Frequently Asked Questions
Find clear, straightforward answers about personal injury claims, your legal rights, and what to expect during the case process. We believe in transparency at every step.
Dog Bite Injuries
Start by getting medical care and documenting everything — photos of the injuries, the dog, where it happened, and the owner’s contact and insurance details. Then call us. We handle the claim against the owner’s homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, and if they won’t pay fairly, we file suit in the county where the attack happened. The consultation is free and you pay nothing unless we recover.
Usually the dog’s owner. In Pennsylvania, owners are responsible for medical costs from a bite regardless of whether the dog had bitten before, and they can be liable for the full range of damages when they knew the dog was dangerous or failed to keep it under control. Landlords, property owners, or whoever was handling the dog can sometimes share responsibility too.
Medical bills (including future treatment and scar revision), lost wages, and pain and suffering — which for bites often includes scarring, disfigurement, and the emotional trauma that follows an attack. Children’s cases in particular often involve long-term physical and psychological effects, and the claim should reflect that.
Personal Injury Basics
It’s a legal claim for compensation when someone else’s carelessness causes you harm — a car crash, a fall on unsafe property, a defective product, a medical error. The claim is usually paid by the responsible party’s insurance company, and it covers your medical costs, lost income, and the pain and disruption the injury caused.
If someone else was at fault and you have real, documented damages, very likely yes. Pennsylvania uses comparative negligence, so you can still recover even if you were partly at fault, as long as you were less than 51% responsible — your award is just reduced by your share. The fastest way to know is a free case review.
Most cases settle without one. We build the claim, send a demand to the insurer, and negotiate. We file suit when the insurance company won’t offer what the case is worth — and we tell you before that happens so nothing catches you off guard. Filing a lawsuit doesn’t mean you’ll end up in trial; most still settle along the way.
Not on day one, and be wary of anyone who does. Value depends on the severity of your injuries, your medical costs, your lost income, how clear fault is, and how much insurance coverage exists. Once your treatment stabilizes and we have the records, we’ll give you an honest range — not a sales pitch.
Car & Auto Accidents
Get to safety and call 911. Get medical attention even if you feel fine — some injuries take days to show. Photograph the vehicles, the scene, and your injuries, exchange insurance information, and get witness contacts. Don’t give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer before talking to a lawyer.
If you were injured, it helps. Pennsylvania’s full tort / limited tort rules, medical payment coverage, and insurer tactics are confusing by design, and studies consistently show represented claimants recover more even after fees. For a minor fender-bender with no injuries, you may not need one — we’ll tell you that straight if so.
As soon as you can after getting medical care. Evidence disappears quickly — vehicles get repaired, camera footage gets overwritten, witnesses forget. Calling early also keeps you from making mistakes with the insurance company. The consultation is free, so there’s no reason to wait.
In Pennsylvania you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit. Insurance claims should be opened much sooner. Some situations — injuries to minors, claims against government entities — have different deadlines, so check with us rather than assume.
Slip & Fall / Premises Liability
Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations for most injury claims is two years from the date of the fall. If the property is owned by a city, county, or state agency, you may need to give written notice within six months, so don’t wait on those.
Anywhere from several months to a couple of years. Straightforward cases with clear liability often settle within a year; cases that go into litigation take longer. We won’t rush you into a lowball settlement to close the file faster.
You need to show the property owner knew — or should have known — about the hazard and didn’t fix it or warn you. That means evidence: photos of the condition, incident reports, surveillance footage, maintenance logs, and witness statements. The sooner we start gathering it, the stronger the case.
You need to show the property owner knew — or should have known — about the hazard and didn’t fix it or warn you. That means evidence: photos of the condition, incident reports, surveillance footage, maintenance logs, and witness statements. The sooner we start gathering it, the stronger the case.
Whoever controlled the property and was responsible for keeping it safe — the owner, a tenant business, a property management company, or a maintenance contractor. Often more than one party shares responsibility, and identifying all of them matters for getting full compensation.
We investigate quickly, preserve evidence, identify every responsible party and insurance policy, handle all communication with insurers, and value your claim properly. You focus on recovery; we handle the fight.
Medical Malpractice
You have to show the provider fell below the accepted standard of care and that failure caused your injury. In Pennsylvania this requires a certificate of merit from a qualified medical expert, so these cases rely heavily on expert review of your records. We arrange that review as part of evaluating your case.
Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis (especially cancer, stroke, and heart attack), surgical errors, medication mistakes, birth injuries, and anesthesia errors. A bad outcome alone isn’t malpractice — the question is whether a competent provider would have acted differently.
Mass Torts
Reach out and tell us the product, drug, or device involved and what happened. We’ll tell you whether an active litigation exists for it and whether your situation fits. If it does, we connect you directly with the firms handling that litigation nationwide.
Typically several years. Mass torts involve thousands of claimants and are often consolidated into a single court, so they move on the litigation’s timeline, not any one case. Settlements are usually paid out in waves once the overall litigation resolves. We’ll keep you informed the entire way.
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Ethen Ostroff Law is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Cases arising outside these states may be referred to independent attorneys licensed in the appropriate jurisdiction. Referred attorneys are not employees or partners of Ethen Ostroff Law. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any future case. This page is for general information only and is not legal advice; contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.
