Pittsburgh’s Go-To Car Accident Lawyer

Put the Romanow Difference to work for you

The car accident was over in moments. The consequences can affect the rest of your life. You may spend days or weeks in the hospital, waiting for the pain to subside, while the bills pile up and you have no money coming in. A single injury can affect your family, your career, and your future. Those are real costs, and you have recourse under Pennsylvania law – but you must fight for the compensation you deserve.

That’s why you need an experienced car accident lawyer on your side. The insurance company won’t take your claim seriously if you don’t. At Romanow Law Group, we are ready to fight for the financial compensation you deserve.

What to do after a car accident in Pittsburgh

A car crash is an unexpected, traumatic event, and we get how easy it is to lose focus – but it’s important to keep your wits about you. The choices you make immediately after the accident can make all the difference in your case, and any mistakes you make can have far-reaching consequences. Here’s what you need to do:

• Make sure the scene is safe, then call 911 and remain at the scene until the police arrive. Leaving the scene of an accident (except to get emergency medical attention) is a serious crime in Pennsylvania. Exchange contact and insurance information with the other driver(s) involved.
• Start gathering evidence at the scene. Take pictures of the area, any property damage, and any visible injuries. Get names and contact information for witnesses. Look around for surveillance cameras – remember, that footage may be lost within days, so you need to take immediate action to secure it.
• The police accident report is also a valuable piece of evidence. You won’t be able to get it immediately, but be sure to get the investigating officer’s name and badge number, as well as the investigating agency, to make it easier to acquire in the future.
• In your conversations with anyone else at the scene, keep your comments brief and stick to the facts of what happened. Don’t say anything about fault, and don’t apologize (which could be construed as an admission of fault).
• Even if you’re just a little sore, you need to get medical attention as soon as possible. In Pittsburgh, we’re blessed with some of the best hospitals in the country; this is the time to take full advantage and get checked out by a doctor. Tell the provider who sees you about all your symptoms and make sure you get any tests or follow-up care you need. This is the safest option for your health. It also protects your legal rights.

Then, call a lawyer as soon as possible, ideally before you talk to the insurance company. The sooner we get involved, the sooner we can start investigating your crash and building your case for the full compensation you deserve.

Determining how much your car accident claim is worth

There is no set amount or exact mathematical formula to gauge the value of a car accident. The Pennsylvania Suggested Standard Jury Instructions state that the damages (financial compensation) awarded in a car accident claim should represent an amount which the jury believes “will fairly and adequately compensate the plaintiff for all of the physical and financial injury he (she) has sustained as the result of the accident.” In other words, how much your car accident claim is worth depends on the extent of the injuries and the effect those injuries have had on your life.

Since there is no magic wand or time machine that can erase the physical, emotional, and financial harm suffered by an injury victim, the only way that the civil justice system can right the wrong is by placing a dollar value on the harm caused and awarding that amount to the injured party. If you were hurt in a crash, you may be able to recover both economic damages (that is, those that can be tied to a specific dollar figure) and non-economic damages (which are more subjective, but no less real). Some of the specific types of damages we may be able to pursue in a claim include:

• Lost earnings and impairment of earning capacity. For instance, if you were out of work for a few weeks recovering from your injuries in the hospital, you should get reimbursed for those lost wages. If you have a permanent injury that will require you to work “light duty” and reduce your income, you should be compensated for those future earnings, too.
• Medical expenses, both past and future. That’s everything from the ambulance ride to the hospital, to surgery and follow-up care that may be years away. For instance, if you have a knee injury, we may need to secure compensation for a knee replacement, even if the actual replacement surgery will be a decade down the road. Your award for medical expenses should include the cost of surgery, physical therapy, medication, medical devices, and any other medical bills resulting from the car crash.
• Modifications to your home or vehicle needed to accommodate a permanent injury or disability.
• Pain and suffering, emotional distress, and mental anguish. Pain is a difficult thing to quantify because it’s so personal. An award for pain and suffering can take all applicable evidence into account, including medical records and the opinion of medical experts, as well as your self-assessment of your pain.
• Lost quality of life, if your injuries will affect your ability to spend time with your family or do the things you love. Changes to your life, such as being unable to play catch with your kids due to a shoulder injury, are real losses that deserve real compensation.
• Punitive damages, if your collision was caused by especially reckless or intentional conduct. Punitive damages are sometimes awarded in cases involving drunk drivers, for example.

Ultimately, it is your lawyer’s job to ensure that you recover a fair amount. Our car accident lawyers are experienced at negotiating the damages components of our clients’ claims. Since money is the only recourse in a civil matter, it is critical that your lawyer has the skillset to maximize the value of your claim. We may need to present documents, hire expert witnesses, and help you craft your testimony to show the full extent of the losses you’ve suffered. At our firm, clients are family, and we do everything that the law allows to ensure that they recover everything legally allowed.

With our experience, we have handled virtually every type of injury case imaginable. When our attorneys negotiate claims they are armed with firsthand information about verdicts obtained in similar cases, detailed information about the intricacies of the particular claim, and the proven willingness and ability to take the claim to court. That’s why choosing the right lawyer can make all the difference.

Do I need a lawyer after a Pittsburgh car accident?

The biggest mistake that someone can make following a car accident is to assume that they don’t need an attorney because the insurance adjuster is going to “do the right thing” and settle his or her claim for a fair value. It just doesn’t happen. Statistically, people who negotiate their claims without a lawyer receive less money in their pockets than those represented by an attorney, even after legal fees.

An insurance adjuster’s goal is simple – to settle claims for as little money as possible. Adjusters don’t care that you have mounting medical bills and lost wages. They don’t care if you’re in pain and have many physical hurdles to overcome before a full recovery is made. Their job is to limit your compensation as much as they can because that’s how the insurance company makes their money. They will deploy numerous tricks to keep your payout as small as possible.

One of the most common tactics used by insurance adjusters is to immediately extend settlement offers to injury victims. They want to make the offer before victims know the full extent of their injuries or have consulted with a car accident lawyer about their rights. They know that once the settlement papers are signed, the injured party can’t make any future claims.

Alternatively, the insurance company may drag the process out, demanding onerous amounts of paperwork and mysteriously delaying action. They do this for two reasons: one, there’s a legal deadline, called the statute of limitations, that will bar you from getting compensation at all if you wait two years from the date of the crash without filing a lawsuit. Second, even if they can’t drag the process out for that long, they want to wear you out and make you accept whatever small amount they offer.

The way to fight back is simple: get a lawyer who knows the system and knows how to use it to your advantage.

Why should I hire your law firm?

Don’t let the adjuster decide what is fair. Hire a Pittsburgh car accident lawyer and make it a two-sided negotiation. Our attorneys know how to get the insurance company to pay you what your claim is worth. We are dedicated to helping you get the best possible outcome in your case.

One of the biggest decisions you will make after being injured in a car accident is choosing a lawyer to represent you. Many lawyers are happy to settle your case as quickly as possible, but it will leave you with less money.

The lawyers at Romanow Law Group have handled thousands of claims. We have the experience needed to help you restore everything that you lost in the accident. We have the reputation that makes insurance companies take your case seriously—because they know we are not afraid to take them to trial.

We handle all types of car accident cases

In our years of experience practicing law, we have handled all sorts of cases. Every crash is different, but there are some commonalities depending on the type of car accident.

• Rear-End Accidents: they may be common, but these cases can be anything but simple. Liability in a rear-end collision is usually clear, but the insurance company will most likely downplay the extent of your injuries, especially if the crash happened at a low speed.
• Head-On Collisions: the insurance companies fight hard to downplay these crashes because the injuries sustained are so severe. We know how to get to the bottom of what happened and fight for the full compensation you deserve.
• T-Bone Accidents: a broadside crash can cause severe damage because the side of a vehicle provides relatively little protection. They’re also often disputed liability cases because it’s not always clear who had the right of way. An experienced lawyer can cut through that confusion.
• Hit-and-Runs: leaving the scene of a crash is a crime in Pennsylvania, but some drivers break the law. If that happened to you, we’ll stand up for your rights, whether that involves filing an uninsured motorist claim with your insurance company or taking on the other driver’s insurance if they’re found.
• Lyft and Uber Accidents: when a rideshare service is involved in a crash, the insurance situation can get exceptionally complex. We know the applicable Pennsylvania laws and how to advocate for your rights in a developing area of law.
• Commercial Vehicle Accidents: if the defendant in your case is a business, you may be up against the insurance company’s best adjusters and attorneys as they seek to protect their assets. We can match them shot for shot.
• Fatal Crashes: no amount of legal action can bring your loved one back, but if their death was the result of another driver’s negligence, we will pursue accountability for the at-fault driver and compensation for the people left behind.

We fight for accountability for all causes of car accidents because we’re passionate about making Pittsburgh safer. Speeding drivers, drunk drivers, texting drivers, and other careless motorists can change lives forever. When we hold them accountable, we not only secure compensation for our clients but also prevent others from suffering in the future. This work matters, and we promise to see you through every step of the way.

How a car accident attorney can help you, start to finish

Our job as your car accident lawyer is to build your case and see you through the process. You must prove that the claimed injuries are related to the crash. Even in the clearest liability cases, the insurance companies always dispute the extent of injuries or claim they were pre-existing. The best lawyers know how to prove the damage claims of their clients.

Our legal team investigates your car crash and gathers evidence. We carefully review accident reports and medical records. We interview witnesses. Our firm also has relationships with the top medical experts in the country, and we have a doctor on staff to help assess the injuries sustained by our clients in car wrecks.

Ultimately, we know how to make the insurance company pay up. Usually, we’ll be able to negotiate a fair settlement, but we are always ready to go to trial if that’s what it takes. The insurance companies need an incentive to pay up, and the risk of facing us in trial is a risk they often are not willing to take. Whether through negotiation or litigation, we will take care of the legal process while you focus on healing.

Learn more about how our attorneys can help with your case. Contact us to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Pittsburgh car accident lawyer. We can review the details of your case and go over your legal options. We can also answer any questions that you have. If you can’t make it to our office, that’s not a problem. We will come to you.