Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

PA Civil Suit

Is there a maximum amount you can sue for in a PA civil suit and if so, what is that amount?


Asked on 4/03/07, 11:06 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

William Marvin Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C.

Re: PA Civil Suit

Nope, no limit. Unless it's an injury suit against the government, where there's caps of 250G or 500G.

But if you're talking about the demand in the written complaint, if the claim is for non-economic type of damages, under PA rules, you are not supposed to state the amount of that claim. You should only state whether it's more than the arbitration limit for the county.

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Answered on 4/03/07, 11:19 am
John Gibson John W. Gibson, Esquire

Re: PA Civil Suit

As the other answer states, there is no maximum limit in either Pennsylvania State Courts or in U.S. District Courts in Pennsylvania but if you are filing a suit in federal court on grounds of diversity of citizenship there is a minimum of $75,000 in controversy. The individual counties set their own limits for Compulsory Arbitration so you have to check the individual county rules to allege a sufficient amount of damages to go straight to the Court of Common Pleas. If it is a personal injury suit it is often a question of tactics whether you would want to go to arbitration or not.

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Answered on 4/04/07, 10:20 am


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