Personal Injury Law Questions

What are “damages” in a Pennsylvania personal injury case?

To sue for ‘damages’ is to attempt to recover compensation for a loss and/or injury. The injury can take many different forms such as physical injuries that are immediately noticeable (scarring, broken bones), as well as those that cannot be seen. These types of damages are typically “past” damages by the time your case goes to trial since they are damages that have already occurred. These non-visible injuries include:

• pain and suffering
• anxiety
• the inability to perform your usual work, social, and recreational activities
• humiliation,
• fear
• physical pain and anguish

You are also entitled to be compensated for your medical expenses, and lost wages.

There is also a claim for “future” damages. If future expenses are foreseeable as a result of the incident, those ‘damages’ can also be recovered. For example, if it has been reasonably stated by your medical doctor that further treatment will be needed in the future, or that due to your injury you will no longer be able to work, those expected expenses/losses would be included in the ‘damages’ in your case.

If I fall on someone else’s property, can I sue?

Just because you fell on someone’s property and got hurt does not mean that you have a legal case and can sue. On the contrary, in order for me to prove that you have a case as a result of a fall, I have to prove:

• That the property owner knew of the dangerous condition,
• That the property owner had sufficient time to repair the dangerous condition and didn’t do anything about it.
• That, as a result of the defect caused by the property owner, you the accident victim fell and got hurt.

Without that, there is no case whatsoever.

What is a deposition?

A deposition is an opportunity for the defense attorney to interview you in my presence. At the deposition the defense attorney will ask you questions about how your accident occurred, what your injuries were, what treatment you received, etc. You must be prepared for your deposition. All the questions that you answer are fair game for discussion by the defense attorney, so as soon as you open the door for questions, the defense attorney can you ask you more and more about your case, about how your accident occurred, about your treatment, and so on. That is why it is important that you prepare for your deposition, and under no circumstances should you be attending your deposition alone. At your deposition your attorney must attend with you.

What is a settlement conference?

A settlement conference is an opportunity for both sides to meet with a trial judge. What happens in a settlement conference is, your attorney and the defense attorney meet in the chambers of the trial judge, and the three of them discuss your case. Your attorney’s job is to maximize your case; the defense attorney’s job is to minimize your case. Your attorney’s job is to present your case in the light which is most favorable, to talk about how the injuries so affected your life; the defense’s job is to minimize your injuries, to put some of the blame of the accident on you. The judge will discuss the potential value of the case and what the potential jury verdict will be to try and sway both sides toward a middle ground. A settlement conference typically happens at a later stage in the case, after all the depositions are completed and after all the discoveries are completed, and right before trial.

Who pays my bills in a personal injury case?

In a typical motor vehicle accident case, your own insurance company pays your medical bills. In a fall down accident, furthermore, your health insurance coverage pays your medical bills. Clients frequently assume that the other person’s insurance company is responsible for paying all of their medical bills but that is not correct under the law in Pennsylvania. Rather, the other person’s insurance company is responsible for paying for your pain and suffering. That’s typically the larger portion of the case.

When settlement proceeds come in, who is reimbursed first?

The first entity that gets reimbursed is the entity that is owed a lien; that is, Medicare, the Department of Public Welfare, your health insurance, or worker’s compensation. Any of those entities may have a lien to your personal injury settlement, and those entities have to take a piece out of the person injury proceeds before anyone else gets reimbursed. This is a matter of Pennsylvania law. Of course, your attorney’s fee gets paid as well as any expenses your attorney pays in order to prosecute the case: for instance, expenses to file suit, expenses to get deposition transcripts, and expenses to get medical records. All of this is itemized for the client and is taken out of the proceeds from the settlement or the jury verdict. Only after those items are paid does the client receive the proceeds of the personal injury settlement or jury verdict.

What are my responsibilities as a client?

Your responsibilities as a client in a personal injury case are to give all of the information to your attorney about your injuries and about the accident, as well as to provide thus information to your medical providers.

What is the jury selection process in Pennsylvania?

At the beginning of a case, a jury pool, which is the group of people who will be potentially chosen as the jury, is brought into the courtroom. The plaintiff (those who are suing) and the defense (those being sued) both have the opportunity to question and remove people from the jury pool. The goal of the selection process is to have a balanced, impartial jury.

What does “notice” mean in my slip-and-fall injury case?

Establishing notice indicates that the property owner was aware that there was a defect on the property but neglected to correct it. It is a crucial element in a personal injury case as it can prove negligence.

What are my rights regarding recorded statements?

When a car accident occurs, the very first thing the opposing insurance company is going to do is send an investigator out to see you or call you on the phone. What they want to do is get your recorded statement. You do not have to offer a recorded statement to the other person’s insurance company. Rather, call your lawyer and let him or her speak on your behalf.

What is the hold up in settling my personal injury case?

There can be a variety of reasons for a hold up in settling your case. It could be that we are not getting the records or reports that we need from your doctor or doctors. We need those items in order to prove your injuries and in order to present your case properly to the opposing insurance company. In addition, the opposing insurance company may be intentionally delaying the settlement of your case. It is not in their interest to resolve a case quickly. Those are just some of the reasons why there might be a slow down in settling your personal injury case.

What is the process of a personal injury case?

The process is always the same no matter what type of case it is. Whether it is a medical malpractice case, civil rights case, car accident case, fall down case; the legal process is the same. Once you provide us information about what happened to you and what your medical injuries are, and the treatment you are obtaining. We obtain all medical records and do our investigation: for instance, in a car accident case we go to the see, take photographs, speak to witnesses, and so on. Once the investigation stage is done, once we collect all the medical records, we send all the itemization to the opposing insurance company, and the settlement negotiations are started. If the parties cannot reach a settlement then we file suit. Once the lawsuit is filed, the court sets certain time tables. The court will tell us by what date we must complete our discovery—that is, depositions, interrogatories, and so on—after that, the court will set the trial date. Before the trial date, the parties usually go through a pre-trial settlement conference. You may or may not be involved in the pre-trial settlement conference, but you will always be informed of what happens at the conference. If the parties cannot reach an agreement there, the trial date will be set and the parties will go to trial, at which point you will be fully engaged in the trial process.