Harrisburg Personal Injury Attorney

Accident and Personal Injury Practice

We represent clients in serious personal injury and death cases. Our Accident and Injury attorneys handle accident cases involving:

• Heavy Trucks
• Automobiles
• Defective Products
• Construction Site Injuries
• Motorcycles
• Bicycles
• Machines
• Slip-and-Falls
• Nursing Home Injuries

Contact Michael R. Kelley or Jennifer L. Ruth.

Michael concentrates his Accident and Injury Practice on representing clients who have been injured by heavy trucks,automobiles and nursing homes. For over 20 years, he handled more than 100 heavy truck accident cases while representing many of the top 100 largest trucking companies in the United States. He has been a featured speaker on trucking accident cases before the American Trucking Associations, the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, and to the American Law Firm Association’s Transportation group. He has regularly taught seminars and authored articles on trucking accident litigation.

Michael knows that handling trucking accidents is unlike other accidents cases. 18-wheelers are regulated by both federal and state laws. Michael not only knows the Federal Rules and Regulations governing heavy trucks, he has taught those rules to the trucking industry.

Michael now represents injured victims in claims against trucking companies. His unique background and trucking industry knowledge help his clients obtain maximum results.

Raising the bar for Personal Injury Lawyers

When you or a loved one is involved in an accident, it is difficult to know who to ask for legal help. Our personal injury lawyers are focused on listening to your needs, guiding you through the process, and obtaining the best recovery for you and your family. When you call or e-mail our firm, one of the best personal injury lawyers in Pennsylvania will return your phone call or e-mail personally. You will not be referred to a call center or screener.

• We will quickly evaluate your case and let you know whether we can help.
• Our lawyers are respected by judges and the legal community. We have obtained some of the largest verdicts in Central Pennsylvania.
• We believe that our personal injury clients deserve the same personal, high-quality representation that all of our clients receive.
• At Smigel, Anderson & Sacks, we are raising the bar for personal injury lawyers.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to choose a Personal Injury Lawyer?

We believe that clients should choose a personal injury lawyer like any other professional. You should consider the lawyer’s education, experience, professionalism, and results. Our lawyers have attended the finest local and national law schools. Our lead personal injury attorneys each have nearly 30 years of experience in representing injury victims. Our lawyers have a great reputation in the community for professionalism, hard work, trial skills and results. That means you will be treated right and that opposing lawyers and insurance companies respect our skills and accomplishments. We have obtained some of the largest verdicts in the Central Pennsylvania area, including numerous verdicts in excess of $1,000,000.00 on behalf of our clients.

2. How do I pay for the attorney’s services?

Most people have heard of the term “contingent fee.” Our firm represents most of our personal injury clients based on a contingent fee agreement. This means that you owe no attorney’s fees unless we obtain a recovery for you. But, not all contingent fee agreements are the same. We use a graduated contingent fee, meaning that if we settle your case early on, we charge a lower percentage. We think that it is only fair to charge a lower percentage if we settle your case early on because that means we have not had to work as long for you. Many firms charge a flat rate for their contingent fee regardless of when a recovery is obtained. Many firms also require you to pay for the expenses of litigation upfront. That means that with other firms you may have to pay for the costs of filing suit, depositions, transcripts, travel expenses, and other such costs – out of your own pocket. At our firm, we advance all expenses to our personal injury clients. You will never get a bill from us asking you to pay for expenses before we obtain a recovery on your behalf.

Heavy Truck Accidents

There are more than 120,000 vehicle crashes every year in Pennsylvania. On average, vehicle accidents cause more than 3,000 major injuries and 1,200 deaths per year. A significant number of those crashes and fatalities involved heavy trucks. Since 2010, the number of annual crashes involving heavy trucks has increased nearly 13% to 60,596. Not surprisingly, the severity of the crashes involving heavy trucks are much greater than those involving cars. Crashes involving a heavy truck are more than twice as likely to result in a fatality as those involving passenger cars. More than 97 % of all crash deaths involved those in passenger cars. Fewer than 3% of all deaths involved occupants of the heavy trucks. These statistics prove what most motorists know from experience. Heavy trucks are responsible for an alarming and increasing number of vehicle crashes, and, when a crash involving a heavy truck occurs, it is much more likely to be deadly.

(2014 Pennsylvania Crash Facts and Statistics, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation)

Motor Vehicle Crash Statistics

Our Injury and Accident Practice Group not only knows your case, but also follows important crash information affecting all Pennsylvanians. On average every year in Pennsylvania:

• 121,317 reportable traffic crashes occur. These crashes claim the lives of more than 1,200 people and injure another 79,758 people.
• 332 reportable traffic crashes occur daily, including 3 crashes per day in which people are killed and 219 crashes per day in
  which people are injured.
• 1 out of every 46 Pennsylvanians is involved in a reportable traffic crash, and one out of every 160 Pennsylvanians is injured in a reportable traffic crash.
• More than 3,000 Pennsylvanians suffer a major injury in a vehicle crash.
• More than 150 Pennsylvanians are killed in heavy truck accidents.
• 115,000 crashes occur involving male drivers, while 79,000 crashes occur involving female drivers.
• The most likely group to be involved in an automobile crash? Males between the ages of 21 and 25. They account for more than 16,000 reportable crashes.
• The second most likely group to be involved in a crash? Males aged 16 to 20. They are involved in more than 13,000 crashes.
• The overwhelming majority of crashes (78%) and deaths (85%) occur when there are no adverse weather conditions.
• 71% percent of crashes and 79% of deaths occur on a dry road surface.
• The highest seasonal number of traffic crashes occur just before Thanksgiving (1,841 crashes in 2014).
• The most number of seasonal fatalities occur during Labor Day weekend.
• The No. 1 contributing factor to crashes involving driver error is driving too fast. 32,000 crashes and 434 deaths in 2014 involved speeding in Pennsylvania.
• The second largest contributing factor to crashes involving driver error is distracted driving. Distracted driving caused 14,000 crashes
  and 49 fatalities in 2014.

(2014 Pennsylvania Crash Facts and Statistics, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation)

Choosing the Best Harrisburg Personal Injury Attorney

If you’re searching for a reliable and trustworthy Harrisburg personal injury attorney, look no further than Smigel, Anderson, and Sacks. Our law firm handles each case with the utmost legal and ethical standards, and client confidentiality is of the utmost importance to us. We understand that seeking legal representation can be stressful, and our attorneys and staff are sensitive to this and always ready to address your specific concerns. To schedule an appointment to discuss your case, please give us a call (717-234-2401) or use our online contact form. Trust us to be your dedicated Harrisburg personal injury attorneys.

Send us a Message
We understand if you don’t have the time to make a phone call, are just looking for some general advice or want to quickly register for a seminar. Don’t hesitate to send us a message, we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!