Personal Injury FAQs

I’ve been injured — what do I do first?

• See a doctor! It is surprising how many people believe they will just feel better if they give it time. Human nature makes us not want to be labeled as a complainer. A claim against someone who caused you injury is less important than seeking proper medical care. Only your doctor can properly evaluate your injuries. Get the medical care you need and get it promptly!
• See our Accident Checklist for more complete list of things to do immediately after an accident injury.
• If your injury happened in the State of New Jersey, contact the Law Offices of Burns & Associates, for a free, confidential, no-obligation review of the facts of your case by using our Personal Injury Questionnaire.
• If you have other questions regarding a personal injury claim, please feel free to contact us by email, or telephone.

Why do I need to contact an attorney?

• The insurance laws are complicated in the State of New Jersey. Insurance companies have no interest in making this easy. It costs nothing to go to the Law Offices of Burns & Associates for a free evaluation of your injury claim. Also, you have a lot to gain by speaking with us first — even if we’re unable to represent you in your claim; we may be able to provide you with valuable tips and advice. We have been through this many times most of the time we can help you.
• Insurance companies will contact you shortly after your accident. They will attempt to get you to sign away your rights via a quick settlement. Do not walk, RUN the other way.
• Personal Injury Attorneys should provide two services to you. One, an attorney’s skill, experience, and knowledge usually adds to the value of your claim. Two, the attorney can handle all the insurance and legal meetings, paperwork, telephone calls, negotiating, court appearances, etc., necessary to resolve your case.
• Handling your legal claim by yourself may cost you thousands of dollars. By analogy, if a simple personal injury is a “hangnail” claim that the average person is easily capable of “clipping,” then more complicated personal injury claims may be equivalent to appendix surgery. Would perform surgery on yourself? An experienced attorney resolves claims and avoids numerous stumbling blocks thrown up by the insurance companies.
• In New Jersey, you are told that you have medical care for any injuries. This simply is not true. Insurance companies have the right to stop paying for your medical treatment. Insurance companies have the right to say you do not need treatment. For example, before a doctor can do a simple MRI exam a doctor has to get permission from an Insurance company. An experienced attorney may help stop Insurance companies before they deny you medical care.
• A Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Attorney may maximize the value of your claim because he or she knows what facts both medical and legal to bring up. For example, the driver who struck your car might have been drunk. An attorney will know who to sue to maximize your claim. For example, your doctor tells you that the collision caused a minor non-permanent injury to your neck. But, you feel the injury caused a flare-up in the arthritis you’ve been experiencing for years — can you be compensated for this? A good personal injury attorney evaluates all legal and medical facts and presents to maximize the value of your claim.

Why should I have the Law Offices of Burns & Associates represent me?

• Experience. The lawyers in Burns & Associates, have practiced New Jersey personal injury law for a combined 30 years. The lawyers have personally handled injury claims of all sizes, including motor vehicle accidents, slip-and-fall claims, and other types of cases. The lawyers successfully resolve claims against all types of defendants from individuals to cities and counties to the largest corporations. If you are seeking any type of attorney, no factor is more important than the attorney’s experience in his/her field of specialty.
• Thoroughness. Many people shortchange themselves when they or their inexperienced attorneys assume that they have a “run-of-the-mill” case. For example, a simple knee strain or an “uncomplicated” broken bone. There is no such thing as a run-of-the-mill case. We search for and pursue every fact that is likely to add to the value of your claim. Insurance claims adjustors and insurance defense attorneys are hard-working people who have hundreds of injury claims pass across their desks every year. It is important to make a claim stand out from the rest of the stack. Our clients are unique individuals. They deserve a unique individual representation. Our firm does not take every case presented. We are able to give the personal protection that other firms cannot.
• Commitment to Technology. Today, legal battles are information battles. Our attorneys make use of the latest technology. Information battles require computer expertise. At the Law Offices of Burns & Associates, we make use of the latest technology to effectively present your case in plain English. We use internet search engines to protect you with the traditional lawyer’s library so that our fully networked staff can more rapidly and effectively search for the past legal decisions, medical diagnostic information, and engineering and scientific details that are vital to successfully resolving out clients’ cases.
• Caring. We care what happens to our clients. As we said above, we give the personal protection that other firms cannot. We return phone calls. We make liberal use of email to allow you to communicate with us at anytime. We want you to feel involved and informed at every stage of your case. During the course of a long case, we want to become attuned to the negative affect that the accident upon your life. We try to insure you are satisfied with the medical care you are receiving. Your peace of mind regarding your recovery is paramount. This is not just about a monetary recovery it is about a physical and mental recovery too.

How do I know if my claim is worth pursuing?

• If you are injured as a result of the negligence of another person or persons, you may pursue a claim against the people/corporations/government entities that caused your injuries. Also, your spouse may also have a claim against the negligent party.
• If you make a claim, you need to show acceptable proof of your injuries and losses and provide proof of the negligent party’s responsibility. The laws and rules that govern personal injury cases in New Jersey are complicated and varied. Many times, in the same case there are case decisions, statutes, court rules and evidence rules involved.
• The simplest way to find out if you have a valid claim is to consult with an experienced Personal Injury Attorney. Every attorney has different levels of experience and areas of expertise, one attorney may see a claim worth pursuing while another may not. If you want a free, confidential evaluation of the facts of your New Jersey personal injury claim, please complete our Personal Injury Questionnaire. For any other questions you may have about a personal injury case, contact us by email.

What may affect the value of my claim?

• It is part science, part art, and a large part persuasive skills determines the value of your claim.
• The specific nature of your injuries is a primary factor used to determine the value of a claim (also known as damages). This is the science part of the equation, and it involves:
• A thorough examination of the injured person’s medical records and medical history. The Firm of Burns & Associates, takes this evaluation seriously and has a doctor who is also a lawyer review most claims.
• Medical review and research about the injuries that your doctor has diagnosed, the treatments your doctor has used, and their probable outcomes. At the Law Offices of Burns & Associates, we have a medical doctor who can review your medical records and history to concentrate particular attention upon the latest research available to determine the extent of needed future treatment and permanent damages that cannot be treated.
• Interviews with the treating physicians and/or requests for formal medical records from the physicians can be made by Dr. O’Flynn. Services such as these can cost a significant amount of money if they had to be done without the help of an in house doctor. However, at Burns & Associates we have the unique ability to get information without incurring some of the costs normally associated with such requests. Costs that normally subtract from the value of your claim.
• The art of evaluating a claim comes next. Vitally important facts may be overlooked by the layman, or by an inexperienced attorney who may not notice certain subtleties that are only evident to the practiced eye. This portion of claim evaluation allows the attorney to:
• Maximize the value of facts leading to a stronger claim; and
• Minimize the impact of facts, which deter from the value of the claim.
• Finally, the value of your claim is based on all of the above. Think of the above as building blocks so we can present a persuasive argument to insurance adjusters, to an insurance attorney, perhaps even to a jury at trial. A personal injury attorney who has handled many claims develops professional working relationships with insurance adjustors, and defense attorneys. This may not help a client, but it never hurts to smooth the road to settlement of a client’s claim.

Disclaimer: The information supplied on this web site is general in nature and should not be relied upon to make legal decisions — for every rule cited, there are likely a dozen exceptions. Interacting with e-mail on this page or our personal injury questionnaire does not constitute the creation of an attorney/client relationship. This web site is an advertisement for legal services. Any examples of client cases and results discussed on this web site are not a guarantee of your outcome if we represent you in a particular case. The material contained in this website is not intended as legal advice. All information regarding personal injury law contained in this website pertains to the law in the State of New Jersey. The laws of other states and nations may be entirely different from what is described here.