Luzerne County Personal Injury Lawyers

In the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas at the county courthouse, 200 N River St, Wilkes-Barre — regardless of whether the injury happened in Hazleton, Pittston, Dallas or Wilkes-Barre itself, because venue generally follows the county where the injury occurred. Smaller claims are heard first by a compulsory arbitration panel of three local attorneys under 42 Pa.C.S. § 7361, and either side can appeal the award to a jury. Our office is in the same city as the courthouse.

No. Our office is at the county seat, but the first conversation is by phone, and after that we meet wherever works: at the office, by video, or at your home or hospital room if the injuries make travel hard. Court appearances, when there are any, are in Wilkes-Barre, and we handle those.

Two years from the date of the injury for almost every claim (42 Pa.C.S. § 5524). Claims against a city, borough, township, the county or the Commonwealth require written notice within six months of the injury (42 Pa.C.S. § 5522), which catches people who wait. Minors get until their 20th birthday. The deadline is the outside limit, not a plan — police reports, camera footage and witness memories are lost far sooner.

Pennsylvania uses modified comparative negligence (42 Pa.C.S. § 7102). Your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame, and you recover nothing if your share exceeds 50%. If a Luzerne County jury values your injuries at $100,000 and finds you 30% responsible, you receive $70,000. Insurers know this, which is why the adjuster's first questions are aimed at your share of fault; do not answer them without counsel.

It depends on who responded. Crashes inside Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Kingston or Pittston city limits go to that city's police; crashes on I-81, I-80, I-476 and state routes outside city limits are usually handled by Pennsylvania State Police Troop P from the Wyoming barracks in Hanover Township. Ask the officer for the incident number at the scene. Reports are released through PennDOT's online Crash Report Request system for a $22 fee, and we obtain them for every client at no charge.

It depends on the medical evidence, not on the type of accident: the diagnosis, the treatment, the time out of work, whether the injury is permanent, and how much of the fault the other side carries. Economic losses (bills, wages, future care) are added up from records; pain and suffering is what a Luzerne County jury would award and is not capped in ordinary cases. We put a documented number on the claim before anyone negotiates, and we tell you if the number is small.

Not the law that applies — a crash in Luzerne County is governed by Pennsylvania law and can be filed here. It does change the logistics: an out-of-state driver or trucking company may carry a policy issued elsewhere, and a commercial carrier will have its own claims department and lawyers involved within days. We send preservation letters for the truck's electronic data and driver logs immediately, because that evidence is overwritten.

Nothing up front and nothing at all unless the case recovers money. The fee is a percentage of the recovery set out in a written contingency agreement, as Pennsylvania's Rules of Professional Conduct require, and case costs are explained in the same document before you sign.