What is personal injury law?
Every member of our community has a duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent harming others. When we fail to exercise reasonable care (e.g. choosing to send text messages while driving) and as a result, another person is injured, the person who failed to exercise reasonable care is responsible for the harm caused. Personal injury or “tort” law exists to enable those who have been hurt to seek compensation for their financial losses and pain and suffering from the persons or companies responsible for the injuries.
The object of Pennsylvania’s tort law is to modify behavior by imposing the financial risk on the party in the best position to prevent the harm. Personal injury / tort claims are part of the civil justice system, which basically means that personal injury cases are separate from any related criminal cases, and only deal with harms and losses or injuries to person or property.
Seeking compensation through personal injury law means more than just filing a lawsuit. The legal rules and the knowledge of attorneys experienced with injury law also shape the investigation of the claims and the process of settlement negotiations.
