Do I Have a Personal Injury Case?
FAQ section answering common personal injury questions for Allentown residents seeking legal guidance.
Catastrophic injuries can occur when we least expect them and change our lives forever. If you were injured at work, on the road, or at a local Lehigh Valley business, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses. However, large organization and insurance companies will likely make getting your compensation as difficult as possible.
That’s where our Allentown personal injury lawyers can help. For over 60 years, Our Personal Injury Attorneys have been fighting for injured clients throughout the Lehigh Valley. Our experienced attorneys have won millions for accident victims in courtrooms and negotiation rooms all over Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and the entire United States. Our personal injury attorneys are on standby to discuss your case and our consultations are always free. To talk with an attorney right away, we can be reached over the phone, chat online, or email us directly.
Understanding Negligence in Personal Injury Law
What Damages and Compensation Can I Recover?
Not every injury requires the help of a personal injury lawyer. However, if you were seriously injured as the result of a person or company’s negligence, you should consult an injury lawyer. You may not initially realize the full extent of your damages, and the insurance company is unlikely to offer you full, fair compensation without pressure from an attorney. To file a successful personal injury lawsuit, you must have four elements: liability, negligence, causation, and damages. If you’re unsure whether you have a case, call our personal injury attorneys for a free, no-obligation consultation. We will review the details of your situation and advise you as to whether you have a case.
How Long Do I Have to File My Injury Claim in Allentown? (Statute of Limitations)
Every state sets its own time limit, called a statute of limitations, for filing a personal injury case. Once the clock runs out on the statute of limitations for your case, courts cannot consider your claims.
In Pennsylvania, most personal injury claims, including slip and fall cases, workplace injuries, heavy machinery accidents, medical malpractice, and car crashes, have a two-year statute of limitations. This means that you have two years from the date of your personal injury accident to file your case in a Lehigh County courthouse.
Of course, a good personal injury lawyer knows that a lot of work needs to be done before a case is ready to be filed. Your attorney will want to investigate the cause of your injuries, collect documents and medical records, discuss your case strategy, evaluate any insurance policies, determine which defendants to sue and which Lehigh Valley courthouse to choose. To get started on your personal injury claim, contact us today.
Steps to Report Your Accident and Injuries
Unfortunately, there is no way to predict exactly how long it will take for your case to be resolved and for you to be paid, and any lawyer who tells you a date with certainty is not telling the truth.
However, understanding the stages of a personal injury claim and the factors that affect each phase may help you better predict how long it will take to resolve your personal injury case.
The biggest factor in determining the timeline of your case is whether your case settles or goes to trial. According to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a division of the United States Department of Justice, only about 3 percent of tort cases are tried in court. The majority of personal injury cases settle outside the courtroom.
Will I Need to Take My Personal Injury Cases Go to Court?
When you’ve been injured in an accident, you’re facing a long list of unexpected costs – medical bills, missed time from work, and more. You don’t need to worry about paying for a lawyer, too. At Munley Law, our work on personal injuries cases use a contingency fee. That means we only collect a fee if we win your case. You pay nothing upfront or out of your own pocket. The contingency fee makes it possible for anyone to hire top-tier legal representation and take on even the most powerful entities. It also protects you from the financial risk of pursuing a case. Litigating a personal injury case can be expensive.
As your legal team, we invest our resources to hire experts, conduct investigations, create trial exhibits, negotiate on your behalf, and build a strong injury lawsuit. If we are unable to obtain a favorable outcome for you, it will cost you nothing.
How Does Insurance Coverage and Personal Injury Claims Work?
All situations are unique, so the damages you can recover will depend upon the unique circumstances of your claim. Generally speaking, people file a personal injury lawsuit in order to recover economic and non-economic damages they suffered as the result of someone else’s negligence. Economic damages are tangible losses with an explicit dollar value such as hospital bills or lost income. Non-economic damages are more subjective, but still significant losses such as mental anguish and pain. Damages may include:
- Medical bills
- Ongoing therapy and/or assistive care
- Disability
- Lost wages
- Lost earning power
- Altered quality of life
- Loss of companionship
- Pain and distress
A personal injury attorney at Munley Law work with medical and economic experts to calculate not only each victims existing losses but also the future damages you will suffer as a result of your injury to make sure you receive maximum compensation.
What if I Was Partially At Fault for My Car Accident?
There are a number of factors that impact how much compensation a victim injured in Allentown or the greater Lehigh Valley is owed for their injuries, so it is impossible to predict exactly how much your claim is worth without knowing the details of how you were hurt, what injuries you suffered, who is at fault, the medical care you will need moving forward, and whether you are still able to work and perform other everyday tasks.
Generally speaking, the more severe the injuries, the more money you will be owed by the defendants in your case. However, who you chose to represent you may be the biggest factor that will determine how much you are awarded. Not all law firms are equal, and not all law firms can achieve the same results.
Understanding Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawsuits
If you were partially at fault for your accident or injury, the other party’s insurance company may try to deny liability and tell you that you don’t have a strong claim that will lose in court, however, this is not always true. Contributory negligence rules vary by state. There are some states where you cannot recover damages if you were at all at fault for an accident. Pennsylvania, however, follows a 51 percent comparative negligence rule. This means that as long as you were less than 51 percent at fault, you can still file a personal injury claim. The damages you can claim will be proportionate to the defendant’s degree of fault. For example, if you were found to be 20 percent at fault for the accident, the defendant would be responsible for 80 percent of the damages cost.
How Much Money Does a Personal Injury Attorney Cost?
Across Lehigh County, accident victims have trusted Munley Law for over six decades. Time and time again, those suffering from catastrophic injuries caused by workplace, slip-and-fall, and accident negligence chose an experienced attorney because:
- We Know What It Takes to Win in the Lehigh Valley – While our personal injury lawyers have won awards and tried cases all over the United States, Pennsylvania is our home. We have spent 60 years learning everything there is to know about winning in a Lehigh County courtroom or an Allentown negotiation room. Put our local expertise to work by hiring a Lehigh Valley personal injury lawyer from Munley Law today.
- Our Lehigh Valley Clients Get the Compensation – At Munley Law, we don’t just win big for our clients, we win big right here at home in Allentown. We recently negotiated a $26 million settlement for our injured client, which was the second largest in Pennsylvania’s history. To learn more about how we can win big for you at home in Lehigh County, contact us today.
When to Hire Personal Injury Lawyers After an Accident
In Allentown, hiring a personal injury lawyer soon after an accident greatly improves your chances of recovering maximum compensation. Especially important if your accident happened on busy roads like Hamilton Street or involved local businesses, prompt legal help protects your rights, ensures critical evidence is preserved, and strengthens your injury claim.
Choosing the Right Allentown Injury Attorneys
Selecting experienced injury attorneys in Allentown is essential for a successful outcome in your injury cases. Look for lawyers familiar with Lehigh County courts, who have a track record of significant results for local clients, and can skillfully manage claims involving common local scenarios like car accidents on Route 22 or slip-and-falls at businesses in downtown Allentown.
Contact Munley Law® Personal Injury Lawyers About Your Lawsuit
Don’t suffer alone after an accident. Frequently, individuals underestimate or have questions the amount of harm they endure, from emotional distress to lasting damage to their health and safety. Whether dealing with complicated injury claims, questions about insurance coverage, or concerns about medical care and recovery, the experienced personal injury attorneys at Munley Law are ready to help.
Schedule a free consultation to better understand personal injury cases, learn about compensation possibilities for your lawsuit, and discuss liability, insurance coverage or incidents involving fault drivers and witnesses.
