The Slocum Firm has represented injured Pennsylvanians since 2009. We practice from our office in Scranton, Lackawanna County, and we handle claims across the Commonwealth, from Wilkes-Barre and the Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania is a big state with very different courts, juries, and insurance climates from one end to the other. A claim has to be built for the county it will actually be filed in, not for a statewide average.
Most people arrive here with one question: is what happened to me actually a claim. The answer usually turns on four rules, and on how those rules interact with the specific facts of a case.
If you were hurt anywhere in Pennsylvania, call The Slocum Firm at (570) 209-7376 before you give a recorded statement or accept any offer. We answer at any hour, and the conversation costs nothing.
What Rules Govern a Pennsylvania Injury Claim?
Pennsylvania personal injury law rests on a handful of rules that shape nearly every case we handle, regardless of what caused the injury or which county it happened in.
The statute of limitations. Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524, injured Pennsylvanians generally have two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit. Miss that window and the claim is typically gone for good, regardless of how strong the evidence was.
Two years sounds generous until you count the time it takes to finish treatment, gather records, and build a case. The clock also moves for an injured child: under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5533 the two years does not begin until the child turns 18, so a child injured at 10 generally has until their 20th birthday.
A claim against a government body runs the other way, on a much shorter clock. Written notice is generally due within six months under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5522, and damages against a local agency are capped at $500,000 for everyone injured in the same incident combined under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8553. Those two rules catch more people out than the two-year deadline does.
Modified comparative negligence. Pennsylvania follows a 51 percent bar under 42 Pa.C.S. § 7102. If you share some fault, your damages are reduced by your percentage of responsibility, and you can still recover as long as you are 50 percent or less at fault.
The comparison runs against the defendants’ combined fault, not against each defendant separately. Someone found 40 percent at fault still recovers from a defendant who is only 15 percent responsible, which has been settled Pennsylvania law since Elder v. Orluck in 1986. In a case with more than one defendant, that distinction often decides whether the claim is worth pursuing at all.
Full tort versus limited tort. Anyone injured in a Pennsylvania car accident has to reckon with the tort election made when the policy was purchased, under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1705. Full tort preserves the unrestricted right to claim pain and suffering and other non-economic damages, meaning losses that are real but have no receipt attached.
Limited tort restricts that right unless the injury meets the serious injury threshold defined at 75 Pa.C.S. § 1702: death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement. Whether a particular injury clears that threshold is one of the first questions we work through, because it changes what a case is worth before any settlement conversation happens.
Negligence per se. When a defendant violates a statute written specifically to protect people in the plaintiff’s position, such as running a red light or violating a building code, the violation itself can help establish negligence without a separate showing of what a reasonable person would have done. This comes up most often in traffic violation cases and building code failures, and it can shorten the distance between an accident and a resolved claim.
These four rules interact more than they might appear to at first glance. A drunk driving case, for example, often combines negligence per se with a comparative negligence fight over the injured person’s own conduct, all while the tort election on the injured person’s own auto policy determines what categories of damages are even on the table. Untangling that combination correctly at the start of a case, rather than discovering a problem months into negotiations, is a big part of what separates a well-built claim from one that stalls out.
Where We Practice Across Pennsylvania
We handle claims across Pennsylvania from our office in Scranton, in Lackawanna County. That includes Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne County, Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia and Philadelphia County, and the counties around them.
Where a case is filed changes how it runs. Philadelphia County’s Court of Common Pleas, part of the First Judicial District, operates on different local rules and different settlement patterns than Lackawanna County. Suburban counties such as Montgomery and Bucks tend to produce different jury expectations than Philadelphia County itself.
The courts themselves are worth knowing by name before a claim is filed. A case out of Scranton runs through the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas, one out of Wilkes-Barre through Luzerne County, and one out of Allentown through Lehigh County. Each keeps its own calendar and its own local rules, and a claim built without regard to which one it is heading for tends to lose time it cannot get back.
Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley bring their own patterns, with warehouse and manufacturing work generating a steady share of the injury claims in both regions. Knowing which county a claim belongs in, and building it for that county rather than for a statewide average, is part of the work from the first week.
What Kinds of Cases Do We Handle?
Our attorneys handle the full range of personal injury claims that arise on Pennsylvania roads, job sites, and properties, including:
- Auto accidents, including rideshare and hit-and-run crashes
- Truck and semi-truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Slip and fall and other premises liability claims
- Third-party injury claims arising from workplace accidents
- Dog bites
- Catastrophic injuries, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and severe burns
- Wrongful death claims
Some of these cases overlap, and the overlap is usually where the value is. A truck crash on I-81 can produce both a personal injury claim against the driver and a workers’ compensation claim if the person hurt was on the job at the time.
That distinction matters more than most injured workers realize. Workers’ compensation generally limits what you can recover from your own employer, while a claim against a negligent third party, such as another driver, a contractor, or an equipment manufacturer, can include pain and suffering and full lifetime damages.
What Should You Do After an Injury in Pennsylvania?
The choices you make in the first days after an injury often shape how the rest of the claim plays out. Get medical care immediately, even if the injury seems minor at first, because an early medical record is one of the most important pieces of evidence a claim will have.
Photograph the scene, the vehicles or hazard involved, and your visible injuries before anything changes. Hold onto every piece of paperwork, from the police report to medical bills to correspondence with an insurance company.
Write down what happened while it is still fresh, including the time of day, the weather, what you were doing, and anything anyone said at the scene. Memory is the first piece of evidence to degrade. A note made the same week carries weight later that a recollection offered months afterward does not.
Avoid giving a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster, including your own insurer, before speaking with an attorney. A recorded statement becomes a permanent part of the claim file, and answers given in the confusion of the first few days can follow a case for years.
Reach out to an attorney as early as possible, even if you are unsure whether you have a case. An early conversation costs nothing, and it often means the difference between evidence that still exists and evidence that has already disappeared.
Why Injured Pennsylvanians Choose The Slocum Firm
The Slocum Firm was founded in 2009 and has represented injured Pennsylvanians ever since. Clients work directly with the attorney assigned to their case rather than a rotating group of paralegals and case managers, and that attorney is reachable by call or text at any hour. That matters most in the months when a case is quiet and nobody else is calling you back.
Our attorneys carry more than 50 years of combined experience across auto, workplace, and premises liability litigation, and across our practice we have recovered in more than 95 percent of the cases we have taken. Our attorneys are admitted to the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania.
Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
We work on contingency, meaning our fee comes out of the recovery and only if we recover. You pay nothing upfront, case expenses are handled separately from the attorney fee, and we will explain exactly how they work before you decide anything. Call The Slocum Firm at (570) 209-7376 at any hour to find out where your claim actually stands.
FAQs: Pennsylvania Personal Injury Lawyer
Here are answers to questions we hear often from people across the state trying to understand their options after an injury.
How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Pennsylvania?
Generally two years from the date of the injury under state law. Some claims, such as those against a government entity, carry shorter notice requirements, so it is worth confirming your specific deadline rather than assuming the standard two years applies.
If I was partly at fault, can I still recover anything?
Yes, as long as your share is 50 percent or less. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of responsibility, so someone 20 percent at fault recovers 80 percent of their damages. Your share is compared against all the defendants’ fault combined, not against each one separately, which matters a great deal when more than one party is responsible.
What is the difference between full tort and limited tort in Pennsylvania auto insurance?
Full tort preserves your unrestricted right to claim pain and suffering after a car accident. Limited tort restricts that right unless your injury meets the serious injury threshold at 75 Pa.C.S. § 1702, which is death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement.
Does The Slocum Firm handle cases across all of Pennsylvania?
Yes. We practice from Scranton and take claims from Wilkes-Barre through Philadelphia and out to Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, building each one for the county it will actually be filed in.
What types of accidents does The Slocum Firm handle in Pennsylvania?
We handle auto, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle accidents, slip and fall and premises liability claims, third-party workplace injury claims, dog bites, catastrophic injuries, and wrongful death cases throughout the state.
What does it cost to talk to a lawyer about my injury?
Nothing to start. We review injury claims at no charge and take cases on contingency, so there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you. Case expenses are handled separately from the attorney fee, and we will walk you through exactly how those work before you agree to anything.
Did I hurt my claim by talking to the insurance company?
Probably not, but it depends what was said. If you gave a recorded statement, it becomes a permanent part of the claim file, and it is worth having a lawyer read what you said before the claim goes any further. Either way, stop giving statements until someone has looked at it.
Injured Anywhere in Pennsylvania? Start With a Conversation.
Call The Slocum Firm at (570) 209-7376, at any hour, whether you were hurt in Scranton, Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley, or anywhere in between. You will speak directly with an attorney about what your claim would require and what the record currently supports. There is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you, and we will explain how case expenses are handled before you decide anything.
