Legal Question in Personal Injury in New Jersey

It is very difficult to navigate the legal system without a lawyer. Also, lawyers and insurance companies on the other side may undervalue your case based on your decision go "pro se" and represent yourself. It's not impossible to do. There are online resources that can help you learn how to prepare a Complaint, file it, and serve it on the responsible parties.

Again, I wouldn't always trust this information. If you are seriously hurt, that isn't the time to try to learn how to practice law. It's a tricky practice and even experienced lawyers occasionally make mistakes doing it. The best advice is to find someone you trust and give her or him your case.

My questions to you is "why would you want to?" The New Jersey Judiciary site along with many other sites would give you guidelines on filing. (http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/). However, it is not the "suing" that you are interested in, it is presumably recovering fair compensation for you injuries. A claim for injuries results in a lawsuit when the sides cannot agree on an amicable resolution, not simply in order tyo make a claim. However, no web site will tell you what is fair compensation, how to go abut presenting the claim nor how to maximize your the presentation of the damages to get FULL FAIR compensation. This is true whether your settle pre-suit, file suit or have to go to trial.

As my colleague also said, this is not the time to learn to practice law. The old adage is that a "person who acts as their own lawyer has a fool for a client". This is even true for an attorney who represents himself. The defendant in your case will have professionals whose job it is to minimize your recovery. According to an Allstate Insurance study cite in their claims manual, on average claims with representation result 115% greater recovery than those without a lawyer. The manual strongly encourages the adjuster to take all steps possible to keep a claimant from seeking legal counsel.

As a PI attorney in NJ, we are allowed to charge no more than a 1/3 fee on the net recovery. While as an attorney we "get paid", it is typically to the client's advantage to seek representation for these very reasons as stated above. Attorney representation will maximize your recovery and since it is contingent, the attorney has every reason to help you try to achieve the best possible result.

Most attorneys who are experience in this area will do a free consultation and offer a contingent fee agreement where you do not pay unless there is a recovery. We offer this as well. I recommend you seek counsel, please feel free to call me at 800-34 -NJ LAW if you are interested.

I know that your question was "how to do it yourself", but a good lawyer will always tell someone what he should hear, not just what he wants to. Good luck.

If you represent yourself in a personal injury lawsuit you will have an idiot for an attorney.