Russian-Speaking Personal Injury Lawyer

I am Boris Lavent, a Russian-speaking personal injury lawyer at Lavent Law, P.A. in North Miami Beach, Florida. I represent people hurt in car accidents, falls and other accidents in South Florida, and I talk with clients in Russian myself, without an interpreter.

If you would rather talk about your accident in Russian, you can. The same goes for a parent or relative you are helping. I have represented injured people in South Florida since 2014. We work with clients in English or Russian, on injury cases only.

Call (305) 257-9464 or send a message through our contact page. The consultation is free, and you pay no attorney fee unless we recover money for you. If you or your relative would rather read in Russian, our Russian-language page explains how we work.

What It Looks Like to Work With Us in Russian

A language barrier doesn’t end after the first meeting. It comes back every time an adjuster calls, a letter arrives in English, or a form needs a signature. Here is how we handle each of those:

• You talk to me directly. I speak with clients in Russian myself, with no interpreter in between.
• Documents are explained in Russian. Insurance letters, medical bills, authorizations and settlement papers come in English. Before you sign anything, I go through what it says and what it means for your case.
• The other side’s insurance company deals with our office. Once you hire us, we tell their adjusters to contact us, not you. You don’t have to answer their questions on the phone in a second language.
• The consultation happens where it works for you. It can be by phone, by video, or at our North Miami Beach office, which has free on-site parking. For clients who can’t easily travel, I can meet at home.

The point is simple. You should understand your own case as well as the insurance company does, and you shouldn’t have to guess at what a document means because it is in English.

Calling for a Parent or Relative

Often the first call comes from an adult son or daughter whose parent was hurt and is more comfortable in Russian. That is a good way to start. You can explain what happened, and we can tell you what to do next.

If you are helping a relative, these are worth gathering before the call:

• The crash report number, or the other driver’s name, plate and insurance information
• Your relative’s own car insurance card
• Photos of the scene, the vehicles or the injuries
• The names of the hospital, urgent care or doctors your relative has seen
• Any letters or forms from an insurance company, especially anything they were asked to sign

If you don’t have all of this, call anyway. Missing paperwork is part of what we sort out.

First Steps After a Crash in Florida

A few Florida rules affect what you should do in the first days and weeks after a car accident. They apply whether you speak English, Russian or both.

• Get medical care within 14 days. Personal injury protection (PIP) is the no-fault coverage on a Florida auto policy. PIP pays 80% of reasonable expenses for medically necessary care and 60% of lost income. To get PIP medical benefits, you must receive initial care within 14 days of the crash from a qualifying provider, such as a hospital, physician, chiropractor, dentist or emergency medical services. Medical benefits can reach $10,000 only if a physician, dentist, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse finds you had an emergency medical condition. Otherwise they stop at $2,500 (Fla. Stat. § 627.736(1)).
• Be careful with the other driver’s insurance company. Their adjuster may call soon and ask for a recorded statement. Talk to a lawyer before you give one. Your own insurer is different: your policy can require you to cooperate, including an examination under oath, before PIP benefits are paid (Fla. Stat. § 627.736(6)(g)).
• Know that fault can reduce or bar a claim. Under Florida’s modified comparative fault rule, your recovery is reduced by your share of fault, and if you are found more than 50% at fault for your own injury, you recover nothing. The more-than-50% bar does not apply to medical malpractice cases (Fla. Stat. § 768.81(2), (6)).
• Don’t wait on the deadline. For negligence claims that arose after March 24, 2023, the deadline to file a lawsuit is generally two years (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a)), with some exceptions. Most negligence claims that arose before that date had four years under prior law. Wrongful death, medical malpractice and defective-product claims have their own deadlines.

Our page on car accident claims in Miami goes into more detail, and our guide to how a Florida car accident claim works walks through it stage by stage.

Cases We Handle

We represent people injured through someone else’s carelessness, including:

• Car accidents, including crashes with rideshare drivers, pedestrians and cyclists
• Truck accidents
• Slip and falls and other injuries on someone else’s property, such as stores, restaurants, hotels, parking lots and condominiums
• Dog bites and injuries from defective products
• Wrongful death claims for families who lost someone in an accident

Who is responsible isn’t always obvious. For example, if someone falls in a store that is being renovated, the store, the property owner and the contractor doing the work could each share responsibility. Sorting that out early matters, because each one may have its own insurance company and its own version of what happened.

Where We Work

Our office is at 17295 NE 19th Ave in North Miami Beach. We work with clients across South Florida, including North Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Aventura and Hallandale Beach, and throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. If you can’t come to the office, much of the work can be done by phone and video.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to talk to you?

Nothing. The consultation is free, and you pay no attorney fee unless we recover money for you. We explain the fee agreement in Russian before you sign it.

Do I need to bring an interpreter?

No. I speak with clients in Russian myself.

My father doesn’t speak English. Can I call for him?

Yes. You can make the first call and tell us what happened.

How long do I have to file a claim?

For most negligence claims that arose after March 24, 2023, Florida’s deadline to file a lawsuit is generally two years, with some exceptions. Most negligence claims that arose before that date had four years under prior law. Wrongful death, medical malpractice and defective-product claims have their own deadlines. Evidence and witnesses are easier to find early, so it is better not to wait.

What if the accident was partly my fault?

You may still have a claim. Florida reduces your recovery by your percentage of fault. If you are found more than 50% at fault for your own injury, you recover nothing. Medical malpractice cases follow a different rule.

Will I have to go to court?

A claim usually starts with the insurance company, not in court. If the claim can’t be resolved that way, filing a lawsuit is an option we will discuss with you, and whether to file is your decision.

Talk to a Russian-Speaking Lawyer About Your Case

If you or someone in your family was hurt, you shouldn’t have to deal with the insurance company in a language you don’t fully trust yourself in. Talk with me in Russian or English. You can read more about me and our office, or call (305) 257-9464 for a free consultation.