Suffering a personal injury can set you back in numerous ways, overall hurting you financially and emotionally. When another person’s negligence strikes, our lawyers can help you get the compensation you need for your recovery.
Our firm has been helping victims in West New York cover their losses after an accident for decades and is ready to help you. We can explain what steps you must take if you have been in a car accident and determine if your insurance allows you to file a lawsuit. If you have a limited policy, we can help prove that your injuries are serious so that you can be compensated fully. Our team also knows how to hold property owners accountable if you were injured because of a hazard on their premises.
Call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. at (201) 777-1111 for a case review with our car accident lawyers free of charge.
How Our Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After a Car Accident in West New York, NJ
Car accidents in West New York are common, but that does not make recovering compensation easy. Unlike many other states, New Jersey uses the “no-fault” insurance structure for car accidents, which has certain limits on the right to sue. Our car accident attorneys can review your policy to determine if you have an unlimited right to file a lawsuit. If your policy lacks this option, we can gather evidence to overcome the statutory “serious injury” threshold.
The first step after a car accident is to see what your insurance allows. The matter will be relatively simple if you have an “unlimited right to sue” policy. With no limitation option, you can file a lawsuit for both economic and non-economic damages under N.J.S.A. § 39:6A-8(b) without needing to substantiate your injuries beforehand.
Additional work must be done initially if your car insurance has a limitation on lawsuits option. With this type of policy, you can only file a lawsuit for non-economic damages or “pain and suffering” in the event you suffer “serious injuries,” as per § 39:6A-8(a). Our team can gather records from each provider and file them after the defendant answers your complaint so that you overcome this threshold and your lawsuit can proceed.
Recovering Compensation for Personal Injuries in a West New York, NJ Premises Liability Accident
When you get injured on someone else’s premises, the property owner is usually liable. Property owners must make their premises safe and take appropriate measures to keep them that way, depending on the circumstances. For instance, what is reasonable to keep a construction site safe will differ from what is needed for a grocery store. Our team can help determine who was responsible for the location’s safety and how to recover compensation.
Suppose you were injured at another person’s house or apartment or while shopping, eating, or walking around. In that case, we will typically file a lawsuit and negotiate with the property owner’s insurance to settle the claim. If we cannot settle, we will go to trial.
However, you might not be able to file a lawsuit if your accident happened at work. If your employer or coworker injured you, our attorneys can help you file a Workers’ Compensation claim. We can also determine if a third party contributed to or completely caused your accident, which would allow you to file a lawsuit instead.
Types of Damages You Can Recover and Potential Caps in a West New York, NJ Personal Injury Lawsuit
In a personal injury lawsuit, damages can be separated into compensatory and punitive. Compensatory damages are typically awarded to make good the losses an injured party suffers, including their “special” and “general” damages. Punitive damages, however, are rarely awarded because they do not compensate a victim but punish a defendant for conduct that goes beyond negligence. Further, general and punitive damages can be capped, but only in certain situations.
Special Damages
“Special” damages are the actual financial losses sustained because of the accident. For instance, medical bills, lost wages, and property replacement are typical damages claimed in a lawsuit. These damages are usually easily provable using treatment invoices, pay stubs, and repair estimates, so hang onto any receipts or paperwork associated with your injuries. You can even claim out-of-pocket expenses like transportation costs to visit doctors and lawyers.
The fight over these damages often involves your future economic losses. For instance, your injuries might require future procedures, or you cannot perform the same work as before. Our team can hire experts to show that future compensation is necessary. Fortunately, NJ law does not cap special damages.
General Damages
“General” damages compensate you for your non-economic damages, commonly known as pain and suffering. The value of these damages is subjective because it is based on how the accident and injuries have affected your life. Some injury victims experience general damages in the form of constant physical pain, while others develop mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. Our lawyers can help evaluate how your overall quality of life has diminished since the accident.
N.J.S.A. § 59:9-2(d) caps general damages but only in lawsuits against public agencies for accidents caused by government employees. However, the cap does not apply if the victim sustains serious injuries. As such, it rarely presents an issue in a typical injury case.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are seldom awarded as they are reserved for defendants who willfully and wantonly disregarded the high probability of harm they might cause others. For instance, a general contractor who knowingly violates OSHA standards might be ordered to pay punitive damages if “clear and convincing evidence” shows there is little doubt they violated the law.
Punitive damages can greatly increase the value of a lawsuit, but they will be limited to a certain amount. According to § 2A:15-5.14(b), no defendant can be made to pay more than five times the amount of compensatory damages or $350,000, whichever is greater.
Call Our West New York, NJ Personal Injury Lawyers for Help Today
For a free case review with our car accident attorneys, call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. today at (201) 777-1111.