Practice Areas

The factors that cause a personal injury can vary significantly from one case to another. From car accidents to dangerous property hazards, the ways the human body can sustain injury are countless. Despite these differences, every personal injury claim has one thing in common: it results from the negligence of another party.

Everything from an electric shaver to the airbags in your car is considered a consumer product that is governed by product liability law.

Wrongful Death is a tragic case of personal injury law in which injuries due to another's negligence result in death. A wrongful death claim works something like a personal injury claim, with three major differences:

• The victim must die of his injuries;
• The claim is generally filed by the personal representative of the victim’s probate estate; and
• The money goes to the victim’s close family members.

A survival action is a close cousin to a wrongful death action. It is typically filed by the personal representative of the deceased victim’s probate estate at the same time as a wrongful death claim.

Over a thousand people died on Pennsylvania roads last year in car accidents – and many times that number were seriously injured. Most of these accidents were the direct result of someone’s negligence or recklessness. When that someone wasn’t you, you are entitled to compensation for your injuries.

Septa accidents and bus accident cases are more common than you think. SEPTA, the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, operates buses, rail lines, and trolleys throughout southeastern Pennsylvania. Since it serves about four million people a year, it is not surprising that numerous accidents occur annually.

SEPTA can be sued if the accident was the fault of SEPTA or its driver, and it can provide limited compensation even if the accident was caused by an uninsured third party.

Construction accident cases are lawsuits that sue for injuries from construction accidents. Construction work is some of the most dangerous work available, and the accident rate is shockingly high. Most construction accident claims are handled under the jurisdiction of the workers’ compensation system, which doesn’t require you to prove negligence to win.

Construction falls represent a very large proportion of construction accidents, and they are among the deadliest. If you have been injured in a construction accident fall, or if your close family member has been killed in such an accident while working, you may be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim.

Scaffold accidents are frequently serious, and they can be caused by a variety of factors such as loose guardrails or supports, or careless behavior by a worker. The Occupational  Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) strictly regulates scaffoldings and proving the violation of an OSHA regulation is a way to help prove a defendant was negligent.

Dozens of construction workers are killed every year in trench collapse accidents, and many times that number are seriously injured. OSHA regulations require that safety systems be put in place to prevent trenches from collapsing and that trenches be inspected by a qualified inspector at regular intervals.

Electrocution and electric shock accidents typically occur on construction sites – in fact, they are one of the top five leading causes of construction site deaths. Examples of typical causes of electrocution accidents at construction sites include:

• Failure to power down electric lines prior to work.
• Defective equipment.
• Failure to properly mark locations where excavation can cause electrocution.

Forklift accidents often happen at construction sites or other workplaces where manual labor is required. Vehicle accidents don’t always involve cars – they also can involve construction vehicles such as forklifts. Because a forklift is such a powerful machine and accidents involving forklifts are frequently serious, they must be operated with particular care. Not only construction workers but also pedestrians can be put at risk by a forklift.

Slip and fall accidents can occur at a construction site, a retail establishment, or a private home. Hundreds of thousands of people are injured every year in slip and fall accidents, and the responsible party is often the owner or renter of the premises in which the accident occurred. Elderly people are especially vulnerable to slip and fall injuries.

Dog bites can cause serious injuries. Millions of people are bitten by dogs every year, and most of the injuries are not all that serious. Some dog bites, however, are serious injuries that require significant compensation. In fact, the average recovery for a dog bite claim in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Liquor liability & dram shops are added protections for people injured in DUI accidents. How do you collect fair compensation if you are injured by a drunk driver who is uninsured or underinsured? Pennsylvania law provides an additional remedy under certain circumstances. Under the Pennsylvania dram shop law, you can sue a nightclub or tavern that provided alcohol to the driver after he was already “visibly intoxicated.”

Civil rights violations can be serious offenses. Under federal civil rights law, you are entitled to justice if a government official, or someone acting on behalf of the government, deprives you of civil rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. For example, police brutality (the use of unnecessary force) is actionable under federal civil rights law.

Assault and Battery Cases can be personal injury cases--not all personal injury cases are based on negligence. As and example, assault and battery lawsuits are typically based on intentional misconduct. You might have been beaten by a bar bouncer, or roughed up by a security guard, and these actions would constitute such intentional misconduct. You can even maintain an assault claim if someone unjustly pulled a gun on you but never touched you.

If the act that injured you was a criminal offense, you can file a lawsuit even while the criminal trial is underway. It is possible to win a civil lawsuit even if you lose in criminal court.

Saws cause thousands of serious hand injuries every year. This is a common occurrence. These types of incidents maim and injure people every day and incur billions of dollars each year in medical bills.

At Mattiacci Law, we have successfully fought and won complex defective product cases for our clients. These cases have involved cases ranging from construction equipment to safety devices, to coffee makers. We have the experience to take on the large manufacturers and prove their products are not safe.