Venue is the location where a lawsuit is filed and will go to Trial.

Each individual County in Pennsylvania has a Court and, in a Personal Injury Case, the injured party gets to choose the Venue where the lawsuit is filed, so long as the court rules regarding Venue are followed.

If the Defendant thinks that the Venue is improper, it can file an objection and ask that the case be dismissed or transferred to an appropriate Venue.

In Pennsylvania, the Venue rules provide that an accident victim case choose to sue in a variety of potential locations including: where the incident occurred, where any individual defendant resides, where a business entity being has its registered office or principal place of business or where the business entity being sued “regularly conducts business.”

For litigation involving more than one Defendant, the case can be filed in any County where it would be proper to sue any of the Defendants.

Philadelphia is considered to be a favorable Venue to file a Pennsylvania Personal Injury Case. Plaintiff’s lawyers want to be there. Conversely, Defense lawyers prefer cases to be filed in, or transferred to, the outlying Counties where Jury Verdicts are usually lower, like Delaware, Chester, Bucks or Montgomery County.

Recently, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided the case of Hangey v. Husqvarna which ruled in favor of a Plaintiff to keep Venue of a Personal Injury Case in Philadelphia and shot down Defense efforts to keep the case out of Philadelphia by merely establishing that a very small percentage of the Defendant Company’s business was conducted in Philadelphia.

Instead, the PA Supreme Court held that in deciding whether Venue of litigation could be in Philadelphia based upon the rule allowing Venue if the Defendant “regularly conducts business” in the County, the Trial Judge is required to conduct an analysis of the “quality and quantity” of the business performed in the Venue.

The PA Supreme Court found that it is erroneous to decide the quantity prong solely on the basis of the percentage of sales conducted in the County. In doing so it ruled that the Trial Court had improperly transferred Venue out of Philadelphia based on the defense argument that Husqvarna conducting only 0.005% of its national revenue came from Philadelphia County which showed insufficient quantity of business under the “quality-quantity” test for “regularly conducting business.”

In the end, this decision is very favorable to injured accident victims in Pennsylvania because it protects their rights to choose the Venue where they want to litigate their cases, as long as the “quality-quantity” test shows that the Defendant “regularly conducts business” there.

Tim Rayne is a Pennsylvania Personal Injury Lawyer with the Chester County based law firm MacElree Harvey, Ltd. For over 25 years, Tim has been helping accident victims understand their legal rights and receive fair treatment from insurance companies. Contact Tim for a Free Evaluation of your Injury Case at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or visit his website at www.TimRayneLaw.com.

If you own a property adjacent to a public sidewalk in Pennsylvania, it’s important that you know that you have the primary obligation to inspect and repair the sidewalk to make sure that it is safe. If you don’t and someone gets injured, then you can get sued.

It may seem strange, but Municipalities have only secondary liability, behind the primary responsibility of the property owner.

Given Pennsylvania law on the responsibility to maintain sidewalks, I recommend that Property Owners do the following:

• Inspect the sidewalk for defects regularly.
• If the sidewalk needs repairs, ask your Municipality to repair the sidewalk – If it will, that’s great for you!
• If the Municipality will not make the repairs, then you should make them yourself and, until you do, put up cones or warning signs to prevent injuries.
• Finally, make sure that you have adequate Property Liability Insurance to protect you if someone gets hurt and sues you.

Tim Rayne is a Pennsylvania Personal Injury Lawyer who helps accident victims receive fair treatment from insurance companies. For over 25 years, Tim has been helping accident victims understand their legal rights and fighting with insurance companies. Tim has offices in Kennett Square and West Chester, Pennsylvania but also meets with clients at their homes or virtually. Contact Tim Rayne at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or check out his website at www.TimRayneLaw.com

Philadelphia Sixers Basketball Player Kelly Oubre was injured this weekend while crossing the street in Center City Philadelphia when he was struck by a Hit and Run Driver.

Accidents involving famous people bring legal issues into the spotlight, so as a Personal Injury Lawyer, I’ve been fielding lots of questions about what happens when you get injured by a Hit and Run Driver.

Who Pays What After a Hit and Run Crash?

In Pennsylvania, Medical Bills are paid on a No Fault Basis. So, if you get injured by a Hit and Run Driver, whether it be as a car driver, pedestrian or even a bike rider, your own car insurance will pay for your Medical Bills.

Lost Wages can also be paid on a No Fault Basis, if you purchased Lost Wage Coverage on your insurance, which is optional.

In addition to payment of Medical Bills and potentially Lost Wages, the victim of a Hit and Run collision may also be able to make a claim for fair compensation for things like Pain and Suffering, Disability and Scarring and Disfigurement. However, in order to have such a right, you must be covered by Uninsured Benefits, which is optional coverage that you purchase on your own car insurance which protects you from Uninsured Drivers.

When you purchase Car Insurance, you choose whether you want Uninsured Coverage and, if so, you choose the amount of coverage which can range from minimal coverage of $15,000 to Millions.

What Will Happen to Kelly Oubre?

The Sixers star appears to have suffered a significant injury in a Hit and Run Collision that was not his fault. If Mr. Oubre has not purchased Uninsured Coverage, it’s unlikely that he will be compensated for his injuries, unless the driver is found. However, if he is covered by Uninsured Coverage, it looks like he has a valid claim and should be fairly compensated by his own insurance company.

Tim Rayne is a Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyer with MacElree Harvey. Tim has law offices in Kennett Square and West Chester, Pennsylvania. Tim can be reached at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or you can check out his website at www.TimRayneLaw.com.

When you purchase Car Insurance in Pennsylvania, you have several choices to make that impact both your legal rights and the legal rights of the family members who live with you.

One of the most important choices you have to make is whether to choose Full Tort or Limited Tort. The choice impacts your premium payment but also impacts your family’s right to be compensated after someone is injured in a car accident caused by someone else.

Why Choose Full Tort?

Full Tort costs more than Limited Tort (on average about 10 percent more) but it protects your full legal rights to compensation after an accident caused by someone else.

Whoever was injured in the car accident and is covered by Full Tort can make a claim to be fully compensated. Full compensation means money for both Economic and Non-Economic Damages. Economic damages include money for medical bills, lost income and out-of-pocket costs. Non-Economic Damages include compensation for Pain and Suffering, Disability, Scarring and Disfigurement and other harms that are more difficult to quantify but are also real damages.

Why Limited Tort is a Problem?

Limited Tort costs less than Full Tort but it jeopardizes important legal rights.

With Limited Tort, you can recover Economic Damages but Non-Economic Damages cannot be recovered unless the person injured in the accident suffered a “Serious Injury” or a Limited Tort Exception applies.

“Serious Injury” is defined as Death, Serious Permanent Disfigurement or Serious Impairment of Bodily Function.

So, it is very common for someone to sustain significant injuries in a car accident but to be barred from recovering Non-Economic Damages because of a Limited Tort election.

Under certain circumstances, people can be covered by Limited Tort but still be entitled to full compensation based upon a Limited Tort Exception. Common exceptions include being injured as a pedestrian, bus passenger or bike rider, being injured by an out-of-state driver, or being injured by a drunk or uninsured driver.

In the end, Full Tort is more expensive coverage but protects your full legal rights. If you are injured and have Limited Tort it’s important to get legal advice to see if an Exception applies or if you meet the Serious Injury threshold.

Tim Rayne is a Pennsylvania Personal Injury lawyer with the law firm MacElree Harvey. Tim has law offices in Kennett Square and West Chester. For over 25 years, Tim Rayne has been helping Car Accident victims receive fair treatment from insurance companies. Tim can be contacted at 610-840-0124 or trayne@macelree.com or you can check out his website at www.TimRayneLaw.com.