Whether you’re facing the aftermath of a car accident, slip and fall incident, or any other type of injury caused by someone else’s negligence, understanding your rights and the legal process is crucial. A Philadelphia personal injury lawyer can be an invaluable advocate, helping you understand the complexities of the Pennsylvania legal system so that you can seek justice and secure maximum compensation for your injuries and losses.
At Shrager, Sachs, & Blanco, we don’t believe that injury victims should have to come up with significant funds to understand their rights and the legal avenues available to them, which is why our law firm offers free consultations. If you would like to discuss your potential case with one of our personal injury lawyers in Philadelphia, consider reaching out to us now.
What Qualifies as a Personal Injury?
From a legal perspective, a personal injury most often refers to an illness or impairment that directly results from someone else’s wrongful or reckless actions (negligence). However, personal injuries can also stem from a person’s commission of intentional acts (i.e., assaults, shootings, etc.).
Types of Philadelphia Injury Cases Our Law Firm Handles
As hinted at above, personal injury law in Philadelphia encompasses a wide range of incidents where individuals suffer harm due to the actions or negligence of others.
Common cases our Philadelphia personal injury lawyers handle include:
Auto Accidents
Motor vehicle collisions can result in severe injuries. Negligent drivers can cause car accidents, truck accidents, and motorcycle accidents—which can all severely injure those involved and cause significant property damage. Personal injury attorneys like ours are experienced in analyzing a crash scene to determine what caused the wreck and your injuries.
Product Liability
Defective products, including over-the-counter and prescription medications, original and after-market auto parts, furniture, toys, appliances, electronics, medical devices, and others, can give way to injuries both at home and in the workplace in Philadelphia.
Injuries caused by these dangerous products can be life-altering and even claim someone’s life, making it necessary for a victim or their surviving loved ones to take legal action. While it can be intimidating to bring a product liability claim or lawsuit against a manufacturer, it’s what Pennsylvania law allows you to do to recover compensation for your losses.
Premises Liability
Individuals suffer injuries on someone else’s property, such as an office building, medical facility, school, store, in a parking lot, at a gas station, at a swimming pool, on a sidewalk outside a government building, and elsewhere, every day. These injuries may be caused by slips and falls, negligent security, or drownings. Fatalities are also, unfortunately, commonplace.
Pennsylvania law requires property owners to keep their premises reasonably safe as, when they fail to do so, they put others at risk of suffering significant harm, such as traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries.
If a property owner’s actions unnecessarily put your wellbeing at risk or caused the preventable death of a loved one, our Philadelphia personal injury attorneys may advise you to file a premises liability case.
Nursing Home Abuse
We’d like to think that the staff at an assisted living facility has your loved one’s best interests at heart all the time, but that’s not the way it works. Abuse and neglect of nursing home residents in Philadelphia is an all-too-common occurrence that can result in preventable injuries and illnesses and also death.
Our personal injury lawyers regularly represent nursing home residents and their family members in cases filed against these long-term care facilities and their staff. Nursing home abuse and neglect cases like these can be challenging to prove, but skilled legal counsel like ours can be strong legal advocates for your loved ones so they don’t have to continue to ensure maltreatment, and no one else does in the future.
Medical Malpractice
A wide range of factors, such as a misdiagnosis, prescription drug administration error, a lack of cleanliness of surgical tools, and others, can all qualify as medical malpractice. These personal injury cases involve a wide range of health care providers, such as pharmacists, nurses, doctors, etc., acting negligently and harming a patient.
One obligation health care practitioners share is a responsibility to uphold the same duty of care that any other provider with similar training in the same geographic area would maintain. Serious illnesses, a deterioration of a patient’s illness, and death can result if a medical professional acts negligently.
Instances of medical malpractice can be hard to prove, which is often why victims bring in injury attorneys like ours to aid them in building their cases.
Wrongful Death
As referenced when discussing some of the personal injury accident types above, another person’s negligence can easily cost someone their life.
Wrongful deaths are preventable fatalities. In other words, a plaintiff alleges that it would not have occurred had it not been for a defendant’s negligence to exercise the duty or standard of care they should have. A personal injury lawyer in Philadelphia like ours can provide legal representation after a tragedy such as this.
The types of cases described above are only a few examples of incidents that may result in someone suffering injuries or illnesses due to someone else’s negligence. Know that no matter how you suffered harm, Shrager, Sachs, & Blanco may be able to help you. Contact us to connect with a Philadelphia personal injury attorney with whom you can discuss your case.
Rights Pennsylvania Law Affords Individuals Hurt by Others
An injury victim may be left with significant medical costs, lost wages due to missing work, and mental anguish. There’s no expectation that you should have to foot the bill for these losses on your own when you didn’t cause the harm you suffered.
This is why Pennsylvania personal injury laws give victims the right to hold those parties who harmed them accountable for their actions. You can do so by either filing an insurance claim or a lawsuit, which is where working closely with a personal injury attorney lawyer can be helpful. If you would like to speak with an attorney regarding your case, feel free to call or email us now.
Why You Need a Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer
Navigating the personal injury legal system on your own can be confusing, overwhelming, and stressful. Here are some key benefits that a personal injury attorney in Philadelphia brings to the table:
- Legal Expertise and Experience: Lawyers who regularly handle personal injury cases will have the necessary knowledge and experience handling cases similar to yours. They understand the nuances of the Pennsylvania state and Philadelphia County legal systems, including its statutes and courtroom procedures.
- Negotiation Skills: Many personal injury lawyers resolve cases before trial through negotiation with insurers. It is possible to secure the best possible settlement without having to litigate your accident case in a Philadelphia County courtroom.
- Trial Representation: If an acceptable settlement can’t be reached outside the courtroom and your case goes to trial, you can count on your injury lawyer to represent you in court, which includes presenting opening and closing arguments, cross-examining witnesses, and making arguments on your behalf.
- Peace of Mind: Dealing with injuries is stressful enough. You can help yourself focus on your recovery while knowing that a Philly personal injury lawyer is protecting your best interests.
Find a lawyer with a proven track record of success in handling personal injury cases, especially those similar to yours. This experience is likely to make a significant difference in the outcome of your case.
You’ll also want to choose an attorney who communicates clearly and is accessible to answer your questions and provide updates on your case.
Clear communication is essential for a smooth attorney-client relationship.
Understanding the Statute of Limitations Applicable in PA Injury Cases
Most personal injury claims have to be brought forward within a given time frame, or statute of limitations. Pennsylvania’s Civil Actions and Proceedings (§ 5524) states, “An action to recover damages for injuries to the person or for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another… must be commenced within two years.”
The last thing you want is to find that you’ve waited too long to come forward with your claim. If this happens, your claim may be thrown out, and you won’t be able to seek compensation.
It’s also important that you discuss your case with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible because the details will still be fresh in your mind, so you can give the most accurate details of what happened.
Waiting to file your claim has other risks. Evidence that could have been used may not be available anymore, such as an accident scene. It’s much less stressful for you to start your claim process as soon as possible.
Let Shrager, Sachs, & Blanco Help If Someone Else Hurt You in Philadelphia
If someone else caused you to suffer an injury, you deserve an advocate who will fight for your rights. At Shrager, Sachs, & Blanco, we’ve helped accident victims in Philadelphia, PA for years, and we’ll continue to do so. An experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer from our firm will carefully analyze what happened to you, collect the evidence needed to support your claim, and fight to secure the compensation you need for your losses.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case with an experienced personal injury attorney. We take most cases on a contingent fee basis, which means there’s one less detail you have to worry about when you opt to work with our firm on your legal matter.
