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West Chester Personal Injury Attorney

A serious personal injury accident can change your life in an instant. You may be unable to work and left to wonder how to meet your monthly expenses. Medical bills may be piling up, and creditors may be calling your home.

If you or your loved one suffered severe injuries in an accident, Wilk Law can help. Wilk Law is an experienced West Chester personal injury firm. Our personal injury attorneys are personable and candid and offer accident victims:

  • Trustworthy legal advice;
  • Aggressive representation with a track record of success; and
  • Personalized attention and compassionate counsel.

When you want a legal firm to fight for you and hold negligent individuals or companies responsible for your injuries, call Wilk Law. We provide complimentary case consultations and will meet you in our office, your home, the hospital, or anywhere you feel most comfortable. Call Wilk Law at (855) 946-3678 or contact us online to start your path to recovery and a better future.

Why Choose Wilk Law for a Personal Injury Claim?

  • At Wilk Law, our team focuses on providing a client-centered approach to every case that we take to ensure that injury victims secure the compensation that they are entitled to.
  • We are dedicated to handling only personal injury cases, which means that we have developed the network of resources necessary to help our clients with every aspect of their claims.
  • We understand that every case is different, which is why we examine all of the evidence and put together the strongest and most compelling case possible.

West Chester Personal Injury Resources & FAQs

Why You Need a Personal Injury Attorney in West Chester

Retaining a personal injury attorney is a crucial first step after a devastating accident. Insurance companies have teams of adjusters and attorneys working to keep their costs low and avoid accident responsibility whenever possible. An experienced personal injury attorney like ours at Wilk Law protects and defends your legal rights and interests against infringement from insurance companies.

At Wilk Law, we focus on building a solid legal case for your compensation. Our personal injury attorneys work tirelessly to represent you in the following ways:

  • Investigating the cause of your accident;
  • Determining all parties liable for your injuries;
  • Pursuing all available sources of compensation;
  • Reviewing your medical records to determine your current and future medical needs;
  • Calculating a fair and just settlement value for your injuries;
  • Handling all insurance company correspondence and negotiations on your behalf;
  • Hiring any necessary medical or accident experts;
  • Settling your personal injury claim; or
  • Proceeding with litigation.

Wilk Law prides itself on service above and beyond most law firms. Call us today and schedule your no-obligation claim review. At Wilk Law, use our legal knowledge, experience, and resources to pursue your personal injury claim, allowing you to regain your health and well-being.

What is a Personal Injury Accident?

Accidents and injuries happen every day in West Chester. However, not all accidents are personal injury accidents. A personal injury accident occurs when one person suffers an injury due to the negligence, or recklessness, of another person or company.

Examples of personal injury accidents are:

Proving a Personal Injury Claim

Pennsylvania requires an injured person, or their attorney, to prove negligence on behalf of the wrongdoer to qualify for compensation in a personal injury claim.

Meeting the legal standard of negligence requires proving the following:

  • The wrongdoer owed the victim a duty of care;
  • The wrongdoer breached that duty of care;
  • The breach of duty of care was the primary cause of the victim’s injuries; and
  • The victim’s injuries resulted in damages.

Without damages, or losses, like medical bills and lost wages, there is no personal injury case.

Compensation for Personal Injury Claims

The purpose of damages in a personal injury claim is to make the victim “whole” again or return the victim as closely as possible to their pre-accident state. The amount of compensation a victim receives depends on the type of accident, the severity of the injuries, and the victim’s prognosis for recovery.

Types of personal injury damages include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Medical bills and expenses, both current and future;
  • Lost wages;
  • Loss of income;
  • Property damages;
  • Loss of quality of life;
  • Mental and emotional trauma;
  • Pain and suffering; and
  • Wrongful death.

Pennsylvania calculates personal injury damages according to the system of contributory negligence. Contributory negligence requires the victim’s portion of responsibility for the accident to be assigned a percentage. That percentage is deducted from any damages award.

Therefore, if the victim was forty percent responsible for their personal injury accident and injuries, their damages award is reduced by forty percent.

Pennsylvania has caps, or limits, on particular personal injury damages.

These are as follows:

  • Pennsylvania caps personal injury claims against the Commonwealth at $250,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 in the aggregate;
  • There is a cap for claims against local government agencies of $500,000; and
  • Medical malpractice claims may not exceed 250 percent of compensatory damages.

For more information about contributory negligence or caps on damage awards, speak with an experienced Pennsylvania personal injury attorney.

Common Types of Personal Injuries

A personal injury is not always a physical injury. An accident victim may also suffer mentally or emotionally.

Common personal injuries are:

  • Neck and back injuries;
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
  • Whiplash;
  • Hand and wrist injuries;
  • Head and brain injuries, including traumatic brain injury;
  • Spinal cord injuries, including paralysis;
  • Slip and fall injuries;
  • Eye and ear injuries; and
  • Leg and knee injuries.

Pennsylvania’s Statute of Limitations on Personal Injury Claims

Pennsylvania has a statute of limitations, or time, in which a personal injury victim must file their claim for damages. For most personal injuries, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the injury. To find out the statute of limitations for a specific personal injury claim, contact a Pennsylvania, personal injury attorney.

It is essential to speak with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after your accident. Not only to avoid missing crucial filing deadlines but also to preserve accident evidence and eyewitness testimony.

What if You Were Partially At-Fault for Your Injury?

One of the most common defenses employed by an at-fault party in these cases is that the injury victim caused their own injury. The defendants will try to shift some or all of the blame for the incident onto the injury victim to avoid having to pay out and as much compensation. However, Pennsylvania operates under a “modified comparative negligence” system.

Under Pennsylvania’s modified comparative negligence laws, an individual can still recover compensation even if they are partially at fault. The Commonwealth operates under a 51% rule. This means that any person less than 51% responsible for an injury can still recover partial compensation. Any person 51% or more responsible for their own injury will not be able to recover compensation at all.

However, a West Chester personal injury victim will receive reduced compensation based on their percentage of fault for the incident. For example, if an injury victim would have otherwise received $100,000 for their losses, but they were found to be 20% at fault, then they would receive $80,000 instead of a full $100,000.

Steps to Take to Ensure Maximum Compensation

West Chester personal injury victims should follow certain steps in order to help recover maximum compensation. These steps began in the immediate aftermath of an injury and continue in the days and weeks that follow:

  • Seek immediate medical care. The first step for any injury victim to take is to seek medical care as soon as possible. Without seeking prompt medical care, the at-fault party and their insurance carrier could try to say that the injury victim did not actually sustain the injury the way they said they did. Prompt medical treatment establishes a direct link between the incident and the injury.
  • Report the injury. Depending on where and how the injury occurs, there will be various reporting requirements. For example, vehicle accidents need to be reported to the police. Premises liability incidents will need to be reported to a property owner or operator. There will be various steps involved in filling out accident reports, in these reports will be valuable to insurance carriers.
  • Gather evidence. It is important to gather evidence related to the claim if you are able to do so. This can include using a phone at the scene of the incident to take photographs of everything, including injuries, property damage, causes of the injury, and more. If there were any eyewitnesses, you need to get their names and contact information as quickly as possible. Please make note of any video cameras nearby because they may contain footage proving what happened.
  • Contact an attorney. You should contact a personal injury lawyer in West Chester as soon as possible to ensure that your case is handled properly. An attorney will be able to get involved early and take over all communication with other parties on your behalf.
  • Continue medical care. You need to continue all medical treatment requested by your doctor until the doctor says you have reached maximum medical improvement. If you discontinue care before that timeframe, the insurance carrier could use this as proof that you were not as injured as you said you were.

Contact a West Chester Personal Injury Lawyer Today

The personal injury attorneys at Wilk Law will review your accident claim at no cost, answer your questions about the personal injury claims process, and advise you of any available legal options. If you have a current settlement offer, Wilk Law can review that offer to ensure it is fair and provides the compensation you need for your accident-related injuries both now and in the future.

Do not provide a recorded statement or sign any insurance company documents without skilled advice from a personal injury attorney. You could sign away your right to further compensation.

In addition to West Chester our legal team also serves Coatesville, Downingtown, Philadelphia, Berwyn, Devon, Exton, Frazer, Phoenixville, Pottstown, Kennett Square, and more. Contact the professionals at Wilk Law online today or at (855) 946-3678 to schedule your free consultation.