Experienced Livingston Personal Injury Lawyers
After a serious accident, you may have a lot of questions about how the personal injury process works and helps you get the compensation you deserve. You can get the settlement you need and the answers you are looking for with the help of skilled Livingston, New Jersey, personal injury lawyers.
At Benjamin M. Del Vento, P.A., we provide our clients with the compassion, knowledge and commitment they need from a personal injury attorney. From our Livingston office, our personal injury lawyers can answer any questions you may have about your case. Before you meet with us, we want to help you understand what an injury claim is and what to expect from the various stages of your compensation claim.
What Is A Personal Injury?
A personal injury refers to damages or losses caused to a person’s body, mind or emotions due to the negligence, carelessness or intentionally wrongful actions of another.
Think of a personal injury claim as evening the scales. Someone else’s mistakes caused you harm – but personal injury laws allow you to seek compensation equal to your losses.
What Types Of Incidents Lead To Personal Injury Claims?
An injury can strike anyone, anywhere and anytime. Some of the most common sources of personal injury claims include:
- Motor vehicle accidents: You may know an injury claim covers car, motorcycle and commercial vehicle crash injuries, but pedestrians and bicyclists injured by negligent drivers are also covered.
- Premises liability accidents: Contrary to common belief, a slip-and-fall accident can result in severe harm, such as a traumatic brain injury. However, you may be entitled to compensation if the negligence of the property owner or manager caused the injury.
- Wrongful deaths: Unfortunately, a vehicle accident or severe fall can also result in death. When negligence causes or contributes to a fatal incident, surviving family members may qualify to file a type of personal injury lawsuit known as a wrongful death claim.
Our attorneys have decades of individual and combined experience helping the injured in New Jersey with these and other types of personal injury claims.
What Types Of Damages Can You Get In A Personal Injury Claim?
Generally, you may ask for compensatory damages, which are designed to reimburse you for both economic and noneconomic harm you have suffered. Economic damages can include things like your medical bills, lost wages and damaged property. Noneconomic damages, which are less defined and harder to calculate, include things like your pain and suffering or loss of companionship.
If your case goes to trial, you may also ask the court to award punitive damages. Although not often awarded, punitive damages are designed to punish a defendant for their bad behavior and deter others from behaving the same way.
What To Do After A Slip-And-Fall Accident
Many people underestimate the severity of slip-and-falls or trip-and-falls. However, the injuries associated with these accidents can be severe. If you experience either incident, try to follow these steps:
- Get the contact information of the property owner, including their phone number and insurance information.
- Take a picture of the accident site.
- Get medical attention, even if you think that you feel fine or you do not have any visible injuries.
- Do not speak to an insurance company representative. Instead, consult an attorney.
Insurance companies have ways to get you to admit fault or make it seem as if you do not need as much compensation as you do. Before you agree to speak to an insurer, hire a personal injury lawyer to advocate for your best interests.
What To Do If You Lose A Loved One To Wrongful Death
Losing someone you love too soon because of another party’s negligence is devastating. In the aftermath, you might feel too grief-stricken to do much of anything. However, if you can bring yourself to follow a few steps, you can greatly increase the chance of holding the perpetrator accountable for their actions and recovering compensation for your loved one’s death. Try to:
- Carefully document any interactions you have with insurance company representatives or the individual or party connected to your loved one’s accident.
- Gather your loved one’s medical records, if you can.
- Keep track of the expenses related to your loved one’s death, including time off from work, therapy bills and other costs.
- Keep a detailed journal of how your loved one’s death has affected you, including your ability to work, your mental health and your enjoyment of life.
- Consult a wrongful death lawyer. They can assess your situation to determine whether you have a claim.
An attorney can take other crucial steps, such as investigating the accident site, interviewing witnesses, and consulting forensic experts. When you have a reliable team on your side to guide you through the steps of a wrongful death case, you are that much closer to getting closure after a tragic death.
What To Expect During the Personal Injury Process
After your injury, you will have your first consultation, this is where you will meet with your personal injury attorney to begin building your claim. To help your initial consultation go more smoothly, bring any documents that can help shed light on how the incident happened, who may be responsible for it, what the resulting injuries were, and what your treatment was for those injuries.
Gathering Information For The Claim
The information surrounding your injury is critical to maximizing your compensation. As your personal injury lawyers, we will gather all the available information in your case by going to the scene of the crash and taking photos, getting accident and police reports, determining all potentially liable parties, and obtaining medical bills related to your accident.
Our Personal Injury Lawyers Will Create A Demand Package
A demand package includes all the documentation that justifies the total sum that you and your lawyer expect for your injuries. The next step in your claim is to submit this package to the insurance carrier. We will assemble your demand package based on all relevant information, such as lost income verified by pay statements, medical bills, evidence of property damages and any injuries, and any reports from the police.
Our Personal Injury Lawyers Will Negotiate With The Insurer
Once the insurance company reviews the demand package, they will either accept it or begin negotiating for a figure they find more acceptable. If negotiations can reach an agreeable outcome, then a settlement will be issued to you. If not, then we will enter litigation to fight for the compensation you deserve in court.
Start Your Claim Here
If you suffered an injury because of someone else’s reckless or negligent actions, contact our New Jersey personal injury lawyers to seek the funds you need and get on a path to a brighter future. Call our Livingston, New Jersey, personal injury law office today at 973-869-5325 or email us here to schedule your initial consultation.