Whether you are driving on the highway or walking in the local mall, something unforeseen could cause nasty personal injuries. “In Pennsylvania, handling the aftermath of accidents requires familiarity with specific aspects of the law, enabling you to obtain the proper compensation and recover,” says Eric H. Weitz of The Weitz Firm, LLC.

This guide aims to unwrap the most essential facts you should be aware of about issues involving personal injuries, and offer you an explanation about what to do if you are unlucky enough to suffer from them.

What Exactly is a Personal Injury

Personal injury refers to physical or mental harm caused by another’s negligence, carelessness, or intentional conduct. The essence in all these situations is determining who is at fault.

For a case in Pennsylvania to succeed under a theory of personal injury, the victim shall prove that the other party defaulted in the duty to care for the victim, and the default, in turn, inflicted the injury.

They must provide significant evidence to substantiate the defendant’s (in)actions to your damage in a bid to seek to recover a claim.

Understanding Time Limits in Personal Injury Cases

Once you determine what kind of injury fits and that you have a legitimate claim, another necessary piece enters the picture: statutes of limitations. 

Pennsylvania law generally sets a two-year statute of limitations for most injury situations, measured from the date of the accident. This means you only have a limited timeframe to file a lawsuit to seek damages; if you fail to do so within the stipulated timeframe, you usually forfeit the right to recover.

Specific scenarios, such as workers’ injuries, require immediate reporting to the employer—usually within a few days of the incident—about the eligibility to claim workers’ compensation. The deadlines reflect the urgency required in the event of any incident that results in injury.

Compensation In Personal Injury Cases Is Not Arbitrary

In personal injury lawsuits, the award is not conjured up from thin air but is rightly based on the merits of your case. The estimations of economic and non-economic damage determine this worthiness. Economic damage entails calculable monetary losses, including medical bills, wages, and property damage. It is straightforward because the figures are based on real expenditure.

Non-economic damages are also somewhat more problematic because they involve intangible items, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. For them, attorneys use multipliers and/or the per diem methodology in conjunction with evidence, such as psychiatric examinations, to estimate value.

Collaborating with a specialist personal injury attorney provides the kind of professional advice to interpret the complex math to seek appropriate compensation for all the damage.

Most Personal Injury Cases are Resolved by Settlement

The vast majority of cases are settled before they ever reach a courthouse. And there are reasons. A lawsuit could last forever, be expensive, and be beyond your control. The two may decide to settle so they don’t have to endure the uncertainties and costs associated with going to trial.

Settling out of court offers the convenience and versatility of negotiations, allowing a victim to obtain restitution in a quicker and typically less public manner than in a public trial. In considering settlement, the offer must be thoroughly weighed in light of possible trial outcomes—a decision in which the advice of a seasoned attorney can be extremely useful.

The Risk Involved in Handling Personal Injury Cases Exclusively

Navigating a case in a case of personal injury alone could significantly influence your potential outcomes, so always have a lawyer by your side. A lawyer in the field, with experience in intricate and procedural laws, also possesses the skill to negotiate and recover reasonable settlements from the typically vast funds and extensive attorney manpower at the disposal of the providers.

When choosing an attorney, consider their track record in handling cases similar to yours, their responsiveness to you promptly, and their communication style to determine if it aligns with yours.