New Jersey Personal Injury Law

The following summary of New Jersey personal injury laws and theories of liability will help you understand important aspects of injury claims in this state.

New Jersey Statute of Limitations:

• Personal Injury: 2 years
• Medical Malpractice: 2 years
• Products Liability: 2 years

Caps on Personal Injury Awards in New Jersey:

Punitive damages are limited to five times compensatory damages or $350,000 - whichever is greater.

New Jersey Serious Injury Threshold:

When someone purchases auto insurance, they are given the option of selecting a 'verbal threshold' which limits the insured's ability to receive pain and suffering damages after an auto accident.

Parties with the verbal threshold must show a significant injury (verified by a doctor) before they can sue for pain and suffering. If the party wants 'zero threshold' insurance, which would then not require an injury threshold, this type of insurance is significantly more expensive.

New Jersey is a No Fault state and follows the modified comparative negligence - 51% theory, meaning that a party must be less than 50% liable in order to recover any damages.

Personal Injury Claims & Theories of Liability in New Jersey:

Wrongful Death Case: When a death occurs as a result of the negligence of another party, the negligent party may be liable for wrongful death of the victim.

Slip and Fall Accident: When a property owner is negligent and an injury occurs in which an individual slips, trips or falls and is injured on the property, the property owner may be liable for the injury under the premises liability theory in New Jersey. This is subject to the injury threshold limitations in New Jersey.

Auto Accident Claim: If a negligent driver causes a collision due to his or her negligence, he or she will be liable under the general negligence theory in which a party owes another a duty to drive in a manner free of carelessness.

Since New Jersey follows comparative negligence theory, a party can be up to 50% at fault in order to recover. If however, fault is 51% or above, this will be considered a complete bar to recovery.

Medical Malpractice: This occurs when a health care provider fails to follow the governing standard of care when providing treatment to a patient which then causes the patient to suffer an injury.

Product Liability Lawsuit: Thousands of products are placed in the stream of commerce daily. Consumers depend on manufactures, distributors and designers to make products available for consumer use that are free of defects.

If however, any one of these parties (manufacturer, distributor or designer) creates a faulty product, they will be strictly liable for the injuries that ensue.

Workers' Compensation Law: New Jersey is an elective state therefore employers are not required to carry workers compensation insurance, although it is suggested.

In the event that an employee is injured while working, the employer will be responsible for compensating the injured party for his injury (provided it occured during the scope of employment). Attorneys are limited to a 20% contingency fee recovery.

For More Information Check out these sites:

New Jersey State Government

New Jersey State Department of Insurance