You do not realize your level of success until tragedy strikes. A personal injury often impacts more than a person’s health, resulting in lost income and exorbitant medical bills that can potentially take months or years to pay off. The level of financial distress that a personal injury can cause can result in strained relationships with family and friends, a lack of intimacy with a spouse or partner, and post-traumatic stress. If you or a loved one has recently been hurt, do not hesitate to contact our personal injury lawyers serving York, PA.

How to Prove Fault in a Personal Injury Case

Personal injury cases are centered around another person’s carelessness in performing tasks, known as negligence. To be compensated for your injuries, you must prove the following:

• Duty of care: The other party must have had a legal duty to use reasonable care to protect you from harm. In a motor vehicle accident, motorists must use reasonable care to keep other road users safe. In a slip and fall, a property owner must warn social guests of potential hazards that are not obvious.
• Breach of duty: Either through an act or failure to act, the other party must have violated the duty owed to you. In the case of a motor vehicle accident, this will involve breaking a traffic law or regulation. A property owner must have failed to warn a guest of potential dangers in a slip and fall.
• Causation: A causal relationship between another person’s actions and your injuries must exist.
• Damages: Due to the other party’s actions, you must have sustained measurable losses.

In the chaos following an injury or accident, you may forget to collect the necessary evidence to demonstrate how another’s carelessness caused you harm. When you retain the services of an experienced attorney, they will gather the evidence required to help prove another party’s negligence and ensure you collect the compensation you deserve.

Statute of Limitations

Every state has a time limit in which you must take legal action or risk being barred from recovering damages. In Pennsylvania personal injury cases, you must bring your case to court within two years of the date of the incident. This limitation is implemented to ensure that the evidence presented is reliable, truly signifying what it claims to represent. After a prolonged period has passed, a witness’s memory of the event will become foggy, and physical evidence will begin to degrade. The playing field is evened out by imposing the two-year statute of limitations.

Damages

A personal injury can result in various losses. Referred to as damages, these can be either financial or non-financial. No matter your losses, a judge, jury, or insurance company may award damages to make a person “whole” again following an accident or injury.

Generally, there are two types of damages in a personal injury case:

Economic Damages

Pecuniary losses, or economic damages, are any losses that take money out of a person’s pocketbook. This may include:

• Lost income
• Emergency room care
• Prescription costs
• Medical imaging and laboratory tests
• Surgeries and treatments
• Physical therapy
• Home modifications

Non-economic Damages

Conversely, non-economic damages are any losses that directly affect a person’s quality of life that do not have an intrinsic financial component. In a personal injury case, this may involve:

• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Infliction of emotional distress
• Loss of companionship and society
• Loss of consortium
• Paralysis
• Damage to reputation
• Disfigurement and/or scarring

What Can Our Personal Injury Lawyer Do for You?

A serious injury can set back your plans, forcing you to undergo numerous surgical procedures accompanied by follow-up visits with physicians and months of rehab. Nobody wants to see their life plagued by medical appointments, all while missing valuable time with loved ones.

You should not be saddled with bills due to another person’s negligence. That is why Mette Law has dedicated the last twenty years to helping injured individuals recoup their losses. With previous experience representing insurance companies, we bring a unique perspective. By knowing what tactics the insurance company will try, he has been able to reclaim multiple million-dollar recoveries for injured individuals and their families.

Speak with Our York Personal Injury Lawyer Today

A personal injury can cause physical, emotional, and financial hardship. This may result in a downward spiral that can feel almost impossible to climb your way out of. If you have recently suffered a personal injury, Mette Law is ready to assist you in filing your claim.

Bringing a diverse set of skills to the table, Attorney Archer’s willingness to listen and dive deep into investigating matters places him above the rest. To learn more or arrange a consultation with our York personal injury attorney, contact us online or call (717) 232-5000 today.