FOL. IV·Personal Injury

Avery & Avery, Esqs. is a top New Jersey personal injury law firm representing injured plaintiffs across auto, premises, wrongful death, construction, and dog-bite matters. Our personal injury practice runs on a contingency engagement — we do not charge a fee unless we recover on your behalf, with the standard NJ contingency framework under R. 1:21-7. Our trial-ready posture is the difference: we prepare every PI matter as if it will be tried, even though most resolve in negotiation.

If you have been injured anywhere in Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Passaic, Morris, or Sussex County, the two-year statute of limitations under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 is unforgiving. Call (201) 943-2445 today — free consultation, no fee unless we recover.

Why Avery & Avery for NJ Personal Injury

Three things distinguish our PI practice:

Fifty years of NJ trial experience. Robert W. Avery has practiced NJ trial law since 1976 and has tried personal injury matters to verdict at every level of NJ practice. Few PI roster firms pair trial-readiness with the institutional knowledge of a 40-year practice.

Trial-ready, not settle-fast. Most PI matters resolve in settlement. The settlement amount is a function of the strength of the trial posture. Firms that signal “we’ll take what the carrier offers” achieve smaller settlements than firms the carriers know will go to verdict.

Bergen-rooted, six-county footprint. We litigate in Bergen and Hudson Vicinages where most of our auto matters originate, and we coordinate with treating providers at Hackensack University Medical Center (Bergen’s Level II trauma center) and Englewood Hospital on the medical-records side from the start of the matter.

Auto and Motor Vehicle Accidents — N.J.S.A. 39:6A

Most NJ personal injury matters arise out of auto accidents. The NJ Auto Insurance Reform Act sets out two structural questions that control every auto-injury case:

1. Verbal Threshold — N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8

NJ’s “verbal threshold” or “limitation on lawsuit” option restricts recovery for non-economic damages (pain and suffering) unless the injury fits one of six statutory categories — death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, displaced fracture, loss of fetus, or “permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability.”

Whether you elected the verbal threshold or the no-threshold option at policy purchase determines whether N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8(a) controls or 39:6A-8(b) does. Verbal-threshold plaintiffs need a physician’s certification of permanent injury supported by objective testing. This is why our intake includes the Insurance Declarations Page on day one.

2. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) — N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4

PIP coverage pays your medical bills regardless of fault, up to the policy limit you elected. The NJ minimum is $15,000; many policies carry $250,000. PIP claims are administered by the carrier on the hospital and provider side; the litigation only reaches damages over PIP exhaustion. We coordinate with your treating providers to ensure PIP coverage is fully applied before any out-of-pocket exposure attaches.

Common Auto Matters

• Rear-end collisions on Route 4, Route 17, Route 80, the NJ Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway
• Multi-vehicle collisions at Bergen / Hudson interchange ramps
• Distracted driving matters with cell-phone evidence subpoena
• Drunk-driving collisions with DWI co-defendant criminal exposure feeding the civil claim
• Pedestrian and bicycle accidents under the same N.J.S.A. 39:6A framework

Read our blog post on hiring a NJ car accident lawyer →

Slip and Fall / Premises Liability

NJ premises liability is governed by common law standards turning on the visitor’s status:

• Business invitee — highest duty of care; commercial property owner must inspect and warn
• Licensee — duty to warn of known dangers
• Trespasser — limited duty (except trespassing children under the attractive-nuisance doctrine)

Common matter types: grocery / retail slip-and-falls, parking-lot snow and ice claims, sidewalk-hazard claims (with the abutting-owner liability question), apartment / common-area claims, restaurant slips. The standard defense is the “open and obvious” doctrine; the plaintiff’s response runs through notice, inspection logs, and maintenance practice.

Wrongful Death — N.J.S.A. 2A:31-1 et seq.

NJ’s Wrongful Death Act gives the decedent’s heirs a cause of action for pecuniary loss — lost earnings, lost services, lost guidance and companionship in the family-loss accounting sense. NJ does not allow recovery for the decedent’s pain-and-suffering in wrongful death; that runs through the parallel Survival Action under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-3. Most wrongful-death matters file both claims.

Construction Site Accidents

Third-party liability claims (against the general contractor, a subcontractor, equipment manufacturers, premises owner) when a worker is injured on an NJ construction site. Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy against the worker’s direct employer; construction PI work focuses on the third-party defendants. Robert W. Avery’s construction-claim experience covers defective design and construction, builder fraud, and recovery actions on behalf of injured workers.

Dog Bite — N.J.S.A. 4:19-16

NJ has a strict-liability dog-bite statute. The owner is liable regardless of the dog’s prior history, regardless of whether the owner knew or should have known of any prior aggressive behavior. Defenses are limited (provocation; trespasser status). The statute applies in any “place where such person was lawfully upon.”

Statute of Limitations — N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2

The general personal injury statute of limitations in NJ is two years from the date of injury. Wrongful death is two years from the date of death. Discovery-rule extensions are narrow; the “reasonably-could-have-discovered” standard governs but rarely tolls.

Do not wait. Witness memories fade, evidence is preserved or lost, medical records are pulled or purged, and statute deadlines are unforgiving.

How Our Contingency Fee Works

Per R. 1:21-7, NJ regulates the maximum contingency fee in personal-injury matters on a sliding-scale framework. Our standard contingency fee is set within that schedule and is fully disclosed in the engagement letter. Where the matter resolves at policy limits or in pre-trial settlement, the fee follows the standard contingency percentage. Where the matter requires arbitration or trial, a higher contingency tier may apply (also disclosed in writing).

There is no consultation fee, no investigation fee, and no case-evaluation fee. Costs (deposition transcripts, expert reports, filing fees, medical-record retrieval) are typically advanced by the firm and reimbursed from any recovery. If there is no recovery, in most matters there is no cost owed.

Where We Practice

Bergen and Hudson are our most active PI counties:

• Bergen — Bergen County Justice Center, Hackensack. Bergen County PI →
• Hudson — William J. Brennan Court House, Jersey City
• Essex / Passaic / Morris / Sussex — full coverage

Schedule a Free Consultation

For a free first consultation, call (201) 943-2445 or submit through the form. We respond same business day. The two-year statute is unforgiving — don’t wait.