Determining liability in a New Jersey personal injury case really involves an analysis of the circumstances under which it occurred. A lawsuit is comprised of two different parts. One, there has to be injuries; somebody has to have actually gotten hurt from somebody else’s misconduct. Then, the other part of it is the misconduct has to directly cause those very injuries.

So, for example, if somebody does something on the road that is reckless, like cuts you off, but ultimately there is no collision of the cars and everybody continues on without any kind of an incident or impact, then although the conduct may have been illegal and improper, and if there had been any injuries, that person would be liable for those injuries. Because they were driving recklessly, the fact that it happened doesn’t automatically entitle you to sue. There needs to be injuries that are directly related to the bad conduct.

It’s really important to be able to speak to a lawyer about what types of conduct causing specific types of injuries could a person or a corporation be held accountable for.