Hackensack Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

When a sudden accident results in a spinal cord injury, New Jersey law gives you the right to hold the negligent party responsible for the lifelong consequences. The goal of a spinal cord injury lawsuit is to secure compensation for a future that has been permanently changed.

These claims are entirely different from a standard personal injury case. It demands a deep understanding of future medical needs, the ability to calculate decades of lost income, and a clear view of how this injury rewrites every part of your life.

If you’re facing this new reality, you need to understand your options and your rights. Our job is to take the burden of a lawsuit off your shoulders so you can focus on your health and your family. 

Call Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C. for a no-cost, confidential discussion about your case at (201) 585-9111.

Key Takeaways for Spinal Cord Injury Claims

1. The true cost of a spinal cord injury unfolds over a lifetime. Your compensation must account for millions of dollars in future medical care, lost earning potential, home modifications, and in-home assistance, not just the bills you have today.
2. New Jersey has strict and sometimes short deadlines. You generally have two years to file a lawsuit, but if a government entity is involved, a formal Notice of Claim must be filed within just 90 days of the incident.
3. Insurance companies are not on your side. Their primary responsibility is to their shareholders, which means their goal is to resolve your claim for the lowest amount possible. Our role is to ensure they are held accountable for the full value of your claim.

Why Choose Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C.?

When the stakes are this high, the law firm you choose will define your future. Our firm is built on a record of tangible results and an unwavering commitment to the people we represent.

Our Experience with High-Impact Injury Claims

• A History of Record-Setting Litigation: Our attorneys served a lead role in securing the $101 million settlement for victims of the Tropicana Casino Garage Collapse, one of the largest construction accident resolutions in U.S. history.
• Decades of Focused Practice: For over 40 years, we have dedicated our practice to helping individuals who have suffered catastrophic harm. We handle cases arising from construction disasters, medical negligence, and severe auto accidents, the very events that so frequently cause spinal cord injuries.
• Recognized Legal Experience: Our senior partner, Michael Maggiano, is a Civil Trial Attorney certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. This designation is held by less than 1% of lawyers in the U.S. and signifies a rigorously tested mastery of trial law.

Our Commitment to You

• Direct Partner Attention: Your case will be managed by our senior partners, not handed off to a junior associate. We build a direct relationship with you to fully understand the ways your injury has reshaped your life.
• No Win, No Fee: We operate on a contingency fee basis. You will not pay any attorney’s fees unless and until we recover compensation on your behalf.
• A Free, No-Pressure Case Review: We provide a complimentary case evaluation to help you understand your options without any strings attached.

Our Hackensack Location

Our office is located at Court Plaza South, 21 Main Street, Suite 206, in Hackensack, NJ. Being just a short distance from the Bergen County Courthouse and Hackensack University Medical Center keeps us connected to the local legal and medical communities.

What Is a Spinal Cord Injury Claim in New Jersey?

While New Jersey law provides a clear framework for holding a negligent party accountable, the process is detailed and leaves no room for error.

What Kinds of Accidents Cause These Injuries?

These injuries almost always result from a sudden, traumatic impact to the spine. Common causes include:

• Motor Vehicle Accidents: High-speed collisions on Route 4, Route 17, or the New Jersey Turnpike are a leading source of severe spinal damage.
• Construction Site Accidents: Falls from scaffolding, trench collapses, or being struck by heavy materials can easily inflict this type of harm.
• Slips and Falls: A fall on an icy sidewalk or a poorly maintained commercial property can have permanent consequences.
• Medical Malpractice: Errors during surgery, mistakes with anesthesia, or the failure to diagnose a spinal tumor or infection may lead to irreversible damage.

How Are Spinal Cord Injuries Classified?

Spinal cord injuries are categorized based on how much the damage disrupts the brain’s ability to communicate with the body.

• Complete Spinal Cord Injury: This diagnosis means there is a total loss of motor and sensory function below the site of the injury. This results in either paraplegia (paralysis of the lower body) or quadriplegia/tetraplegia (paralysis of all four limbs).
• Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury: In these cases, the cord is damaged but can still transmit some signals. This means you may retain some sensation or have limited movement below the level of the injury, with outcomes varying from person to person.

How Does New Jersey Law Define Liability?

• The Principle of Negligence: To bring a successful claim, we must demonstrate that another party was negligent. It’s a legal concept that means they had a responsibility to act with reasonable care, they failed in that responsibility, and their failure directly caused your injury and the resulting damages.
• Deadlines for Filing: In most situations, New Jersey law gives you two years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit. This deadline may seem generous, but building a case of this magnitude requires immediate action. The timeline is even shorter for claims against public entities, where you may have only 90 days to file a formal Notice of Claim.

What Is Your Spinal Cord Injury Case Really Worth?

Compensation is a resource required to cover every single loss your injury will cause, today and for the rest of your life. These costs can easily run into the millions of dollars, and a settlement must reflect that reality.

Economic Damages: The Tangible Costs

These are the concrete, calculable expenses tied to your injury. We work with life care planners, economists, and other experts to project these costs with precision over your expected lifetime.

• Past and future medical bills (surgeries, hospitalizations, rehabilitation).
• Personal care attendants or in-home nursing.
• Mobility equipment (power wheelchairs, ventilators, hospital beds).
• Home and vehicle modifications for accessibility.
• Lost income and loss of all future earning ability.

Non-Economic Damages: The Human Costs

These damages are intended to provide compensation for the intangible, personal losses that have no line-item on a bill but are just as real.

• Pain and suffering.
• Emotional distress and mental anguish.
• Loss of enjoyment of life (the inability to pursue hobbies, travel, or participate in daily activities).
• Loss of consortium (the impact on your marital relationship).

How Does New Jersey’s Fault Rule Affect Compensation?

New Jersey follows a “modified comparative negligence” rule. Put simply, you can still recover damages if you were partly at fault, as long as your share of responsibility is 50% or less.

Your final compensation award, however, is reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you are found to be 10% at fault, your recovery would be reduced by 10%. Insurance companies use this rule to argue that victims are more to blame than they truly are, making it a key battleground in any injury claim.

Building Your Case: The Role of Experts

Securing the kind of compensation that can provide lifetime support requires building a detailed, undeniable picture of your future needs. This is a task for a team of highly specialized experts who can explain to a judge or jury exactly what has been taken from you.

We may work with a network of professionals to build your case, including:

• Life Care Planners: These are typically nurses or medical specialists who create a comprehensive report outlining every piece of medical care, equipment, and personal assistance you will need for the rest of your life, along with the projected costs.
• Vocational Experts: These professionals assess your education, work history, and physical limitations to determine your total loss of earning capacity. They show not just what you were earning, but what you could have earned over a full career.
• Economists: An economist takes the figures from the life care planner and vocational expert and projects them into the future, accounting for inflation and other economic factors to arrive at a final figure that represents your total financial losses.
• Accident Reconstructionists: For cases involving complex vehicle or construction accidents, these experts use physics and engineering principles to determine exactly how an accident happened and who was at fault.

How Do You Cover Costs While Your Case Is Pending?

A spinal cord injury creates immediate financial pressure, but a lawsuit may take years to resolve. This leaves many families asking: How do we survive in the meantime? It’s a practical question that we help our clients address from day one.

Several systems are in place to help bridge this gap:

• Personal Injury Protection (PIP): If your injury occurred in a car accident, your own auto insurance policy’s PIP benefits are the first line of defense. These benefits cover medical bills and some lost wages up to your policy limit, regardless of who was at fault.
• Private Health Insurance: Your health insurance will be a primary source of payment for medical care. However, they will typically place a “lien” on your future settlement, meaning they have a right to be reimbursed for what they paid out from any compensation you recover. We work to negotiate these liens down to maximize the amount of money you keep.
• Government Benefits: You may be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which provide monthly payments if you are unable to work. We can guide you on how these benefits may interact with your personal injury claim.

Dealing with the Insurance Company

Shortly after the accident, an insurance adjuster for the at-fault party will likely contact you. It is important to understand their role.

An Inherent Conflict of Interest

Insurance companies are for-profit businesses. They have a duty to pay valid claims, but they also have a duty to their shareholders to be profitable. This creates a natural tension. The adjuster’s goal is to settle your claim for the lowest amount reasonably possible.

What to Expect from an Insurer:

• A Quick Settlement Offer: An early offer may be tempting, but it is usually made before the full, long-term costs of your injury are known. Accepting it means you forfeit the right to seek more compensation later when the true expenses become clear.
• Requests for a Recorded Statement: You are not obligated to give one. Adjusters are trained to ask questions designed to elicit responses that can be used to assign you partial fault for the accident or downplay the severity of your injuries.
• A Thorough Investigation: The insurer will conduct a detailed investigation, looking for any information that suggests you were at fault. Our job is to keep them accountable and ensure that no blame is unfairly shifted onto you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Spinal Cord Injury Claims

Can I still file a lawsuit if my injury happened at work?

Yes. While your first step is typically filing a workers’ compensation claim to cover medical bills and a percentage of lost wages, you may also be able to file a separate personal injury lawsuit against a “third party.” This could be the manufacturer of faulty equipment, a negligent driver who caused a crash while you were on the job, or a subcontractor whose actions created an unsafe work site.

How does New Jersey’s “no-fault” auto insurance affect my car crash claim?

New Jersey’s no-fault system means your own auto insurance, specifically, your Personal Injury Protection (PIP), is the first source of payment for your medical bills, no matter who caused the crash. However, for a severe injury like a spinal cord injury, you are permitted to step outside the no-fault system and sue the at-fault driver. To do this, your injury must meet the “verbal threshold,” a legal standard that includes permanent injuries. Spinal cord injuries almost always meet this threshold.

What if I was injured on public property?

Claims against government bodies in New Jersey operate under a much stricter set of rules laid out in the Tort Claims Act. You must file a formal Notice of Tort Claim with the correct public entity within 90 days of the injury. Missing this deadline will almost certainly prevent you from recovering any compensation, no matter how strong your case is.

I don’t remember the accident clearly. Can I still file a claim?

Absolutely. It is very common for people who suffer traumatic injuries to have gaps in their memory. A successful case does not depend on your recollection alone. We build your case using other sources of evidence, including police reports, witness interviews, physical evidence from the scene, surveillance footage, and expert analysis.

Take the First Step

Your focus should be on your health, your recovery, and your family.

Let our team at Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi, P.C. handle the legal work. We have the experience, the resources, and the dedication to pursue the maximum compensation available under the law.

Contact us today to understand your options and take the first step forward. Call our Hackensack office at (201) 585-9111.