You do not have to pay for injuries suffered in an accident that was not your fault. The person causing the accident can be held responsible.
A personal injury attorney can help you file a claim, gather evidence, and recover compensation. When you hire Glugeth & Pierguidi, P.C., we will provide you with careful and experienced representation to help you obtain the best possible outcome. Contact us today!
Why Would I Need a Jersey City Personal Injury Lawyer?
If you have been injured, you likely have had many resulting expenses. Medical bills, such as those from hospitals, can be inordinately costly. Consulting a personal injury lawyer in Jersey City, NJ, can be the first step in getting recovery for those and other expenses associated with the injury. A skilled attorney can maneuver the complex process of getting compensation for your losses.
How Do I Pay for an Attorney?
With most personal injury attorneys, you pay no money up front and only pay the attorney if you win. The attorney receives a percentage of the settlement or verdict. This type of arrangement—known as a contingency fee agreement—permits access to attorneys for people who may not otherwise be able to afford them. If the actions of another have injured you, don’t let concerns about cost prevent you from contacting a Jersey City personal injury attorney.
How Do I Get Compensation If the Person Who Injured Me Has No Assets?
Let’s say that you were at your neighbor’s house, tripped over a wooden plank, and were severely injured. You know your neighbor has no assets; even if they wanted to pay for your damages, they couldn’t. So how do you get compensation for your injuries?
Even when the person who injured you has no assets, homeowners or renters insurance provides a potential avenue for recovery. Identifying all potential sources of compensation can be a crucial part of the process, so don’t immediately assume you can’t recover.
Is There a Time Limit to Bringing My Claims?
Yes. New Jersey and New York laws limit the time you have to bring your claims. In New Jersey, you must generally bring your claim within two years from the date of the injury. In New York, you typically have three years to file suit. You should speak to an experienced attorney to gather information in time to file your claim and negotiate with insurance.
What Do I Have To Prove?
Most personal injury claims are based on negligence. To prove negligence, you have to show four elements.
Duty of Care
You must establish that the other party owed you a duty of care. The duty of care depends on the relationship between you and the other party. But generally, individuals must act reasonably to avoid causing injury to someone else’s property or person. For example, a store owes a duty to its customers to keep its premises safe.
Breach of Duty
You must also establish that the other party breached this duty to you. In the example of the store, you might demonstrate a breach of duty by presenting evidence that the store owner did not clean up a spill in a reasonable time. In failing to do so, they breached their duty to keep their premises safe.
Causation
You also need to prove that the breach of duty caused your injury. In the slip-and-fall example, you would have to show that you slipped on the spill and suffered injury as a result.
Damages
Finally, you need to show the damages that resulted from the breach. In the slip-and-fall example, you could show that there were medical bills associated with your treatment and that you suffered other damages, such as pain and suffering, from the injury.
Can I Still Sue If the Injury Was Partly My Fault?
Yes, although how much you will recover depends on whether the case is in New Jersey or New York. Let’s take an example of an auto accident at an intersection where one party ran a red light, but the other party was distracted because they were texting. Both parties are, to some level, responsible for the accident. In New Jersey, you can recover a portion of your damages if you are not more than 50% responsible for causing the injuries. In New York, you can recover something even if you are 99% responsible. However, in both cases, the damages you receive would be reduced proportionately to your percentage of fault.
What Damages Can I Get?
There are generally three types of damages that you can get in a personal injury lawsuit: economic, noneconomic, and punitive.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the out-of-pocket costs of your injury. For example, as mentioned, you can receive compensation for all your medical expenses. Lost wages also make up a portion of your economic damages. These include losses that may result from your inability to work in the future. You can also get compensation for property damage caused by the other party.
Noneconomic Damages
In addition to economic damages, you can get noneconomic damages from the person who injured you. Noneconomic damages compensate for your intangible losses, such as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment in life. These damages also include compensation for loss of consortium and disfigurement and scarring.
Punitive Damages
If the other person’s actions were particularly egregious or intentional, such as causing a crash through road rage, you may also be able to recover punitive damages. Punitive damages are intended to punish the person who inflicted the act and discourage similar behavior in the future. However, they are difficult to acquire as the standards to justify them are hard to meet.
Will the Other Party Go to Jail?
If there was an intentional injury, then it’s possible that criminal charges will be filed against the other party. But the criminal process is entirely separate from the civil process in which personal injury law operates. So your lawsuit cannot send the other party to jail.
Contact an Experienced Jersey City Personal Injury Attorney
You need an experienced personal injury attorney to get you compensation for your injuries. At Glugeth & Pierguidi, we have years of experience with personal injury claims and achieving excellent client results. We have obtained many settlements and verdicts of a million dollars or more. Please get in touch with us to discuss your injury and potential claim.