Harrisburg Personal Injury Lawyers

When someone else’s negligence causes a serious injury, the consequences can reach into nearly every part of your life. Medical appointments begin piling up, you may be unable to work, bills continue arriving, and an insurance company may already be trying to determine how little it can pay on your claim.

Pisanchyn Law Firm represents people injured in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, and throughout Central Pennsylvania.

Our Harrisburg personal injury lawyers handle cases involving motor vehicle accidents, serious falls, dog attacks, catastrophic injuries, medical negligence, wrongful death, and other injuries caused by the negligence of another person, business, or organization.

If you’re unsure whether you have a personal injury case, we can review what happened and explain your options.

Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Harrisburg

Personal injury law covers many different types of accidents and injuries. Although every case is different, they generally have one thing in common: someone was injured because another party may have failed to act with reasonable care.

Our Harrisburg attorneys handle personal injury cases involving:

• Car accidents
• Truck and commercial vehicle accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Pedestrian and bicycle accidents
• Slip, trip, and fall accidents
• Dog bites and animal attacks
• Construction accidents
• Dangerous properties
• Defective products
• Medical malpractice
• Hospital negligence
• Birth injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Amputations
• Burns and other catastrophic injuries
• Nursing home and group home abuse
• Wrongful death

The circumstances surrounding each type of case are different. A truck accident may require investigation of a trucking company and commercial insurance policies, while a slip and fall may depend heavily on evidence showing how long a dangerous property condition existed.

Our job is to determine what happened, who may be responsible, and what evidence can be used to establish your claim.

What Makes a Personal Injury Claim?

Being injured does not automatically mean you have a personal injury case.

Generally, there must be some basis for holding another party legally responsible for the harm you suffered. That may involve a negligent driver, an unsafe property condition, a defective product, negligent medical care, or another act or failure to act that resulted in an injury.

An investigation may involve questions such as:

• Who caused or contributed to the accident?
• Was another person or company negligent?
• What evidence exists?
• Are there witnesses or surveillance footage?
• What insurance coverage applies?
• How serious are the injuries?
• Will the injuries affect your ability to work in the future?
• Will you require additional medical treatment?

The answers help determine whether a claim exists and what compensation may potentially be available.

What Should You Do After an Accident in Harrisburg?

Your health should come first. Seek appropriate medical attention and follow the treatment recommendations provided by your medical professionals.

When circumstances allow, it can also be helpful to preserve information about what happened.

Photographs and video, witness information, police or incident reports, medical records, damaged property, insurance correspondence, and other documentation may later become important evidence.

Avoid assuming that an insurance company will collect everything necessary to protect your interests. The insurance company conducts its investigation for its own purposes.

For serious injuries, getting legal advice early can help identify evidence that should be preserved before it disappears.

How Our Harrisburg Personal Injury Attorneys Investigate a Case

No two personal injury cases should be investigated exactly the same way.

Depending on the type of accident, an investigation may include obtaining police reports, photographs, video recordings, medical records, witness statements, vehicle information, property maintenance records, employment information, insurance policies, electronic data, or other evidence.

Serious cases may also require assistance from medical professionals, accident reconstruction specialists, economists, vocational experts, or other professionals who can help explain how an accident occurred or how an injury will affect someone’s future.

The goal isn’t simply to prove that an accident happened. It is to establish responsibility and understand the full extent of the losses caused by the injury.

What Compensation Can You Recover in a Personal Injury Case?

The amount and types of compensation available depend on the circumstances of each case.

A personal injury claim may potentially seek compensation for:

• Medical bills
• Future medical care
• Lost wages
• Loss of future earning capacity
• Rehabilitation expenses
• Pain and suffering
• Permanent disability
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Loss of quality of life
• Other losses resulting from the injury

A serious injury may affect someone for years after an accident. For that reason, evaluating a claim should involve more than simply adding up the medical bills that have already arrived.

Future treatment, permanent limitations, ability to work, and the effect of the injury on everyday life may also need to be considered.

Don’t Assume the Insurance Company’s First Offer Is the Value of Your Case

Insurance companies handle injury claims every day. Most injured people do not.

After an accident, an adjuster may ask for a statement, request medical records, question how an accident happened, or make an early settlement offer.

An early offer can be tempting when medical bills and lost income are already creating financial pressure. But accepting a settlement generally ends the claim, even if additional medical problems develop later.

Before accepting an offer or signing a release, it is important to understand what you may be giving up.

Serious and Catastrophic Injury Cases

Some accidents cause injuries that permanently change a person’s independence, career, relationships, and future.

Our attorneys handle cases involving traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, paralysis, amputations, severe burns, permanent organ damage, loss of vision or hearing, and other catastrophic injuries.

These cases require careful consideration of future medical needs, rehabilitation, assistive equipment, lost earning capacity, long-term care, and the effect the injury will have on the victim and family.

A catastrophic injury claim should account for the future consequences of the injury, not only the expenses incurred immediately after the accident.

What If More Than One Person Was Responsible?

Accidents aren’t always caused by one person or company.

A serious crash, construction accident, defective product case, or other injury may involve multiple potentially responsible parties and multiple insurance policies.

Identifying every responsible party can be particularly important when an injury is severe and damages are substantial.

Our attorneys investigate the circumstances surrounding the injury to determine who may bear responsibility and what insurance coverage or other sources of recovery may be available.

How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania law places deadlines on personal injury claims.

The applicable deadline can depend on the type of case and the circumstances involved. Certain claims may also involve special notice requirements or other deadlines.

Waiting can create another problem even before a legal deadline expires: evidence disappears.

Video can be overwritten, vehicles and property can be repaired, witnesses become more difficult to locate, and memories fade.

If you believe another party may be responsible for a serious injury, speaking with an attorney sooner can provide more time to investigate and preserve evidence.

Harrisburg Personal Injury Lawyers Serving Dauphin County

Pisanchyn Law Firm represents injury victims throughout Harrisburg, Dauphin County, and Central Pennsylvania.

Our Harrisburg office is located at:

Pisanchyn Law Firm
3609 N. Front Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110
717-238-3333

Our attorneys represent people injured in Harrisburg as well as surrounding communities throughout Dauphin County and Central Pennsylvania.

Talk to a Harrisburg Personal Injury Lawyer

If you’ve been seriously injured because of someone else’s negligence, you don’t have to determine on your own whether you have a case.

Pisanchyn Law Firm can review what happened, identify potential sources of responsibility and insurance coverage, and explain your legal options.

Call our Harrisburg office at 717-238-3333 or 1-800-444-5309 for a free consultation.

For personal injury matters handled on a contingency-fee basis, there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.

For more information on catastrophic injuries visit catastrophicallyinjured.com.