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Pottstown Personal Injury Attorney

Pottstown, PA, has a deep-rooted American heritage and a long history going back to the 18th century. Today, over 23,000 people from all walks of life call Pottstown home. The town is a bustling economic center and a popular destination for thrill seekers, history enthusiasts, and investors. This makes for quite a lot of traffic along Pottstown’s main roads, such as High Street, U.S. Route 422, and Pennsylvania Route 663.

High road traffic inevitably leads to a high rate of road accidents. Have you or your loved one been involved in a car crash in Montgomery County, or injured in any way in one of Pottstown’s hospitals, nursing homes, or business premises? If your answer is “Yes,” you may be eligible for compensation from whoever is to blame for your injuries.

However, pursuing compensation for personal injury is not always easy. There’s a ton of paperwork to go through and intricate legal mazes to navigate, not to mention that the insurance company and the party at fault will stop at nothing to deny your claim. But don’t worry, Wilk Law, your friendly Pottstown personal injury lawyer, will handle any and all cases on your behalf. With over 20 years of experience as a personal injury lawyer in Pottstown and a 100% success rate, Wilk Law is your best chance of getting maximum compensation down to the last penny.

How Do I Know If I Have a Personal Injury Case?

Personal injury law, also known as tort law, is designed to protect you and your property from harm caused by someone else’s actions or failure to act. Put simply, personal injury means bodily harm, mental or emotional distress, property damage, monetary losses, or accidental/wrongful death caused by another party’s fault.

In a personal injury case, the fault may be negligence, intentional wrongs, or actions covered by strict liability.

Negligence

Negligence is the most common basis for personal injury claims. Legally speaking, negligence is defined as “failure to exercise the care toward others which a reasonable or prudent person would do in the circumstances, or taking action which such a reasonable person would not.” In other words, negligence means disregarding a law or duty or acting carelessly regarding the safety of others. For instance, if a driver runs a red light and causes a car crash, that counts as negligence.

As a personal injury claimant, you must establish the following elements to prove negligence on the defendant’s part:

  • The defendant owed you a duty of care or a legal duty
  • The defendant breached that duty
  • You suffered an injury as a direct result of that breach

Let’s go back to the earlier example of negligence, where a driver runs a red light. The driver is legally obligated to obey traffic rules; running a red light means they breached a legal duty. In such a case, all you have to do is prove that the driver’s negligence caused an accident that resulted in your injuries.

Intentional Wrongs

An intentional tort is a deliberate act to cause harm. However, a person may be liable for intentional wrongs even if the purpose of their actions wasn’t necessarily to cause harm. Common intentional wrongs in personal injury claims include assault, battery, trespassing, conversion, and false imprisonment.

Strict Liability

Strict liability or absolute liability torts may hold someone accountable for personal injury even if their actions were not careless or intentional. With strict liability, all you have to prove is that a tort occurred, not the defendant’s ill intent or the carelessness of their behavior.

Strict liability rules normally apply in cases where the plaintiff cannot prove the defendant’s intentions or negligence. Such claims are common in cases involving animal bites, product liability, abnormally dangerous conditions, or ultrahazardous activities.

In a nutshell, claiming personal injury means proving that you sustained injuries from someone else’s negligence, wrongful doing, or strict liability. Most of the proof is drawn from an account of the incident leading up to the injuries, medical records demonstrating the extent of the injuries, and expense reports showing monetary damages.

Deciding which claim to make can be challenging, especially if you don’t fully understand tort law. So, rather than taking risky chances, it’s best to consult a personal injury attorney in Pottstown if you have a valid claim. The attorney will guide you in gathering evidence and preparing the right legal arguments to build a strong case.

What Is the Process of Filing a Lawsuit in Pennsylvania?

If you’ve sustained any form of injury at someone’s expense, you may be eligible for compensation. But you have to initiate the claim process. Here’s a step-by-step guide to filing a personal injury lawsuit in Pennsylvania:

Step 1: Address Your Injuries

If you’ve sustained any bodily, mental, or emotional injuries, you should first seek appropriate medical attention. Get the medical, psychological, or wellness treatments suitable for your injuries, and ensure you follow your doctor’s advice regarding medication and recovery. This is crucial in validating claims involving health-related injuries.

Step 2: Lawyer Up

Consulting an attorney is the second and most important step in claiming personal injury. Wilk Law is ready to fight for you to ensure you get the compensation you deserve. Plus, you won’t pay a single penny until you’ve won the case.

An experienced personal injury lawyer will help you build a winning case by gathering supporting evidence, standing up against predatory companies, and laying out the legal framework to establish your claim.

Step 3: Document Everything

Like all lawsuits, a personal injury case is a game of proof. So, ensure you gather every document or record that proves you indeed sustained an injury through the defendant’s deliberate behavior, negligence, or unintentional actions. Key information to support your case may include:

  • Details of the injury
  • Medical records (prescriptions, clinical test results, hospital bills, etc.)
  • Expense reports (receipts, cost quotes, invoices, bank statements, etc.)
  • Witness accounts
  • Statements from the Pottstown police department
  • Contact information of everyone involved

Step 4: Issue the Complaint

Our personal injury law firm will help you draft an official complaint or demand letter and serve it to the person or entity responsible for your injury. The complaint will contain:

  • an account of the incident
  • the recipient’s involvement in the incident
  • the extent of injury or damage sustained
  • the compensation in question

Step 5: Act on the Defendant’s Response

Once the defendant is served, they’ll respond through the court, either dismissing or accepting the various items highlighted in the claim. The defendant will likely state their disagreement and may even launch a counter-claim to try and turn the blame around. At this point, you’ll know where you stand with the claim and the defendant.

Step 6: Trial and Settlement

Either side may file pre-trial motions dismissing or questioning the legal ground for the initial claim or ensuing counter-claims. After that, the case may go to court.

However, the defendant might make a settlement offer before the case reaches trial. Your lawyer will review any offers made at this juncture and reject them with counter-proposals if they don’t fit the bill. This interaction opens the table for settlement negotiations. Most personal injury claims are actually settled this way outside the court. But if both parties cannot agree on what’s fair or right, the case goes to trial, where a jury presides over the claim’s validity and the fitting compensation.

Your Pottstown personal injury attorney will battle it out in court on your behalf, ensuring your case is heard, well received, and fairly judged.

What Are Some Examples of Personal Injury Claims?

Valid grounds for personal injury claims extend a wide range of scenarios. Basically, any injury sustained unfairly or wrongfully can form the basis of a personal injury claim. Below is a list of common types of personal injury claims:

  • Car Accidents: According to PennDOT’s 2021 Pennsylvania Crash Facts and Statistics, Pennsylvania saw 117,899 car crashes resulting in 69,599 injuries and 1,230 fatalities in 2021 alone. The roads in Pottstown are not all that dangerous but intersections such as the one at King St and Manatawny St are notorious for traffic collisions. Given that a majority of road accidents are caused by driver error, there’s a high chance of compensation following a car crash.
  • 18 Wheeler and Truck Accidents: 7,244 of the 117,899 road crashes reported in Pennsylvania in 2021 involved heavy trucks. These crashes can be catastrophic, with many resulting in severe injuries, extensive property damage, and even death. Claiming compensation for heavy truck accidents often means going up against large trucking companies and their insurers.
  • Bicycle Accidents and Pedestrian Accidents: Innocent cyclists and pedestrians are often the unfortunate victims of road accidents, particularly at pedestrian crossings/pavements and bike lanes. Tort law empowers all road users to seek justice for damages and injuries sustained in road crashes.
  • Nursing Home Abuse: Are you or your loved one experiencing any form of abuse in a nursing home? Your Pottstown personal injury lawyer can help you get compensated for neglect, maltreatment, psychological torture, sexual abuse, and financial fraud.
  • Accidental and Wrongful Death: If you’ve lost a loved one due to the negligence of a company or individual, you can claim compensation for the associated medical bills, funeral expenses, grief, and loss.
  • Premises Liability: This encompasses injuries resulting from slips, trips, falls, animal bites, property loss, and falling objects when on public or private premises.
  • Product Liability: If you have sustained an injury from a defective product, you may claim compensation from the product’s manufacturer or distributor. You can do so on the grounds of negligence or false advertising.
  • Medical Malpractice: Medical practitioners are highly trained professionals with a vital role in society. But they can make mistakes too, sometimes even knowingly. If your healthcare provider is at fault, you can file medical malpractice claims for misdiagnosis, surgical errors, anesthesia errors, and so on.
  • Spinal Cord Injuries: Spinal injuries can result from slip and fall accidents, traumatic car crashes, work-related accidents, medical malpractice, or disease. A successful spinal injury claim will hold the at-fault person or entity accountable for the long-term cost of the injury.
  • Brain Injuries: This is another long-term injury that can cause untold physical pain and emotional suffering. Like with a spinal injury, you can claim compensation from those responsible for a brain injury.

How Much Is My Injury Case Worth?

The monetary value of a personal injury claim depends on the details of the case. Here are the factors that will determine the settlement amount for your personal injury claim:

  • The total cost of the injury — treatment, recovery, rehabilitation, and out-of-pocket expenses (for health-related injuries).
  • The total cost of repairing or replacing your damaged property (for property damage/loss torts).
  • The amount of past and future income lost due to your injury.
  • The pain and suffering caused by the injury, including physical pain, emotional anguish, and compromised quality of life.
  • The cost of medical expenses, funeral service, grief, and loss (loss of the breadwinner, guardian, household services, etc.) following the accidental or wrongful death of a loved one.
  • Your share of the blame for the injury. If you are partially responsible for the injury, the court will determine the final settlement based on your share of the blame.
  • The strength of your legal arguments based on the available evidence.

An experienced personal injury lawyer will argue the case from every possible perspective to ensure you get the most out of your settlement.

Pottstown, Pennsylvania

Pottstown was founded in 1752 by the Potts family and laid out on a 995-acre parcel of land. The Potts were iron masters and moved into the area to establish an iron forge. Most early German, Swede, and English settlers also got into the iron business. As the settlement grew, it became known as Pottsgrove village.

In 1815, Pottsgrove became the second Borough in Montgomery County after Norristown and was renamed Pottstown. The name stuck. Today, Pottstown covers nearly five square miles and is home to a vibrant and industrious community.

Pottstown is a charming small town with plenty to offer its residents and tourists. While in Pottstown, be sure to check out the iconic Pottsgrove Manor built in 1752 for the Potts family, and the historic Pottstown Carousel. You can also experience the captivating landscape from above in a hot air balloon, raise your adrenalin in the Trilogy Park BMX, or take a leisurely stroll in any of the town’s beautiful parks.

Pennsylvania Lawyers Fighting for Your Rights

Wilk Law is your trusted personal injury law firm in Pottstown. We’ve been successfully fighting for the rights of Pennsylvanians for more than two decades. If you want a dedicated and aggressive personal injury lawyer with a proven track record, look no further than Wilk Law. Our only goal is to help you get the justice you deserve.

In addition to Pottstown, some of the locations our legal team serves includes West Chester, Coatesville, Downingtown, Philadelphia, Phoenixville, Kennett Square, Berwyn, Devon, Exton, Frazer, and more. Contact us today to book a free consultation.