Erie, PA Personal Injury Lawyers

In Pennsylvania, the general rule is that there is a 2-year statute of limitations to file a personal injury claim. But it’s important to remember that there can be different rules depending upon the circumstances of the case and where the injury happened. Not every client who comes to us was injured in Pennsylvania and every state has their own unique statute of limitations.

So, the general rule, two years. Better rule, if you’ve been injured, call a personal injury lawyer like Purchase George and Murphey and find out what the specific rule is for your case.

People sometimes wonder if they have a case even if they don’t know that someone else is at fault. And that’s a good question. What I would encourage you to do is to speak with a personal injury lawyer because there are occasions when people are injured without knowing who’s at fault. Not every injury comes from a red car, blue car accident at a stop sign.

We have people who are injured by products. We have people who are injured in the context of a health care procedure, for example, a surgery, when they don’t know who all is in the room and who is involved in their care. If you have been seriously injured and if you suspect that it may have been because of someone else’s carelessness, talk to a personal injury lawyer.
One of the things that we can do is identify those possible issues. Do the investigation necessary to identify whether someone else was at fault and get the remedy for you that you deserve.

In our work, it sometimes happens that our client is partially responsible for the accident. It’s rare that the perfect case presents itself. Oftentimes, you have multiple factors that can contribute to an injury or an accident event. Don’t presume that merely because you’re not perfect, you don’t have a right to compensation.

Managing these complexities and understanding how fault ought to be allocated is a big part of what we do. We will be on your side. We will help you make the best of the circumstance.

You know, I’m often asked, “How much is my case worth?” It’s a perfectly appropriate question. It’s one that I think every client ought to wonder about and ask their lawyer. But the answer is, “Every case is different.” And I won’t know that value until I’ve done the hard work necessary in order to assess those individual components that make up your case.

It can be as complicated as understanding the nuances of the available insurance policies, but more often it’s about understanding the nuances of the impact on your life. And so I understand that a client wants to know that from the beginning of the case. I hope that they will understand it’s not a question that we can answer until we’ve done the hard work necessary to assign a value.

If you’ve suffered personal injury because of the negligence or carelessness of another, the lawyers at Purchase George and Murphey can help. Call us today for a free consultation.

I’m frequently asked by clients whether we have to go to court in order to achieve an outcome for them. And the answer is not always. In almost every case, we make an effort to resolve the client’s claim without filing suit. And a good portion of the time we’re able to do that.

Another important question is, do I have to go to trial? And the answer to that is almost always no. 98, 99% of all cases resolve other than by going to trial. What’s important though is that an insurance company or a hospital system knows that their lawyer is able and willing to go to trial. That risk is what drives settlement value.
If you’ve suffered personal injury because of the negligence or carelessness of another, the lawyers at Purchase George and Murphey can help. Call us today for a free consultation.

Everybody wants to know how long their case will take. And the answer is that of course it depends. Every case can be different. I would say on average most cases, if they’re going to resolve without filing suit, will be over within about 6 to 9 months after we know what’s going on with the client’s injury.

Obviously, if the injury isn’t resolved, if we don’t know the full consequences of the injury, then we’re not going to resolve the case. But once we know that, that negotiation process can be resolved within about 6 to 9 months. If it goes to litigation, I tell people that about on average 2 years.

If you’ve suffered personal injury because of the negligence or carelessness of another, the lawyers at Purchase George and Murphey can help. Call us today for a free consultation.

Immediately after an injury, you should attend to making sure that you and your loved ones are safe. Get the medical care that you need. But once you’ve stabilized in that regard, once you’ve taken care of your safety and your health, talk to a lawyer. We can give you the advice, the specific advice you need in order to preserve evidence and take advantage of the opportunities and resources that are available to help you.

If you’ve suffered personal injury because of the negligence or carelessness of another, the lawyers of Purchase George and Murphey can help. Call us today for a free consultation.

Insurance will be available to help clients in the short term, but it’s important to understand what insurance is available. Very often we look at two primary resources in the short term. In auto cases, there’s first-party medical benefits that are available to cover medical bills in the short term. And when those are exhausted, the second resource is health insurance.

What isn’t available in the short term is the liability insurance that applies to the third party who caused the accident. That won’t be achieved. That won’t be accessed until the very end of the case. If you suffered personal injury because of the negligence or carelessness of another, the lawyers at Purchase George and Murphey can help. Call us today for a free consultation.

The way personal injury lawyers are paid is generally through a contingent fee agreement. This is what you’ve heard about before. We don’t get paid unless we get money for you. It’s a valuable fee system to a client because it allows the client to not have to lay out cash during the process, which can be hugely valuable to people who’ve just been injured because they sometimes aren’t working.

They sometimes are overwhelmed with their own bills and so we don’t get paid until we have won or obtained a recovery for the client and then we get a percentage of it. It’s possible for lawyers to extend an offer of representation on an hourly basis where you pay as you go. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I’d be cautious about an arrangement like that because if the lawyer doesn’t express a willingness to take a risk with you, to share that risk with you, you ought to think twice about their own assessment of the value of your case. If you’ve suffered personal injury because of the negligence or carelessness of another, the lawyers at Purchase George and Murphey can help. Call us today for a free consultation.

You know, it happens sometimes that clients come to us and by the time they arrive in our office, they’ve already been contacted by one or more insurance companies. And what I would tell people when they’re in those circumstances is this. If it is your insurance company calling you, you should talk to them.

You should share information with them. That’s important because you have a contractual obligation to do so. And that’s what allows you to access the benefits of your own insurance policy. However, if it is the other insurance company, if it is the insurance company for the fellow who was involved in the accident with you and caused your injury, you should not speak with them.

There is no advantage to you to be gained and frankly there’s substantial risk because you aren’t prepared and very often they aren’t acting in your best interest. So know who’s calling you. If it’s your insurance company, feel free to share information with them. If it is the other insurance company, please do not talk to a lawyer first.

If you’ve suffered personal injury because of the negligence or carelessness of another, the lawyers at Purchase George and Murphey can help. Call us today for a free consultation.