New Jersey Personal Injury Attorneys

The personal injury claims process in New Jersey is like most other jurisdictions across the nation, in that relatively few personal injury claims get decided in court. More often than not, your personal injury attorney and the insurance company agree on a settlement.

To settle, your Todd J. Leonard Law Firm personal injury attorney gathers all of your evidence, including doctor reports, bills, wage loss documents, expert reports and other essential items to support your claim. At the same time, the insurance company tries to undercut your claim and lower the settlement amount.

The plaintiff and their attorney will submit all of the evidence and then usually enter negotiations with the insurance company. Typically, the insurance company will offer a settlement amount that they are willing to pay for the plaintiff to waive their rights to file a lawsuit. That said, if the insurance company is still unwilling to negotiate a fair amount with the attorney, the attorney can then take the case to court. At that point, it often happens that the amount awarded is far more than what the insurance company offered; however, each case is different.

Once you have arrived at a settlement figure, your attorney will contact the insurance company to start negotiations.

The insurance company adjuster also goes through a similar process of checking details and doing an investigation to arrive at a figure they would offer. It is usually much lower than what you would get from a court.

A personal injury case usually takes some time, due to several factors such as:

• If there is a third party involved that may be held responsible for your injuries
• Whether or not there are any questions of comparative negligence
• How strong your evidence is relating to your injury or injuries
• The insurance adjuster's workload

Be aware that insurance adjusters want to hurry you into a settlement without involving your legal counsel. It is crucial to have an experienced personal injury attorney representing your claim and protecting your rights.

Each case is different based on the liability issues, the nature and extent of your injuries and losses, as well as the amount of insurance coverage available.

A large number of personal injury payouts are usually the result of out-of-court settlements making it challenging to predict an outcome. However, there are some indicative patterns as to how much insurance companies agree to pay in settlements. Those patterns tend to revolve around:

• The nature of the injuries sustained in an accident
• How severe the injuries are
• Insurance limits – policy limitations may result in lower settlement offers as the insurance company is not inclined to pay over a policy's limits even if the case is worth more
• Whether the plaintiff hires an attorney
• Whether the attorney tries to negotiate a settlement offer
• Whether the lawyer takes a course of action that would mean going to court

It is important to note that plaintiffs with competent legal representation usually do much better than trying to settle the case on their own.

Yes, in New Jersey, you can obtain compensation for pain and suffering in various amounts. You seek compensation from the at-fault party's insurance company by filing a third-party claim.

Once it has been determined that the at-fault party, or defendant, is liable for your injuries, evidence needs to be submitted, showing all of your damages and injuries. For instance, the insurance company should reimburse you for out of pocket medical costs, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Pain and suffering refer to numerous injuries a plaintiff may sustain after being involved in an accident. The pain refers to more than just your physical injuries and includes your mental and emotional injuries. Pain and suffering can include, but is not be limited to:

• Worry
• Grief
• Fear
• Insomnia
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Inconvenience
• Anxiety
• Depression

On average, roughly 5 percent of personal injury cases go to trial, while the rest usually settle out-of-court.

Most personal injury claims settle before trial. Often, neither side wants to take the risk of going to trial and losing. Trying a case can be risky.

Insurance companies want to settle to avoid losing at trial and getting hit with a verdict they may consider to be out of proportion to a plaintiff's losses. Most often, higher damage awards are given by juries.