West Palm Beach personal injury lawyer
The insurance companies trained me. Now I use it against them.
Shalhoub Law Injury & Accident represents injured people across Palm Beach County. Attorney Paul R. Shalhoub spent years defending insurers and handles every case personally.
Meet Shalhoub Law Injury & Accident. A West Palm Beach injury firm run by one attorney.
Shalhoub Law Injury & Accident represents people injured in West Palm Beach and throughout Palm Beach County, and families who have lost someone. That includes car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, bicycle, rideshare and boating accidents; falls and assaults on someone else’s property; dog bites, defective products, medical negligence and nursing home neglect. Attorney Paul R. Shalhoub spent years defending insurance companies before he began representing injured people, and he handles every case himself, from the first call through trial.
Recognized by
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The Florida BarMember in good standing
- AvvoRated and reviewed
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Super LawyersListed
- National Trial LawyersMember
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Martindale-HubbellAV Preeminent since 2015
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Palm Beach IllustratedTop Lawyers, personal injury, 2024–2026
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Palm Beach County Justice AssociationBoard of Directors since 2024
- Abogados247Verified Florida attorney profile
Areas of Practice
Injury law is all this firm does. These are the cases that come through the door most often — but if what happened to you is not on the list, it is still worth a call. Most people are not sure whether they have a case until someone looks at it.
Case results
Verdicts and settlements obtained by attorney Paul R. Shalhoub for injured clients in Palm Beach County.
Recovered within three months of filing suit for a working mother of two rear-ended by a box truck, with her future medical care accounted for in the figure.
A jury verdict against a State Farm-insured driver, sixteen times the last offer made before trial, after more than two years of litigation. Fees and costs were awarded on top.
A slip and fall tried to verdict against Walmart. The jury returned six times the offer Walmart made just before trial, and the size of the verdict also won the client attorney’s fees and costs.
What clients say about Paul Shalhoub
A star rating is one data point, and not the best one. The Florida Bar publishes a ten-year discipline history on every attorney licensed in this state — Paul’s says none — and the Palm Beach County Clerk publishes the civil docket, where you can see which firms actually file lawsuits. Check all three before you hire anyone.
Three rules decide most Florida injury claims
Before fault, before the offer, before anything else. Two of them are deadlines and one of them is arithmetic, and all three are in the statutes.
Florida Statute 627.736(1)(a)
Fourteen days to be seen by a doctor
Florida is a no-fault state: your own personal injury protection coverage pays the first medical bills whoever caused the crash. It pays only if you receive initial services and care within 14 days. There is no extension in the statute and no exception for an injury that announced itself late, which is the trap — people wait to see whether the stiffness settles, and the benefit is gone by the time it has not.
Florida Statute 768.81
At 51 percent of the fault, you recover nothing
As amended in March 2023, the statute bars recovery entirely for a claimant found more than 50 percent responsible. Below that line your recovery is reduced by your share. This is why an adjuster asks how fast you were going and whether you saw the other car, and why those answers matter long before anybody talks about money.
Florida Statute 95.11(5)(a)
Two years to file suit
A negligence claim runs two years from the date of the injury. It was four years until March 2023, so advice from before then is advice about a deadline that no longer exists. A claim against a city, a county or the state runs on a different and earlier clock, because written notice has to come first.
Start where you actually are
Most people arrive here in the middle of something rather than at the beginning of it. Find the line that matches, and read that.
| The crash was today or yesterday | What to do after a car accident in Florida — the order of operations, and the deadlines that end claims |
| An adjuster called and wants a recorded statement | Talking to an insurance adjuster — what you must give them and what you need not |
| There is an offer on the table already | Should I accept the first settlement offer? — what an early number is actually priced on |
| The bills are arriving and nobody will say who pays | Who pays the medical bills after a crash — the order coverage pays in |
| You want to know what the claim is worth | What is my injury case worth? and how insurers put a number on it |
| They are saying the crash was your fault | Their insurance says I caused the accident — a fault dispute is not a denial of coverage |
| You felt fine at the scene and do not now | Pain that starts days after a crash — and what the 14-day rule does about it |
| The other driver had no insurance, or left | Florida uninsured motorist coverage — which may stack across the vehicles on your policy |
| You are losing income | How to prove lost wages, including when you are self-employed |
| Somebody died | The Florida Wrongful Death Act — who may bring the claim, and what it covers |
| Something is wrong at a parent’s nursing home | Nursing home neglect warning signs — and which ones are reportable today |
| You fell in a store and they blame the floor on you | Proving a slip and fall in Florida — the constructive-knowledge problem |
| You were hurt by a crime on someone’s property | When a property owner is liable for an assault |
| You were visiting and the crash happened here | Crashed while visiting West Palm Beach — treatment at home, claim in Florida |
What it costs to hire Paul Shalhoub
Three separate things get confused with each other here, so they are worth separating.
The consultation. Free, and it is a conversation with the attorney rather than an intake form read back to you. Most of them end with a view on whether there is a claim worth bringing, and some of them end with Paul telling you there is not.
The fee. A contingency percentage of what is recovered. No recovery, no fee.
The case costs. This is the part that usually goes unmentioned elsewhere, and it is where the money is. Records, filing fees, depositions, experts — a case that goes the distance spends real money before it sees any. Consultations are free and confidential. We advance case costs, and you owe no attorney’s fees or reimbursement of those costs unless we recover compensation for you. Paul handles every case personally.
A promise about the fee alone says nothing about the costs, and some firms advance them and then bill them back out of what you are paid. Ask any lawyer you speak to which of the three they mean, and get the answer in the agreement rather than on the phone. The full set of questions about fees, costs and what you take home.
Areas we serve
One office in downtown West Palm Beach, one attorney, and a practice that covers the whole county. Paul travels to clients who cannot travel to him.
Shalhoub Law Injury & Accident, 1011 N Olive Ave, West Palm Beach, FL 33401 — about a mile north of the Palm Beach County courthouse at 205 N Dixie Highway, where a Fifteenth Judicial Circuit suit is filed.
Lake Worth Beach
About 7 miles from the office. Most of the claims we see from Lake Worth Beach come off Lake Worth Rd, Dixie Hwy and I-95 at 6th Ave S.
Palm Beach Gardens
About 11 miles from the office. Most of the claims we see from Palm Beach Gardens come off PGA Blvd, Northlake Blvd and the I-95 interchanges.
Wellington
About 14 miles from the office. Most of the claims we see from Wellington come off Forest Hill Blvd, State Road 7 and Southern Blvd.
Boynton Beach
About 13 miles from the office. Most of the claims we see from Boynton Beach come off Boynton Beach Blvd, Congress Ave and Federal Hwy.
Riviera Beach
About 5 miles from the office. Most of the claims we see from Riviera Beach come off Blue Heron Blvd, Broadway and the Port of Palm Beach.
North Palm Beach
About 9 miles from the office. Most of the claims we see from North Palm Beach come off US-1, Northlake Blvd and the Intracoastal bridges.
Lantana
About 9 miles from the office. Most of the claims we see from Lantana come off Lantana Rd, Dixie Hwy and I-95 at Hypoluxo.
Lake Clarke Shores
About 4 miles from the office. Most of the claims we see from Lake Clarke Shores come off Forest Hill Blvd, Pine Tree Ln and Barbados Rd.
Common questions
What does it cost to hire a lawyer?
Nothing. Consultations are free and confidential, and the fee is contingent. We advance case costs, and you owe no attorney’s fees or reimbursement of those costs unless we recover compensation for you.
How long do I have to file an injury claim in Florida?
Two years from the date of the injury for most negligence claims under Florida Statute 95.11(5)(a). Claims against a government body require written notice first and run on a shorter clock.
Will I actually speak to the attorney, or to staff?
To Paul. This is a single-attorney practice by design, and he handles every case from the first call through trial.
What if the driver who hit me had no insurance?
Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is built for that, and it may stack across the vehicles on your policy. Many people carry more of it than they realize.
Do I have to come to the office in West Palm Beach?
No. Paul meets clients at home, in the hospital or by video anywhere in Palm Beach County.
How much of the settlement do I actually keep?
What is left after the attorney’s fee, the case costs and any liens are resolved — and the liens are the part people do not see coming. A health insurer, Medicare or Medicaid that paid for your treatment may have a right to be repaid out of the recovery. Negotiating those down is part of the work, and it happens before the number is final, which is one more reason an early offer is not the figure it looks like.
What if I was partly at fault for the crash?
You can still recover, as long as your share is 50 percent or less. Florida Statute 768.81 bars recovery entirely above that, and reduces it by your percentage below it. Fault is argued, not announced, so the adjuster’s view of it on day three is a position rather than a finding.
Free consultation
Talk to a West Palm Beach injury attorney
Consultations are free and confidential. We advance case costs, and you owe no attorney’s fees or reimbursement of those costs unless we recover compensation for you. Home and hospital visits available.