Personal Injury Law

Personal injury is a broad term that covers accidents caused by the negligent or intentional acts of someone that result in injuries to another person. Personal injuries arise from car accidents, slip and fall accidents, accidents from inadequate security and many other circumstances.

Any accident can cause physical, financial and emotional injuries for the injured party. These may include bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, lost wages, unpaid medical bills, mental distress and loss of enjoyment of life.

What Should You Do if You are Injured Because of Someone’s Negligence?

Accidents are a common occurrence in modern society. Sometimes we have accidents because of our inattention or own negligence. But if you are injured because of the negligence of someone else, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

If you have been injured, seek medical treatment. For instance, if you were injured in a car or truck accident and an ambulance comes to the accident scene, do not refuse medical treatment. If you slipped and fell on a wet spot in the grocery store or on an ice patch in a parking lot, get to a doctor or an emergency room as soon as you can. Remember, there are many injuries that may not appear serious at first, or whose symptoms do not immediately appear. If you wait a few weeks, and then develop symptoms, the insurance carrier for the other driver or the property owner may not believe your claims of injuries.

For certain accidents, pictures of the accident site at the time of your accident would be of great help to your attorney. Therefore, for car accidents, if you can do so safely, take pictures of the accident scene. Also take pictures of the damage to your car and any other vehicle involved in the accident.

If you fell on stairs that were in a state of disrepair or on an icy sidewalk, try to get a picture of the stairs or ground where you fell. The building owner could fix the stairs after the accident; the ice could melt in a matter of days, if not hours.

If there were any witnesses to the accident, get their contact information.

Report the accident. If it was a car accident, call the police and insurance company. If you were injured in a building, call the building owner or property manager.

Do not admit fault. To anyone. Consequently, even if you think the accident was your fault, do not say so. If you are in an accident with a tractor-trailer, the truck’s defective brakes may have caused the accident. Or the truck driver drove more consecutive hours than federal regulations permit and was fatigued. You will not know that immediately after the accident.

So do not say the accident was your fault.

Do You Need A Personal Injury Lawyer?

If you are injured through the careless or intentional acts of another, you may be entitled to substantial compensation. Without representation by an experienced New Jersey personal injury attorney, it is unlikely that you will recover the full amount to which you are entitled.

You may get a call from the other vehicle’s insurance carrier in a few weeks, or the carrier for owner of the property where you fell. The insurance adjuster may try to settle your claim; however, we recommend that you not agree to a settlement until you have had the chance to speak to an experienced New Jersey personal injury lawyer. Remember, insurance companies are not in the business of simply writing checks to persons injured by the negligence of their insured persons or companies. Rather, they are always looking to pay as little as they can to settle a case. And what they view as a fair settlement may not be in your best interest.

This is Why You Need a New Jersey Personal Injury Attorney

If you slipped and fell visiting a friend in her apartment building, what was the dangerous condition that caused you to fall? Who is the owner of the property? Who was responsible for clearing the snow and ice that caused you to fall? Did the building owner know that the steps of the building entrance were in disrepair and a danger to visitors and residents?

If you were injured in a car accident, who caused the accident? Was it the negligence of another driver? Were the road conditions a factor in the accident? Were there obstructions improperly placed in the roadway by a construction company performing road repairs/construction in the area?

The experienced Union County, New Jersey personal injury lawyers at Schiller, Pittenger & Galvin, P.C., will find out the answers to all the questions surrounding your personal injury case. You will always get personalized service and representation by experienced trial lawyers who will aggressively protect your rights.

Union County, New Jersey Personal Injury Lawyers

Our personal injury attorneys handle all types of personal injury cases in Union County and throughout New Jersey. Our experienced New Jersey personal injury lawyers have the knowledge and ability to maximize your recovery. For example, we negotiate with insurance companies daily. But if the insurance company will not make what we consider a fair offer to settle your case, we will be prepared to take your case to trial.

Cases in which we represent injured persons include:

What Types of Injuries Occur in a New Jersey Personal Injury Cases?

There are many types of injuries that can occur in a personal injury case:

Soft tissue
Bruises, lacerations
Bone fractures
Concussions, head injuries
Shoulder, back and neck sprains/strains
Burns
Damage to internal organs
Traumatic brain injury
Amputations of limbs
Spinal cord/paralysis
Wrongful death

Serious injuries that a person sustains in an accident can mean hospitalization and multiple follow-up visits to a doctor. Additionally, people who sustain some of the injuries listed above may also need multiple visits to a physical therapist or chiropractor for treatment.

What Are My Damages in a New Jersey Personal Injury Case?

In a New Jersey personal injury case, there are has several types of damage claims New Jersey personal injury law recognizes:

Medical expenses-You may recover all of your medical expenses (even those for which insurance paid);
Property damages (if, for instance, you are in a car accident);
Lost wages- You may recover wages you were not paid if you had to miss work because of your injuries;
Pain and suffering-This type of damage is subjective but is widely recognized in New Jersey personal injury law. As a matter of fact, you can tell the jury how badly your back hurt after your slip and fall accident, how you got chiropractic treatment for weeks and you still have stiffness in your back most mornings when you wake up. That is pain and suffering;
Disability-If there are lingering symptoms from your injury (and there often are) you can tell the jury about them. Perhaps you work at a desk all day but cannot sit for over 25-30 minutes. In addition, you have to frequently stop working, get up from the desk and walk around the office because of your back injury. You can tell the jury about that. The jury can take that into account during their deliberations and factor it into their damage award;
Future medical treatment-If you suffered a traumatic brain injury or compound fracture of your leg in an accident with a large truck, you may need medical and physical therapy treatment for the foreseeable future. You (and your doctor) can tell the jury about that;
Loss of consortium-If your spouse was killed in a motor vehicle accident, or severely injured, the jury can compensate you for the loss of consortium-the loss of the affection, advice and companionship spouses show each other; and
Punitive damages-Punitive damages are a distinct type of damage and are not usually available in a personal injury case. Moreover, punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant for bad conduct. Cases in which people are injured because of someone else’s negligent actions usually do not involve punitive damages. P
However, punitive damages might be available against a drunk driver who caused an accident and had several prior drunk driving convictions. Or a construction company which was cited for multiple safety violations on a worksite and failed to protect workers and visitors to the worksite might be liable for punitive damages. There would have to be serious misconduct on the defendant’s part to justify an award for punitive damages. However, if we believe the defendant’s misconduct in your case was extreme, we will fight to get an award of punitive damages for you.

Experienced New Jersey Personal Injury Lawyers

The New Jersey personal injury attorneys at Schiller, Pittenger & Galvin, P. C., have successfully represented injured persons throughout New Jersey. For example, below are several recent cases in which the firm’s personal injury lawyers obtained significant money recoveries for injured clients:

February 5, 2020 – $230,000 settlement for a motor vehicle accident
February 5, 2020- $350,000 settlement for a motor vehicle accident
January 23, 2020 – $750,000 settlement for a slip and fall accident
March 28, 2019 – $325,000 settlement for a motor vehicle accident
February 7, 2019 – $725,000 settlement for a motor vehicle accident
February 7, 2019- $342,000 settlement for a motorcycle accident
February 7, 2019 – $180,000 settlement for a slip and fall

We provide our services on a contingent fee basis so that you owe no attorney’s fee if we do not get a recovery in your favor.