New Brunswick Personal Injury Lawyer

If you were hurt in New Brunswick because someone else was careless, your medical bills, lost wages, and pain can be recovered from the responsible party’s insurance, you do not pay a lawyer anything up front, and New Jersey generally gives you two years from the accident to file a lawsuit.

The rest of this page explains how that works for the injuries we see most often in New Brunswick and Middlesex County, and what a New Brunswick personal injury lawyer at Birkhold & Maider actually takes off your shoulders.

What a New Brunswick personal injury lawyer does for you

Right now, you are probably juggling doctor visits, a ringing phone with an insurance adjuster on the other end, missed work shifts, and a car sitting in a body shop. A personal injury lawyer takes the insurance and legal tasks off your shoulders so you can focus entirely on healing.

At Birkhold & Maider, here is what that process looks like. One attorney manages your case from the day you sign with us until it is resolved. They are supported by a paralegal you can reach by phone or text 24 hours a day. We reach out to you with updates before you even have to ask. You do not need to talk to the insurance company again; that is our job now. We handle the phone calls, gather the evidence missing from the police report, negotiate your medical bills with providers, and never accept or reject a settlement offer without your clear consent. Our entire team works in both English and Spanish. Your immigration status does not affect your right to bring a claim, and it will never change how we treat you.

Our office is located at 7 North Mountain Avenue in Montclair, but you do not need to make the trip. We meet New Brunswick clients at home or in the hospital when traveling is too difficult. We also handle most of the day-to-day work by phone, text, and email. Personal injury cases from New Brunswick are filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Middlesex County, located at the Middlesex County Courthouse at 56 Paterson Street. We handle cases there regularly and will guide you through exactly what to expect.

New Brunswick Car Accident Lawyer

Car crashes make up the largest part of our practice, and New Brunswick roads see a lot of them. Route 18 and Route 1 carry heavy commuter traffic right past the city. The downtown streets around Rutgers and the local hospitals are always dense with pedestrians, cyclists, buses, delivery vans, and rideshare drivers. If a sudden crash has left you juggling medical visits, missed work, and confusing calls from insurance companies, we can step in and carry that load for you.

Your own insurance pays your medical bills first, even when the crash was not your fault

New Jersey is a no-fault state. Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4, every standard auto policy includes Personal Injury Protection, or PIP. This coverage pays your crash-related medical bills regardless of who caused the collision.

This surprises and frustrates almost everyone we talk to, but using your PIP coverage is not an admission of fault. Your claim for pain and suffering, lost wages beyond what PIP covers, and other personal losses is still made against the at-fault driver’s liability insurance. We explain these details further on our car accident page and in our guide to New Jersey’s no-fault rules.

Check your policy for “limitation on lawsuit”

Many New Jersey auto policies carry the “limitation on lawsuit” option, which is sometimes called the verbal threshold. If your policy has this limitation, you can only sue another driver for pain and suffering if your injury falls into one of the specific categories listed in the statute. These include death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement or scarring, a displaced fracture, loss of a fetus, or a permanent injury.

Proving a permanent injury requires specific medical documentation, which is one reason it helps to get a lawyer involved early. If you selected “no limitation on lawsuit” when you bought your policy, this hurdle does not apply to you. We will look at your policy declarations page during our very first conversation so you know exactly where you stand.

How much insurance the other driver has matters

Here is a hard truth about personal injury claims: the value of your case is limited by the insurance coverage available. For policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, the state’s minimum liability coverage is $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident. That is an increase from previous years, but it is still not much when a severe spinal injury requires surgery.

Part of our job is to find every single insurance policy that applies to your crash. This might include your own underinsured motorist coverage, a commercial policy on a work truck, or a rideshare company’s coverage if the driver was logged into their app. We look under every rock. Our past documented results include a $2.5 million recovery for a woman struck by a commercial van who needed two spinal surgeries, and $1.875 million for a man T-boned at an intersection who needed a cervical fusion. Please note that past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Getting your New Brunswick crash report

The New Brunswick Police Department posts redacted crash reports online free of charge. You can also request a complete copy through the Records Room at (732) 745-5212.

You do not need to track this paperwork down yourself. Once you hire us, we pull the police report, the witness statements, and your medical records. If the police did not come to the scene, you still have a valid case. We will build it from photos, witness accounts, and repair estimates.

Can someone sue you personally after a car accident in NJ?

Yes, a driver can be named personally in a lawsuit. In most cases, however, the driver’s auto insurance company steps in and handles the claim up to the limits of the policy.

For an injured person, the bigger practical risk actually runs the other way. If the driver who hit you carries only minimum coverage and your medical needs exceed it, collecting the difference from the driver personally is rarely realistic. That is why we look very closely at the underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy.

New Jersey also follows a rule called modified comparative negligence under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1. This means you can still recover money even if you were partly at fault for the crash, as long as your share of the blame is not greater than the other driver’s. Your final recovery is simply reduced by your percentage of fault.

What percentage does an accident lawyer take?

New Jersey strictly caps the contingency fees that personal injury lawyers can charge. Under court rules, the fee is limited to 33⅓ percent of the first $750,000 recovered. The percentage then drops to 30% of the next $750,000, 25% of the next, and 20% of the next. Anything recovered above $3 million requires special court approval. For settlements involving a minor or a person who is mentally incapacitated, the fee cap is lower at 25%.

At Birkhold & Maider, we never charge upfront fees. If we do not recover money for you, we do not get paid. We also pay the upfront case costs, like fees for medical experts and hospital records. We will walk you through exactly how these costs are handled before you ever sign a document, and we explain the process in our guide on how to choose a New Jersey injury firm.

Is it worth hiring an attorney for a car accident?

For a simple fender-bender with no injuries, the honest answer is usually no. You can likely handle a basic property damage claim on your own.

However, if you were hurt, had to see a doctor more than once, or missed time at work, you should speak with a lawyer. People with legal representation generally recover more than people without it, even after paying the attorney’s fee. This happens because an insurance company’s first offer rarely reflects the true policy limits or accounts for the complex legal rules involved, and an unrepresented person has no way to know what a fair offer looks like. If you want to think it through before calling, we wrote a simple guide on handling a car accident claim on your own.

Slip and Fall and Premises Liability in New Brunswick

A fall on a wet supermarket floor, an icy walkway outside an apartment complex, a broken step in a rental, or a poorly lit parking garage downtown can cause serious injuries that take months to heal. Premises liability is the area of law that holds property owners responsible for dangerous conditions they knew about, or should have known about, and failed to fix or warn visitors about.

Three New Jersey rules come up constantly in New Brunswick cases:

• Commercial sidewalks. Under Stewart v. 104 Wallace Street, the owner of a commercial property is responsible for keeping the public sidewalk in front of it reasonably safe. Owners of ordinary residential homes generally are not responsible unless they created the hazard themselves. Finding out who owns the building where you fell matters a great deal.
• Self-service stores. When a business lets customers handle produce, drinks, or other goods themselves, spills are expected. Under the “mode of operation” rule, applied again by the Appellate Division in 2024, you do not have to prove the store knew about the specific puddle you slipped on.
• Public property. If you fell on property owned by the City of New Brunswick, Middlesex County, Rutgers University, or another public body, the New Jersey Tort Claims Act requires a written notice of claim within 90 days of the injury. If you miss this window, you may lose the claim entirely. A court can sometimes allow a late notice within one year, but you should not count on it.

Evidence in a fall case disappears fast. The spill is mopped, the ice melts, and store video may be deleted. If you can, take pictures of the scene and your footwear, get names of witnesses, and ask for an incident report. Once you call us, we send letters to preserve evidence and investigate beyond what the property owner volunteers.

Our slip and fall results include a $600,000 recovery for a real estate agent who fell down steps at a showing and needed spinal surgery, along with $225,000 for a gas station fall and $150,000 for a fall on water in a supermarket. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. You can read more about how these cases work on our slip and fall and premises liability pages. If an animal caused the injury rather than a property condition, see our dog bite page.

Burn Injury Lawyers in New Brunswick

Burns happen in apartment fires with faulty wiring or missing smoke detectors, from scalding water in rentals, in restaurant and industrial kitchens, through chemical exposure on the job, and in vehicle fires after a crash. Serious burns require long hospital stays, skin grafts, and care for scarring. They often cause a permanent change in how you look and move. A burn case has to account for future surgeries and the psychological toll, not just the medical bills you have today.

Whether the responsible party is a landlord, a contractor, a driver, or a property owner, we investigate the cause with the right experts and document your full arc of recovery. Our burn injury page explains how these claims are valued.

Hurt at Work or on a Construction Site in New Brunswick

If you were injured on the job, you have a workers’ compensation claim regardless of who was at fault. This applies whether you were hurt at a hospital, on a campus construction project, in a warehouse, or driving for work. Workers’ compensation covers your medical treatment and pays temporary disability benefits while you are out of work. These benefits are set by N.J.S.A. 34:15-12 at 70% of your weekly wages up to a yearly state maximum.

The trade-off is that in most cases the insurance company directs your medical treatment, and workers’ compensation does not pay for pain and suffering. Two deadlines matter here. First, tell your employer right away, and within 14 days at the latest. Late notice can reduce or delay your benefits. Second, a formal claim petition must be filed within two years of the injury or your last benefit payment. Our workers’ compensation page and FAQ cover the process step by step, and the New Jersey Division of Workers’ Compensation is the state agency that runs the system.

Many workers do not know they may also have a second claim. If someone other than your employer caused the injury, such as a subcontractor on a construction site, a negligent driver, or a property owner, you can bring a third-party claim for full damages. This includes compensation for pain and suffering while your workers’ compensation benefits continue. We see this most often in construction accidents. Your immigration status does not affect your right to file either claim.

Wrongful Death Claims in New Brunswick

When a crash, a fall, a fire, or a workplace incident takes someone’s life, New Jersey law lets certain family members bring a claim for the financial losses the death caused them. The lawsuit must be filed within two years of the death.

We know that calling a lawyer is the last thing a grieving family wants to do. When you are ready, we will explain who can bring the claim and what it involves. We manage the insurance companies so you do not have to. Our wrongful death page goes into more detail.

Injured by a defective product?

Products liability is a lawsuit against a manufacturer over a defectively designed or built product. We do not generally handle these as standalone cases. However, if a defective product hurt you at work or in a vehicle crash, please call us anyway. We will tell you honestly whether the case fits what we do. If it does not, we will point you toward someone who focuses on that exact type of law.

What is my case worth, and how long will it take?

The value of your case depends mostly on two things: how badly you were hurt and how much insurance is available. Surgeries, permanent injuries, and long-term work limits increase the value of a claim. We will not quote you a number on the first call because no one can know it yet.

Timing depends on your medical treatment. A claim generally should not settle until your doctors can confidently say what your long-term condition will be. Once you sign a release, you cannot go back and ask for more money. If a lawsuit is needed, the case moves into discovery. Discovery is the stage where both sides exchange records and take testimony. This phase takes longer than most people expect, usually many months. We tell you at the start what that timeline looks like for your specific case.

Many cases settle. However, our team includes a Certified Civil Trial Attorney. When the insurance offer does not reflect the severity of the injury, we take the case to trial.

Deadlines that matter in New Jersey

• Two years from the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit, under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2. For wrongful death, the limit is two years from the date of death.
• 90 days to serve a notice of claim when a public entity is involved. This includes a city or county vehicle, a public sidewalk or building, a public bus, or Rutgers property.
• Two years to file a workers’ compensation claim petition, along with prompt notice to your employer.

Two years sounds like plenty of time, and it usually is. The reason to get answers early is not just to beat the deadline. It is because evidence disappears, and the insurance company starts building its file the day of the accident. We explain the exceptions, including rules for children and delayed-discovery injuries, in our guide on how long you have to file in New Jersey.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find a good personal injury lawyer in New Brunswick?

You should ask four things on the first call. Who exactly will handle my case, and can I reach that person directly? Will I hear from you without having to chase you down? Does your team include a Certified Civil Trial Attorney, and do you actually take cases to trial? Can I work with the attorney and paralegal in my primary language?

After you ask those questions, look at documented results and reviews. Trust how the conversation felt. A good lawyer explains the process, does not pressure you, and tells you plainly if you do not actually need an attorney. Our guide to choosing a New Jersey injury firm gives you a full checklist.

When should you get a personal injury lawyer?

You should speak to a lawyer before you give any recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company, and as soon after the accident as you can manage. Early involvement lets us preserve video and witness accounts. We can also help get your personal injury protection coverage set up correctly and make sure your treatment is properly documented.

If you are already weeks or months into the process, it is not too late. Call us, and we will tell you where things stand and what to do next.

What should you not say to a personal injury attorney?

You should not hold back anything from your own lawyer. What you say to us is confidential. The details that feel embarrassing, like a prior back injury, a delayed doctor visit, or a text you sent after the crash, are exactly what we need to know early so they do not surprise us later.

The people you need to be careful with are the insurance adjusters. Do not guess about who was at fault, do not say you are “fine,” and do not sign a medical authorization or accept a check before you understand exactly what you are giving up.

Where can I get free legal advice in New Brunswick?

For an injury claim, our case evaluation is free, with no obligation. We offer these in English or Spanish.

For other civil matters such as housing, public benefits, or family issues, Central Jersey Legal Services provides free help to Middlesex County residents who meet their income guidelines. They are located at 317 George Street in New Brunswick, and you can reach them at (732) 249-7600. The New Jersey Courts self-help center also provides forms and guides if you are representing yourself.

Who are some well-reviewed New Brunswick personal injury law firms for car accidents?

We do not rate other firms, but we can tell you what to look for in reviews. Look for clients who say they always knew what was happening with their case. Notice if they name the specific attorney or paralegal they worked with. Pay attention to whether they mention that the firm handled the insurance company for them.

You can read what our own clients say on our reviews page. Our case results list the injury and the outcome for past matters. Please keep in mind that past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Do I have to use my own insurance if the crash was not my fault?

For your medical bills, yes. New Jersey uses a no-fault system. This means your treatment goes through your own car insurance coverage first, no matter who caused the crash.

Your claim against the at-fault driver is separate. That claim covers your pain and suffering, as well as the financial losses your own insurance does not pay. Damage to your car is handled separately from your injury claim, and we help you sort that out on day one.

Let’s Talk Through It

You are carrying a lot right now with pain, missed work, and calls from the insurance company. You do not need to call the insurance company again; that is ours to carry now.

Tell us what happened in a free case evaluation, available in English or Spanish. Call 973-319-7795. We answer around the clock for new matters. You can also reach us online and we will respond within 24 hours. We serve New Brunswick, Highland Park, North Brunswick, East Brunswick, Piscataway, Edison, and all of Middlesex County. There is no fee unless we recover money for you.