Suffering painful and hard-to-heal injuries means incurring many medical damages and other expenses. Even when financial recovery is a top priority, victims often get bogged down with their medical care, making filing lawsuits that much harder. We work to simplify the process for victims, handling all the complicated parts of lawsuits for them.
Whether you were injured in a car accident, a slip and fall, or another accident, we can gather the evidence needed and build a strong case. Our attorneys know what it takes to prove liability at trial and can prepare your case accordingly. Aggressive negotiations can lead to good settlements, though we can also go to trial so juries can award compensation.
Call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. today at (201) 777-1111 to discuss your case for free with our personal injury lawyers.
Filing Personal Injury Lawsuits After Accidents in Ridgewood
Our lawyers can help victims file lawsuits after suffering injuries in various accidents due to negligence.
Slip and Falls
Hazardous property conditions regularly cause slip and falls. When hurt in a restaurant, retail shop, or other location because of poor property maintenance, you can file a lawsuit for damages.
The normal two-year statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits applies to slip and fall cases, so do not wait to contact us about your claim.
Car Crashes
Car accidents are some of the top reasons for personal injury lawsuits. Because New Jersey is a no-fault state, we must prove your injuries are “serious” enough for a lawsuit.
A major exception to this is having the “no limitation on lawsuit option,” which would not require you to meet the serious injury threshold to sue. Most New Jersey drivers have the limitation on lawsuit option for personal injury protection insurance, restricting their ability to sue.
We will use medical records proving your injuries and their severity. We also may get statements from your treating physicians and other medical experts confirming you pass the serious injury threshold for filing car accident lawsuits.
Construction Accidents
Construction site accidents injure workers and passersby alike. Typically, Workers’ Compensation is the exclusive remedy for injured construction workers in New Jersey. However, if our lawyers find that a defective product or tool caused the accident, you may file a lawsuit.
This would be a third-party construction accident lawsuit against the negligent product manufacturer, not your employer.
Passersby struck by falling objects or otherwise injured by construction sites may sue for damages.
Proving Liability in Ridgewood Personal Injury Lawsuits
Proving liability requires establishing four elements. The first is that the defendant owed you a “duty of care” and had to act responsibly, with your safety in mind. Many different people might owe you a duty without you even realizing it.
Property owners owe you a duty of care. Theirs involves keeping the property free from hazardous conditions. If hazards arise, owners must address them quickly. When we review your case, our personal injury lawyers can look at the accident’s circumstances to determine if the other person involved owed you a duty of care.
Drivers you pass on the road have a duty to follow speed limits and other traffic rules. Ignoring that duty puts you in danger and might cause an accident.
Next, we will look for evidence that the other party breached their duty. Duty breaches happen when parties are negligent. They might act, or fail to act, in line with their duty. For example, drivers who speed breach their duty, as do property owners who ignore hazardous conditions.
What matters for your lawsuit is whether the breach caused your injuries. Hazardous conditions might exist without causing accidents. Slips, trips, or falls might happen for totally unrelated reasons, and we must prove yours happened because of the defendant’s negligence.
Once we show the defendant caused your injuries, we will show all your damages from the accident. These include major costs, like medical bills, and intangible damages, like pain and suffering.
Handling Personal Injury Settlements and Trials in Ridgewood
Though many personal injury cases settle out of court, plaintiffs should be prepared to go to trial. We will navigate settlement negotiations on your behalf, stopping you from accepting bad offers. We will also go through a trial if settlement offers never improve. While trials might be intimidating, going to court may let you claim greater damages. If the jury awards compensation, it might be more than what the defendant would agree to in a settlement.
Settlements
Before settlement talks start, we can identify the best evidence to leverage during negotiations. Defendants might refuse to take full liability for victims’ damages. They might argue that victims contributed to accidents, trying to intimidate them into accepting poor offers.
As we get offers from the defense, we will respond with counters. Expect settlement negotiations to take time, and do not be discouraged when the first offer is very low. This is normal, and we will be prepared to respond.
Trials
Not all settlement negotiations pan out. Stubborn defendants might never increase their offers much. Rather than accepting a bad proposal that leaves you on the hook for some damages, you can go to trial.
We can prepare for a possible trial from the get-go. When initially preparing your case, we will gather evidence that proves all four elements of personal injury lawsuits. For example, eyewitness statements can help prove the defendant’s negligence caused your injuries. Video footage is valuable evidence, as are photos you took at the scene.
When trials are going in plaintiffs’ favor, defendants might send settlement offers. Even at this stage, we can consider settlements and help you decide whether to accept.
New Jersey does not cap compensation in personal injury lawsuits. This includes damages for economic and non-economic losses. During a trial, you might testify about your pain and suffering. We may also get mental health experts to testify. They can also discuss your emotional distress and mental anguish since the accident, cementing your need for non-economic damages to the jury.
Reach Out to Our Attorneys About Your Recent Accident in Ridgewood
Call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. at (201) 777-1111 for help with your case from our personal injury lawyers.