What Qualifies as a Personal Injury?

Personal injury is physical or psychological harm to the body or mind. While some injuries are not eligible for compensation, if the incident was caused by another person or entity, you could be entitled to file a personal injury claim. Still, you must be able to prove the person or organization that caused your injury is at fault either by intent or through negligence.

In order to determine whether the incident qualifies as a personal injury claim, it is important to consider:

• Whether you can prove your injury with appropriate medical and other supporting evidence
• If there is an at-fault party or organization to blame (another driver, a business owner, product manufacturer, or employer, for example)
• Has the injury affected the way you live your life (e.g., being unable to work, suffering from chronic pain, emotional trauma, or permanent disability)?

If you have been affected by an injury caused by another party and it has changed the way you carry out your day-to-day life, you may be entitled to compensation. Your attorney can investigate the circumstances of your accident and determine a suitable way to proceed with a claim for compensation if you qualify to do so.

Different Types of Personal Injuries

A personal injury can result from any accident caused by another party’s negligence, including:

• Slips, trips, or falls in public places
• Road traffic collisions
• Workplace injuries
• Defective products
• Medical negligence
• Accidents in the home

Many law firms offer a free case evaluation, during which you can discuss the details of your accident and be given a legal opinion about whether you may qualify to file for compensation.

Seeking Compensation for a Personal Injury

To be successful in your case, you must prove the other person or organization involved in your accident was wholly or in some way responsible for your injuries. Specifically, you must prove:

• Duty of care: Another party owed you a duty to keep you from suffering undue harm. The duty differs by the situation. For example, a driver has a duty to operate their vehicle safely and avoid injuring other road users. A property owner has a duty to keep their property safe for visitors.
• Breach of duty of care: The party in question must have behaved negligently and breached that duty. For example, if a driver is texting and driving, they have breached their duty.
• Causation: The negligence must have caused the accident and injuries. For example, the texting driver did not stop at a stop sign and hit you as you walked across the street, causing you to suffer a traumatic brain injury.
• Damages: You must have sustained economic, physical, or emotional harm. Examples of damages include medical bills, lost wages, mental anguish, and pain and suffering.

Establishing the other party is at fault is typically achieved by investigating the cause of your accident and gathering supporting evidence to demonstrate that party’s liability. However, there are time limits that apply that govern the period during which you can file a lawsuit.

Under 42 Pa. CSA §5524, you will generally have a two-year timeframe to bring legal action against the at-fault party or parties. If you do not file your lawsuit within that time, you may be unable to recover compensation. If you are able to prove the other party’s liability, you may be entitled to compensation for:

• Current and ongoing medical bills, e.g., hospitalization costs, surgical costs, emergency transportation, emergency medical treatment costs, prescription medications, assistive devices, followup visits
• Rehabilitation costs
• Loss of earnings, i.e., if recovering from your injuries keeps you out of work temporarily
• Loss of future earning capacity, i.e., if your injuries forced you to take a lesser paying job, work fewer hours, or took away your ability to work entirely
• Emotional trauma
• Pain and suffering

If you lost a loved one due to injuries they suffered from another party’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation through a wrongful death claim.

Finding Help if You Have Suffered an Injury

If you are considering taking legal action to recover compensation for an injury caused by another person or organization, you will likely have questions or concerns about how to proceed. Berger and Green is well-positioned to support you through this challenging time and take on the legal burden so you can focus entirely on your recovery.

We understand the impact of a personal injury on your physical, emotional, and financial well-being and work hard to recover the compensation you deserve for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

We can help you today, so please call and discuss your situation with us in a free case evaluation at (412) 661-1400. We work a contingency-fee-basis, so you owe us nothing upfront and pay us no attorney’s fees unless you recover compensation.