Pennsylvania Car Accident Attorney

What It Means to Have a Car Accident Attorney Fighting for You

Our team partners with many of the country’s largest, most successful law firms. While our clients take the proper time to recover, our co-counsels advocate for them throughout the legal process and build a strong case.

When you sign on with a personal injury lawyer in Pennsylvania, you can expect them to handle these tasks:

Compiling Evidence of Negligence

Whenever a lawyer gets a case, the first thing they’ll look for is whether negligence exists. That means that someone owed you a duty of care but neglected it, causing a crash and your injuries. Your legal team will investigate the crash, gathering evidence to establish the other party’s negligence. Each car accident case is different, but your lawyer may collect and use the following documentation:

• The crash report
• Pictures of your visible injuries and the accident scene
• Traffic camera footage
• Medical records
• The involved vehicles
• Eyewitness accounts

Your attorney will also have access to our extensive network of industry experts and specialists. These accident reconstructionists and physicians can provide insight into how the collision occurred and impacted your life.

Managing All Correspondence With the Insurance Company

Don’t be surprised if an insurance adjuster calls you a few days after the crash. It’s part of the protocol. If they ask for your personal statement on what happened, politely refrain and direct them to your attorney. Insurers are known for employing certain tactics to devalue or deny a case.

Our co-counsels understand these strategies and will help ensure they act in good faith, all the way through settlement negotiations. If they don’t offer you enough to cover your losses, your attorney will go back and forth with them until they reach an agreement. They can usually settle without going to trial, but if that’s what’s necessary for you to have a successful case, your lawyer will be more than willing to take that step.

Ensuring You’re at Ease Throughout the Legal Process

We understand that you’re probably facing one of the most challenging times of your life right now. Allow us to take some of the weight off your shoulders. We treat everyone we serve with the dedication, empathy, and respect they deserve, and our law firm partners are committed to the same.

You can count on them to provide consistent updates on your case. In addition, they’ll give you fast answers to your questions through email or phone calls. There won’t be any worrying and wondering about what’s next when you work with our co-counsels.

How Much It Costs You to Have a Lawyer Handle Your Case

Paying personal injury lawyers is a top concern for those hurt in car accidents. Lawyers are known for charging high upfront costs, retainers, or hourly fees. However, our law firm partners take cases based on a contingency-fee agreement instead.

Only if and when they secure a settlement or a successful verdict will they receive payment for their work on your case. This fee arrangement typically begins with a free case review at no obligation. Connect with The Goldwater Law Firm today to learn more.

Types of Compensation You Can Receive After a Car Accident

No one is entitled to collect the exact amounts and forms of compensation, as their injuries, age, suggested medical treatment, work situation, and family life vary greatly. However, your attorney may find that you can recover damages for the following:

• Loss of income
• Future loss of earning capacity
• Past and upcoming medical expenses
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Property damage costs
• Wrongful death damages, if applicable

There’s not a lot of time to pursue a recovery for these losses. Pa. C.S.A. § 5524 allows up to two years for most claimants to file suit. This time frame begins on the day of the crash for personal injury, and the day your late loved one passed away for wrongful death. A wrongful death attorney in Pennsylvania can identify who has the right to file this action and who may benefit from it.

Certain factors could give you more time, but starting soon is always for the best, so we urge you to contact our law firm right after the crash. That way, your attorneys won’t be scrambling and pressed for time. In the event of a missed deadline, the court likely won’t let you move forward with your lawsuit, which would release the other party of their responsibility to compensate you.

Common Causes and Injuries in Car Crashes

Various factors could have contributed to or completely caused a car accident. Some of these include:

• Failing to yield
• Distracted driving
• Driving under the influence
• Speeding
• Driving too fast for conditions
• Improper lane change or merge
• Unsafe left turns
• Tailgating
• Driving drowsy
• Running a red light

Although a driver typically bears fault for a crash, another party could have played a role. For example, a pedestrian jaywalked, forcing the other driver to swerve and crash into you. A local government entity may have failed to fix a faulty stop signal in time, causing confusion for drivers and increasing the likelihood of a crash. Multiple parties may owe you compensation.

Car accidents can inflict severe injuries on victims. Burns, soft tissue injuries, spinal cord injuries, lacerations, traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, and internal injuries are all too common. If you haven’t already, seek medical attention immediately. Some injuries may not manifest until days after the crash, so you want to ensure you begin treatment to prevent further damage and get on the road to recovery.