Personal injury lawyer help in Passaic County, New Jersey

Passaic County, New Jersey includes 17 named communities, the largest being Paterson, Clifton, Passaic. Whether an accident happened on a county road, in a small town or in one of the larger communities, the same New Jersey rules apply: a 2-year filing deadline for most injury claims, modified comparative negligence (51% bar), and lawsuits filed in the Passaic County Superior Court. This page is the county-wide guide, with links to a page for each community.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests from Passaic County may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle car, truck, motorcycle and pedestrian accidents, slip and fall injuries, workplace injuries and workers' compensation, medical malpractice and wrongful death matters in New Jersey. There is no charge to submit a request and no obligation to hire anyone.

Each community below has its own guide with the local court, insurance rules and every type of injury claim.

• Paterson, NJpop. 147,754
• Clifton, NJpop. 86,334
• Passaic, NJpop. 71,085
• Wayne, NJpop. 57,915
• West Milford, NJpop. 26,968
• Hawthorne, NJpop. 19,074
• Ringwood, NJpop. 12,448
• Wanaque, NJpop. 11,848
• Pompton Lakes, NJpop. 11,202
• Totowa, NJpop. 10,973
• Little Falls, NJpop. 10,688
• Haledon, NJpop. 8,451
• Bloomingdale, NJpop. 8,215

Smaller communities in Passaic County include Haskell, Hewitt, Newfoundland, Oak Ridge. Residents of these areas follow the same New Jersey rules, use the same Passaic County Superior Court, and can request a free claim review from anywhere in the county.

New Jersey generally gives an injured person two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2); medical malpractice is different (two years). A wrongful death claim has its own deadline: two years from the death (N.J.S.A. 2A:31-3). New Jersey courts treat this as part of the right itself, so the usual discovery-rule arguments do not rescue a late filing. For an injured child: The clock pauses until 18, then two years (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-21) — but a birth-injury malpractice claim must be brought before the child's 13th birthday. New Jersey's no-fault system includes a "limitation on lawsuit" (verbal threshold) option that restricts pain-and-suffering claims for many policyholders. Claims against a city, county, school district or state agency follow a separate deadline: 90 days (N.J.S.A. 59:8-8). Once the deadline passes, the Passaic County Superior Court will dismiss the case regardless of how clear the fault was, so the practical rule in Passaic County is to get legal advice early.

New Jersey follows modified comparative negligence (51% bar). In plain terms, you can recover as long as you were not more than 50% at fault, and your award is reduced by your share of fault. Insurance adjusters apply this rule from the first phone call, which is why the way an accident is described and documented in the days after it happens in Passaic County has a direct effect on what a claim is worth.

After a car accident in Passaic County, your own personal injury protection (PIP) coverage pays initial medical bills and a portion of lost wages regardless of who caused the crash. A lawsuit against the at-fault driver for pain and suffering is available only when injuries meet New Jersey's serious-injury threshold or costs exceed PIP limits. Minimum required coverage in New Jersey is 35/70/25. New Jersey’s "limitation on lawsuit" (verbal threshold) option restricts pain-and-suffering claims for many policyholders.

Lawsuits arising from accidents in Passaic County are typically filed in the Passaic County Superior Court, the trial court of general jurisdiction for Passaic County, although cases can sometimes be filed where the defendant resides or does business, and claims against out-of-state trucking companies or manufacturers may end up in federal court. Most claims settle before trial, but the credible ability to try a case in Passaic County is what moves insurers to pay fair value.

Employees injured on the job in Passaic County are generally covered by New Jersey workers' compensation, administered through the New Jersey Division of Workers' Compensation. Report the injury to your employer immediately — that notice deadline is short and missing it can end the claim before it starts — then file the formal claim within two years. Workers' compensation does not pay for pain and suffering, so when a third party such as a subcontractor, driver or equipment manufacturer caused the injury, a separate personal injury claim is often worth pursuing alongside it.

• Bergen County, NJ
• Essex County, NJ
• Hudson County, NJ
• Morris County, NJ

See the New Jersey personal injury guide for every county in the state.