Matthew D. Gailey & Associates

09/25/2021

This past week, after a trial in front of Judge Della Vecchia, an approximately $65,000 jury verdict in favor of the Plaintiff for a slip and fall was obtained against a downtown Pittsburgh restaurant. It was definitely a great day for the Plaintiff and his family!

05/04/2020

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/may/2/americans-rights-depend-on-access-to-courts-even-d/

Here is a recent Op-Ed that was published in The Washington Times.

Governors should free us to live our lives, to chase our dreams and to let us pursue happiness for our families — and that extends to the great guarantor of our sacred rights: An open, free and fair legal system.

10/03/2018

One of the largest legal issues in our country today focuses on interaction between criminal suspects and the police. The main issue concerning this interaction revolves around what level of force is appropriate when dealing with a particular citizen. As a criminal attorney, I often deal with these types of issues. This month's article will focus on this important area of criminal law practice.

Generally speaking, police are empowered to use enough force to obtain compliance with lawful police instructions. In order to determine if the amount of force employed by an officer was reasonable, there must be an intensive and fact specific investigation of the interaction between the officer and the citizen. The Supreme Court has also held that force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene and not with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.

Police officers are also empowered to use deadly force in rare occasions. In fact, less than 1% of all police interactions is deadly force used upon citizens. In order to use deadly force, an officer must be judged on the totality of circumstances and meet a standard of objective reasonableness. Additionally, an officer can only use deadly force on a fleeing suspect when the officer has probable cause to believe that an individual poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.

Given the deferential nature of the standards of force, it is always in a individual's best interest to comply with lawful police instructions. Individuals should call their attorney and allow their attorney to fight their battles for them in a court of law. If you have any questions about this area of law, please feel free to give my office a call.

05/29/2018

Summer driving season is about to begin! Many people are about to get into their cars and drive to far off locales for fun and relaxation. Some of the more adventurous people may actually cross a river or two to get to their destination. If you fall into these category, you may want to revisit your automobile insurance.

Most folks are aware of the full-tort election, which allows PA drivers to sue other individuals for pain and suffering, even if they don't suffer a serious injury. However, not a lot of people pay attention to the UM/UIM coverage options which must be offered by automobile insurers. It is important to not fall into a trap of complacency and limit your recovery by refusing to pay for UM/UIM coverage.

UM/UIM coverage is an acronym that stands for Uninsured Motorist and Under Insured Motorist coverage. This coverage allows for a driver's own car insurance to pay them additional sums if the driver that hit them does not have insurance (UM coverage) or doesn't have sufficient insurance (UIM coverage) to compensate the injured driver's injuries. By choosing to obtain this additional coverage, a prudent Northsider can take steps to insure that they will be adequately compensated for the injuries that they have suffered in the event they are hit by an irresponsible driver.

If you have any more questions regarding UM/UIM coverage, please feel free to give my office a call.

01/23/2018

One of the areas of my practice is criminal law. As the summer approaches, my office always notes large increases in Driving Under the Influence offenses. In fact, there are over 50,000 arrests each year in Pennsylvania for Driving Under the Influence offenses. It is the most commonly committed state crime in Pennsylvania each year. This month's submission will help explain some basic facts about this crime.

Firstly, there are several different types of DUI's under Pennsylvania law, including DUI's related to alcohol consumption, drug consumption, and general impairment offenses. The most common type of offense are DUI's related to alcohol consumption. These offenses are graded into three separate levels, with punishments increasing at each level, based on the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of a driver. There are different amounts of punishment involving both license suspensions and/or revocations and incarceration. As the number of DUI offenses increase, the potential punishments for an offender increase dramatically.

As the summer season begins, it is important to be mindful of these laws. An example of how Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) works may be helpful. The legal limit for BAC in a driver is .08. For a 180 pound man, this would be equal to four beers. For a 140 pound woman, this is just north of two beers. Naturally, if people were consuming hard liquor, then the legal limits of BAC will be attained at a much faster rate. In addition, any level of ma*****na detected by testing is a DUI offense in Pennsylvania. As such, I implore my fellow Northsiders to be careful this summer. Please don't drink and drive. Be safe and if you have any other questions about this complex area of law, please feel free to give me a call at my office.

01/03/2018

In Pennsylvania, there are two general types of civil lawsuits that can brought in a court of law. A lawsuit can be based on a contract or based on a tort. This month's article will define the basic concepts of a contract. I will explain the meaning of various torts in subsequent articles.

Essentially, a contract is a legally enforceable agreement between parties. A contract can either be written down or an oral agreement. There are various elements that must be present in order for a legally enforceable agreement to exist in Pennsylvania. Firstly, there must be an offer by a party, and acceptance of that offer by another party. An offer is an objective manifestation of intent to be bound by an agreement. For instance, if a Brighton Heights resident may offer to sell and deliver their used I-Pad for $100.00 to a Troy Hill resident. If the Troy Hill resident delivers the $100.00, then they have accepted the Brighton Heights resident's offer.

Secondly, consideration must be present for a valid contract. Consideration is something, (like an act, a promise to act, forbearance, money and etc.) bargained for or received by each party in an agreement that motivates a party to do a legal act. In the above example, the payment of $100.00 is the consideration that motivates the delivery of the I-Pad.

Generally, a lawsuit for breach of contract, essentially a broken promise by one of the parties, usually stem from inadequate consideration, failure to perform a service, poor performance of a promise and etc. The proper damages for a breach of contract place the aggrieved party in the position they expected to be in if the contract was properly performed. If you have any questions concerning contract law, please feel free to give may office a call.

12/20/2017

Pennsylvania products liability laws allow individuals to sue product manufacturers for damages caused by dangerous product defects. Products liability cases are different than negligence matters, which were discussed in last month's submission.

The main difference between a negligence case and a products liability case is how a case is proven. For instance, to prove someone liable in a negligence case, one must show that another failed to exercise reasonable care. In a products liability case, a manufacturer of a product is strictly liable for all harm that a defect in their product causes. Essentially, an individual only needs to show that a defect in a product caused harm to them. An individual does not need to meet the higher negligence standard of proof by showing that the manufacturer acted in an unreasonable way when creating their product.

While the standard of proof is lower in a strict products liability action, one must still demonstrate that a defect exists with the product. There are three types of defects that are actionable in Pennsylvania, namely 1) Design Defects, 2) Manufacturing Defects, and 3) Failure to Warn Defects. A lawnmower is a good example of a product that can demonstrate the differences between these types of defects. A design defect exists when the design of a product is flawed, e.g. all of the lawnmowers manufactured are designed without a necessary safety feature to protect individuals. A manufacturing defect exists when one particular product is manufactured with a defect, e.g. one specific lawnmower is manufactured without a necessary safety feature. A failure to warn defect exists when a manufacturer fails to warn about a danger associated with the product. For example, a lawnmower manufacturer should warn users not to come into contact with rotating blades. The failure to do so is an example of a failure to warn defect.

There are many other aspects of products liability law that are too numerous to go into in this short article. For any questions about products liability law, please feel free to give me a call.

05/17/2017

One area of law that effects numerous people on a daily basis is landlord-tenant law. This type of law effects both property owners and renters. Due to its importance, this month's article will detail some basics concerning landlord-tenant disputes.

Firstly, disputes between landlords and tenants are governed in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Landlord Tenant Act. This act describes the requirements for leases, methods for handling disputes, landlord's remedies for defaulting tenants, and statutory protections for tenants. Both tenants and landlords should be familiar with the obligations and duties defined in the lease, as the lease is the controlling document for all disputes.

The application of the Pennsylvania Landlord-Tenant Act usually favors tenants during disputes. For instance, the landlord must within 30 days from the end of the tenancy return the whole security deposit, or explain in writing the reasons for withholding any portion of the security deposit. If the landlord fails to do so, then the landlord is liable for twice the amount of the security deposit to the departed tenant.

Additionally, it is difficult to evict a tenant as the process takes time. For example, if a tenant's lease has expired, then they are a month-to-month tenant who can be evicted at any time. However, a landlord must give a ten day notice to evict prior to taking the tenant to the local district justice, who may issue an eviction notice. After an eviction order, the tenant will then have an additional ten days to vacate the property before a constable is hired to physically remove the tenant from the property. The tenant may also appeal eviction orders to the Court of Common Pleas if proper filing fees and escrow payments are made with the Court. The issues facing landlords and tenants are too numerous to list here, so if you have any questions, please feel free to contact my office.

07/11/2016

In Birchfield v. North Dakota, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a major decision changing DUI Law in the United States ruling warrantless blood draws as unconstitutional. The United States Supreme Court ruled that the government could not impose a criminal penalty for an individual refusing to submit a blood draw during a DUI stop. As such, the police must obtain a warrant to force a blood test in these matters.

03/30/2015

In Pennsylvania, the area of car insurance is largely defined by the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law. This law was passed with the legislative goal of having all drivers in the state covered by insurance while also keeping the costs of insurance low to aid consumers. One of the major avenues the legislation employs to accomplish this goal is by allowing consumers to choose the type of damages that they can pursue against other drivers who cause harm through their actions. This choice is called the "full tort election."

The full tort election is a very important decision made by consumers when they purchase car insurance. Car insurance companies must allow consumers to choose between a full tort option or a limited tort option. In short, if a consumer chooses the full tort option, then that party will be allowed to pursue non-economic damages against another driver without having to establish that they have suffered a serious injury. Non-economic damages are comprised mainly of pain and suffering damages. While the full tort option is more costly then the limited tort option, it does allow an injured party to pursue litigation against other drivers much more easily.

Many consumers choose to purchase the limited tort option when buying car insurance because it is cheaper then the full tort option. This is not a wise choice. If a person has the limited tort option, then they can not sue for non-economic damages, namely pain and suffering, unless they establish that they have a serious injury. According to Pennsylvania case law and practice, it is not easy to show that you have suffered a serious injury. Many cases have determined what constitutes a serious injury, including some of the following factors which may show a serious injury: missing an extended period of work, numerous surgeries, permanent scarring, inability to work, and etc. These hurdles are not easy to overcome and they often preclude a legitimately injured party from pursuing a claim for all of the damages that they have sustained.