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Rooney Philly Lawyer

Personal Injury

What Are The Most Common Types Of Personal Injury Cases That Your Firm Handles?

The most common types of personal injury cases that our firm handles are motor vehicle accidents, trucking accidents, construction accidents, slip and falls accidents, premises liability, negligence, traumatic brain injury cases, sexual abuse and medical malpractice.

What Is The Statute Of Limitations In Pennsylvania For Filing A Personal Injury Claim?

In Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases gives you two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit in the state’s civil court system. (42 Pa. Con. Stat. Ann. section 5524). If you fail to get your lawsuit filed before the two-year window closes, the Pennsylvania civil court system will likely refuse to hear your case, and your right to compensation will be lost. Of course, the filing deadline could be extended in certain circumstances. Whether an exception to the two-year rule applies is dependent on the unique circumstances of your case.

What Should I Expect After Filing A Personal Injury Claim?

Once you file a personal injury claim, your lawyer will send out initial letters to the defendants and the defendant’s insurance company to initiate your claim. If liability is contested, or in question, your lawyer should retain experts and investigators to determine the cause of the accident. If you’re already treating with your doctor, you should expect to follow up with your treatment and to follow all of your doctor’s recommendations and orders. Depending on the case, your lawyer may send you to outside experts to evaluate your injuries and recommend treatment. It is important to remain in contact with your lawyer about any developments regarding your medical treatment. If there are any witnesses to the accident, or video evidence out there or anything that could help your case, try to help your lawyer by giving him/her all of this information as soon as possible. While you have up to two years to file a lawsuit, and some cases can take a while to resolve, at Rooney Philly Lawyer we will work quickly and efficiently to ensure that your case does not drag on any longer than it needs to. While at Rooney Philly Lawyer we will always prepare to take your case to trial, it is important to realize that the majority of the case will resolve without you ever having to go to court and sit before a judge or jury.

What Evidence At The Scene Of The Accident Which Caused My Injuries, Is Going To Be Crucial To The Success Of My Personal Injury Case?

Photographs, mapping and/or diagrams of the scene of the accident are crucial to the success of your personal injury claim. It is very important that an attorney and/or her/his investigator get to the scene of an accident as quickly as possible, and determine what evidence can be gathered. If you are involved in a car crash, photographs of the damage to your car and the other car involved will be important. If the cause of the accident is in dispute, it may be necessary for your attorney to hire an accident reconstruction expert to prove how the accident actually occurred. If you are involved in a slip and fall, it may be important to have an engineer or consultant review the scene of the fall and determine what caused the fall. In all injury cases, it is helpful to photograph and document your injuries as close in time to the occurrence as possible. In addition to photographs, if you go to the hospital or see a doctor, it’s vital to get the name of the hospital and doctor so that your lawyer can collect and review the medical records. If there are any witnesses around, get their name, email, address, and phone number. If the witnesses have any video, get them to text or email you a copy of that video. If you notice any cameras in the area where the accident occurred, it is important that you give that information to your lawyer so that video can be obtained. If you don’t have a lawyer at that time, go to the location and find out how you could get the footage yourself.

If I Was Partially At-Fault For The Incident Or Accident That Caused My Injuries, Will That Impact My Personal Injury Case In Pennsylvania?

If you were partially at fault for an incident or accident that caused your injuries, that can serve to reduce the amount of compensation you recover. However, Pennsylvania is a comparative fault state, and you’re not barred from recovery just because you are partially at-fault. As long as you are not more than 50% at-fault, you can still recover. But, the amount of recovery will be reduced by the percentage of fault that is attributable to you. For example if you received an award of $100,000.00 but were found to be 25% at fault, you would only recover $75,000.00 But, if you are determined to be 51% at-fault, or greater, you will be barred from recovery entirely.

What Are Some Of The Defenses That You See Insurance Company Use To Avoid Paying Out On Personal Injury Claims?

If possible, Insurance companies will almost always try to deny liability. A frequent tactic employed by insurance companies is to try and blame you for your accident, or at least try and assign you some portion of fault. In a situation where it is impossible for the insurance company to deny liability (e.g. a rear end car crash), they will look to try and minimize the injuries that you sustained and argue, in essence, that your accident really was not a big deal. Frequently, in cases involving small amounts of property damage (in a car accident), and insurance company will suggest that because the car is not badly damaged, you could not possibly be hurt. However, we at Rooney Philly Lawyer know that isn’t true. Additionally, insurance companies will also look at your past medical records and try to claim that the current injuries weren’t the result of the recent accident, but rather, they already existed.

The last thing the insurance company wants to do is accept responsibility and pay fair compensation. An insurance company’s whole goal is to minimize your claim, pay nothing, and hold on to its money. Insurance companies are in business to make money, they work hard to hold on to their cash and not pay you fair value for your case. It is important to have an experienced personal injury attorney on your side that will invest the time, effort and money into your case that is necessary to achieve maximum compensation. At Rooney Philly Lawyer we will never settle unless you are getting what you are entitled to. In the event an insurance company’s best offer does not add up, we will take the case to the courtroom and fight all the way to jury verdict.

Are Settlement Amounts Calculated In Personal Injury Claims? What About Long Term Recovery From Serious Injuries?

Generally speaking, the more serious the injury, the more valuable the case is. While Insurance companies have programs and algorithms that they use, internally, to evaluate settlement values, these tools will be undervaluing your case, and looking to help the insurance company settle for less. What a case is worth is very dependent of the unique circumstances of the particular case. In order to come up with an appropriate valuation of your case, your lawyer will need to closely evaluate the exact nature of the accident, the liability, the extent of the injuries, the length of time, treatment that was sought and the impact the injuries have had on your life. If your injuries are serious, permanent and debilitating, your lawyer will need to work closely with your doctors and medical experts to determine, as accurately as possible, how those injuries are going to impact you for the rest of your life.

You should be getting compensated, not just for how the injuries have impacted you in the immediate months following the accident, but how those injuries will continue to impact you for years to come. It’s important for your lawyer to realize that when the case is over, you still have live with your injuries. If your injuries have caused you to become disabled and unable to return to work, your lawyer will have to figure out how much money you will lose over the course of your life by not being able to return to work. At Rooney Philly Lawyer we take the time, and invest the money, to consult with and hire experts, such as forensic economists and vocational experts, to prove what can you can and can’t do, and what your lost wages will be as a result of those limitations.

Does The Severity Of The Injury I Have Ensure The Likelihood Of A Larger Settlement?

Generally speaking, the more serious the injury, the more valuable the case is. However, a serious injury does not always equal a large settlement. This can be the case if liability is in dispute. If it’s a case where fault is not clear, each party is blaming the other and there is no independent evidence of whose fault the accident it, this could lower the value of potential settlement. Now, if liability is very clear and the injuries are very serious, this combination usually leads to larger settlement values. But, nothing ensures you a higher settlement. The only thing that is guaranteed is that the insurance companies and their defense attorneys will fight tooth and nail to hold on to every penny of that insurance money. You need an experienced attorney who is willing to invest in your case and take it to trial if the insurance company won’t play ball. At Rooney Philly Lawyer, we don’t let insurance company tactics intimidate us.

If The Other Party Was Clearly At-Fault, Do I Even Still Need A Personal Injury Attorney To Represent Me In My Case?

Yes! If you don’t have a lawyer, you’re going to end up with much less than your case is actually worth, or nothing at all. The insurance company will hang you out to dry, and high five one another for doing so. Remember, the insurance companies, their adjusters, representatives, and lawyers are experts at trying to get people to accept less than what a case is actually worth. Even if the liability is clear, the insurance company will work tirelessly to minimize your case. A good attorney will properly evaluate the extent of your injuries and damages and prepare your case for trial. At Rooney Philly Lawyer we will work to get maximum settlement value for your case, and if we cant, we will fight for you trial.

For more information on Personal Injury Cases, an initial strategy session with Rooney Philly Lawyer is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (215) 279-8400 today.

Rooney Philly Lawyer

Call Now For A Personalized Consultation
(215) 279-8400