Pasco County Personal Injury Lawyer
The goal in any injury case is to come out the other side with your medical bills handled, your lost income recovered, and a settlement or verdict that reflects what the injury actually cost you. King Law Group serves people throughout Pasco County, from New Port Richey and Port Richey in the west to Zephyrhills and Dade City in the east, and the firm focuses on criminal defense. That focus matters for anyone searching for a Pasco County personal injury lawyer, because many serious injuries in Florida are caused by someone who is also facing criminal charges, and the criminal case and the injury claim run on separate tracks that affect each other.
Florida changed the rules for injury claims in March 2023, and the changes cut against injured people. The window to file a negligence lawsuit shrank from four years to two for claims that arose on or after March 24, 2023, and a person found more than 50 percent responsible for their own harm can now recover nothing at all. Both rules reward people who act early, document carefully, and say very little to an insurance adjuster before they understand where they stand.
Pasco County’s mix of busy corridors, retirement communities, boating and waterfront activity, and heavy commuter traffic toward Tampa and Pinellas produces a steady stream of collisions and other injuries. Many of them involve a driver who was impaired, distracted, or reckless, which is where the overlap with the criminal courts becomes real for injured people and for the people accused of causing the harm.
Why Choose King Law Group When Criminal Charges Touch Your Injury Case
King Law Group is a Florida criminal defense firm founded by Cameron King, a Tampa Bay native and former state prosecutor. The firm serves clients across Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough Counties and handles criminal matters only, so the attorney on a case is not splitting attention across unrelated practice areas. Clients have described Mr. King as honest, straightforward, effective, and a tireless advocate, and the firm offers a free case evaluation and is available around the clock.
Cameron King earned his law degree at Florida State University, where he concentrated his studies in criminal law, and then prosecuted cases ranging from murder to DUI. He later spent years as a criminal defense attorney at a prominent litigation firm. That history of working both sides of the courtroom is useful when a crash leads to charges such as DUI, DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, or domestic violence, because the outcome of the criminal case can shape every civil claim that follows it.
Here is how that plays out in practice. If you were hurt by an impaired driver, the criminal prosecution can produce admissions, records, and a conviction that matter to your claim. If you are the person accused, anything you say in the criminal case, and any plea you enter, can be used against you in a civil suit. Someone who has handled these cases as a prosecutor and a defense lawyer understands how those two proceedings interact, and that understanding is the firm’s real contribution to a page about injuries in Pasco County. A client facing both a criminal charge and a civil claim should have a defense lawyer who sees that connection before a plea is signed.
Common Sources of Serious Injury Claims in Pasco County
- Impaired-Driving Crashes: A DUI that causes damage to another person or their property is a first-degree misdemeanor, and a DUI that causes a death is DUI manslaughter, a second-degree felony with a mandatory minimum prison term of four years. Injured victims and their families often have both a criminal case and a civil claim running at the same time.
- Vehicular Homicide: Fatal crashes caused by reckless driving can lead to vehicular homicide charges. Florida’s newer law raises vehicular homicide to a first-degree felony when the driver already has a prior conviction for DUI manslaughter, BUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, or vessel homicide.
- Corridor and Intersection Collisions: Heavy traffic along U.S. 19 through the New Port Richey and Port Richey area, State Road 54 and State Road 52 through the county, and U.S. 301 near Zephyrhills and Dade City produces rear-end, red-light, and turning crashes with serious injuries.
- Boating and Vessel Incidents: Pasco’s Gulf coast and inland waterways mean boating collisions and groundings. Impairment while operating a vessel can lead to criminal exposure for the operator and civil liability for those hurt.
- Assault and Violent-Crime Injuries: When someone is injured in a violent offense, including domestic violence, the injured person may pursue a civil claim in addition to whatever the state attorney decides to prosecute.
- Wrongful Death: When a crash or violent act kills someone, the family’s claim generally runs two years, and a parallel criminal case may already be moving through the courts.
- Suspended-License and Uninsured Drivers: A driver operating on a suspended or revoked license may carry little or no insurance, which limits where compensation can come from and makes early investigation of every available coverage source important.
What to Do After an Injury in Pasco County
Get medical care first and get it promptly, even if the injury seems manageable. Insurers read gaps in treatment as proof that an injury was minor, and some injuries, particularly head and spinal injuries, reveal themselves over days or weeks. Report the incident to the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction where it happened, and ask for the report number. If the crash involved a suspected impaired driver, the arrest and any charges will generate a court file you can follow.
Preserve evidence while it still exists. Photograph the scene, vehicles, visible injuries, and road conditions, collect names and contact information for witnesses, and keep every bill, receipt, and record of missed work. Do not give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer, and do not post about the incident online. Anything you say can be used to argue that you share the blame, and in Florida that argument now carries a much heavier penalty than it once did. Know your deadlines. For negligence claims arising on or after March 24, 2023, the general limit is two years, and wrongful death claims generally run two years as well. Claims that arose before that date kept the older four-year period. Intentional torts, written contracts, and some other claim types follow different periods under s. 95.11, Florida Statutes, so do not assume the two-year rule fits every situation.
If a criminal case is connected to your injury, it will be heard in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which covers Pasco and Pinellas Counties. Pasco’s courthouse facilities are the West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey, which serves western Pasco, and the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center in Dade City, which handles circuit and county criminal cases for eastern Pasco. If you are the person accused rather than the person hurt, do not discuss the incident with police, insurers, or the injured party before speaking with a defense lawyer. The most common and costly mistake is a well-meant apology or explanation that later reads as an admission in both the criminal and civil proceedings.
How Florida’s Fault Rules Decide What an Injury Claim Is Worth
Before March 24, 2023, Florida was a pure comparative negligence state, meaning an injured person could recover something even if mostly at fault. That is no longer true. Under s. 768.81, a plaintiff found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm recovers nothing. At 50 percent or less, the award is reduced by the plaintiff’s share. A person assigned 50.1 percent responsibility walks away empty-handed, while one assigned 50 percent keeps half.
That single percentage point is why liability evidence has become the center of most disputes. Defense insurers now look for any argument that the injured person was speeding, distracted, not wearing a seatbelt, or crossing outside a crosswalk. The bar does not apply to medical negligence claims under chapter 766, which follow their own rules. For everything else, an honest early assessment of how a jury might divide fault is more valuable than optimism.
How a Criminal Case and an Injury Claim Affect Each Other
When a crash produces criminal charges, the two cases are separate but not independent. The state attorney prosecutes the crime and the injured person pursues compensation, and the civil claim can move more slowly while the criminal case plays out. A conviction or a plea can carry real weight in the civil case, and testimony given in one forum can be used in the other.
For the accused, the consequences stack. A DUI conviction brings fines, possible jail time, probation with a licensed DUI program, and license revocation, and a first conviction not involving a death carries a revocation of at least 180 days and up to one year. A DUI with bodily injury carries a minimum three-year revocation under the state’s administrative rules, and a DUI manslaughter conviction means permanent license revocation. Civil exposure comes on top of all of it. For the injured person, a strong criminal outcome can help, but it does not replace the civil claim, which has its own deadlines and its own burden of proof.
Pasco County Injury and Criminal Overlap: Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit in Florida?
For general negligence claims that arose on or after March 24, 2023, the limit is two years. Claims that arose before that date kept the older four-year period. Other claim types, such as intentional torts and written contracts, follow different periods under s. 95.11, Florida Statutes.
What happens if I was partly at fault for my injury?
If you were 50 percent at fault or less, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. If a jury finds you more than 50 percent at fault, you recover nothing. That rule applies to most negligence claims but not to medical negligence claims under chapter 766.
Should I talk to the other driver’s insurance company?
Be very cautious. Adjusters are gathering information to limit what they pay, and statements about how the crash happened or how you feel can be used to argue shared fault. You can give basic facts and decline anything recorded until you understand your position.
If the driver who hurt me is charged with DUI, does that help my claim?
It can. Criminal proceedings create records, and a conviction can be significant evidence of fault. But the criminal case does not decide your damages, and you still have to bring your civil claim on time.
What is the penalty if someone dies in a DUI crash?
DUI manslaughter is a second-degree felony with a mandatory minimum prison term of four years, and the court must permanently revoke the driver’s license. A second-degree felony carries up to 15 years in prison.
What is a first-offense DUI penalty in Florida?
A first DUI conviction carries a fine between $500 and $1,000 and up to six months in jail. If the breath or blood alcohol level was 0.15 or higher, or a minor was in the car, the fine rises to between $1,000 and $2,000 and the jail maximum becomes nine months.
Can a DUI that injures someone be charged as more than a misdemeanor?
A DUI that causes damage to another person or their property is a first-degree misdemeanor, which carries up to one year in jail. If a death results, it becomes DUI manslaughter, a second-degree felony.
What is Trenton’s Law?
It is a Florida law that took effect October 1, 2025, and raises vehicular homicide and vessel homicide from a second-degree to a first-degree felony when the accused has a prior conviction for DUI manslaughter, BUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, or vessel homicide.
Can I recover compensation if the at-fault driver was driving on a suspended license?
Yes, but insurance may be limited. A driver on a suspended license may have little coverage, so identifying every available source early matters. Knowingly driving on a suspended license is a second-degree misdemeanor on a first conviction and a first-degree misdemeanor on later ones.
How long does a criminal case tied to a crash take in Pasco County?
It varies widely with the charge, the evidence, and the court’s calendar. Misdemeanors can resolve in months, while serious felonies such as DUI manslaughter or vehicular homicide often take considerably longer. Cases are heard at the West Pasco Judicial Center in New Port Richey or the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center in Dade City, depending on where the case belongs.
Should I hire a lawyer for a minor injury?
It depends on the injury and who may be at fault. Even modest injuries can involve disputes over fault that now carry a harsh bar if you are found mostly responsible. If criminal charges are involved on either side, getting advice early is worth it before you give statements or sign anything.
Serving Injury-Related Criminal Defense Clients Across Pasco County
King Law Group represents clients throughout Pasco County, starting in New Port Richey and extending through Port Richey, Holiday, Hudson, and Bayonet Point on the western side. Moving east and south, the firm serves people in Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills, Dade City, San Antonio, and Trilby, as well as Odessa, Lutz, and the Trinity and Shady Hills communities. Whether a crash happened on a coastal road in the west or a rural highway in the east, the team handles the criminal side of these cases for those accused of causing harm.
The firm also serves clients in neighboring Pinellas County, including Clearwater and St. Petersburg, and in Hillsborough County, including Tampa, along with the broader Tampa Bay area. Pasco and Pinellas share the Sixth Judicial Circuit, and Hillsborough cases are heard in the Thirteenth, so the firm is familiar with how each court system handles cases that begin with a crash or an injury.
Talk With a Pasco County Injury Attorney About the Criminal Side of Your Case
If a crash or violent incident has left you facing criminal charges, or if you are trying to understand how a criminal case affects an injury claim, King Law Group can help you make sense of both. The firm is a Florida criminal defense practice, so its role is to protect you from the criminal consequences while keeping the civil exposure in view. When you need a Pasco County injury attorney who understands how the two proceedings connect, call King Law Group for a free case evaluation, available around the clock.
