Erica Burns Takes On Injury Cases Under Florida’s Two-Year Clock
The Orlando attorney, raised in South Florida, works in personal injury, the field Florida’s 2023 tort reform rewrote.
Erica G. Burns is an attorney and partner at Purely Legal in Orlando, Florida, and her work includes personal injury cases. It’s a field Florida rewrote in 2023, when HB 837 changed how long injured people have to sue and how a jury counts their share of the blame.
Two years, not four
For most negligence cases, the time to file a lawsuit in Florida dropped from four years to two. The shorter clock applies to injuries from after the law took effect in 2023.
Fault now has a cutoff
Florida also moved from pure to modified comparative negligence. A person found more than 50% at fault for their own injury can no longer recover damages from anyone, though medical negligence cases are left out of that change. The same law lets juries see evidence of what medical care actually cost, and it repealed the one-way attorney fees that people who won a judgment against their insurer used to collect.
Crime on someone else’s property
HB 837 reached negligent-security cases too, the lawsuits filed after a crime on someone’s property. Juries now weigh the fault of everyone who contributed to the injury, and the owner of a multifamily residential property that substantially carries out certain security measures is presumed not negligent when an outside third party commits the crime.
General information, not legal advice.
Who she is
Erica grew up in South Florida after her family moved from Grand Island, New York, studied at Florida International University in Miami and earned her law degree at Florida State University College of Law. She has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2015, Best Lawyers names her among its Ones to Watch in America for plaintiffs’ personal injury litigation and family law in Orlando, and she posts as @erica_esquire.
Quick answers
Who is Erica Burns?
Erica G. Burns is an attorney and partner at Purely Legal in Orlando, Florida, whose practice includes personal injury and family law. She grew up in South Florida and studied at Florida International University in Miami.
How long do you have to file a negligence lawsuit in Florida?
Two years for most negligence cases, down from four, for injuries after HB 837 took effect in 2023 (Florida Senate).
What is modified comparative negligence in Florida?
Since 2023, a person found more than 50% at fault for their own injury can’t recover damages from any defendant; medical negligence cases are excluded (Florida Senate).
Sources: Purely Legal: Erica G. Burns, The Florida Bar: member profile, Best Lawyers: Erica G. Burns, @erica_esquire on Instagram, Florida Senate: HB 837 (2023), Florida Senate: HB 837 summary