Union City, NJ Personal Injury Lawyers

If you were hurt in Union City in a crash, a fall, a dog bite, or on the job, and it was not your fault, you can bring a claim for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain, and you do not have to manage the insurance company alone. Birkhold & Maider is a New Jersey personal injury firm that represents people from Union City and the rest of Hudson County. If you are searching for a personal injury lawyer Union City families can talk to in Spanish or English, that is what we do. Our whole team, from the person who answers the phone to the attorney who owns your case, works in English and Spanish, so you can go through your entire case in whichever language you think in. The case evaluation is free, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you.

¿Prefiere hablar en español? Todo nuestro equipo es bilingüe. Puede leer sobre nuestros servicios en nuestra página en español y llamarnos al 973-319-7795 para una evaluación gratuita de su caso, sin compromiso. Cuéntenos lo que pasó.

Updated on September 21, 2026

What a personal injury lawyer in Union City actually does for you

Right now you may be juggling doctor visits, missed shifts, an adjuster who keeps calling, and a car you cannot drive. A personal injury lawyer takes the insurance and legal work off your plate so you can focus on getting better. In practice, that means:

• We handle the insurance calls. Once you hire us, the adjuster talks to us, not to you. You do not need to give a recorded statement or guess at what to say.
• We investigate beyond the police report. In a city as dense as Union City, there is usually more evidence than the crash report shows: storefront cameras along Bergenline Avenue, bus or light rail footage, nearby witnesses, and 911 records. We go get it before it is erased.
• We sort out who pays what. New Jersey’s no-fault system means your own auto insurance usually pays your medical bills first, even when the other driver caused the crash. We explain why below, and we make sure the right policy is billed.
• We negotiate your medical bills. We work with treating providers to bring down what comes out of your settlement, so more of the recovery stays with you.
• We push back on low offers. Our attorneys know how adjusters value claims and what the policy limits are. When a fair settlement is not on the table, we file suit in Hudson County and prepare the case for trial. Our team includes a certified civil trial attorney, which means we can take a case all the way if that is what it needs.

You also get one attorney who stays with your case from start to finish, backed by paralegals you can reach by phone or text. We call you with updates before you have to ask, and we never settle or take any major step without your informed consent.

Accidents we handle for Union City residents

Union City fits roughly 67,000 people into about 1.3 square miles, which the U.S. Census Bureau puts at more than 53,000 people per square mile. That density shapes the kinds of injuries we see here.

Car, bus, truck, and rideshare crashes

Kennedy Boulevard (Route 501), Bergenline Avenue, Paterson Plank Road, Palisade Avenue, and the Route 495 approach to the Lincoln Tunnel all run through or alongside Union City, and all carry heavy traffic, commercial trucks, and NJ Transit buses. A Hudson County safety review identified Paterson Plank Road as a high-crash corridor, with 176 vehicle crashes and 10 pedestrian incidents between 2016 and 2020. We represent drivers and passengers hurt in car accidents, truck and commercial vehicle crashes, and rideshare accidents, where sorting out which of several insurance policies applies takes real work.

Pedestrian and bicycle injuries

Union City has a lot of people on foot and a lot of pedestrian crashes. The New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety counted 400 pedestrian crashes in Union City from 2013 through 2017, and reported that 399 pedestrians were killed or injured on Kennedy Boulevard across Hudson County between 2011 and 2015. If you were hit while crossing the street or riding a bike, your own auto policy or a household member’s policy may still cover your medical care, and you may have a claim against the driver. Our pedestrian accident page explains how these claims work.

Falls and other injuries on someone else’s property

Broken sidewalks, icy building steps, poorly lit stairwells in older walk-ups, and wet floors in stores along Bergenline are common causes of slip and fall injuries here. A property owner who knew about a hazard, or should have, and did nothing about it can be held responsible. Photos taken the same day matter a great deal in these cases, because the hazard can be fixed before anyone else sees it.

Dog bites

Under N.J.S.A. 4:19-16, a dog owner is responsible for a bite that happens in a public place or while you are lawfully on private property, even if the dog had never bitten anyone before. If a dog bit you or your child in Union City, we help you document the injury, identify the owner’s homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, and pursue a dog bite claim.

Work injuries and construction accidents

If you were hurt on the job in Union City, you likely have a workers’ compensation claim, which pays medical treatment and part of your lost wages regardless of who was at fault. If someone other than your employer caused the injury, for example a subcontractor on a construction site or a driver who hit you while you were making deliveries, you may also have a separate injury claim against that person. We handle both together so nothing gets missed. Your immigration status does not affect your right to bring either kind of claim, and it will not change how we treat you.

We also represent families in wrongful death cases and people living with brain injuries or burn injuries after an accident.

New Jersey rules that shape a Union City injury claim

These four rules shape Union City injury claims. Knowing them early will save you a lot of confusion.

Your own auto insurance pays your medical bills first

New Jersey is a no-fault state. Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, is the part of your own car insurance that pays your medical bills after a crash, no matter who caused it. This surprises almost everyone, and it feels unfair when the other driver was clearly at fault. But it is how the system is built, and using your PIP does not mean you are giving up your claim against the other driver. You still pursue them for your pain, your lost wages beyond what PIP covers, and other losses. Our post on how PIP works in New Jersey walks through the details, including what happens if you chose health insurance as your primary coverage.

The “limitation on lawsuit” box on your policy matters

When you bought car insurance, you chose either the “limitation on lawsuit” option (sometimes called the verbal threshold) or the “no limitation” option. Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8, if you picked the limitation option, you can only recover for pain and suffering if your injury falls into certain categories, such as a displaced fracture, significant scarring, or a permanent injury. Drivers choose it to lower their premium, and it is easy to forget which box you checked. We pull your declarations page early so we know exactly what your claim can include. Read more in our explainer on New Jersey’s no-fault laws.

You can recover even if you were partly at fault

New Jersey uses a modified comparative negligence rule. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1, you can recover as long as you were not more than 50 percent responsible, and your award is reduced by your share of fault. If you were 20 percent at fault, you recover 80 percent of your damages. Insurance companies know this rule well and will try to shift blame onto you to shrink what they owe. We have a fuller breakdown in our post on comparative negligence in New Jersey.

You generally have two years to file a lawsuit

Under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2, most New Jersey injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the accident. Claims against a public entity, such as a city bus, a county road, or a school, require a formal notice of claim within 90 days. Two years sounds like a long time, but evidence disappears quickly and treatment takes months, so it is much better to get your questions answered in the first weeks than to discover a problem in year two. Our post on filing deadlines in New Jersey covers the exceptions.

What to do in the first days after an accident in Union City

1. Get checked by a doctor, even if you feel mostly fine. Adrenaline hides injuries, and a gap in treatment is the first thing an adjuster points to.
2. Get the police report. If Union City police responded, the report is available through the Police Records Room at headquarters, 3715 Palisade Avenue, ground floor. If no report was filed, you can still bring a claim; photos, witness names, and your own written account of what happened become more important, and we help you assemble them.
3. Photograph everything: the vehicles, the sidewalk defect, the dog, your injuries, and the scene from several angles.
4. Report the crash to your own insurer, but keep it brief and factual. You do not need to give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement, and we recommend you do not before speaking to a lawyer.
5. Save every bill, receipt, and pay stub. Lost wages, co-pays, prescriptions, and transportation to appointments are all part of your claim.
6. Talk to a lawyer early. The evaluation is free, and it costs nothing to learn whether you have a case and what to expect.

What a Union City injury case may be worth, honestly

Two things drive the value of a claim more than anything else: how serious and lasting your injury is, and how much insurance coverage exists. A permanent injury that required surgery and kept you out of work is worth far more than a soft-tissue injury that resolved with therapy. And even a serious injury can be capped by a small policy, which is why we look immediately for every available source of coverage, including underinsured motorist coverage, the part of your own auto policy that steps in when the at-fault driver’s policy is too small to cover your injuries.

Our documented results include a $2.5 million settlement for a woman struck by a commercial van who needed two spinal surgeries, $1.875 million for a T-bone collision that required a cervical fusion, and $600,000 for a slip and fall down a flight of steps. You can review our case results for more. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes; every case depends on its own injuries, evidence, and coverage.

Where your case would be heard

If a Union City injury case has to be filed, it goes to the Superior Court of New Jersey, Hudson County, in Jersey City. Civil matters are heard at the William J. Brennan Jr. Courthouse, 583 Newark Avenue. Workers’ compensation claims go through the New Jersey Division of Workers’ Compensation, not the regular courts, and are decided by a workers’ compensation judge. Cases can settle before trial, but preparing as if they will not is how we get fair offers. Discovery, the stage where both sides exchange records and take testimony, takes longer than most people expect, often many months, because it cannot finish until your doctors can say how lasting your injuries are. We tell you at the start what a realistic timeline looks like for your situation.

How we work with clients from Union City

Our office is in Montclair, in Essex County, a short drive from Union City, but you do not need to come to us. We meet clients at home or in the hospital when travel is hard, and we handle most of the case by phone, text, and email. Our team members respond within 24 hours, and our line for new matters is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Everything happens in your language. If you and your family speak Spanish, your intake, your calls with your attorney, your paperwork, and your paralegal’s texts are all in Spanish. Nothing gets lost in translation, because there is no translation.

We work on a contingency fee, which means no upfront cost and no fee unless we recover money for you. We also handle the practical problems that come with an injury: sending the insurance company to us instead of you, coordinating with your doctors, and negotiating medical liens so your recovery is not eaten up by bills. Our managing partners have practiced since 2006 and founded the firm in 2016, and our attorneys have decades of combined experience with New Jersey injury and workers’ compensation cases.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have a case if I was hurt in Union City but the other driver has no insurance?

Very possibly. Uninsured motorist coverage, the part of a New Jersey auto policy that covers you when the at-fault driver has no insurance, may apply through your own policy or a household member’s policy. PIP still pays your medical bills. We review every policy in the household to find the coverage that applies.

Can I bring a claim if I do not have legal immigration status?

Yes. Your immigration status does not affect your right to bring a personal injury claim or a workers’ compensation claim in New Jersey, and it is not something we ask about to decide whether to take your case. Everything you tell us is confidential.

Will my car insurance premium go up if I use my PIP after a crash that was not my fault?

We cannot promise what any insurer will do, but using PIP after a crash someone else caused is not the same as having an at-fault accident on your record. PIP is coverage you already paid for, and it is designed to be used in exactly this situation. We can walk through your specific policy during your free evaluation.

What if I already started treatment before hiring a lawyer?

That is normal and helpful. Early treatment is good for your health and your claim. We gather the records and bills from the providers you already saw and make sure they are submitted to the correct insurance. You do not need to start over.

How long will my Union City personal injury case take?

It depends mostly on two things: how long your treatment lasts, and whether a lawsuit is needed. A claim cannot be fairly valued until your doctors know how you will recover, so settlement talks usually begin after treatment ends. If the insurer will not make a fair offer and we file suit in Hudson County, discovery and court scheduling add time, and it is realistic to expect the case to run well past a year. We tell you where your case stands at every step so you are never guessing.

Why does a law firm ask for my Social Security number?

Insurers and lien holders, such as government health programs that paid for your care, use it to match records to the right person before a settlement is paid. We ask only when it is needed for your claim, we keep it secure, and we use it only for your case.

What happens to my car after a crash in Union City?

Property damage is handled separately from your injury claim and usually moves faster. The at-fault driver’s insurer, or your own collision coverage if you have it, pays for repairs or the car’s value if it is a total loss. We help you open the property damage claim and push it along, but we keep it separate so a quick check for the car never rushes the injury claim, which should not settle until your treatment is finished.

Let’s Talk Through It

If you or someone in your family was hurt in Union City, tell us what happened. A free case evaluation in English or Spanish will leave you knowing whether you have a claim, what it might involve, and what to do next. Call 973-319-7795 or reach us online any time, day or night.

Si prefiere hablar en español, llámenos al 973-319-7795 o visite nuestra página en español. Cuéntenos lo que pasó. La evaluación es gratuita, no hay costo por adelantado y no cobramos honorarios a menos que recuperemos una compensación para usted.