A serious injury changes things quickly, and life-altering decisions about insurance and legal liability arrive before most people have had a chance to fully understand what happened. Pennsylvania personal injury law exists to provide a path to compensation for people harmed by someone else’s negligence, but that requires an understanding of how claims are brought, proven, and resolved. Kline & Specter is a Philadelphia catastrophic personal injury law firm with a record of handling complex, high-stakes cases across a variety of practice areas.
Understanding Personal Injury Law in Philadelphia
Personal injury law in Pennsylvania is grounded in the legal principle of negligence. When a person or entity fails to exercise reasonable care and that failure causes harm to another, the injured party may pursue a civil claim for damages.Â
Not every injury gives rise to a valid claim, and the strength of a case depends heavily on the specific facts involved. Fault may be shared among parties, along with difficult liability questions, and the extent of damages can be difficult to establish without thorough documentation and expert analysis.
Common Personal Injury Cases We Handle
Kline & Specter handles personal injury cases involving serious harm across a broad range of circumstances. The following are among the most common case types the firm evaluates and litigates.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice claims arise when a healthcare provider’s treatment falls below the accepted standard of care and causes harm. These cases may involve delayed or missed diagnoses, surgical errors, medication errors, birth injuries, and anesthesia complications, among other circumstances. Kline & Specter’s legal team includes five full-time doctor-lawyers, attorneys who are also licensed physicians and who bring direct clinical knowledge to the evaluation of medical records and evidence.
Product Liability
When a defective product causes injury, the injured party may have a claim against the manufacturer or seller. Product liability cases can involve design and manufacturing defects, and/or failure to provide adequate warnings or instructions. The firm has handled cases involving defective motor vehicles, pharmaceutical products, medical devices, consumer goods, and industrial equipment, among others.
Truck Accidents
Accidents involving commercial trucks like tractor-trailers, semi-trucks, dump trucks, and similar large vehicles carry a higher potential for catastrophic injury due to their size and weight. These cases require investigation into driver logs, federal Hours of Service compliance, vehicle maintenance records, and cargo loading practices. Multiple parties may share liability, including the driver, the motor carrier, maintenance providers, and even vehicle manufacturers in cases involving defective equipment.
Car Accidents
Motor vehicle accidents are among the most frequent sources of serious personal injury claims in Pennsylvania. Common contributing factors include distracted driving, impaired driving, excessive speed, and vehicle defects. Injuries can range from soft tissue damage and fractures to traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord damage. When another driver’s negligence causes a crash, the injured party may have grounds to pursue compensation through a personal injury lawsuit.
Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclists face a distinct set of risks on the road. Riders are significantly more vulnerable to serious injury in a collision without the structural protection of an enclosed vehicle. Common causes of motorcycle accidents include failure to yield, distracted drivers, blind spot visibility issues, and hazardous road conditions that may pose less risk to larger vehicles. Determining fault requires a thorough investigation of the accident circumstances, including physical evidence, witness accounts, police reports, and applicable traffic laws.
Premises Liability
Property owners have a duty to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition. Premises liability claims can arise from slip and fall accidents, inadequate security, structural failures, dangerous conditions, and a number of other circumstances. Determining liability requires examining what the property owner knew or should have known about the hazardous condition and what steps, if any, were taken to address it.
Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrians struck by vehicles sustain inordinately severe injuries because they have no physical protection at the point of impact. Common causes include driver inattention, failure to yield at crosswalks, speeding, reckless driving, and other errors in judgment. Under Pennsylvania law, drivers are required to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, and failure to do so may form the basis of a negligence claim.Â
Do You Have a Valid Personal Injury Claim?
A valid personal injury claim typically requires four elements:
- A duty of care owed by the responsible party
- A breach of that duty
- A causal connection between the breach and the injury
- Quantifiable damages resulting from the injury.Â
All four must be present; an injury alone without a demonstrable breach and a causal link is not sufficient to support a claim.Â
Among the first questions an attorney will evaluate are the nature and severity of the injury, the extent of medical treatment required, and whether the injured person's ability to work or carry out ordinary activities has been affected. The investigation then shifts to determining who may be at fault and what evidence is available to support that finding. Each case is fact-specific, and outcomes depend on the particular circumstances involved.
How a Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer Helps You
An experienced personal injury attorney manages the investigative and procedural aspects of a claim so that injured clients can focus on recovery. They gather evidence, retain experts, calculate the full scope of damages, and engage with insurance companies on the client's behalf. When a fair resolution cannot be reached through negotiation, the attorney prepares and tries the case in court.Â
Any insurance company naturally seeks to minimize what they pay out, and an attorney experienced in significant personal injury litigation understands how those evaluations work and what evidence most effectively counters them. Kline & Specter’s personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, meaning no legal fees are collected unless compensation is recovered.
How Personal Injury Claims Work in Philadelphia
Most personal injury cases begin with an attorney's evaluation of the facts and an assessment of whether a viable claim exists. If a claim is pursued, the attorney investigates the incident, reviews available medical records, identifies potentially liable parties, and begins gathering the evidence needed to establish fault and damages.
Some cases are resolved through settlement negotiations before a lawsuit is filed. When a settlement cannot be reached that reflects the full value of the claim, filing a lawsuit in the appropriate Pennsylvania court may be necessary. Expert testimony is commonly needed to establish liability and the extent of damages.
Types of Compensation You May Recover in a Personal Injury Case
Compensation in a personal injury case is generally divided into economic and non-economic damages.Â
- Economic damages cover quantifiable financial losses, including past and future medical expenses, rehabilitation costs for serious injuries such as brain injury or spinal cord damage, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and costs associated with ongoing care or rehabilitation.
- Non-economic damages address harm that does not carry a precise dollar value, like pain and suffering or loss of enjoyment of life.
In cases involving wrongful death, surviving family members may also pursue damages for funeral and burial expenses and other losses recognized under Pennsylvania law, such as loss of companionship. The amount recoverable in any individual case depends on the specific facts, the severity of the injuries, the strength of the evidence, and the particular damages that can be documented and demonstrated. Pennsylvania does not cap compensatory damages in most personal injury cases.
How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Philadelphia?
Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is generally two years from the date of the injury. Certain circumstances may affect when the limitations period begins or whether exceptions apply, like cases involving minors or injuries whose cause was not apparent. Certain legal timelines and requirements may apply depending on the facts of the case.
Building a personal injury case requires time to investigate, so early consultation with a Philadelphia personal injury attorney is strongly advised. Delaying can affect the availability of evidence and the ability to preserve witness accounts.
Why Clients Trust Kline & Specter for Personal Injury Cases
Kline & Specter's legal team includes more than 50 attorneys, five of whom are also licensed physicians practicing full-time as doctor-lawyers, more than any other law firm in the United States. This medical expertise directly supports the firm's ability to evaluate complex injury claims while engaging with medical experts and presenting technical evidence effectively in litigation.
The firm's results in personal injury matters include:
- $8 billion punitive damages verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a case involving the drug Risperdal, the largest verdict in Pennsylvania history (Risperdal)
- $2.25 billion verdict, including $2 billion in punitive damages, against Monsanto in a Roundup cancer case (McKivison)
- $153 million and $52 million verdicts against Ford Motor Co. in a defective parking brake case (White)
- $109 million verdict / $105 million settlement for death caused by a fallen high-voltage power line (Goretzka)
- $95.6 million arbitration award for the victim of a building collapse, the largest-ever personal injury recovery for a single person in Pennsylvania (Plekan)
- $49 million verdict for a young man who suffered brain damage due to medical error in Philadelphia (Caruso)
- $38.2 million verdict for a girl seriously injured at a dangerous intersection in Delaware County (Robley)
- $36.4 million settlement following the death of a worker at a Delaware oil refinery (Davis/Motiva)
Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes in current or future matters.
Founding partners Tom Kline and Shanin Specter have each received recognition from Super Lawyers for 23 consecutive years. Both are members of the Inner Circle of Advocates and have been named among the Best Lawyers in America. More than 20 of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Super Lawyers as among the best in Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has described Kline & Specter as "one of the country's leading personal injury firms," and the Philadelphia Business Journal has called it "the most powerful plaintiffs' firm in the city."
Read What Our Clients Are Saying
"The team at Kline & Specter were there for my family from the beginning to the end. Thank you Shanin for never wavering and making sure those responsible were held accountable to the very end. Thank you Kila and Dominic for your friendship and compassion and for all the support you showed my family. Thank you all for fighting for Carrie. You were her voice! The girls and I will be forever grateful to all of you."
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer
Individuals with questions about a potential personal injury claim may contact Kline & Specter for a confidential evaluation. The firm handles cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. For matters outside those states, Kline & Specter works with local counsel as applicable.
