You likely have a legitimate personal injury claim if you suffered harm because of the negligence of another person or entity in Easton.
Personal injury lawsuits are not limited to any one type of person or business. Medical professionals, healthcare providers, property managers, law enforcement officers, and the average person could all be held accountable if they caused your injury. Our lawyers and staff have the knowledge and resources to provide injured individuals the vigorous representation they deserve. If you have suffered an injury or a financial loss due to the conduct of another, you could be entitled to monetary compensation. Whether or not you recover damages will be based on the strength of your case and if you can establish that the defendant owed you a duty of care, the defendant breached their duty of care, the breach caused your injuries, and you incurred real damages because of the accident.
Call our Easton, PA personal injury lawyers at (215) 709-6940 to schedule a free and confidential case review with The Reiff Law Firm today.
Types of Personal Injury Lawsuits Filed in Easton, PA
Personal injury claims are as varied and unique as the people who are injured. Our attorneys have filed many different types of claims for our clients. Some of the most common types of personal injury lawsuits include those brought because of motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, defective products, workplace accidents, medical malpractice, and other incidents that result in injury.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
The most common cause of injuries resulting in personal injury claims is motor vehicle accidents. Accidents are not limited to cars – trucks, buses, motorcycles, and even pedestrian accidents cause costly and catastrophic injuries. When injured in auto accidents in Easton, victims should learn how their personal injury protection insurance applies and whether their current coverage limits their ability to sue. In Pennsylvania, drivers can purchase limited or full tort insurance. This insurance will apply to most types of auto accidents, excluding motorcycle accidents. If you have limited tort insurance, you will have to prove that your injuries meet the serious injury threshold as defined in 75 Pa.C.S.§1702. Our attorneys can do this by submitting your medical records as evidence. Once you have established that your physical injuries are severe enough, you can sue for pain and suffering damages as well as economic damages. If you have full tort insurance in Easton, you can file a lawsuit for all losses incurred, regardless of your injuries.
Slip and Fall and Premises Liability Cases
Another common reason people file personal injury claims is non-vehicle accidents or accidental falls. When you enter a premise or the surrounding area of a property, you have a reasonable expectation that the area is free of any known hazard. Cracked sidewalks, uneven stairs, poor hallway lighting, and liquid spills could all contribute to an accidental fall and injury. Victims can file slip and fall or premises liability cases against a wide variety of defendants, including homeowners, retail stores, restaurants, property management groups, landlords, or others who failed to ensure their properties were reasonably safe for visitors in Easton.
Product Liability Claims
Though not as common as car accidents, defective product accidents can be especially devastating to victims in Easton. Manufacturers owe a duty of care to their customers to test their products for efficacy and label them with their intended uses and the necessary safety instructions. If a product is defective, it might cause injury to a user in Easton. Our lawyers will look down the chain of supply to determine who along that chain is liable for your injuries so that you can file a claim for personal injury.
Workplace Accidents
Accidents can take place in any work environment, from construction sites to office buildings. While employees can rarely sue their employers for workplace accidents in Easton, they can file third-party lawsuits if someone else is to blame for their injuries. For example, if you trip down the steps of your office building because of poor lighting, and the stairwell is maintained by the owner of the building, not your employer, then the building owner can be held liable in a lawsuit.
Medical Malpractice
Our attorneys have the knowledge, experience, and resources to fight for those injured through medical malpractice. Unlike many other personal injury claims, medical malpractice cases present unique challenges. We have access to qualified medical experts who can evaluate your case in order to help our lawyers build a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Easton, PA
Before you officially file your personal injury lawsuit in Easton, you must identify who the negligent party is and have an estimation of the value of your claim.
In order to file your complaint with the court, you will need to be able to name the defendant, explain the circumstances of the incident, and request your desired damages. Because the deadline to bring personal injury claims is two years in Pennsylvania, it will be important for our attorneys to establish these facts as soon as possible. That way, you can file a complete and thorough petition with the court and be prepared for a possible trial.
We will also calculate your anticipated damages at this time. Starting with your economic damages, we will compile all records of your financial losses, such as your lost wages and medical expenses. Additional out-of-pocket expenses will also be factored into this equation.
Then, we will calculate your deserved non-economic damages. This can be a bit more challenging and abstract since pain and suffering damages are subjective, not concrete like economic damages are. To do this, our personal injury lawyers will use the per diem or multiplier methods. Non-economic damages are not limited for injury victims in Pennsylvania, except in claims against the government, meaning you have the potential to recover substantial non-economic damages if you take your personal injury claim to court.
What it Means to Settle a Personal Injury Case in Easton, PA
Victims often assume that they will automatically settle their personal injury claims and that there is no need to go to trial. While it is understandable why settling might be appealing to victims, especially to those who need fast access to compensatory damages, it is not always the best option in every case.
Often, personal injury claims can be settled without assistance from the court. Judges and juries are unpredictable, so it might be in your best interest to negotiate with the defendant and their insurance provider. However, you should have the representation of our attorneys before talking with the defendant or signing any document with an insurance company. To reach a just settlement amount, you need to know the value of your case. In situations where the defendant is unwilling to negotiate or offers an unreasonably low amount, we are prepared to file a lawsuit. It is not uncommon for a fair offer to be presented after a personal injury is filed with the court.
That said, initial settlement offers are rarely fair. It might take some negotiations with our personal injury lawyers before the defendant is willing to present a just offer. When negotiations stall for too long, a victim is unnecessarily going without compensation. It is important to know when it is time to stop negotiating with the opposing side and proceed with a trial. If you wait too long for this or accept an unfair settlement offer, you may be unable to go to court.
Proving Fault in an Easton, PA Personal Injury Lawsuit
Determining fault, negligence, and liability in your personal injury claim will depend on the circumstances and facts related to your injury.
In some cases, fault is apparent – for example, a drunk driver who loses control of their car and hits your vehicle stopped at a traffic light is clearly to blame for your injuries. However, in other cases, the exact cause and chain of events leading up to your injury are more ambiguous. Fault might be less clear in cases involving multi-car accidents or other complicated claims.
Even if fault is clear to you, you must prove it to a judge or jury. Our lawyers will gather all of the relevant evidence in your case, including photographs, witness testimony, accident reports, medical records, police reports, and other crucial material related to your injury to help determine fault and liability.
Liability and Negligence in Easton, PA Personal Injury Cases
A successful personal injury claim requires establishing that the defendant’s negligent conduct caused your injury. Demonstrating that the conduct was negligent is a four-step process.
First, you must show that the defendant owed you a duty of care. This duty is dependent on the relationship between you and the defendant. A motorist has a duty to operate their vehicle safely, and your surgeon owes you a significantly different duty of care.
Once a duty of care is established, you must prove that the defendant breached their duty. Typically, this is determined by looking at what a reasonably prudent person, with the same training and qualifications, would do under similar circumstances. If your surgeon made an error during a surgical procedure, then we would have to determine if the mistake was justifiable or if another surgeon would have acted differently under the same conditions. Once again, this will be highly dependent on the facts of your case.
Next, the negligent conduct must have caused your injury. If a surgeon left a surgical instrument inside your chest cavity and it eventually punctured an internal organ, then the resulting harm could be traced directly back to the surgeon’s error. Or, if your landlord failed to salt icy steps in the winter, causing you to trip and break your arm, they would be liable. While this may appear to be a clear connection, there are cases where demonstrating causation is challenging.
Finally, your injury must have resulted in actual and measurable damages. For example, if you were cut after falling on a cracked sidewalk, you might not have incurred enough damages to file a personal injury lawsuit. Our experienced attorneys will thoroughly evaluate your case, including any initial and ongoing economic and non-economic damages, to come up with an appropriate compensation amount.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation in Easton, PA
Call The Reiff Law Firm at (215) 709-6940 to schedule a free case assessment and to review your legal options with our personal injury lawyers.
