New Jersey Personal Injury Law and Settlements – Lawsuit Information Center Blog

This page will provide a general overview of the key New Jersey laws that are applicable to personal injury cases including auto accidents, medical malpractice, dog bites, and product liability claims. We will also look at the average settlement value of these cases in New Jersey and provide examples of recent settlements and verdicts from New Jersey injury cases.
Every state has a legal deadline for how long a potential plaintiff can wait before filing a civil lawsuit. This deadline is called the statute of limitations. New Jersey has a general 2-year statute of limitations. This means that prospective plaintiffs in New Jersey must file their case within the two year SOL window or their claim will be legally barred.
New Jersey’s 2-year statute of limitations is set forth at NJ Rev. Stat. § 2A:14-2. This statute of limitations applies to all types of personal injury cases, including medical malpractice, auto accidents, and premises liability.
The most important question when talking about the statute of limitations in New Jersey is determining when the 2-year “clock” starts to run. New Jersey follows the doctrine known as the “discovery rule” for establishing when the 2-year SOL clock starts running.
Under the discovery rule, the 2-year clock starts running when the plaintiff first discovered (or reasonably could have discovered) that they suffered harm as the result of another person’s negligence. In simple personal injury cases, the 2-year clocks typically starts as soon as the injury or accident occurs. In more complex medical malpractice or product liability cases, however, the 2-year clock may not start until months or even years later.
New Jersey makes certain exceptions to the 2-year statute of limitations when the plaintiff is a minor (under age 18). For birth injury claims (medical malpractice claims for injuries sustained at birth) the child has until their 13^th birthday to file suit. For all other personal injury claims in which the prospective plaintiff is a minor, the plaintiff has until his or her 20^th birthday to file their case.
New Jersey has adopted a modified comparative fault rule in cases where the plaintiff is partly at fault for their own injuries. Under comparative fault, each party is responsible for their own percentage share of fault in an accident and a plaintiff’s damages will be reduced by his or her share. For example, let’s say Bob is in a car accident with Laura. Bob is found to be 80% at fault and Laura is 20% at-fault for the accident. Under comparative fault, Laura’s damages for the accident would be reduced by 20% to account for her share of fault.
In pure comparative negligence states, a plaintiff can recover some damages even if they are 80% or 99% at fault for an accident. New Jersey is not a pure comparative negligence state. New Jersey has modified the pure comparative fault rule with a 50% bar. Under this rule a person who is found to be more than 50% at fault is completely barred from recovery. This means if you are 51% at fault for the accident then you are unable to seek any damages.
Unlike many other states, New Jersey has not enacted any laws which put a cap or maximum limit on the amount of normal money damages that plaintiffs can receive in personal injury cases. Even damages in medical malpractice cases are not capped in New Jersey.
New Jersey does have a maximum cap on the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded in personal injury cases. Under NJ Rev. Stat. § 2A:15-5.14, punitive damages are capped at $350,000 or five times the amount of compensatory damages, whichever is greater.
Like many other states, New Jersey requires plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases to obtain and file an “affidavit of merit” in order to bring a malpractice lawsuit. The affidavit of merit is a written statement from a qualified expert (i.e., another doctor) stating that they have reviewed the medical records and facts of the case and that in their expert opinion, medical negligence occurred. The detailed requirements for the certificate of merit in New Jersey are set forth at NJ Rev. Stat. § 2A:53A-27.
There are specific situations where the requirement to provide an affidavit of merit does not apply. One notable exception is the common knowledge doctrine. This principle allows lay jurors to use their everyday understanding and experience to judge a defendant’s negligence without needing expert testimony.
This approach is applicable in scenarios where the jurors’ general knowledge is enough to assess the standard of care and the possible preventive measures a defendant could have taken to avoid causing harm. Examples include cases where a dentist removed the wrong tooth, a medical professional mistakenly pumped gas instead of a fluid during a procedure, or a pharmacist filled a prescription with the incorrect medication.
Furthermore, the affidavit is not required in cases of ordinary negligence involving a licensed professional when applying the principle of res ipsa loquitur. In such situations, the defendant’s negligence is evident, and the plaintiff is not required to present expert testimony to prove the standard of care. The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur allows for the inference of negligence if the incident typically indicates negligence, the defendant had exclusive control over the cause, and there’s no evidence suggesting the injury was due to the plaintiff’s actions or negligence.
How often does res ipsa apply in medical malpractice cases?  Rarely. The best play is to file a affidavit of merit in every case to be certain.
New Jersey has what is known as strict liability for personal injuries involving dog bites. New Jersey’s dog bite law is set forth at NJ Rev. Stat. § 4:19-16:
The owner of any dog [that bites someone who is] in a public place, or lawfully on or in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, shall be liable for such damages as may be suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of such dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.
This means that dog owners will automatically be held liable if their dog attacks or bites someone regardless of whether the owner knew or had reason to know that the dog was potentially aggressive. In other words, owners can be liable even if their dog has never attacked anyone before.
New Jersey has a relatively unique system when it comes to car accident claims, mostly because of its novel “choice” no-fault system. Here’s a more comprehensive look at car accident claims in the state:
It all start with buying car insurance oddly enough.  Because New Jersey operates under a “choice” no-fault system for car accident claims and that has real implications when you bring a car accident lawsuit in New Jersey.
This unique framework gives drivers the option between two types of car insurance policies: standard and basic.
A standard car insurance policy mandates a minimum of $15,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) benefits per individual, with a cap of $30,000 per incident.  PIP benefits are designed to cover medical bills, loss of income, and other costs stemming from the accident, irrespective of who was responsible. Beyond PIP benefits, standard policies also typically offer additional coverage options and protection against lawsuits.
Standard insurance gives the policyholder a choice between the “No Threshold” and “Lawsuit Threshold” options concerning their rights to sue for non-economic damages in the event of a car accident.
Contrary to standard policies, basic car insurance does not include PIP benefits.  Instead, they primarily offer liability insurance. This coverage kicks in if you’re responsible for an accident, covering any resulting damages to others. In the event of a car crash  in New Jersey, your immediate recourse is to your own insurance provider, even if you weren’t at fault. They will handle your PIP benefits up to the limits of your selected policy.
However, situations arise where injuries surpass the scope of PIP benefits. In such instances, you can potentially pursue legal action against the other driver. To secure damages for pain and suffering, you’ll need to establish that the other driver acted negligently.
If you have standard car insurance with no threshold, you can file a personal injury lawsuit after a crash like you can in most other states. If you have basic insurance or lawsuit threshold with standard insurance, you can only file a lawsuit for pain and suffering if their injuries meet one of the following criteria:
The battlefield is over what constitutes “permanent injury.”   Keep in mind, the definition of permanent injury is different in a medical sense that it is in everyday language.  To claim a permanent injury, doctor must certify that the injured party has sustained an injury that will not heal to function normally and will not improve with further medical treatment.
Claims relating to defective or dangerous products that cause injury or harm to consumers are governed by New Jersey product liability law. The applicable law for product liability claims in New Jersey is derived from a combination of both case law and statutory law.
Under New Jersey law, a manufacturer or seller of a product can be held liable if that product is defective and that defect causes injuries or harm. New Jersey law acknowledges the 3 basic types of product defects as identified in the Restatement of Torts: (1) manufacturing defects, (2) design defects, and (3) failure to warn.
There are a number of national mass torts or “class actions” that involve New Jersey plaintiffs, including claims our law firm is handling across the country:
Jury Verdict Research conducted a study and found that the median award in a personal injury case is approximately $100,000.  This is twice the national average.  The bad news for New Jersey Plaintiffs is that they only win in 36 percent of personal injury cases that go to trial.
New Jersey has a good sample size to work with to compute this data.  Over 130,000 civil lawsuits are filed every year.  I don’t have data on how many of them are personal injury cases.  But I can estimate: a lot.
Sometimes, median and average jury verdict information is inflated because the state processes the overwhelming majority of tort claims in state district court or, as New Jersey calls it, Special Civil Part.  But New Jersey’s limit is $15,000 which is actually lower than most states.
But there is an important difference in New Jersey than some other states that does lead to an inflated average settlement value of New Jersey injury claims.  New Jersey has no-fault insurance, which means that victims bring more limited claims against their own insurance companies.   Traditional civil claims are available if the victim suffered a “significant” injury that causes a fracture, scar, dismemberment or other permanent injuries (what constitutes permanent injury is a real battlefield in New Jersey and New York).
Our firm focuses on severe injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Though we are a national law firm, we collaborate with local attorneys in New Jersey – the best New Jersey lawyers we know – to maximum settlement amounts and jury payouts for our client’s personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Wondering about the costs of having two law firms represent you? It costs you nothing extra. We shoulder the expenses for your New Jersey lawyers, partnering only with the best, and the costs come from our attorneys’ fees. You won’t be billed any additional contingency fees for the collaboration of two law firms over one. Moreover, you only incur a fee if you secure a settlement or receive a jury payout.
If you’ve experienced an injury and think you might have a valid civil claim, reach out to us today at 800-553-8082 or request a free, no-obligation consultation online.

Personal injury lawyers handling serious personal injury truck and auto accident, medical malpractice and products liability cases throughout the United States.
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