New York Personal Injury Lawyers / Edison Slip and Fall Attorneys

Edison Slip and Fall Attorney

Did you slip and fall while shopping at the Menlo Park Mall or at a Walmart in Edison? Maybe you slipped while boarding the train at the Edison station? Perhaps your slip and fall accident occurred while seeking treatment at JFK Medical Center or at the Home Depot off of US-1 South? No matter where your slip and fall accident occurred in Edison, New Jersey, the law protects you and provides the ability to collect compensation. An Edison slip and fall accident lawyer can help you navigate through the difficult legal process. 

Personal injury is a serious concern in Edison, especially for people with accessibility issues. One of the most common kinds of personal injury, which happens to thousands of people every day, is a slip and fall injury. These accidents can happen because of a wet floor in a home, business, or government building, a damaged staircase or handrail, or an icy sidewalk. But in most cases, the physics are almost identical. A person in a standing position loses traction on a slick surface, and they fall to the ground, resulting in injuries.

Just about anyone might experience a slip and fall injury in Edison, from children to the elderly and everyone in-between. When you suffer an injury in a slip and fall accident, the Edison slip and fall attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP can help.

“I had an amazing experience with Jacoby & Meyers, LLP. I would highly recommend them for anyone needing a law firm.” -Paul T.
★★★★★

Why Choose Us?

Edison Slip and Fall Attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP 

For nearly 50 years, Jacoby & Meyers, LLP has dedicated themselves to helping injured Edison residents put their lives back together again after devastating accidents. We know that you need someone on your side from the start to negotiate with insurance companies and fight aggressively for your future. We do just that. Our law firm offers compassionate, yet aggressive guidance throughout the legal process. We want you to have the time to focus on what really matters to you most: your family, your recovery, and your future. That is why we handle everything for you from the moment you walk in our doors. 

The Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, attorneys have collectively won millions of dollars in settlements and jury verdicts for their clients, including those in Edison, NJ, as well as throughout New York. Some of our most notable slip and fall accident cases include:

• $2 million in Bronx trip and fall accident
• $1.625 million in Manhattan fall at a construction site
• $650,000 in fall outside New York home
• $600,000 in Manhattan slip and fall accident

While past results do not guarantee future success in a case, when you choose us, you get an experienced and dedicated legal team ready to put your needs first. To do this, we offer a free initial consultation and review for all our prospective clients. We want you to have the opportunity to get your questions answered in a safe and supportive environment. And we don’t want you to have to drive into Manhattan to get help. 

Our law firm is proud to have an office directly in Edison, New Jersey at 1929 NJ-27. We are located on the corner of Andre Avenue just a few blocks from Papaianni Park. Our lawyers can meet with you at your home, in the hospital, or virtually for additional convenience. To learn more about your legal options after an Edison slip and fall accident, contact our Edison personal injury lawyers today for a free, confidential, no-obligation case evaluation. 

How Much Is My Edison Slip and Fall Case Worth?

Getting the Compensation You Need

After a slip and fall accident in Edison, you may have many questions running through your mind. How can I get enough money to pay for medical expenses? How will I recover? How much is my case worth? These are difficult questions to answer completely. The truth is that slip and fall accident claims can range drastically and can reach the millions. To determine the true value of your case, your attorney will need to meet with you to discuss your accident. The  severity of your injuries and damages will play a large role in the amount of money you can receive. 

The Edison, NJ slip and fall accident lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP will make sure that any award or settlement you receive is enough to cover the full extent of all your injuries and damages. This includes:

• Past medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Loss of future earnings
• Rehabilitation
• Future medical costs and surgeries
• Pain and suffering

If you want to know how much your slip and fall case is worth, call the Edison slip and fall accident attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP today for a free consultation. Our lawyers will discuss your case and examine all aspects of your slip and fall to determine if the property owner’s negligence is to blame. 

Slip and Fall Accidents in Edison

Where Do Slip and Fall Accidents Occur in Edison?

Typically, a slip and fall injury is the result of an acceleration/deceleration injury. It’s basic physics: If you are walking along and encounter a slick section of freshly waxed floor or a sidewalk covered by a thin layer of black ice, your body could fall hard. If you are riding a bicycle, your body has more time to build up impact speed—and thus impact force. Either way, your body is now traveling downward and is about to meet an immovable object—the ground—with a lot of force.

Your body consists of soft organs, a skeleton made of hard tissue, and other tissues and organs that are fairly soft compared to the ground. Inside your skull is the command center of your central nervous system, the brain, which itself is made mostly of fatty tissue, nerve cells, and blood vessels as well as spinal fluid that can only do so much as a shock absorber.

When you fall hard to the ground, your bones, tissues, and organs do their best to distribute the impact. But our bodies can only withstand so much. Substantial injuries can result from a slip and fall.

Every single year, slip and falls account for over 2.8 million emergency room visits. These result in more than 27,000 deaths and significant injuries to thousands more. Hazardous conditions are particularly common on commercial properties, such as hotels, subway platforms, universities, shopping centers and outlet malls, and restaurants. From the Sheraton Edison on Raritan Center Parkway to Rutgers University, these accidents can occur anywhere. 

The following are just a few examples of places a slip and fall accident may occur in Edison. The list is by no means exhaustive.

• Freshly mopped or waxed floors. The results of an establishment keeping its floors clean can be hazardous, especially if the freshly cleaned areas are improperly marked or too much cleaner was used, creating a nearly frictionless surface.
• Spills and food. Slipping on a banana peel is an old comedic trope, but what about slipping on the mess of a recently broken jar of pickles, cooking oil, or even something harder like dried beans or granulated sugar? Grocery stores are very common locations for these kinds of hazards.
• Wet pavements or walkways. Has recent rain, snow, or even sprinklers turned a sidewalk into a slick surface? Falls happen on wet concrete all the time, and property owners are legally required to take precautions to prevent falls. Whether it’s using de-icer or sand, or marking an area appropriately to warn about a slipping hazard, the property owner has an obligation to keep people safe.
• Swimming pools/hot tubs. Wet concrete and painted wood decking become very slippery when they get wet. The addition of sunscreen and other lotions and oils can contribute to this hazard.
• Locker rooms/bathrooms. Just about anywhere that water can pool and collect can form a potential hazard, especially tile floors. If an area has not been adequately abraded to give people traction, or spills are not cleaned up quickly, a wet floor can be deadly.
• The situations are limitless. From oil and water to harder substances, anytime a spill reduces the friction on a floor surface, the chances increase that someone will slip and fall. Areas where people walk need to be kept clean and dry, and if a spill happens, warning signs must be posted.

Common Injuries Caused by Slip and Fall Accidents

We Help Injured Edison Slip and Fall Accident Victims Like You

At Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, we understand slip and fall accidents and the injuries they cause. However, we also know that no two injuries are quite the same. When you meet with us, we will listen to your story closely to better understand how those injuries affect you personally. We want to know the worries and fears that keep you up at night and how your injuries have impacted your everyday life. 

Here are some examples of injuries you may suffer in a slip and fall accident.

• Lacerations. Cuts and scrapes are common because the ground is often very abrasive. Falling can result in road rash from skidding across a rough surface. Pieces of gravel, dirt, glass, and other debris may become embedded in the skin, causing further damage.
• Friction burns. Slipping and falling, especially on fiberglass or other composite material, can result in friction burns as well as subcutaneous infections which may continue to be an irritant for months or even years to come.
• Bruising. Soft tissue meeting a hard surface breaks blood vessels beneath the surface of the skin and results in bruising. In severe cases, bruises can become infected, resulting in blood infections, especially in the elderly or other people with immunocompromised conditions.
• Sprains. A hyperextended knee, wrist, or ankle results in what is commonly known as a sprain. In many cases, sprains are more painful than a broken bone and may include ripped tendons or ligaments, which can require surgery.
• Broken bones. Fractures in a slip and fall victim’s arms, legs, fingers, toes, or ribs can be common. In the elderly or others with brittle bones, especially, severe slip and fall accidents may result in a broken hip or other larger bone such as their femur or humerus. These injuries, as with many others, result in a lot of pain, as well as hospitalization, and the potential for death during recovery for some.
• Back/neck/spine injuries. These injuries can result in paralysis, nerve damage, and long periods of recovery and rehabilitation.
• Traumatic brain injuries. From basic concussions to intracranial bleeding, when a body in motion impacts a floor or surface at rest, the brain is especially vulnerable. A concussion is essentially a bruise on the brain, and more severe injuries such as subdural hematoma and intracranial bleeding are the result of blood vessels and arteries inside the skull and brain being sheared off due to force. These injuries may be permanently debilitating and may not even be obvious until later. Traumatic brain injuries can result in brain death, reduced cognition, and stroke.
• Herniated/ruptured disks. These extremely painful injuries must be remediated with surgery and expensive and extensive amounts of rehabilitation. Otherwise, pinched nerves, chronic pain, and bone against bone wear can result in long term disability.
• Re-injuring healing body parts. If you are already on crutches and healing from an injury, a slip and fall injury can set you back all the way to the beginning, if not increase the magnitude of the injury.
• Mental trauma. The psychological impact of a slip and fall injury is difficult to quantify. Post-traumatic stress, recovery, and rehabilitation may have a lasting effect on the victim of a slip and fall injury for years.

Surviving a slip and fall accident can be an extremely arduous and painful experience. Emergency room bills, hospital stays, and rehabilitation do not come cheap. Missing work due to recovery is common and should factor into the amount of compensation you seek.

The long-lasting effects of permanent physical disability may have changed your life forever. Gainful employment might prove difficult to keep if your cognitive skills have been affected, and pain management might make it difficult just to get through each day. The impact might even mean that you will be grieving the life you once knew as you try to start all over again. Slip and fall accidents can have both physical and emotional life-long impacts.

Filing an Edison Slip and Fall Accident Lawsuit

You may have heard the term “comparative negligence” a lot since your injury. This means that the amount of compensation you can recover after an injury accident is reduced if you are also to blame. 

New Jersey law differs slightly from that of other states, such as New York, in that courts determine the victim’s degree of fault to figure the amount of compensation they are owed. The reasons the victim may bear some fault for the accident can vary depending on the situation. The courts might take into account what kinds of shoes the victim was wearing, or whether they were distracted and not paying attention to their surroundings. Were they checking their texts on their phone instead of noticing the signs that indicated a freshly mopped floor? Were they running in that wet pool area?

This is why hiring an attorney is such a critical move in an Edison slip and fall case. Insurance companies will do everything they can to prove that you are at fault. A skilled slip and fall attorney who is seasoned in personal injury law in New Jersey can gauge the situation accurately to make sure that the amount you receive is as high as possible. Settlements can go back and forth as both sides review the evidence and the court date for the case approaches. You can bet that the opposing party and their insurance company’s attorneys will fight to keep that number as low as possible. You need a slip and fall attorney from Jacoby & Meyers, LLP to fight for your rights and get you the compensation you deserve.

However, after a slip and fall accident, you must act quickly. The statute of limitations—the time in which you are allowed to file a lawsuit—is two years for personal injury in New Jersey. The statute of limitations for the destruction of property is a little longer, at six years. This might seem like plenty of time to file a lawsuit, but it is in your best interest to get started with the process as soon as possible. Waiting may make evidence harder to come by.

Why You Need Jacoby & Meyers, LLP’s Edison Slip and Fall Lawyers

We Can Help

Because your final damage recovery is determined in part by your percentage of fault, you need an attorney who can work diligently to demonstrate to what degree the property owner was at fault.

At Jacoby & Meyers, LLP, our slip and fall attorneys can review the evidence and argue why and to what degree the property owner is liable for your injuries. We can show what made an area dangerous, and what efforts, if any, the property owner made to warn about a potential slip and fall hazard. Was the area cordoned off properly or not? Was the hazard obvious?

Opposing counsel will do their best to discredit your claim, such as arguing that you weren’t wearing the proper shoes, or were in a clearly hazardous area. Maybe they will argue that you were distracted, texting on your phone, or somewhere you weren’t supposed to be in the first place. As you can see, making a slip and fall claim is complex, not only in the courts, but also during pretrial negotiations. Most likely, a trained professional with experience at saving money for insurance companies will represent the other side.

An Edison slip and fall attorney at Jacoby & Meyers, LLP can give you the peace of mind that you are getting proper representation throughout the process, and allow you to focus on your recovery. If you were injured in a slip and fall accident in Edison, write to Jacoby & Meyers, LLP through our contact page, call us at (732) 287-6890, or start a chat with one of our live representatives to see what our team of attorneys can do for you in your personal injury case.

Edison Slip and Fall FAQs

Whether you’re visiting the Menlo Park laboratory (where Thomas Edison perfected the lightbulb), enjoying a meal at LouCas, or spending time as a social guest at a friend’s house in Edison, the owners or possessors of the stores, restaurants, public attractions, and private residences all have a legal responsibility to protect you from danger.

Slip and fall accidents are among the most common injuries to occur from landowner/possessor negligence. If you have suffered an Edison slip and fall, an experienced attorney from Jacoby & Meyers LLP can help you understand your legal options for obtaining compensation.

Our recent case results include:

• A $2,000,000 settlement for a trip and fall accident in which our client tripped over plywood underneath a pedestrian barricade. The plywood extended onto the sidewalk. She suffered injuries to her knee and elbow, as well as internal complications.
• A $1,105,000 settlement for a client who was viewing a home for sale with his realtor when an unsafe staircase collapsed beneath him, causing him to fall eight feet onto the hard ground below. The fall resulted in a broken heel, which required surgery and forced our client to retire early, as he could no longer do his job.

Read on for answers to some of the questions that our Edison clients ask us most often about seeking compensation after a slip and fall accident.

I slipped and fell at a private residence. Is compensation available in my case?

It is difficult to know if you are eligible to seek compensation for the expenses and quality-of-life impacts you incurred in your slip and fall accident without finding out more details about your case. However, as a general rule, property owners/ possessors must keep their properties free from hazards that would injure guests, whether the property is public, commercial, or residential. In cases involving private residences, plaintiffs usually file the slip and fall claim against the property owner/possessor’s homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy.

What is the process of obtaining compensation after a slip and fall case?

Private and commercial property owners/possessors and the governmental agencies responsible for maintaining public facilities must keep properties free of hazards that may endanger guests. This is known as premises liability. You can seek compensation for the expenses and impacts of your injury through an Edison slip and fall lawsuit that seeks to establish that the property owner/possessor in your case acted negligently and is therefore liable for the costs incurred. Your claim also details the expenses and the impacts that you have suffered in the accident.

Generally, your attorney will submit a demand package to the property owner/possessor’s insurance provider, which will include a description of the incident and the injuries incurred as well as a listing of the expenses and impacts for which you are seeking compensation. Upon receiving the demand package, the insurance provider can either pay the claim as submitted, reject the claim, or make a settlement offer. Often, initial settlement offers are purposefully low, which begins the negotiation process that your attorney will handle.

After some time has passed, if the negotiations fail to produce an acceptable settlement offer, you and your attorney may decide to file your Edison slip and fall lawsuit in court. Do note that the negotiations can continue all the way up to when the trial begins, or even after the trial begins, but before a jury renders a decision. While continuing to negotiate, your attorney will also begin the discovery process, which provides a look at the evidence and witnesses procured by the defense.

While the vast majority of Edison slip and fall cases resolve outside of the courtroom, our attorneys prepare for the case to go either way: If negotiations do not result in a settlement, we are ready to litigate your case.

How do I prove liability in a slip and fall case?

To prove that the property owner is liable for your injuries, you must show:

• A hazard existed on the property that the owner/possessor knew or had reason to know about.
• The property owner failed to promptly mitigate the hazard or to warn guests.
• The property hazard resulted in a slip and fall accident in which you suffered an injury and subsequent expenses and impacts.

I was trespassing when I suffered a slip and fall accident. Can I obtain compensation from the property owner?

Likely not, unless you can prove that the property owner knew that you were on the property and did not take any measures to prevent you from being there. Beyond that, the only duty of care that is owed to you as a trespasser by the property owner/possessor is to refrain from intentionally luring you onto the property to cause an injury.

What are the damages I can recover through an Edison slip and fall lawsuit?

Damages refer to compensation intended to make victims whole again. New Jersey allows individuals who have sustained injuries to use the claims process to recover economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages refer to compensation for the out-of-pocket expenses you have incurred because of your injury, such as:

• Medical expenses, including the cost of emergency treatment, diagnostic imaging scans, physician and surgical services, hospitalization, prescription medication, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and the provision of assistive devices, such as wheelchairs or crutches.
• Lost wages if you are too injured to work.
• Loss of future earning capacity if you can no longer earn as much as before your accident.
• The cost of household services that you cannot perform on your own because of the injury.

Non-economic damages refer to a payment made in compensation for the impacts that you have experienced on your quality of life.

Commonly claimed non-economic damages in slip and fall lawsuits include impacts such as:

• Physical pain and suffering.
• Emotional distress.
• Loss of the enjoyment of life.

What are common defenses to slip and fall claims?

The insurance companies that provide liability coverage for property owners do not like to pay for the injuries that result when those owners are negligent. In fact, at-fault parties will commonly attempt to shift the blame for the injuries to the victim or use other defensive strategies to avoid the consequences of the property owner’s negligence.

Some of the defenses commonly used for slip and fall claims include:

• The property owner/possessor did not have adequate time to discover and rectify the hazard.
• The hazard was “open and obvious” and a reasonable person would have avoided it.
• The claimant causes his or her own injury due to wearing the wrong shoes, walking while distracted, or other reasons.

I suffered slip and fall injuries from an accident at my workplace. Can I file an Edison slip and fall lawsuit against my employer?

According to the National Floor Safety Institute, slip and fall accidents, while not primary causes of workplace fatalities, are primary causes of lost days from work. Injuries from slip and fall accidents are the most common type of workers’ compensation claims and the leading cause of occupational injuries for workers aged 55 and older.

If a slip and fall accident injured you at work, you will likely seek compensation through a workers’ compensation claim rather than through a lawsuit. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault insurance policy that most employers in New Jersey are required to purchase for their employees. The policy provides numerous benefits, such as medical treatment and wage loss. In exchange for having these benefits available to you at the time of your injury, you waive the right to seek compensation through a lawsuit.

In limited circumstances, you may file a lawsuit for your workplace accident. One of those circumstances is if a hazard created by a third party (someone who is not your employer or your co-worker) caused your injury. An example would be if you slipped and fell because of a hazard that the property owner or a general contractor not affiliated with your employment created.

The other condition in which a workplace accident could give rise to a lawsuit involves your employer failing to provide workers’ compensation despite the legal requirements.

Do I have to pay income taxes on the compensation I receive from my Edison slip and fall case?

For the most part, the Internal Revenue Service does not consider the settlements and awards received from lawsuits cases as income, so it is not taxable.

However, a couple of situations exist of which you should be aware:

• If you receive punitive damages as part of your compensation, you will be taxed only on that portion of the award. Punitive damages are unrelated to the expenses or impacts of your injury. Instead, courts award them for particularly egregious conduct on the part of the defendant.
• If you claimed deductions for your injury-related medical expenses and later obtained a settlement or award that included compensation for medical expenses, you must return the deducted amount.

We can discuss with you the tax issues of any settlement or judgment that we help you to obtain.

I can’t afford an attorney. Can I just file my lawsuit on my own?

No. An attorney’s services are invaluable when filing a slip and fall claim, as attorneys are educated and trained in the formalities and requirements that one must meet when undergoing any legal process and a deep understanding of the types of impacts and expenses that result from slip and fall accidents.

Our attorneys can:

• Determine liability.
• Evaluate your case.
• File your paperwork within the statutory deadline and in the courthouse within the proper jurisdiction. In most cases, you must file your claim within two years of the date on which you became injured. However, if your claim is against a governmental agency for an injury that you incurred in a slip and fall accident on public property, a different process and time limit for filing may apply. Your attorney can provide details.
• Negotiate with the at-fault party’s insurance provider to obtain a fair settlement offer. If you receive an offer, your attorney will explore with you the pros and cons of accepting it.
• Collect and organize evidence and witness testimony that is needed to help prove your case.
• Litigate your case, if necessary, including delivering opening and closing arguments, presenting evidence, and examining witnesses.
• Collect your settlement or award.

The legal team at Jacoby & Meyers LLP understands that concerns over attorney fees prevent many individuals from seeking the legal help they need. We offer two more things to ensure that anyone who needs our guidance has access to it.

These services include:

• A free, no-obligation case evaluation. This is a conversation that you can have with one of our experienced slip and fall attorneys about your case to obtain answers to your legal questions and to explore the available options for seeking compensation.
• A contingent fee payment plan. This means that you owe nothing for your attorney’s services unless we obtain a positive outcome in your case. We begin working on your case as quickly as possible without an upfront investment from you.

Let the experienced slip and fall accident lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers LLP help you understand the process of obtaining compensation for the expenses and impacts of your injury. Contact us for your free case evaluation.

Edison Office

1929 NJ-27
Edison, NJ 08817
732-287-6890

Client Testimonials

Review: 5/5
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“I’m really grateful for the settlement my lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers helped me to obtain. I was badly hurt when another driver crashed into my card. The driver was carelessly. My team at Jacoby & Meyers didn’t let the reckless driver get away with it. I’m really glad I made the call to Jacoby & Meyers and would suggest anyone hurt in a car crash do the same.”
Review by: Jose V.

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