A dog attack happens in seconds. One moment you are walking through your West Palm Beach neighborhood or visiting someone’s home, and the next you are looking at torn skin, exposed nerves, and a wound that will scar. For children, the damage is often worse, both to the body and to how safe they feel around animals afterward. What most bite victims do not realize is that Florida law puts the burden squarely on the dog’s owner, and that the owner’s homeowner insurance usually foots the bill.
Elstein Legal handles dog bite claims for people across Palm Beach County. Attorney Brian Elstein built his career on the other side of these cases, defending insurers and deciding what their claims were worth, so he reads an adjuster’s playbook before it is run. If a dog owned by a negligent person hurt you or your child, that background is the difference between a quick lowball offer and a recovery that reflects what you actually lost.
Why Injured Clients Choose Elstein Legal
Most personal injury lawyers have only ever represented plaintiffs. Brian spent the early part of his career representing the insurance companies, valuing and defending injury claims for the carriers before he opened his own firm. He knows how they investigate a bite, where they look for reasons to pay less, and how they decide what a case is worth internally. You can read more about that history on the about Brian Elstein page.
That inside knowledge shapes how the firm handles your claim:
- He knows the defense strategy before it starts. Adjusters try to blame the victim, question the injuries, or push a fast settlement before the medical picture is clear. Brian has run those plays, so he counters them.
- Your case is handled by Brian personally. This is a solo practice by design. You are not handed off to a rotating cast of paralegals, and the lawyer you meet is the lawyer working your file.
- No fee unless he wins. The firm works on contingency under a simple promise: No Fees Unless We Win. You pay nothing up front and owe nothing unless there is a recovery.
- Available around the clock. A dog attack does not wait for business hours. Someone is reachable 24/7, including nights and weekends.
Florida’s Dog Bite Law, Stated Correctly
Here is where many websites get vague and say “it depends.” Florida law is not vague on this point, so the firm states it plainly.
Florida is a strict liability state for dog bites. Under Fla. Stat. § 767.04, a dog owner is liable for damages when their dog bites someone in a public place, or lawfully in a private place, regardless of whether the dog had ever shown aggression before and regardless of whether the owner knew the dog might bite. Florida has no “one free bite” rule. The owner does not get a pass simply because the dog had never bitten anyone until it bit you.
Florida injury law, stated correctly
- Strict liability, § 767.04. The owner is on the hook for a bite in a public place or where you had a legal right to be, even with no prior history of aggression. No “one free bite.”
- Two-year deadline, § 95.11(4)(a). Florida cut the general negligence deadline from four years to two in 2023. Many sites still list the old four-year figure. Do not rely on it.
- Comparative fault, § 768.81. Provoking the dog or trespassing can reduce or bar recovery, but it does not automatically end a claim.
- No PIP here. The 14-day no-fault rule applies to car crashes, not dog bites. Any site telling you otherwise on a bite claim is wrong.
Two conditions matter under the statute. You must have been bitten either in a public place or somewhere you were lawfully allowed to be, such as a friend’s yard you were invited into or a business open to the public. A person who was trespassing when bitten generally cannot use the strict liability rule. Beyond that, the owner’s lack of knowledge is not a defense, which is what separates Florida from states that still protect first-time offenders.
The statute also contains a limited defense: an owner who displays an easily readable “Bad Dog” sign in a prominent place can reduce liability in some situations. That defense has real exceptions, including cases involving young children and cases where the owner’s own negligence caused the injury, so it rarely ends a strong claim. Brian evaluates whether it applies before an insurer tries to hide behind it.
The Deadline to File a Dog Bite Claim
You have two years from the date of the bite to file a lawsuit in Florida. This comes from Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)(a), which the Legislature amended in 2023 to shorten the window from four years down to two for injuries occurring on or after March 24, 2023.
Watch out here, because this is one of the most common errors on other law firm websites. Plenty of Florida pages, and plenty of AI-generated answers, still tell you that you have four years. That was true once. It is not true now for a bite that happened recently. Missing the two-year deadline usually means losing the right to recover anything, no matter how clear the owner’s fault was, so the safest move after an attack is to get the claim evaluated early rather than sitting on it.
When Fault Can Reduce What You Recover
Strict liability makes the owner responsible, but it does not mean the injured person’s own conduct is irrelevant. Under Florida’s comparative fault statute, Fla. Stat. § 768.81, a recovery is reduced by the victim’s share of the blame, and a person found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing.
In dog bite cases, insurers reach for this rule constantly. They argue the victim provoked the animal, ignored a warning, reached into a fenced yard, or otherwise brought the bite on themselves. Sometimes there is a grain of truth to it, and sometimes it is pure spin designed to shave the payout. Because Brian spent years building these exact arguments for the other side, he knows which provocation claims hold up and which fall apart under a few pointed questions. That is often where the real money in a case is won or lost.
Who Actually Pays a Dog Bite Claim
People hesitate to bring a claim because they know the dog’s owner, or because they assume the owner cannot afford to pay. In most cases the owner is not the one writing the check. Homeowner and renter insurance policies typically cover dog bite liability, and that policy, not the neighbor’s savings account, is the source of a settlement.
This is why the involvement of an insurance company is almost guaranteed, and why the insurance-defense background matters. Once a homeowner reports a bite, an adjuster opens a file and begins protecting the insurer’s money. Their goal is to close the claim cheaply, and they are good at it. Serious or fatal attacks can also raise premises liability questions about how the dog was contained and who else was responsible for the property, which is why serious attacks often raise premises liability questions too. In the worst cases, where an attack takes a life, the family may have a wrongful death claim.
What a Dog Bite Claim Can Be Worth
No lawyer can promise a number, and Florida limits recoverable past medical damages to amounts actually paid or payable rather than inflated billed figures. What a claim is worth depends on the wound, the treatment, the scarring, and the long-term effect on your life. A dog bite claim generally accounts for the following categories of loss:
| Type of loss | What it can include |
|---|---|
| Medical expenses | Emergency care, wound repair, surgery, infection treatment, medication |
| Future medical care | Scar revision, reconstructive or plastic surgery, ongoing therapy |
| Lost income | Time missed from work and reduced ability to earn going forward |
| Pain and suffering | Physical pain and the emotional trauma that follows an attack |
| Scarring and disfigurement | Permanent scars, especially on the face, hands, and arms |
| Psychological harm | Anxiety and post-traumatic stress, which is common in child victims |
Facial scarring and injuries to children tend to drive value higher, both because the harm is lasting and because a jury understands it. Brian works up each of these categories with the same rigor an insurer uses to tear them down, which is the point of having a lawyer who learned the process from the inside.
Dog Bites in Palm Beach County
A serious attack in this area is usually treated at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, one of only two state-designated Level I trauma centers in Palm Beach County and home to the region’s dedicated pediatric trauma referral center. For a child with deep bite wounds, that pediatric capability matters, and it also means the medical records and bills in these cases can be substantial.
If a case does not settle, it is filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, whose main courthouse sits at 205 North Dixie Highway in downtown West Palm Beach. Local counsel who knows how these claims move through the county court, and who knows the insurers writing homeowner policies here, gives you an edge that a distant firm advertising statewide cannot match.
What to Do After a Dog Bite
The steps you take in the first days after an attack can protect both your health and your claim.
- Get medical care right away. Bite wounds carry a high infection risk, and a documented visit ties your injuries to the attack.
- Identify the dog and its owner. Get the owner’s name, address, and insurance information, and find out whether the dog is vaccinated.
- Report the bite. Notify Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control. An official report creates a record of the animal and the incident.
- Photograph everything. Take pictures of the wounds as they heal, the location, and any torn clothing.
- Keep your records and hold off on statements. Save every bill and note. Do not give a recorded statement to the owner’s insurer before you have talked to a lawyer, because those calls are designed to lock you into damaging answers.
- Call a lawyer. The sooner the firm is involved, the more evidence it can preserve while it is fresh.
Results and What Clients Say
Elstein Legal has recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements across its personal injury practice, including seven-figure results in cases involving premises owners and severe injuries. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict future outcomes.
What clients tend to describe is the personal attention. In one verified Google review, Lachrisha Stokes wrote that Brian was “kind, patient, and always willing to answer my questions” and that she “truly felt like he cared about me and my case, not just as a client but as a person.” Chloe Fretwell put it more simply, calling him “absolutely the best” and saying he “was by my side every step of the way.”
The firm holds a 5 out of 5 rating across more than 120 Google reviews, along with recognition that includes an Avvo 10.0 rating, The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, and a Super Lawyers Florida Rising Stars selection.
Talk to a West Palm Beach Dog Bite Lawyer Today
If a dog attacked you or your child in Palm Beach County, the owner’s insurer is already working to pay you as little as possible. You deserve a lawyer who knows their game because he used to play it. Call Elstein Legal at (305) 299-2835 for a free case evaluation, or reach the firm through the contact Elstein Legal page. There is no fee unless the firm wins your case.