Good morning and welcome to Ask Andy. This is a daily podcast about personal injury practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I’m Andrew Neuwirth. You can reach me on the Web at Neuwirthlaw.com or by phone at 215-259-3687. So I’m talking today again about suing the city of Philadelphia. There are lots of ways to sue the city, but there is one big sort of bar or thing you need to know about, and that is that traditionally you cannot sue the government, whether it’s state or federal or county, unless they give you permission to do so. So it’s kind of an alien concept to your average person in America, but it comes down to us from old England, I think. And you needed the permission of the king to sue the king. So we have some of that come through in our law. And basically you are allowed to sue the city of Philadelphia only in certain circumstances. And even if you sue them and win, you are limited to a reward or an award of 500,000. And if you sue the state of Pennsylvania, your award is limited to 250,000. That’s just a couple of the little vagaries of the law. But, you know, basically the reason is kind of good and bad. We don’t want people constantly suing the city or the township and wasting their time. But at the same time, there are reasons why we need to sue the city, and there are times when the city should be sued. So the primary exceptions to suing the city of Philadelphia are, if you are injured or something happens as a result of streets or sidewalks.
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Suing The City Of Philadelphia And Sovereign Immunity
SuperLawyers 2022 Top Rated Personal Injury Attorney
I am thrilled and honored to be selected as top Pennsylvania Personal Injury attorney by 2022 Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers chooses only the top 5% of attorneys in any region. I am proud to be included along with many of my talented colleagues.
Top Rated King of Prussia, PA Personal Injury Attorney | Andrew Neuwirth | Super Lawyers
Andrew T. Neuwirth is a top-rated attorney practicing in the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania area. Providing legal representation in Pennsylvania for a variety of different issues, Andrew Neuwirth was selected to Super Lawyers for 2022. He is admitted to practice before the courts in Pennsylvania. After completing undergraduate studies, Andrew T.
Suit: Woman slips after taking off shoes at Philadelphia International TSA checkpoint
Suit: Woman slips after taking off shoes at Philadelphia International TSA checkpoint
PHILADEPHIA – A woman alleges she slipped after removing her shoes at a security checkpoint at Philadelphia International. Jacqueline Allen-Fillmore filed a complaint April 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Philadelphia International Airport and the City of Philadelphia alleging negligence.
DOES DR. STRANGE HAVE A WORKMEN’S COMP CASE?
Marvel’s ‘Doctor Strange.’ All images © 2016 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.
TEXTING AND DRIVING CAN CRUSH YOUR HANDS BUT SAVE THE PLANET?
So, the opening five minutes of the original Dr. Strange movie shows our hero, Benedict Cumberbatch as the future Dr. Strange, distractedly driving his Lamborghini on a country road while reading brain CT scans on his phone on his car console. He then proceeds to crash because he is distracted from watching the road. His hands are crushed, which makes him unable to do his job as a neurosurgeon. So, he goes to Kharmataj and is able to save Earth. Yay earth.
Anyway, so, don’t read CT scans and drive or some similar statement by me.
Texting and driving has revived a whole swath of personal injury law practice. Society had finally moved towards drunk driving being culturally unacceptable and the DUI numbers were down over the past decade. Unfortunately, texting or snapchat or other distractions have more than replaced DUI crashes. So, the texting and driving cases usually involve hitting other cars from the rear at high speed or swerving into oncoming traffic. Both of these are bad for the victims.
Considerations in Cases Involving Minors or Children
Kids and Dogs
Most of my serious dog bite cases involve children for various reasons. Children are shorter and hence get face to face with dogs more readily and are more prone to be bitten in the torso, hands, head etc. whereas an adult will take an attack on the legs. Secondly, children are more trusting or less self-protective around dogs and do not perceive potential dangers like adults do. Children are often the most sympathetic victims and most lawyers on both sides are very careful and receptive to settlement in these cases.
Orphan’s court
Before any case involving a minor ends with a settlement check, the case must go to Orphan’s Court for review by a common pleas judge. This is a nice protection to have for several reasons. First, it reassures the child’s parent that their lawyer, me, did a good job for them, as the judge usually says you are receiving a nice sum of money and you should be satisfied with the settlement. Secondly, it allows both me and opposing counsel a chance to gain the blessing of the Court over the whole settlement. Courts usually require that plaintiff’s counsel take a reduced fee of 25 percent rather than the usual 33 percent or higher. This is also a selling point to the family as they know that their child is getting a break from the lawyer and the blessing of the Court. Finally, and somewhat frustratingly, usually, no matter how rich or poor, the Court usually requires the minor’s settlement money to be put in a savings account for the day they turn 18. At that point, the funds become theirs with no strings. Sometimes, certain judges will allow money to be placed into college savings accounts and sometimes some money is set aside for care of the child if the family is in abject poverty. But, those situations are the exception to the rule.
THE HARDEST CASES (AND THE EASY ONES TOO)
THE EASIEST CASE FOR THE LAWYER:
The easiest case I encounter is one where the insurance does not nearly cover the value of the injury. So, let’s say that you are a pedestrian and a car jumps the curb in center city Philadelphia, hits you, and breaks your leg. You have surgery and need three months to recover. You have a lien on your settlement of $30,000 and the driver who hit you has the Pennsylvania state minimum auto insurance coverage of $15,000. I would estimate your injury as having a value of $200,000 or so. Since your injury far outweighs the insurance, the insurer will tender or just pay the fifteen thousand to me for the client upon me producing medical records showing the fracture and surgery. Maybe your own car insurance has additional underinsured motorist coverage, but it still likely will not be sufficient. This is my easiest case. It is not the best case for the client because they will walk away with far less than the full value of their injury, but that is how the world works in personal injury. If the person who hit you had minimal coverage, it is unlikely that they will have any assets worth even thinking about pursuing.
Lawyers: Let’s Network at Scarpetta’s: May 12, 2022
As Lawyers, we know that the best cases come from colleagues, and so I thought I’d invite a few of you Neusletter subscribers to dinner. I’m hosting a table May 12, 6:30 PM at Scarpetta, and the first seven people to respond will be my guests. we’re going to do a bunch of these, so if you don’t get in the first go, we’ll have you out soon!
To attend, fill out the form below: