What you need to know if you are injured as a result of negligence on the part of the State, a Municipality or a State Agency in New Jersey.
A personal injury action against the State of New Jersey, a state agency or a municipality may be forever barred if you fail to notify the State, state agency or municipality who is at fault for your injuries within 90 days of the incident. (There is a similar requirement in Pennsylvania as well) In New Jersey, you may not be able to file a complaint against a public entity if you fail to provide notice. The New Jersey Torts Claim Act, codified at N.J.S.A. 59:8-4, was enacted to provide a public entity “with sufficient information to enable it promptly to evaluate its liability and potential exposure and, if it chooses, to correct a defective condition and also to engage in settlement negotiations prior to the commencement of suit.” Henderson v. Herman, 373 N.J. Super. 625, 634 (App. Div. 2004)(quoting Newberry v. Township of Pemberton, 319 N.J. Super. 671, 675 (App. Div. 1999). See also Beauchamp v. Amedio, 164 N.J. 111, 121-22 (2000).
The Torts Claims Act, states that a notice of claim must be provided to the public entity within ninety days following the accrual of the cause of action. (See N.J.S.A. 59:8-8). The accrual date is the date in which the accident that causes injury occurs. Beauchamp v. Amedio, 164 N.J. 111, 123 (2000). The accrual date can be tolled in limited circumstances. “Tolled” means that the accrual date is put on hold. For instance, the accrual date can be tolled if the injured party does not know that he or she was injured or that a specific third party is responsible for those injuries. Id.
A notice of claim form for the State of New Jersey can be found on the state’s website. It simply asks for information about the person who was injured, how those injuries occurred and the injuries sustained Oftentimes, municipalities have specific forms that are available by request only. Although the notice of claim form appears to be self explanatory, your rights will be best served by having an attorney to help in filling out the notice of claim form and to follow up, possibly negotiate a settlement and/or file a complaint on your behalf.
Although there are certain exceptions that allow a claimant to file a late notice of tort claim, (only with permission by the court), if you are injured and you believe that injury is caused in whole or in part by a state agency, it is important that you seek legal counsel as soon as possible. If you sit on your rights you may not be able to file a lawsuit against the state agency who is responsible for your injuries. Kamensky Cohen has obtained substantial settlements from state agencies for injuries caused to our clients. If our clients had not sought legal counsel as soon as possible, those settlements may not have been possible.
We are all exposed to the dangers of trips and slips that can result in serious injuries. An unexpected fall can have significant impact on our health. The Law firm of Kamensky Cohen has represented many people who have sustained life-altering injuries arising from falls due to the negligence of others. This has become even a greater problem with the downturn in the economy as people and businesses are doing less to maintain their property as required by law and common decency.
While businesses continue to invite you to their stores to shop, and while there, present you with advertising and displays designed to distract you, they are leaving you vulnerable to dangerous conditions when they fail to adequately maintain their property. Some of the situations leading to injurious fall-downs that our firm has encountered are:
- Improperly constructed/maintained handicap ramps.
- Improperly constructed/maintained stairways.
- Poor lighting in dark areas.
- Holes, deep cracks, potholes and improperly designed walkways in parking lots, especially in high traffic areas where the public may be carrying packages blocking their view.
- Poorly maintained sidewalks, stairwells and walkways in residential rental communities.
- Spills in stores
- Poor snow and ice removal in residential and commercial parking lots and walkways.
These are only a few of the many problems that are becoming more and more common as businesses and individuals fail to allocate their resources towards safety and precaution in tough economic times.
Kamensky Cohen has represented people with injuries arising from trip/slip and falls ranging from broken bones to severely impaired vision, and even brain damage resulting in cognitive difficulties. If you fall and hurt yourself, the first thing to do, of course, is to get medical assistance to be certain that your injuries, if any, are properly attended to. If you think your fall may have been the consequences of the negligence of another in maintaining their property properly, you may have a reason to pursue damages for the injuries that you have suffered.
It is extremely important that you contact competent counsel as soon as possible so that photographs and measurements can be taken of the area that caused the problem. Even if you are uncertain of the nature and extent of your injuries, do not delay in seeking legal counsel as a delay in undertaking the proper investigation at the site where you fell can be damaging, if not devastating, to your any claims you may eventually have. If you wait too long and the problem area has been repaired by the time the investigation is conducted, there will be little evidence of the original negligence that precipitated your fall. Photographs and measurements, properly taken will be of great assistance in pursuing your claims should you decide to do so.
Kamensky Cohen & Associates knows and will take the necessary steps to conduct a proper investigation as soon as we are contacted for injuries sustained as a result of slip/trip and falls. With the right representation, you are assured of your rights!
When the negligent actions by an individual are responsible for the loss of another’s life, although the deceased’s family will grieve their loss, New Jersey’s laws limit their ability to recover for the grave consequences of the lost life. To date, all attempts to change those limitations that the law presently has in effect, have been thwarted.
New Jersey law presently allows for two types of claims that can be brought when dealing with a fatality resulting from the negligent conduct of another. They are the Wrongful Death and Survival Actions and they differ significantly as to the damages that can be recovered, the beneficiaries of the compensation, and the legal representative that can bring the claim.
Survival Action claims are brought for the damages that are sustained by the decedent from the onset of the injury caused by the negligent act (a tort) to the decedent’s death. Generally, these damages consist of conscious pain and suffering claims, funeral expenses, medical bills, and lost wages that accrue between the time of injury and death. Since these damages are damages that the decedent sustained, these damages will “pass through” the decedent’s estate. This means that the only person with the legal capacity to bring a suit for the Survival Action is the Administrator or Executor of the Estate. The beneficiaries of the Estate’s recovery for a Survival Action will be limited to the heirs of the Estate whether named in a will or, if there is no will, determined by the laws of intestacy.
Wrongful Death claims are designed by our laws to compensate, in part, the people that sustained economic losses from the death of a loved one. The emotional anguish and consequences of sustaining a tragic loss of a family member are not recoverable pursuant to the limitations of the laws of New Jersey. Only the pecuniary losses are recoverable, which are the monetary value of the losses that the decedent may have provided or been expected to provide to the survivors. These are specified as such things as financial support, advice, household services, guidance, care, companionship and comfort.
These pecuniary losses are determined to have a financial value, which can be awarded by the jury in a trial involving the death of another. The courts are required to instruct the jury that they are not to award for the emotional component of the losses, only the financial value of the losses. Courts will instruct a jury that they are not to consider the emotional satisfaction that would have been provided had the decedent lived, such as seeing a daughter walk down the aisle on her wedding day or the inability to hug a child. These are the limitations that New Jersey law imposes on the potential recovery in a wrongful death action.
Kamensky Cohen is presently involved in several wrongful death claims that differ vastly in the amounts that can be recovered. An example is a case involving a mother struck by a car who died instantly. As there was no conscious pain and suffering due to the instantaneous death, and the woman did not work outside her home, the recovery is limited to the amount that a jury would award for the loss of advice, household services, guidance, care, companionship and comfort that might have been available to those entitled to receive those elements of damages in the remaining lifetime. Our jury verdict research coupled with years of experience handling these matters, tells us that these cases are resolved for low six figure amounts. If, however, the mother in question suffers for hours or days before her death and/or has had substantial earnings with a long remaining work life expectancy the damages that are recoverable could be in the millions. While this does not seem fair or just to the survivors of such a tragic loss, this is New Jersey law as it presently stands, seeming to favor only those losses that can be quantified by economics. While it is understood that no money can compensate for the emotional loss of a loved one, it is equally difficult to understand the legislators thinking in these arbitrary standards as to what “loss” is and what kinds of “value” to place upon it.
In any case, should your family face the tragedy of the loss of a loved one due to negligence of another, seek experienced legal advice and representation. A good lawyer can help your family recover damages and, to the extent that it can ever be, help you address your grievances.
For more information please visit http://kc-law.net
Blog Content (c) Kamensky – Cohen and Associates :: New Jersey Lawyers Pennsylvania Lawyers Firm Blog and News. Duplicaton Prohibited. Blog powered by WP+
AdvertisingSolutions.net tpl_v3.8.10 CMS+
