Premises Liability Lawyer in New Jersey

Two things decide a New Jersey premises case, and both are usually settled long before trial: your legal status on the property, and whether the owner had notice of the condition.

Status. New Jersey still classifies entrants:

• A business invitee — a customer, a tenant, a delivery driver — is owed reasonable care, including inspection for hidden dangers.
• A licensee, typically a social guest, is owed a warning of known dangers.
• A trespasser is owed less, subject to exceptions for children and for known hazards.

Notice. The owner must have created the hazard, known of it, or allowed it to exist long enough that reasonable inspection would have revealed it. In retail cases the mode-of-operation rule can substitute for notice where the business's self-service format makes the hazard foreseeable — a produce aisle, a self-serve beverage station.

The rest of the framework:

• Two years to file (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2); two years for wrongful death.
• Public entities — a municipality, county, school district, housing authority or NJ Transit — require a Tort Claims Act notice within 90 days (N.J.S.A. 59:8-8), and liability for a dangerous condition of public property must satisfy the demanding standard in N.J.S.A. 59:4-2, including proof that the entity's action or inaction was palpably unreasonable.
• Sidewalks. Commercial property owners are generally responsible for the abutting sidewalk; the rules applied to residential owners differ, and this area of New Jersey law has continued to evolve, so the property's classification and use should be verified at the outset.
• Modified comparative negligence — no recovery above 50% fault (N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1).
• Most personal injury matters pass through mandatory non-binding arbitration under R. 4:21A before a trial date is assigned.

General information, not legal advice.

There is no upfront cost. New Jersey injury attorneys work on contingency, and Rule 1:21-7 fixes the maximum:

• 33⅓% of the first $1,000,000 recovered
• 30% of the next $1,000,000
• 25% of the next $1,000,000
• 20% of the next $1,000,000
• Above $4,000,000, a reasonable fee set by the court on application
• 25% where the client is a minor or an incapacitated person and the matter settles without trial

The fee applies to the net recovery after case expenses. Premises cases carry real expense: a professional engineer to document the stair geometry, the slip resistance, the lighting; site inspection before repairs; obtaining maintenance, inspection and prior-complaint records. Ask who carries those costs if the case does not succeed, and confirm the answer in the retainer.

Liens to health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, or a workers' compensation carrier are resolved before disbursement. Our consultation and referral cost nothing.

Because the 90-day Tort Claims notice, the palpably unreasonable standard, and the 51% bar each end cases on their own — and none of them are obvious to someone handling their first injury claim.

• Free consultation; the referral costs you nothing.
• Available 24/7 at (800) 669-0060.
• English, Spanish, and Russian.
• Over 30 years matching injured people with attorneys across New Jersey and New York.
• Local case experience across New Jersey counties.
• Continued involvement after the introduction.

Attorneys in Michael Brook's network make the same recommendation to every new premises client: send a written preservation demand for surveillance video within days. Most systems overwrite in one to two weeks, and once the footage is gone the notice argument becomes a swearing contest.

Disclaimer: Michael Brook Attorney Referral is not a law firm and provides no legal representation or legal advice. This is general information and does not replace advice from a licensed attorney about your specific situation. No result is guaranteed.