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How Much Money Can I Get?

Answer:

Money, recovered as compensation for injuries from a dog bite

Our Pittsburgh lawyers have recovered money ranging from a few thousand dollars (for minor dog bites or scratches) to six figure awards, where the victim suffered disfigurement, lost wages, and/or severe life long emotional distress from the attack.   

Ultimately, the value of a dog bite claim will depend on three things.  First, is there a basis for liability based on governing Pennsylvania Dog Law?   Secondly, why types of injuries were sustained and whether any lost wages resulted from the attack? Third, how serious were the injuries?  In other words, is there a deep scar or amputation?  Was the emotional distress severe and life changing?

 

Our Recent Recoveries in Dog Bite Cases in Pennsylvania 

Our firm has had recent dog bite case recoveries in Western Pennsylvania, which is much more conservative on average than Eastern PA / Philadelphia area. These recoveries include: 

        • $15,000 nip in the back of the leg (upper thigh) for a Fed Ex worker 1/2 inch scar. 
        • $15,000 back of the leg nip, neighbor’s dog (upper thigh) while neighbors were talking, 1/2 inch scar. 
        • $30,000 – the defendant-dog owner lacked liability insurance, and the dog had only chased the plaintiff on her bike, causing non-serious injuries from the fall and bite wounds not requiring sutures. 
        • $80,000 – man dragged to the ground by two pit bulls, dog owner was judgment proof, but the claim went to court against the dog owner’s landlord for an attack that occurred off the landlord’s property.  The landlord filed a motion to dismiss the claim, since the attack happened off of his property, but after oral argument in court before a judge, the injured-Plaintiff prevailed.  
        • $100,000 – eight year old girl, bit on the lip by a small dog, and we recovered the limits of the liability policy. 
        • $150,000 – a dog removed a portion of a child’s scalp, and we recovered policy limits. 

 

Recoveries State-Wide

An experienced dog bite lawyer will be aware of recent verdicts and settlement.  You should recover at least as much as other dog bite victims have received.   We maintain a database of previous dog bite verdicts and settlements by not only our lawyers, but other firms state-wide.

Our dog bite attorneys stay up to date on recent verdicts involving disfigurement in Pennsylvania so that we can persuade the insurance company for the defendant to give you top dollar. Here’s a  snapshot of some cases over the past few weeks:

        • $6,000 – Jury verdict and net amount for the Plaintiff. There, another law firm (not us) had taken a case to trial against a dog owner that disputed liability.  Click here for more.   
        • $200,000 Settlement – Eastern Pennsylvania where verdicts (and therefore settlement amounts) tend to be relatively high compared to Western PA (Pittsburgh and the surrounding counties).  It was a dog attack involving injury that required a surgical repair of the tibial tendon. Click here for more.  

 

Various Items of Damages To Claim 

You can get paid for pain and suffering, lost wages and lost earning capacity, disfigurement (including surface scars), loss of function/feeling, out of pocket expenses, and your spouse can also sue for lost companionship (or loss of consortium).  You can also advance a claim for punitive damages where the facts warrant it.

The amount of recovery varies, and our Pittsburgh lawyers fight for a substantial amount in every case. The mechanism of injury in dog bite case involves the puncture and treating of flesh, which causes permanent disfigurement. Significant compensation is needed to help make things right.

 

 

Workers’ Compensation

Apart from a claim in court for money from the dog owner, you can also make a claim for workers’ compensation, (“workers’ comp”) against your employer, if you were injured in the scope of your work as a delivery person, for example, for Amazon, or Uber Eats, or UPS.  However, from workers’ comp, you can only get your medical bills paind plus 2/3 of your average weekly wage.  You can get a lump sum in worker’s comp for a scar, but the disfigurement must be from your neck up.  Contact us for more information.  

 

 

Collectability

Just because your case is “serious” and therefore a high valuation, you still have to find a way to collect money. 

Often, the dog owner will not carry enough liability insurance to satisfy a verdict, even though in PA, currently, in 2023, insurers cannot discriminate against any dog breed by charging higher rates for a pit bull than a retriever, for example.  Thus, your lawyer has to be resourceful to attempt to collect money from the owner of a dog that caused an attack.

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Our Pittsburgh dog bite attorneys also handle claims involving a child or children. Contact our advocates for a free consultation today.

412.400.5476

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