The attorneys at Powell Law consider many factors in assessing the value of damages alleged in a personal injury lawsuit. For 110 years, we’ve made these assessments on behalf of our clients in helping maximize recovery of damages in all types of personal injury matters. With the potential for any case to be “backlogged” in the Pennsylvania court system, any competent and experienced personal injury attorney must consider delay damages under Rule 238 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rule 238”).
The purpose of Rule 238 is to compensate a plaintiff for the delay in recovery in a civil case
involving bodily injury, death, or property damage. This is accomplished by providing a plaintiff with interest upon damages for the period of time commencing one year after the date original process was served in the action and ending on the date of the award, verdict or decision. The rate of interest is based upon the prime rate annually provided by the Wall Street Journal, plus one percent. Some Pennsylvania personal injury cases have lasted longer than a decade and while this is rare, a three-year old case with $1,000,000 in damages would yield delay damages of over $125,000.
Delay damages must never be an afterthought in a personal injury case involving bodily injury, death, or property damage. Delay damages are significant figures in the total value of a case and must be accounted for when assessing the potential value of a lawsuit.
The assessment of damages continues over the life of a lawsuit, through discovery, discussions with other counsel, research, and motion practice. For any personal injury matter, the attorneys at Powell Law routinely consider the potential time period a case may take to settle or litigate including the delays inherent in the legal process and those entirely unexpected. If a loved one has been injured in any type of accident resulting in death, bodily injury, or property damage, contact Powell Law at (570) 961-0777. The consultation is FREE and you don’t pay anything unless we win.
