Dedicated Personal Injury Lawyers In Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Fighting For You
Our personal injury attorneys at Rieders, Travis, Dohrmann, Mowrey, Humphrey & Waters have spent decades honing their skills and successfully representing Pennsylvania families who have suffered an injury or loss due to someone else’s negligence. We offer personal attention and loyalty to every client, aggressively fighting to get them fair compensation for their injuries. With our experienced staff, we offer strength in numbers while providing top-notch personal service.
Whether in settlement negotiations or pursuing a favorable trial verdict, we are thoroughly prepared and committed to achieving a just outcome. If you or a loved one has suffered personal injury or someone has died as a result of another person’s negligence, you should get legal assistance to protect your rights.
Request a personal injury consultation.
What Defines A Personal Injury In Pennsylvania?
Personal injury occurs when you have received mental and/or physical harm due to someone else’s negligence. Injuries may be either mild or severe enough to cause death. The most common causes of personal injury are crashes involving motor vehicles. Other common causes are medical and hospital malpractice, construction injuries, products liability claims, aircraft failures, dog attacks, slip-and-fall mishaps, nursing home abuse and sexual abuse.
Pennsylvania personal injury law is complex; there are time limits for filing, and if you don’t accurately file your claim within the statute of limitations, you may never collect the compensation you are entitled to. It’s essential to get legal assistance to make sure your case is handled promptly and properly.
Achieving Results When It Counts
We know the courts and the legal system, and what you need to do to increase your chances of winning a good settlement. Our seasoned personal injury lawyers have helped hundreds of people file successful lawsuits. With decades of experience and an excellent reputation in the legal community, we are well positioned to take on even the most difficult cases. We offer consultations on personal injury cases to carefully examine the individual facts in your case and determine the best way to handle it. Contact us for a consultation on personal injury cases with a highly experienced Williamsport, Pennsylvania, personal injury lawyer by calling 570-796-7613.
Request a personal injury claim review.
What Does Compensation Cover?
In Pennsylvania, compensated costs and losses fall into two categories:
- Economic damages are expenses that can be objectively calculated such as medical, hospital, therapy, equipment and rehabilitation costs; lost income; property damage; and funeral and burial costs.
- Noneconomic damages may include pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of life’s pleasures, emotional distress, and the loss of a marital relationship (consortium).
How Is Fault Determined?
For you to win a personal injury claim, you must be able to prove that the other party was at fault and negligent by showing:
- The party causing your injuries had a responsibility not to injure you and failed to live up to that responsibility.
- There is a connection between the other party’s responsibility and your injury.
- You suffered damages, or a financial loss, as a result of your accident.
Pennsylvania has a “modified comparative negligence rule.” Compensation is reduced by an amount equal to your percentage of fault. If you are more than 50% at fault, you can’t collect anything from other at-fault parties. There is a different rule concerning products liability claims, and sometimes, statutes and specialized cases may come into play with respect to fault.
Time Limits
In Pennsylvania, there is a statute of limitations that allows you two years from the date of an injury to file a lawsuit in the state’s civil court system. You must file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations runs out, or the Pennsylvania civil court system will likely refuse to hear your case, and you will lose the right to get compensation.
If your claim is against a city, county or state government agency, there are times when a notice of intent to sue within six months is required. Sovereign immunity in Pennsylvania is another area of great complexity. In federal cases, the Federal Tort Claims Act controls, and sometimes, there are even opportunities to obtain damages for personal injuries under the civil rights laws.
Types Of Injury Claim Compensation
Pennsylvania has something called the Financial Responsibility Law. Cliff Rieders wrote the book on the subject, and the book is available from Amazon. Medical and hospital reimbursement is handled from the victim’s own coverage, up to the limits of coverage purchased. There is then tort coverage and the all-important underinsurance. Many people take less insurance than they should. Sometimes, we can get around this, and other times, not. Certain forms must be executed before underinsurance can be cut by the insurance company.
Also extremely important in Pennsylvania is that you can choose between “full tort” and “limited tort” insurance coverage. “Limited tort” prohibits you from suing unless the accident resulted in “serious injury.” If you are able to prove serious injury or if you have “full tort” coverage, you can seek compensation from an at-fault party. It is extremely important that an attorney look at this because there are times when it is possible to get around the tort waiver where the proper forms have not been executed. We have experience working with physicians in terms of obtaining information on whether a serious injury has occurred.
Caps On Injury Settlement Amounts
Pennsylvania’s constitution prohibits the limitation of damages in cases involving injury and death. The only limitation is a cap on punitive damages in medical malpractice cases. However, state laws do limit the amount of compensation you can recover when the defendant is a local or state government entity such as a school district. The law is different with respect to the Federal Tort Claims Act and where civil rights laws may be applicable.
How Does A Personal Injury Attorney Get Paid?
In personal injury cases, the attorney typically receives payment through a contingency fee agreement. Attorneys often lay out the costs of filing the case and do not get paid until a settlement is reached, at which point they receive a percentage of the settlement funds. If you are seriously injured, need surgery, have large medical bills, miss a great deal of time from work or are unable to work again, your personal injury case is worth more money.
How Long Do Personal Injury Settlements Take?
Settlement time for personal injury lawsuits varies greatly, depending on variables that include:
- The amount of investigation necessary to prove your claim
- The type and severity of injuries sustained
- The length of time necessary to complete medical treatment
- Whether the case can be settled out of court without having to file a lawsuit or whether the case must go to trial
- How busy the court docket is
- Who the defense lawyers are and how cooperative they are
- How strong the liability is
- The judge and the court system involved
How Much Is A Claim Worth?
There is no predetermined amount or formula for settlements awarded by judges or juries for personal injury, but you may be able to recover for:
- Economic costs such as property damage; past and future medical, hospital and rehabilitation expenses; past and future wage loss; and loss of wage horizon
- Noneconomic damages such as physical and mental pain and suffering, discomfort, disfigurement, embarrassment, humiliation, inconvenience, depression, emotional distress, loss of life’s pleasures, and loss of society, services and consortium
- Punitive damages, in some rare cases
Practice Areas We Handle
Areas of personal injury that our attorneys handle include:
- Medical malpractice: This occurs when a doctor, practitioner or facility does not conform to the standard of care in Pennsylvania, determined by how similarly trained professionals would have treated the same condition. Medical professionals must have the same knowledge and skill, and exercise the same care normally used in the profession. They must also keep informed of developments in the profession and use current skills and knowledge. Medical care that violates the required due care, including negligent treatment that causes injury or death to the patient, may violate the standard of care.
- Vehicle accidents: If you or a loved one was involved in a vehicle crash and another party was negligent or responsible, you may be entitled to receive financial compensation to cover your medical and hospital expenses, rehabilitation, lost wages, loss of future wage horizon, property loss, pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of life’s pleasures, and humiliation. Be aware of some important laws regarding vehicle accidents in Pennsylvania:
- No-fault: Pennsylvania does not have a no-fault car insurance system. There are certain benefits paid for by your own insurance, if you are covered, such as first-party benefits and underinsurance.
- Statute of limitations: Generally, there is a limit of two years after the accident for filing a personal injury or property damage lawsuit.
- Comparative fault: Pennsylvania has a “modified comparative fault” rule, reducing a total damages award by whatever percentage of the fault of the accident the courts determine is yours, and you may not collect if you are more than 50% at fault.
- Medical devices and products liability: Anyone injured by a faulty medical device or product may have a claim under one of three categories:
- Defective design: There are issues in the design of a device, even if appropriately manufactured.
- Defective marketing: The product may have been marketed without informing the patient of the dangers involved.
- Defective manufacture: The product was damaged during manufacturing or distribution.
- Dog bite/attack: Pennsylvania statute (3 Pa. Stat. § 459-502 (b)) makes the owner “strictly liable” for injuries to others. This means that even if this is the first time the animal has injured someone, the dog owner may be responsible.
Preemption, however, means that certain types of cases cannot be brought at all because of federal regulation. This is a very complex area of the law.
Depending on the situation, any of the following may be held liable for defective products:
- Manufacturer for a defective process
- Doctor who failed to give information regarding potential warnings or proper usage
- Retail supplier
- Sales representative who recommended the defective device
Injuries We Cover
The following are common injuries that may lead to personal injury settlements:
- Spinal cord injuries: The spinal cord is the main pathway for information connecting the brain and the peripheral nervous system. Damage to the spinal cord can cause loss of some or all ability to control movement and feeling below the injury site.
- Traumatic brain injuries: The human brain controls our ability to function and is extremely sensitive and subject to damage. When the brain is injured, any of our abilities can be affected, and severe symptoms, from paralysis to death, may result. In such cases, seeking the expertise of a traumatic brain injury lawyer is crucial to navigate legal complexities and ensure proper compensation for the affected individuals and their families.
- Fractures: Broken bones can cause pain and interfere with our functioning and may never heal correctly.
- Extensive soft tissue damage: Common injuries include whiplash, sprains, strains, muscle tears and nerve damage.
- Burns: The skin is the body’s largest organ‚ and it can be severely compromised by burns, resulting in horrific injuries that cause pain, swelling, redness, blistering, scarring, infection and, in severe cases, possibly death.
- Wrongful death: When a loved one dies through a fatal accident caused by a “wrongful act,” “neglect,” “unlawful violence” or “negligence” committed by a third party, certain close family members may be able file a lawsuit for wrongful death. Claims can involve a wide range of misconduct, ranging from homicide to medical malpractice or nursing home neglect. In such cases, consulting with a Pennsylvania wrongful death lawyer can provide the necessary guidance and support to navigate these complex legal matters.
Contact An Experienced Williamsport Personal Injury Lawyer
If you or your loved one has suffered personal injury harm, your next step should be to consult our Williamsport personal injury attorneys at Rieders, Travis, Dohrmann, Mowrey, Humphrey & Waters by calling 570-796-7613 or using our online contact form. Based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, we serve clients throughout the state of Pennsylvania. More than that, we offer you experience, knowledge, compassion and a long history of results.
Attorney Cliff Rieders
Cliff Rieders is a board-certified trial lawyer by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, practicing personal injury law. A large part of Cliff’s practice are serious personal injury matters involving vehicles, trucks, medical and hospital malpractice, products liability claims involving personal injury, and multi-district litigation including cases related to pharmaceuticals, vitamin supplements, and medical devices. He is admitted to several state and federal courts, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. He is the past regional president of the Federal Bar Association and is a life member of the distinguished American Law Institute, which promulgates proposed rules adopted by many state courts. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, formerly the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. As a founder of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, he served on the board for 15 years.
Not only has Rieders held many highly esteemed leadership positions, but he also authored legislation related to the Patient Safety Authority and the Mcare Act, which governs medical and hospital liability actions in Pennsylvania. He authored texts upon which both practitioners and judges rely, including Pennsylvania Malpractice Laws and Forms, and Financial Responsibility Law Issues in Pennsylvania, the latter governing auto and truck collisions in Pennsylvania. In addition, he wrote several books on the practice of law in Pennsylvania regarding wrongful death and survivor actions, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice claims and worker rights, among others. He also serves as a resource to practitioners as a regular speaker for Celesq, an arm of the world’s largest legal publisher, Thomson Reuters West publishing.
As recognition of his wide range of contributions to his profession and of his dedication to protecting the rights of his clients, he received numerous awards, among them the George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award, the Milton D. Rosenberg Award, the B’nai B’rith Justice Award and awards of recognition from the Pennsylvania Association for Justice. [ Attorney Bio ]
Highly Credentialed Trial Lawyers
Why We Say, “We Wrote The Book”
Attorney Clifford Rieders has written a leading textbook on medical malpractice, which is used in Pennsylvania by lawyers who work in the field. He has also authored books on several other topics, including financial responsibility law issues in Pennsylvania, laws and rules pertaining to the settlement of death actions, bad faith law in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania’s laws and statutes on attorney fees, legal malpractice claims in Pennsylvania and workers’ rights in Pennsylvania. He is a well-known teacher, media authority, speaker and writer who testifies frequently and has helped write Pennsylvania legislation.