This is an advertisement
FREE CONSULTATION 954-741-7066 954-741-7066

Attorney Richard B. Berman

Picture

ISLN: 909073587
Member
Click to contact

Admitted
1976, Florida and U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida; 1978, District of Columbia

Law School
University of Miami, J.D.

 

Attorney Biography

Richard B. Berman, Esq. is the principal of the Law Offices of Richard B. Berman, P.A., whose firm specializes in Workers’ Compensation and whose practice is limited to representing injured workers. Mr. Berman received his Undergraduate Degree Cum Laude in Speech Communication from American University and his J.D. Degree from the University of Miami School of Law.

While Mr. Berman initially represented workers’ compensation insurance carriers for approximately 10 years, since 1989, Mr. Berman has exclusively represented injured workers, fighting for their rights in Tallahassee and in court.

Mr. Berman is rated by Martindale-Hubbell as an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated attorney, which is an honor accorded to only two percent of attorneys nationwide. He has been included in multiple Who’s Who Directories, such as Marquis Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in Emerging Leaders in America, the National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals, Strathmore’s Who’s Who, Continental’s Who’s Who, and Stanford’s Who’s Who, and has been included in “South Florida’s Top-Rated Lawyers” publication.

Mr. Berman has been a member of the Florida Bar Workers’ Compensation Rules Committee, Broward County Legislative Task Force on Health Care, and the Advisory Board of the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association of Florida. Mr. Berman has served on the Executive Council of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Florida Bar, the Steering Committee for Florida Bar Educational Forum, as well as the Board of Directors of “Employers for Insurance Reform”.

Mr. Berman has served on the Board of Directors of Florida Workers’ Advocates, a statewide organization whose focus is to fight for the rights of injured workers in the State of Florida, since 1997. He was Chairman of its Media Relations program, a member of the subcommittee on insurance rates and legislative issues, as well as numerous other committees.

Mr. Berman was cited as legal authority in the Circuit Court case, Padgett v. State of Florida, Case No. 11-13661 CA 25 (11th Jud. Cir., Miami-Dade County, Fla., 8-13-14), regarding the unconstitutionality of the Florida Workers’ Compensation law.

Mr. Berman is affiliated with a number of other professional organizations, including the Broward County Trial Lawyers Association, the Broward County Bar Association, the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Broward County Bar, the American Bar Association, and the Florida Bar. Mr. Berman is also a member of the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group (WILG), the national organization of attorneys whose focus is to fight for the rights of injured workers.

Mr. Berman has been presented with The Richard Sadow Lifetime Achievement Award by the “Friends of 440”, a statewide charitable organization in the field of workers’ compensation, as well as the Vance Moore Award for Professionalism in Workers’ Compensation by the Broward County Bar Association.

Mr. Berman has been recognized as “One of the Nation’s Top Injured Workers’ Attorneys” by The Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group (WILG), the national injured workers’ organization, and has been recognized for excellence in Workers’ Compensation Law by The Lawyers of Distinction for 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Mr. Berman has been a frequent lecturer on various workers’ compensation issues throughout the state of Florida over his career and currently is a Supreme Court Certified Mediator, mediating workers’ compensation cases, in addition to his active practice representing injured workers.

Professional Memberships and Service

  • Florida Bar
  • Broward County Bar Association
  • Broward County Bar Association – Workers’ Compensation Section
  • Broward County Trial Lawyers Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Broward County Legislative Task Force on Health Care (1985–1986; 1986–1987)
  • Florida Workers’ Compensation Rules Committee (1991–1994)
  • Florida Bar Executive Council – Workers’ Compensation Section (approximately 10 years)
  • Florida Workers Advocates, Member (1991–present)
  • Board of Directors, Florida Workers Advocates (1997–present)
  • Chairman, Media Relations Committee (2000–2015)
  • Member, Legislative Committee
  • Member, NCCI/Insurance Rating Committee
  • Member, Amicus Committee
  • Member, Membership Committee
  • Member, Political Action Committee
  • Member, Minimum Requirements Committee
  • WCCP, Steering Committee for Florida Bar Educational Forum
  • Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group (WILG)
  • Advisory Board, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association of Florida (1992–1994)
  • Employers for Insurance Reform – Board of Directors (2002)

Office Information

Law Offices of Richard B. Berman, P.A.

8551 W. Sunrise Blvd., Suite 202
Plantation, FL 33322

Phone: 954-741-7066
Fax: 954-741-0984
Email: [email protected]

Waiving Workers’ Compensation Benefits

It is critically important to remember:

  • Do not allow the statute of limitations to expire. Even when your authorized physician discharges you from care and says you do not need to return, you are still entitled to return for medical treatment. In fact, it is imperative that you do not allow one year to pass without seeing your authorized physician, or the statute of limitations will expire.
  • Report the accident to your employer immediately. You have 30 days to report it.
  • Get medical care and documentation of your injuries as soon as possible. If you are not authorized to obtain medical care by your employer or carrier, get it yourself as soon as possible.
  • If your employer instructs you to put the accident and medical care under your health insurance, or refuses to report the accident to the workers’ compensation carrier, DO NOT put it under your health insurance and immediately consult with a qualified workers’ compensation attorney.
  • DO NOT allow the insurance company to take your recorded statement before you consult with a qualified workers’ compensation attorney.
  • DO NOT sign a medical authorization for the insurance company.
  • DO NOT allow an insurance company nurse or other representative to attend your doctor’s appointment with you.
  • DO NOT ask for a “one-time change” in authorized physician if you are dissatisfied with the doctor the insurance company authorizes before first consulting with a qualified workers’ compensation attorney.
  • DO consult with a qualified workers’ compensation attorney as soon as possible after an on-the-job injury.

Know Your Rights!

Contact a Tenacious Workers’ Compensation Attorney

Richard B. Berman has been helping injured workers within the state of Florida obtain their workers’ compensation benefits since 1989 and has been practicing workers’ compensation for 50 years.

To consult with a dedicated and reputable workers’ compensation attorney, call Richard B. Berman at 954-741-7066 or contact him online at [email protected].

Reported Cases

1- Morrison v. Broward County School Board

Mr. Berman represented the claimant, a teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Broward County for 18 years, who developed breathing problems and hives due to her chronic exposure to mold and mildew in her school. The School Board denied the claim in its entirety. Mr. Berman was successful in proving that his client was exposed to significant chronic mold and mildew throughout the entire school, caused by chronic significant water intrusion into the school. The school board continually refused to appropriately address the problem and intentionally concealed the ongoing problems. Mr. Berman was successful in obtaining sanctions against the school board for intentionally destroying hundreds of photographs depicting the mold, despite court orders to produce them, as well as all benefits due to his client.

2- Andrews v. Drywall Enterprises

A landmark case regarding the issue of employer provided transportation. Mr. Berman represented a construction worker who was driven to the job site every day by his boss. The claimant injured his knee in a car accident on the way to work. The work comp carrier denied the claim because he was not injured on the job site doing his actual job duties. The trial judge denied all benefits. The First District Court of Appeals and the Florida Supreme Court disagreed and reversed the Trial Court.

3- Souffrant v. FCCI

This was a case of first impression. Mr. Berman represented a young girl whose father was divorced from her mother, had remarried and had more children with his second wife. When his client’s father was killed in an on-the-job accident, the deceased’s second wife took all of the death benefits and excluded Mr. Berman’s client. He was successful in obtaining all of his client’s death benefits to which she had been entitled. Mr. Berman subsequently filed a petition to redistribute all of the benefits from the second wife to the children. After the petition was filed, the work comp carrier paid out all of the remaining benefits to the wife, divesting it of all benefits owed. Mr. Berman was successful in forcing the work comp carrier to redistribute all benefits from the second wife to the children, including his client, even though it had already previously paid out all of the benefits.

4- Manufacturing Plant

Mr. Berman co–represented 184 former employees of a manufacturing plant in Broward County who were exposed to multiple toxic chemicals on a daily, repetitive basis without protective gear. The employees developed varying symptoms, including breathing problems, heart disease and cancers. Case settled before trial for several million dollars.

5- Fugazzi v. The Hartford-I

Claimant was a traveling salesman for an employer located in Florida who resided in Ohio and was injured in Indiana. The work comp carrier processed his claim under Indiana law and cut off all benefits, despite the fact that claimant sustained chronic post-traumatic seizures. Claimant was unable to find an attorney in Indiana, Ohio or Nevada, where the carrier claimed he was hired. Mr. Berman was successful in proving that claimant was, in fact, hired in Broward County, Florida and was therefore entitled to benefits under Florida law. Mr. Berman was also able to defeat the statute of limitations defense. Case is still pending regarding the benefits to which he is entitled.

6- Crutcher v. Broward County School Board

Crutcher v. Broward County School Board is a landmark statute of limitations case in which Mr. Berman represented an employee of the Broward County School Board. Claimant’s first attorney let the statute of limitations run. He was successful in re-opening her case by proving that the School Board had not
complied with the worker’s comp law regarding proper notice requirements, thereby tolling the statute of limitations. Mr. Berman was able to recoup all of his client’s past benefits and obtain authorized medical care.  This case has become authoritative for every subsequent case dealing with the
statute of limitations issue.

7- Walters v. Richard’s West

Claimant injured his back in 1982, underwent surgery and eventually returned to work. By 1996 claimant could no longer work and ended up in a wheelchair. The workers’ compensation carrier ordered several home evaluations for home modifications pursuant to the recommendations of claimant’s authorized doctor due to the fact that claimant was wheelchair bound. After obtaining the evaluations, the carrier refused to authorize anything unless claimant agreed to undergo an independent medical evaluation, to which they were not entitled by law. When the IME doctor agreed with the authorized doctor’s recommendations, the carrier told claimant that it would not authorize anything unless he agreed to a second IME. Mr. Berman was successful in obtaining all home modifications and attendant care, past and future. Mr. Berman filed a third-party lawsuit against the worker’s comp carrier for intentional infliction of emotional distress and additional injuries sustained as a result of the carrier’s refusal to provide the home modifications.   This action resulted in a very large, confidential settlement.

8- Bell v. Winningham Live

Mr. Berman represented a claimant who developed end-stage liver disease as a result of multiple blood transfusions received during back surgeries in the 1970’s. The workers’ compensation carrier denied claimant’s liver condition and the necessary liver transplant. Mr. Berman was successful in obtaining an emergency trial based upon the claimant’s deteriorating condition and a ruling that claimant’s condition and transplant surgery were compensable.

9- Airlines Case

Mr. Berman co-represented 200 former employees of a defunct airline for various medical conditions, such as heart disease, breathing problems, skin conditions and the like, resulting from chronic, repetitive exposure to excessive noise and other toxic fumes. Case settled for seven figures.

10– Godfrey v. Atlantic Federal Savings

Mr. Berman represented a claimant who injured her back in the 1980’s. She continued with medical care authorized by the insurance company for 15 years. After she moved out of state, the carrier spent thousands of dollars on a doctor to say that her pain and continued need for treatment was no longer related to her original accident. When the carrier cut off all of her medical care, the claimant underwent low back fusion on her own. Mr. Berman was successful in getting all of her medical benefits and future care reinstated after a lengthy trial.

11- Fugazzi v. The Hartford-II

Following the first trial that Mr. Berman won regarding jurisdiction and claimant’s entitlement to benefits under Florida law, Mr. Berman was successful in getting the carrier to declare the claimant permanently totally disabled, pay him approximately $300,000.00 in past benefits, authorize all of his physicians and medical care, and pay him bi-weekly checks for the rest of his life.

12- O’Dell v. Continental Airlines

Mr. Berman represented a gentleman who permanently injured his neck at work in 1987 when an aircraft cargo door fell on his head. The claimant utilized chiropractic care for twenty years without the use of narcotic medication and injections in order to continue to function and work. In 2009, over his client’s objections, the insurance adjuster cut off his chiropractic care and forced him to go to another doctor with whom they had already met. The insurance adjuster instructed the doctor to stop his client’s care altogether because they no longer wanted to continue to pay. Mr. Berman was successful in obtaining all of the adjuster’s records and log notes in order to prove that the company had continually engaged in an improper pattern of conduct by consistently attempting to cut off his client’s care in a concerted effort to force him to settle his case. After trial, the court reinstated his client’s chiropractic care permanently.

13- Grinis v. Broward County Sheriff’s Office

Claimant was a former firefighter Battalion Chief who sustained injuries in 2001 that eventually forced him to retire in 2006.  He underwent neck fusion and lumbar surgery. In 2011, ten years after the injury, claimant developed kidney pain that his authorized physician thought might be related to his pain medications. However, the workers’ compensation carrier refused to authorize a specialist to evaluate this condition. After meeting with the claimant, Mr. Berman determined that he had been entitled to permanent total disability benefits for the past five years and continuing, benefits of which the adjuster had  never informed him. Litigation ended with a substantial settlement of past and future benefits.

14- McVay v. City of North Bay Village

Mr. Berman represented a detective who became involved in a physical altercation with another police officer in the squad room. His client suffered a severely torn hamstring muscle and required emergency surgery. The city alleged that he client started the fight over political strife between the Fraternal Order of Police and the Police Benevolent Association and denied all benefits. Arbitrations took place for the officers regarding terminations, suspensions, back pay and procedural violations of their rights. The city also alleged that Mr. Berman’s client had used performance enhancing drugs that were the cause of his hamstring injury. Mr. Berman was successful in proving at trial and through cross-examination of the physicians that his client was the victim in the altercation and that he did not use performance enhancing drugs that may have contributed to his injury. The court granted Mr. Berman’s client all of his indemnity and medical benefits.