Hazle Township Personal Injury Lawyer
A sudden and unexpected personal injury usually begins a downward spiral from which there seems no escape. While victims struggle to recover from their injuries, first in a hospital and then at home, unpaid bills usually pile up. The financial stress makes the physical and emotional stress even worse, thus lengthening the recovery period. Longer recovery means more stress, and the downward spiral continues. Insurance company adjusters often offer a false lifeline in the form of a quick settlement that only protects the company’s financial interests.
In contrast, the hard-working Hazle Township personal injury lawyers at The Needle Law Firm offer victims a legitimate way out. We arrange for victims to see top-notch doctors who focus on injury-related conditions. Usually, these doctors charge nothing upfront. So, physical, emotional, and financial stress levels fall almost overnight. Later, when the case goes to court, we fight hard for the compensation that victims need and deserve.
Kinds of Personal Injuries
This compensation is available if a Hazle Township personal injury lawyer establishes negligence, or a lack of care, by a preponderance of the evidence, or more likely than not. Some of the injury matters our professional team has successfully handled in the past include:
- Car Crashes: Every year, vehicle collisions kill or seriously injure millions of Americans. Head injuries may be the most common injuries, and the most commonly fatal ones as well. The extreme motion in a wreck causes the brain to violently, and repeatedly, slam against the insides of the skull. The resulting physical and emotional injuries are permanent. When brain cells die, they never regenerate.
- Medical Malpractice: Since they have so much education, training, and experience, doctors have a very high duty of care in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, many doctors shirk their legal responsibilities, usually so they can make more money. When doctors take shortcuts, whether during routine well checks or advanced surgical procedures, people get seriously hurt.
- Construction Accidents: According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, the Fatal Four of falls, electrocutions, struck-by injuries, and caught between injuries, are the most common and most preventable fatal construction site injuries. These victims often don’t need to prove negligence to obtain compensation for their injuries.
Comparative fault, which shifts blame from the tortfeasor (negligent actor) to the victim, may be the most common insurance company defense. Others include assumption of the risk, which usually involves a warning sign or liability waiver, and sudden emergency, which sometimes comes up if a victim crosses the street in front of a moving car.
Negligence Basics
However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before attorneys worry about insurance company defenses, which they must, they must build strong negligence cases.
We briefly mentioned negligence above. In Pennsylvania, an ordinary negligence claim has four basic parts:
- Duty, which is usually a duty of reasonable care,
- Breach, or behavior that falls below the standard of care,
- Cause, which includes both factual and legal causation, and
- Damages, or a tangible personal injury.
A fiduciary duty of care applies in the aforementioned medical negligence cases. Doctors must go above and beyond when it comes to patient health and safety.
Other negligence doctrines may be available, including negligence per se. In Pennsylvania, tortfeasors who violate safety laws, such as the DUI law, and cause injuries could be responsible for damages as a matter of law.
Connect With a Hard-Working Luzerne County Personal Injury Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in Hazle Township, contact The Needle Law Firm. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.
