All states have limits on the amount of time you have to go to file a lawsuit after you have suffered some type of injury. The deadlines vary per state and on what type of case you want to file. This time frame to file a lawsuit is called a "statute of limitations."
In Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years from the date of the injury. Therefore, in order to have a successful lawsuit, documents must be filed at the courthouse within 2 years of you getting hurt. This time frame applies to all types of personal injury claims including, but not limited to, motor vehicle accidents, defective products, slip and falls and premise liability cases.
It is very important to understand and follow this rule. If you fail to get your lawsuit filed before the two-year window closes, the Pennsylvania civil court system will likely refuse to hear your case at any time in the future, and your right to compensation will be lost. The best practice is to contact a lawyer as soon as you are injured to see if you have a valid case that should be pursued.
If you have any questions about a personal injury case in Bucks County, please feel free to contact the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Montgomery County Jury Convicts Attorney General
The courthouse in Montgomery County has been pretty busy lately. With the Cosby trial and the prosecution of Attorney General Kathleen Kane, they need a break. Well, as of yesterday, there will be one less important matter on the court's plate. A jury convicted Attorney General Kathleen Kane of all charges.
See more details from this article at Philly.com. This is a big win for our friends at the Montgomery County DA's office.
Four years after Kane's election in a landslide as the first Democrat and first woman elected attorney general, a jury of six men and six women found her guilty of all charges: two counts of perjury and seven misdemeanor counts of abusing the powers of her office. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele persuaded jurors that Kane orchestrated the illegal leak of secret grand jury documents to plant a June 2014 story critical of her nemesis, former state prosecutor Frank Fina. Kane then lied about her actions under oath, the jury found. Kane, 50, who rose from a hardscrabble upbringing in Scranton to win a statewide post in her first bid for office, was stoic as the verdict was read. Her twin sister, Ellen Granahan, a prosecutor on her staff, was with her in court.
See more details from this article at Philly.com. This is a big win for our friends at the Montgomery County DA's office.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Bill Cosby Loses Another Battle
This post is a bit off from our normal posts about personal injury and motor vehicle accident cases. But it's an interesting twist from a famous local case. The Bill Cosby criminal matter is being prosecuted by our friends from the Montgomery County DA's office. Recently, a Federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled that deposition testimony could remain "unsealed" during the criminal case.
See the full article in Philly.com here.
This is a perfect example of a deposition in a civil case being used for purposes of criminal prosecution. Often times it can come back to haunt the defendant, as it is dong to Mr. Cosby.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit declared moot the question over the documents' release, which reignited controversy about the 79-year-old entertainer's alleged sexual misconduct and led in part to the criminal charges filed against him last year in Montgomery County. "The contents of the documents are a matter of public knowledge," Circuit Judge Thomas L. Ambro wrote on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel. "We cannot pretend that we could change that fact by ordering them resealed." Cosby's had requested that the court overturn an earlier decision by U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno that opened up several previously sealed court filings from a 2005 sexual battery lawsuit filed against him by accuser Andrea Constand.
See the full article in Philly.com here.
This is a perfect example of a deposition in a civil case being used for purposes of criminal prosecution. Often times it can come back to haunt the defendant, as it is dong to Mr. Cosby.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Fatal Roadway Construction Zone Accidents in Bucks County
One of the most dangerous jobs in Bucks County and Pennsylvania as a whole is the roadway construction worker. The danger increases during the warmer months due to increased construction and increased traffic. Many of these incidents cause fatalities because cars and trucks are hitting construction workers within roadway construction zones.
Fatalities in roadway construction zones peaked in 2003 but have decreased significantly. In Pennsylvania, the number of construction site fatal accidents was lowest in 2013 and highest in 2004, 2005 and 2008. Fatalities may be categorized by the type of accident, and 69 percent of nationwide accidents in 2013 involved transportation. Occupations included construction and maintenance workers, truck drivers, workers operating construction equipment and supervisors.
Decreasing highway construction zone fatalities and injuries in Bucks County should be a priority. Everyone should remember to SLOW DOWN while driving through a construction zone. Pay attention to the workers on the side of the road. Stay off your cells phones and keep two hands on the wheel. Remember...a construction worker's family is counting on you being a safe driver.
If you've been injured in Bucks County and have legal questions, please call the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.
Fatalities in roadway construction zones peaked in 2003 but have decreased significantly. In Pennsylvania, the number of construction site fatal accidents was lowest in 2013 and highest in 2004, 2005 and 2008. Fatalities may be categorized by the type of accident, and 69 percent of nationwide accidents in 2013 involved transportation. Occupations included construction and maintenance workers, truck drivers, workers operating construction equipment and supervisors.
Decreasing highway construction zone fatalities and injuries in Bucks County should be a priority. Everyone should remember to SLOW DOWN while driving through a construction zone. Pay attention to the workers on the side of the road. Stay off your cells phones and keep two hands on the wheel. Remember...a construction worker's family is counting on you being a safe driver.
If you've been injured in Bucks County and have legal questions, please call the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.
What To Do When You Fall On a Business Property
The lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC handle many cases that involve people falling down due to the negligence of a Bucks County business. Whether it be a slippery substance that causes someone to slip and fall; or a defective condition of the property such as uneven sidewalks or walkways, these types of events can cause serious injuries.
If the property is in disrepair or the owner knew about the risk and ignored it, you could have a claim. Your claim could be for medical bills, lost wages and money for your pain and suffering. But before you make a claim, the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC would have to ask a lot of questions, depending upon the case, about the dangerous condition and what the property owner knew.
For example, was the entrance to the building covered by ice? Was it obvious the porch was infested with termites, falling apart, or likely to collapse? Were there signs warning of danger? Or was it a hidden condition? If there is a hidden condition or defect, a property owner can claim he didn’t know about it and can’t reasonably have been expected to know about it or fix it. If the property owner has done everything possible to keep the property safe, the fact that you fell and got injured may not be his fault.
One of the important questions is whether or not the property owner, or its employees, caused the dangerous condition. Did a waitress at the restaurant spill soda right in front of your path to the restrooms? Did the owner divert you off the sidewalks to a detour over an uneven rocky path? Did the grocery store clerk knock over a jar of sauce and not clean it up?
The main takeaway is to realize that success with these type of cases is dependent on many rules and laws that protect property owners as much as they protect people who have been injured. If you fell and were injured on someone else’s property you should contact an experienced attorney who can analyze whether or not you have a claim, and then file the claim against all parties that may be liable for your injury.
If you have any questions about a slip and fall injury, please call the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.
If the property is in disrepair or the owner knew about the risk and ignored it, you could have a claim. Your claim could be for medical bills, lost wages and money for your pain and suffering. But before you make a claim, the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC would have to ask a lot of questions, depending upon the case, about the dangerous condition and what the property owner knew.
For example, was the entrance to the building covered by ice? Was it obvious the porch was infested with termites, falling apart, or likely to collapse? Were there signs warning of danger? Or was it a hidden condition? If there is a hidden condition or defect, a property owner can claim he didn’t know about it and can’t reasonably have been expected to know about it or fix it. If the property owner has done everything possible to keep the property safe, the fact that you fell and got injured may not be his fault.
One of the important questions is whether or not the property owner, or its employees, caused the dangerous condition. Did a waitress at the restaurant spill soda right in front of your path to the restrooms? Did the owner divert you off the sidewalks to a detour over an uneven rocky path? Did the grocery store clerk knock over a jar of sauce and not clean it up?
The main takeaway is to realize that success with these type of cases is dependent on many rules and laws that protect property owners as much as they protect people who have been injured. If you fell and were injured on someone else’s property you should contact an experienced attorney who can analyze whether or not you have a claim, and then file the claim against all parties that may be liable for your injury.
If you have any questions about a slip and fall injury, please call the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. at (215) 953-8955.
DUI Arrests by State Police Increase in 2015
Many of the car accident victims that the attorneys at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. represent were injured by drunk or impaired drivers. DUI accidents can sometimes be horrific and cause catastrophic injuries including wrongful death.
To give the scope of the amount of DUI drivers on the roads these days, consider the report from the Pennsylvania State Police as detailed in an article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. In 2015, the State Police made 18,801 DUI arrests which was a significant increase from 2014. And consider the fact that this is just the State Police arrests; this report does not include arrests by local police.
Impaired driving is a major problem on the roads of Pennsylvania as well as Bucks County and throughout the United States. Law enforcement are becoming better at stopping impaired drivers, thus the increase in arrests.
As the report and article indicates, one of the causes of impairment that has increased is due to drivers taking drugs not alcohol. The drug impairment DUI arrests increased 23 percent year over year.
If you have injured by a drunk or impaired driver, please call immediately the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC., at (215) 953-8955.
To give the scope of the amount of DUI drivers on the roads these days, consider the report from the Pennsylvania State Police as detailed in an article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. In 2015, the State Police made 18,801 DUI arrests which was a significant increase from 2014. And consider the fact that this is just the State Police arrests; this report does not include arrests by local police.
Impaired driving is a major problem on the roads of Pennsylvania as well as Bucks County and throughout the United States. Law enforcement are becoming better at stopping impaired drivers, thus the increase in arrests.
As the report and article indicates, one of the causes of impairment that has increased is due to drivers taking drugs not alcohol. The drug impairment DUI arrests increased 23 percent year over year.
If you have injured by a drunk or impaired driver, please call immediately the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC., at (215) 953-8955.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Is Pokemon Go Dangerous in Bucks County, PA?
If you haven't heard of Pokémon Go you must be living in a cave. Basically, it's a game you can play with your phone where you travel around your area and "catch" digital Pokémon. The purpose of the game is to catch as many as you can. You might have seen kids out riding around your neighborhood with their phones held up. If so, they're most likely looking to catch Pokémon.
So what makes it possibly dangerous for Bucks County? Pokémon Go encourages players to travel around while looking at their cell phone screens as they wait for virtual monsters to appear. Players must stop and catch the monsters in order to win the game. Pokémon can appear anywhere – parks, lakes, tops of buildings and even on busy roadways. The random appearances are what lead some players to walk blindly into dangerous situations.
There have been many reports of people being struck by cars because they weren't paying attention because they were looking at their phones. Further, there have been reports of several car accidents because people are distracted by using their phones to catch Pokémon while driving.
The bottom line is that although Pokémon Go is a fun game and has been successful in getting gamers off their couches and outside, it is still something that should be played safely. Remind your kids to always look both ways to cross the street. And, for God's sake, don't play Pokémon Go while you're driving.
If you need help with a Bucks County personal injury case, the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. are waiting for your call at (215) 953-8955.
So what makes it possibly dangerous for Bucks County? Pokémon Go encourages players to travel around while looking at their cell phone screens as they wait for virtual monsters to appear. Players must stop and catch the monsters in order to win the game. Pokémon can appear anywhere – parks, lakes, tops of buildings and even on busy roadways. The random appearances are what lead some players to walk blindly into dangerous situations.
There have been many reports of people being struck by cars because they weren't paying attention because they were looking at their phones. Further, there have been reports of several car accidents because people are distracted by using their phones to catch Pokémon while driving.
The bottom line is that although Pokémon Go is a fun game and has been successful in getting gamers off their couches and outside, it is still something that should be played safely. Remind your kids to always look both ways to cross the street. And, for God's sake, don't play Pokémon Go while you're driving.
If you need help with a Bucks County personal injury case, the lawyers at Hoffman, Sternberg & Karpf, LLC. are waiting for your call at (215) 953-8955.
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