When Should You Hire a Personal Injury Attorney?

By Greg Kohn
Partner

It is beneficial to consult with a New Jersey personal injury attorney whenever you or a family member is injured or harmed through negligence, carelessness, or other wrongdoing. An attorney evaluates your case to determine if you have a valid cause of action to recover compensation from the party who caused your injury. Through a personal injury claim, you can receive compensation for your medical bills, pain, loss of income, and other damages.

Reasons Why You May Need a Personal Injury Attorney

There could be several reasons why you might need a personal injury lawyer. Examples of situations that often give rise to a personal injury claim include, but are not limited to:

  • Car Accidents
  • Truck Accidents
  • Bicycle Accidents
  • Motorcycle Accidents
  • Pedestrian Accidents
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Dog Bites and Dog Attacks
  • Slip and Fall Accidents
  • Construction Accidents
  • Workplace Injuries
  • Premises Liability Claims
  • Defective Product Injuries

Being injured in an accident is not sufficient proof that a person or business entity is responsible for your damages. You must prove the elements of a personal injury claim to recover compensation.

Elements of a Personal Injury Claim

Most personal injury claims are based on negligence. The legal elements included in most personal injury claims are:

  • A party owed the injured party a duty of care;
  • The party breached the duty of care;
  • The breach of duty was the primary cause of the victim’s injury; and,
  • The victim sustained injuries and damages because of the breach of duty.

However, some cases involve areas of law that might have additional legal elements that you must prove to win your case. For instance, if a person is injured on another person’s property, that person must also prove that a dangerous or hazardous condition existed on the property that the owner knew about or should have known about but did nothing to correct. Also, in the majority of premises liability cases, the person must have been on the property legally to recover compensation for the claim.

A personal injury lawyer is familiar with the various legal elements required to prove fault and liability for injuries and damages.

Signs That You Need a Personal Injury Attorney Immediately

While everyone can benefit from the legal advice and guidance of an attorney, some factors indicate you need to talk with an attorney as soon as possible. Signs that you need a personal attorney immediately include:

  • You sustained a permanent disability or impairment. You may be entitled to future damages.
  • Your child was injured. Childhood injuries can have lifelong implications. Also, settlements involving minors have special rules.
  • The insurance company or responsible party is alleging you shared in the responsibility for your injury. The company is attempting to avoid paying full value for your claim under New Jersey’s modified comparative fault laws. If you are 51 percent or more at fault, you cannot recover any money for a claim. If you are 50 percent or less at fault, your compensation is reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to you for causing the accident. 
  • An insurance claims adjuster is pressuring you to accept a settlement before you complete medical treatment. The insurance company may believe that your claim is going to be high, so it wants to settle before you understand the full extent of your injuries.
  • The insurance company is delaying settlement. If you fail to file a lawsuit before the deadline in the New Jersey Statute of Limitations, you lose your legal right to pursue an injury claim.
  • A government entity is involved in the claim. The deadline to file a claim against a government entity is extremely short.
  • You do not understand how to value your claim. The insurance company is not going to tell you the correct value for your claim. It wants to pay as little as possible to settle the claim.

There are many other reasons why you should contact a personal injury attorney. It is always best to err on the side of caution and take advantage of a free case review to determine if you need an attorney for your personal injury case.

Contact a New Jersey Personal Injury Attorney for Help

If another person caused your injury, contact our New Jersey personal injury attorneys for a free consultation. We fight to help injured victims and their families receive the compensation they deserve after an injury or accident.

About the Author
Greg Kohn is a partner at Nagel Rice and specializes in complex civil litigation cases, including professional malpractice, personal injury, class actions, wrongful death, products liability, and commercial litigation.  He has extensive experience representing clients in both state and federal court. Greg has tried many jury trials to verdict and has recovered over $50 million in settlements and verdicts in all types of personal injury matters including automobile accidents, wrongful death cases, slip and falls, and other catastrophic injury cases. Greg also handles medical malpractice cases, involving misdiagnoses, wrongful birth, and delayed cancer diagnosis. If you have questions regarding this article, you can contact Greg here.