Winning a New Jersey personal injury lawsuit qualifies you to be awarded compensation to pay for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other accident-related expenses. When facing a potential personal injury case, it’s important to understand how damages are determined and when a New Jersey personal injury attorney may be necessary to get the compensation you are entitled to.
While all cases are different, if you have experienced monetary or personal losses due to an injury, Buttafuoco & Associates may be able to provide legal representation. To learn more about your rights, get in touch for a free consultation at 1-800-NOW-HURTs.
Types of Damages in New Jersey Personal Injury Cases
There are three types of damages in New Jersey personal injury lawsuits: economic, non-economic, and punitive. Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may be eligible for one or more of these types of damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages refer to compensation that can be calculated in terms of a dollar value. Some examples include hospital and medical bills, physical or mental health therapy costs, payments to caretakers, necessary medical equipment, lost wages, and other tangible charges.
Economic damages can only be claimed if someone else’s negligence resulted in your injuries, so it is often necessary to work with a Northern New Jersey personal injury lawyer to receive compensation. A lawyer can also help you consider damages that are less obvious or challenging to calculate, such as what you are owed for sick days you had to take to attend doctor’s appointments, or property that was damaged during the incident.
Non-Economic Damages
The easiest way to explain the difference between economic and non-economic damages is that noneconomic damages pose much more of a challenge when it comes to determining a monetary value for losses.
Noneconomic damages include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional distress that result from your injury. Although determining the value of these damages can be difficult, many people are eligible for them after a personal injury. Again, a personal injury lawyer can be incredibly helpful in helping you place value on your case.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are reserved for personal injury claims where the defendant is proven to have intentionally caused your injury, or to have acted in an especially egregious manner. Judges award these damages as a punishment, and they are rarely doled out. Unlike economic and noneconomic damages, in the state of New Jersey, there is an upper limit on punitive damages. The maximum amount you can recover is the greater of five times the combined amount of total economic and noneconomic damages, or $350,000.
Understanding Comparative Negligence
While the categories of damages are relatively straightforward, damages can get complicated when it comes to personal injury cases in New Jersey. Under New Jersey comparative negligence laws, if you were responsible for any portion of your injury, your compensation will be reduced by that amount.
In other words, if you are found to be 25 percent responsible for your personal injuries, your compensation will be reduced by 25 percent. If you are considered over 50 percent responsible for your injuries, you will not be entitled to recover damages. As you can imagine, connecting with personal injury lawyers serving Northern New Jersey can be important if there is the potential for you to be found at fault for any percentage of your accident.
How an Attorney Can Help
By choosing experienced personal injury attorneys, you will likely experience a variety of helpful benefits. For one, an attorney can help you accurately value your personal injury claim so that you receive the maximum amount of compensation possible. A good lawyer can also often help limit the amount of negligence assigned to you in a case.
At Buttafuoco & Associates, we have spent decades helping personal injury clients reclaim their lives after major accidents. Not only do we have the experience to handle complex cases, but we believe in treating each and every client we work with as family, with a focus on reducing your stress levels and handling small details so you don’t have to.
We are happy to offer free consultations to help you understand your rights. To talk with an attorney today, get in touch.
Call 1-800-NOW-HURT.
