Do I have a personal injury case in Pennsylvania?
You likely have a claim if someone else’s negligence caused your injury, you can show the harm, and you file within Pennsylvania’s two-year deadline. Being partly at fault does not end your claim unless you were more than 50 percent responsible. LPB Law Group reviews Pennsylvania injury claims at no cost.
No charge, and no obligation. Requesting a review does not make you a client.
Pennsylvania bar since 1978 PA Attorney ID 27610 Check the bar record
Key Pennsylvania limits
The deadline for most Pennsylvania injury claims, counted from the date of injury.
42 Pa.C.S. § 5524Share more than half the blame and you recover nothing. At or below half, your award is reduced by your share.
42 Pa.C.S. § 7102Limited or full tort, chosen when you bought your auto policy. It decides whether you can claim for pain and suffering.
75 Pa.C.S. § 1705Four reasons people decide not to ask
Most people who could bring a claim never find out. These are the four assumptions that stop them, and what Pennsylvania law actually says about each.
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“It was partly my fault.”
Usually it does not matter. Pennsylvania lets you recover as long as your share of the blame is not greater than the other side's. Your award is reduced by your percentage, not cancelled.
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“It happened too long ago.”
The clock does not always start when you think. The discovery rule can start it when you found out. For an injury suffered as a child it generally does not start until the eighteenth birthday.
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“It is not serious enough.”
Seriousness is not the test. The test is whether someone else's carelessness caused a loss the law can compensate. That includes treatment costs and time off work, not only catastrophic injury.
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“I cannot afford a lawyer.”
The review costs nothing. Personal injury matters are ordinarily handled on a contingent fee, which means the fee comes out of a recovery. If there is no recovery there is no fee. Costs are explained in writing before anything is signed.
How to verify who is behind this
This site carries no testimonials, star ratings or settlement figures. Everything below can be checked against a public record instead.
225 Wilmington West Chester Pike, Suite 200, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 19317. A Pennsylvania limited liability company.
Admitted in Pennsylvania on 4 October 1978. Attorney ID 27610, status active. Look him up on the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board
Each page that states Pennsylvania law links the statute or decision it rests on, and carries the name, bar number and dated signature of the attorney who reviewed it.
What decides whether you have a claim
Four things have to be true. Most people asking this question already have three of them and are unsure about the fourth.
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Someone owed you a duty of care
A driver owes it to other people on the road. A property owner owes it to people lawfully on the property. An employer owes it to employees. This is rarely the part in dispute.
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They fell short of it
They did something a reasonably careful person would not have done, or failed to do something a reasonably careful person would have done.
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That failure caused your injury
This is where most claims are actually contested, especially where a pre-existing condition is involved, or where the injury appeared some time after the event.
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You have losses the law can compensate
Medical costs, lost earnings, and in most cases pain and suffering. What is recoverable depends on the type of claim and, for car accidents, on the tort option on your policy.
Being partly to blame is the single most common reason people decide not to ask. In Pennsylvania it usually does not end the claim.
How your own share of the fault affects recovery
Pennsylvania uses modified comparative negligence. You can recover as long as your share of the fault is not greater than the other side's. Your award is then reduced by your percentage.
The deadline, and what moves it
Most Pennsylvania injury claims run out two years after the injury. Three situations change when the clock starts, or pause it.
The injury happens The clock normally starts here.
Unless you could not have known Under the discovery rule the clock can instead start when you knew, or reasonably should have known, that you were injured and that someone else may be responsible.
Unless the injured person is a child For someone injured as a minor the two years generally do not begin until their eighteenth birthday.
The claim is time-barred After this the claim usually cannot be brought at all, however strong it is. Claims against a government body have their own, shorter notice requirements.
Find the answer for your situation
- Car and truck accidents
Fault, the tort election, insurance claims, and what a Pennsylvania car accident claim is worth.
- Workers’ compensation
Benefits, impairment ratings, and how Compromise and Release settlements actually work.
- Slip, trip and fall
Premises liability, what a property owner owed you, and proving notice of the hazard.
- Medical malpractice
Standard of care, certificates of merit, and the separate deadline rules that apply.
- Wrongful death
Who may bring a claim in Pennsylvania, the survival action, and how recovery is divided.
- Can I sue for this?
Assaults, dog bites, negligent security, dram shop, and claims against a business or municipality.
- Emotional distress claims
When distress alone is enough, and when it has to accompany a physical injury.
- What is my case worth?
How damages are actually calculated, and why nobody can quote you a figure up front.
Who reviews what you read here
LPB Law Group, LLC is a Pennsylvania personal injury firm with its office in Chadds Ford, Delaware County. It evaluates injury claims across the Commonwealth, and handles matters with or refers them to co-counsel. Every page on this site that states Pennsylvania law carries the name and bar number of the attorney who reviewed it, and the date.
David C. Petrone, Esq.
Licensed in Pennsylvania. PA Attorney ID 27610, admitted 1978.
Owner and Of Counsel, and the attorney who reviews the Pennsylvania legal content on this site. Nearly five decades at the Pennsylvania bar, with a background in government contracts, construction and risk management, and an engineering degree that informs how he analyses liability and causation.
Laurence P. Banville, Esq.
Licensed in New York and Washington, D.C. Not admitted in Pennsylvania.
Partner and owner. Does not practise Pennsylvania law and does not review the Pennsylvania legal content on this site.
How a case review works
Three steps, and you can stop after any of them.
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You send what happened
A short form: what happened, roughly when, and how to reach you. No documents needed at this stage, and no payment details are ever requested.
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LPB Law Group reviews it
The firm works out whether there is a claim, which deadline applies to your situation, and what evidence would matter. If there is no claim, you are told that plainly.
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You decide what to do
If there is something worth pursuing, the firm explains the options, the fee arrangement in writing, and whether the matter would be handled here or with co-counsel. Nothing proceeds until you agree to it.
Have someone look at it
If you have read this and still are not sure, that is a normal place to be. Send the details and LPB Law Group will tell you whether there is a claim worth pursuing, and what the deadline is in your situation. There is no charge for the review, and requesting one does not make you a client.
Not ready for that? Read the answer for your situation above, or start with the glossary of Pennsylvania injury terms and the frequently asked questions.