Legal Question in Personal Injury in Pennsylvania

Civil Case Collecting from a guilty defandent

Automobile accident, The defandent was found guilty of causing the accident, however he did not a auto insurance, and I only had basic coverage, which did not include uninsured motorist. question is what legal recourse do I have if he does not appeal in the alloted 30 days, and he does not pay me or set up a payment schedule.


Asked on 2/28/00, 4:41 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
William Marvin Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C.

Re: Civil Case Collecting from a guilty defandent

You have to understand that the criminal case and the civil system are comletely different.

Unless the judge ordered restitution, the defendant has no legal obligation to pay you anything just because he was criminally guilty. His debt to you is a civil matter.

So you will probably need to file a civil lawsuit against him for your damages. And you could do that even if he was not convicted in the criminal court. Then you need to get a judgment in the civil case stating the amount of your damages, and then try to collect that. Fortunately, there is a procedure to suspend his license as long as he fails to pay the judgment, which is a very useful means of collecting such judgments.

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Answered on 3/12/00, 10:06 am


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