, P.A. operates this website and handles these cases on a contingency basis, with free consultations and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery, on terms set out in a written fee agreement. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and submitting the case review form does not create an attorney-client relationship — that begins only when a written fee agreement is signed.

Frequently Asked Questions