In a personal injury case, the burden of proof is placed on the plaintiff. This means that you must be able to prove beyond the preponderance of the evidence that the defendant’s actions were the proximate cause of your injury. If you have hired legal counsel to represent your interests, your personal injury lawyer will generally be tasked with overcoming this burden on your behalf.

When a person is harmed from an accident and someone is found to be negligent, that person has the option of filing a personal injury case. If the case is successful, the guilty party is forced to pay lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. However, when the responsible party acts in an extremely reckless manner or causes intentional harm, an innocent victim may be entitled to receive additional punitive damages.

Unfortunately, these types of damages are not awarded often. To pursue the option, it is best to consult with a qualified and experienced personal injury lawyer. At Shrager & Sachs, we are committed to helping Philadelphia residents and everyone in Pennsylvania get the legal representation they need to move forward with their lives.

Today, we’re looking at how often punitive damages are typically awarded in Pennsylvania when filing a personal injury claim.

If you’ve been injured in a car accident, on someone’s property, or by a doctor, you may be dealing with medical bills, lost wages from time off of work, and pain and suffering. While dealing with the consequences of an accident isn’t easy, it’s important to know you’re not alone. When negligence plays a role in an incident that resulted in injury, the victim has the right to pursue legal action against the at-fault party.

Negligence causes most accidents. When a person doesn’t practice the basic amount of care that they are expected to, or if they fail to act when there is a duty to do so, then they could be considered negligent. When that negligence leads to an accident and a subsequent injury to another person, then a personal injury claim could be filed against the negligent party. Any kind of accident can be caused by negligence, but the most common types are car collisions and slip and falls.

Whether you’ve been in a car accident, have fallen on someone’s property, or have been injured by a defective product, you have the right to take legal action against the negligent party that caused your losses. While there is a path to follow when filing a personal injury claim, there are a number of factors that have the potential to affect the payout you receive. In order to ensure you receive the maximum amount of financial compensation for your losses, you need to understand those factors and how to build a strong claim.

If you’ve been injured in an accident and are planning on pursuing a personal injury claim, it’s likely one of the first questions you’ll have is what your injury case is worth. While every situation is unique, there are specific factors to look at when valuing an injury claim. When you work with Shrager & Sachs, we’ll help you build a strong case and ensure you receive full and fair compensation for all your accident-related losses. Before we break down what you may be eligible for, let’s take a look at what the law considers to be damages.

When you’re the plaintiff in a personal injury case, you might feel like you’ve been asked to provide a lot of personal information. The defense might have asked for information like your income, insurance policy, tax returns, drivers license number, or social security number. Typically, you keep this information private because you feel it’s personal or because you want to protect yourself from identity theft. But in a personal injury case, do you have the luxury of privacy?

When you’ve been wrongfully injured in an accident and are considering taking legal action, it’s important to be aware of how lawyer fees work. There are different types of agreements, fees, and costs that could impact how much compensation you receive when your case settles. This blog will provide you with standard information about the fees you could face when hiring a legal representative. It’s important to note that fees and expenses vary depending on the law firm you choose and your unique circumstances.

The year may have just begun, but there are already major mass tort cases approaching in 2019 that news outlets will be talking about. They involve defective products and drugs that have caused a lot of people harm. In a mass tort, a group of attorneys represent the injured parties individually. Clients are handled individually since the products or drugs in question have caused harm in similar ways, but the harm and/or injuries require separate cases.

Here are some of the top mass torts we’re likely hear about as the year continues to unfold:

Suffering an injury on the job can create a number of setbacks and concerns for victims and their families. That’s especially true if injuries are severe enough to require extensive medical treatment, long recoveries, and limited opportunity to work and earn needed wages. Fortunately, there are systems in place designed to help injured workers harmed as a result of the work they perform and provide them with compensation. Choosing the right pathway to compensation and navigating it effectively, however, is not always a simple task.

At Shrager & Sachs, our Philadelphia personal injury lawyers provide injured victims and their families with the guidance needed to navigate the civil justice system, including victims who suffered injuries on the job as a result of preventable accidents and therefore have the ability to pursue civil personal injury lawsuits outside of workers’ compensation. From helping clients understand their rights and options to tenaciously fighting for the full financial recoveries they deserve, we work toward the best outcome possible.

What About Workers’ Compensation?

Whether you were involved in a construction accident, a car accident, or another incident while at work, your work-related injury is likely covered by your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance. Workers’ comp can be important for workers who suffer work-related injuries or illnesses, as it can provide wage supplementation while they recover, vocational rehabilitation services, and needed medical treatment – even if a worker caused their own injuries.

While workers’ compensation is important, especially since it is a no-fault system, there are times when injured workers may have other available options. This includes a civil personal injury lawsuit. Typically, these lawsuits require victims to prove that the negligent or wrongful acts of another party, who isn’t their employer (except in rare circumstances), more likely than not caused them harm. When successful, victims can hold at-fault parties financially liable for their damages, and recover a larger scope of damages that may not have been available to them under workers’ compensation, including damages for their pain and suffering.