Harrity Law - Practice

    As consumers we enter into contracts everyday sometimes without even noticing. For instance, the back of a ticket stub to a sporting event generally has contractual language holding the venue owners harmless from liability that may arise. Contracts need not be written to be valid. Oral contracts are recognized under Pennsylvania law (except for conveyance of real estate). To have a valid contract three (3) legal elements are required:

    1. Offer;
    2. Acceptance;
    3. Consideration - something of value given in exchange even if nominal.
    Breach of contract cases come in many forms - violations in the performance of contractual services, consumer purchase, landlord tenant to name a few-and our firm is well versed in the prosecution or defense of such matters.

    Anytime you find yourself named as a defendant in a lawsuit, you need expert legal representation. If the matter involves an insurance policy-- you are sued by a motorist for personal injuries stemming from a car accident or someone sues you claiming they slipped and fell on the sidewalk in front of your house-you simply report the lawsuit to the insurance company and they will furnish a lawyer to defend you at their expense. However, for those of you who are uninsured and have no access to free legal representation you need an experienced lawyer to defend you. We handle dozens of these cases economically and expeditiously.

    When a person deviates from the legal standard of care recognized in the industry and causes monetary harm a case can be made based on general negligence principles. As with personal injury cases, in order to prove negligence one must prove four (4) legal elements:

    1. duty of care owed;
    2. breach of duty of care e.g. conduct that falls below the reasonable standard of care;
    3. causation the harm was caused by the breach of duty; and
    4. damages monetary harm.
    If you hired a contractor to perform work on your property and you suspect the job was done improperly or the mechanic who services your car failed to fix the problem or you left your pet with a kennel and harm resulted, you may have a claim based on negligence. At Harrity & Associates we prosecute and defend general negligence cases with great success.

    Personal injuries can arise from car accidents, trip and falls, work accidents and other misfortunes. These cases are founded on negligence principles. To succeed one must prove four (4) legal elements:

    1. a duty of care owed;
    2. breach of duty of care e.g. conduct that falls below the reasonable standard of care;
    3. causation the harm was caused by the breach of duty; and
    4. damages economic loss resulted as well as non economic loss e.g. pain and suffering.
    At Harrity & Associates, we bring to the table sixteen (16) years of prosecuting and defending personal injuries with thousands of car accident cases handled. Mr. Harrity's trial experience and graduate insurance degree, CPCU, signifies his mastery of property and casualty insurance issues and his former employment working to defend insurance companies enables him to anticipate the strategy of the insurance companies and their lawyers.

    When professionals such as doctors or lawyers make mistakes the consequences can be dramatic. A surgeon who makes a major blunder can leave his patient with lifetime health problems. A lawyer who converts client funds, commits fraud or simply errs by failing to file a lawsuit on behalf of his client within the requisite statue of limitations can cause significant monetary damage. At Harrity & Associates we have handled dozens of these cases which require uncommon expertise and analytical ability. In professional liability cases one must not only prove actionable negligence on the part of the professional but a "case within a case" in other words, that had there been no negligence by the professional in the first place, the client would have been successful in recovering damages in the underlying case.

    When commercial insurance companies pay claims to their insured customers ---whether it be an automobile insurer paying to repair the property damage to its insured customer's car, a homeowners' insurance company paying the costs of repair to its insured homeowner as a result of negligence of a contractor or a commercial insurer paying its insured commercial trucking company to replace a truck incinerated in a fire as a result of a product defect-- the insurance companies have a right to be reimbursed for the claims they pay. These indemnification claims require the insurance company to "step into the shoes" of its insured and subrogate against the responsible party. At Harrity & Associates we handle these subrogation matters on behalf of insurance companies on a contingent fee basis to recover these payments through third party litigation.