Newark Dog Bite Lawyer
We are a team of highly skilled personal injury attorneys. If you have a bodily injury legal issue in or around Newark, New Jersey, we can help. Call us today for a free consultation.
Newark Dog Bite Lawyer
Throughout New Jersey, dogs share spaces with their owners. They go to parks, walk through most neighborhoods, and even pass through Newark-Liberty International Airport. Though the majority of dogs behave well and pose no danger to others, incidents can occur.
All it takes is one aggressive dog to upend your life. If you’ve suffered injuries because of a dog bite, it’s crucial that you turn to a Newark dog bite lawyer. You could be entitled to compensation.
New Jersey has one of the highest dog bite rates in the country, with over 460 dog-bite claims filed yearly. At Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, we offer the representation you can depend on after suffering injuries from one of these incidents.
Common Types of Injuries From Dog Bites
Dog bites can cause all types of injuries, with the majority of them requiring medical care because of the risk of infection.
There are six main levels of severity in dog bites. Level-one bites are when a dog snaps at the air in front of you but doesn’t actually touch your skin. It’s a threat, and it can escalate.
Level-two bites involve the dog’s teeth meeting skin and leaving redness or bruising, though not actually breaking through. Even though injuries are minor, level-two bites can result in emotional trauma, especially in children.
Level-three bites occur when the dog’s teeth break through the skin, putting you at risk of infections. The bite tends to be shallower than the length of the dog’s fangs.
Level-four bites are when a dog bites down hard enough that the length of its canine enters the skin. Often, a dog will clamp down and shake its head, causing even more tissue damage. The dog will use all of its strength in these bites.
A level-five bite is an escalation of level-four. The dog will continue to bite in this aggressive fashion. Level-six bites are fatal.
Depending on the bite level, you can suffer a variety of injuries that could send you to the hospital.
ABRASIONS OR SCRATCHES
Abrasions refer to mostly shallow injuries like scrapes that don’t go past the top layer of skin. You may not experience a lot of bleeding, but there will still be a risk of scarring. Though abrasions can sometimes be treated at home, you should get the injury looked at by a medical professional.
LACERATIONS
Lacerations are deep tears or cuts in the skin. These typically go past the epidermis and affect muscles, tendons, nerves, and blood vessels. In some cases, they can impact bones.
Some lacerations can have zig-zagging patterns and cause extensive bleeding. Injuries of this type require turning to a medical professional for stitches. It’s important to note that deep lacerations can lead to permanent scarring and disfigurement. If the bite occurs in the face, the disfigurement could be life-altering.
PUNCTURE WOUNDS
Puncture wounds are deeper than lacerations and can occur from a bite or a dog’s claws. Because of their depth, you have to get immediate medical help to avoid the development of infections. Often, people don’t get help right away because puncture wounds bleed less than lacerations, but this is a mistake.
INFECTIONS
Dog bites can lead to infections because of the bacteria present in the animal’s mouth. It’s important to clean the wound immediately after it occurs and then get medical attention. Watch for signs of infection, which include swelling, redness, pain, and pus.
Infections can be life-threatening if you don’t receive prompt treatment. Infected wounds are also more likely to result in scarring, too.
AVULSIONS
Avulsions occur when the dog tears a piece of skin or other tissue from your body. Examples are if the dog rips a finger or ear off. These are serious issues that could require reconstructive surgery and lead to scarring and other problems.
CRUSHING INJURIES
All dogs have powerful jaws, but the larger the dog is, the more force they can put on your body, leading to crushed or fractured bones. At the same time, the skin and tissues around the bone often suffer severe damage.
NERVE DAMAGE
Many times, dog bites are deep enough to cause nerve damage. This may lead to a temporary or permanent loss of function in that area of your body. In extreme cases, a dog bite to the spine can lead to paralysis.
EYE INJURIES
If a dog attacks the face, eye injuries can occur and could lead to temporary or permanent loss of vision. Since these injuries often result in disability, an experienced lawyer offers the best chance of getting the right level of compensation.
EMOTIONAL TRAUMA
Being the victim of a dog attack is a harrowing experience that doesn’t just leave physical scars. Often, people who go through this experience develop anxiety and depression, especially if they’ve suffered severe injuries. It’s also common to develop a fear of dogs that could even progress into a phobia.
Going through any kind of traumatic experience can put you at risk of developing PTSD, which impacts your entire life.
FATALITIES
Unfortunately, deaths from dog bites can occur. Although rare, catastrophic injuries like organ damage or blood loss after repeated or serious bites could result in the person’s death. If a loved one dies because of a dog bite, turn to a dog bite lawyer without delay to file a wrongful death claim.
No Fee Unless
GGL Wins
Legal Rights of Dog Bite Victims
New Jersey follows strict liability laws when it comes to dog bites. This means a dog owner is liable for any bite or injury their dog causes as long as the victim was on public property or was legally on private property. It makes no difference if the dog has never bitten anyone before.
Under this law, as long as the victim suffered a bite, the owner has to pay damages for all injuries, including from the bite itself and any injuries because the dog jumped on them.
To be able to recover compensation, you have to prove the defendant owned the dog, the dog bit you, and you were in a public space or legally on private property when the bite occurred.
Remember that a bite doesn’t necessarily mean breaking the skin. You also have to show that you didn’t provoke the dog.
You’re considered to be lawfully on the property if you’re there in the performance of any duty required by state law or the laws of the United States Postal Service.
A trespasser would not have a claim if they were on the property with criminal intent.
It’s important to know that under New Jersey’s Comparative Negligence Act, the victim can also be held partly at fault. If you weren’t looking where you were going, for example, and hit or stepped on the dog, you could be partly liable.
This means your percentage of fault would be subtracted from your compensation. Children who are seven and under are presumed not to have been negligent.
Owners can also be liable for non-bite injuries, like if their dog knocks someone over or chases after a motorcycle and causes an accident. Strict liability doesn’t apply, however, meaning you have to prove negligence.
Steps To Take After a Dog Bite Incident
When bitten by a dog, it’s essential that you stay as calm as possible and apply pressure to the wound. If the dog is loose, don’t attempt to catch it; instead, try to get yourself to safety.
If the owner is present, you need to get their information if you’re well enough to do so, just as you would after a car accident. Don’t admit to fault or speak about the accident at all.
Take photos to document all evidence. This includes your wounds, the dog, and where the accident occurred. If there’s blood on the floor or any other surface, document that, too. Reach out to witnesses and get their statements or contact information as well. If you’re too injured to gather evidence and information, have a loved one do so for you.
Seek immediate medical care. It’s common for people to brush off scrapes and mild bites, but that’s never a good idea. Puncture wounds are prone to infection, so go to the emergency room or your urgent care provider if you’ve suffered one.
If you’re not able to see a doctor for a few hours, wash the wound in clean running water for about five minutes and then apply a sterile bandage. People who suffer wounds that are heavily bleeding or are in sensitive areas, like the face, neck, or hands, should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
During the doctor’s visit, they will document the injury and prescribe antibiotics. If you’ve not had a tetanus shot in a few years, you could also get a booster.
No matter how small you think the wound is, you need to visit a medical professional within eight hours of the bite to avoid getting an infection. This is particularly important if you have compromised immunity or conditions like diabetes.
The next thing you need to do is turn to a personal injury lawyer for help. It may seem simple to file a personal injury claim after a dog bite, but that’s not always the case. The other party could claim that you were partly to blame, which means you’d not be entitled to all the compensation you deserve.
Who Pays for Dog Bites in Newark?
A dog is considered part of the owner’s property in New Jersey, so in most cases, the person’s homeowners or renters insurance will be the ones to pay. Insurance companies will generally only pay for the first time a dog bites. After that, the owners have to pay.
Some homeowners insurance companies will reduce the coverage amount for accidents that occur outside the property, while others exclude attacks that occur in a vehicle. These factors could complicate cases, so you should have a lawyer helping you from the start.
In some instances, a landowner could also be responsible for a renter’s dog. If they knew the dog was aggressive and allowed the animal to stay on the property, you could recover from them as well.
Compensation for Dog Bite Victims
As with other types of personal injuries, you can get compensation for economic and non-economic damages if you’ve been bitten by a dog.
AVAILABLE ECONOMIC DAMAGES AFTER A DOG BITE IN NEWARK
You have a right to economic damages, which are those you can put a number on. Medical expenses fit into this category and can include emergency care, surgeries, hospital stays, and much more. If you need to get physical therapy, it can cover this as well.
In instances when the injury is severe enough to require plastic surgery, this, too, can be considered and included.
In the event of an injury that results in long-term disability, it’s possible to get help paying for ongoing care and future medical expenses. These kinds of claims tend to be very complicated, however, so you need to turn to a lawyer for help to get the compensation you need to cover long-term expenses.
Lost wages are another type of economic damage you can claim. If you suffer an accident that requires you to take time off from work, you’ll be missing out on the wages you would otherwise have made.
Many times, people assume that because they were able to get time off or use vacation days, they can’t ask for lost wages, but that’s not the case. Lost wages help you establish financial stability as you recover and deal with the aftermath of the accident.
In cases when the injury is so severe, it can limit your earning capacity, whether by not allowing you to return to your previous job or any job at all; you can also ask to have future lost wages compensated.
AVAILABLE NON-ECONOMIC DAMAGES AFTER A DOG BITE IN NEWARK
Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify because they relate to things that are subjective.
Pain and suffering is a non-economic damage relating to the physical and emotional distress you’ve undergone because of the accident.
How do you put a number on the pain you’ve suffered or the emotional issues the accident caused? Lawyers and insurers rely on two main methods to help you get fair compensation.
One is the multiplier approach. This option multiplies the economic damages you’ve experienced by a variable, usually ranging from 1.5 to 5. The more serious the injury and its effects on your life, the higher the multiplier will be.
The other method is per diem. It assigns a daily rate to your pain and suffering. The per diem corresponds with the extent of the injuries and the kind of impact they have on your life.
The per-diem method multiplies that daily number by the time it takes you to recover from the injury. For example, if the per-diem is $100 and you spent 10 days recovering from the injuries, you could receive $1,000 for pain and suffering.
Another type of non-economic damage is loss of enjoyment of life. If the injuries leave you with disabilities or disfigurement, this can severely impact your happiness.
As with pain and suffering, the amount you could receive depends on the severity of the injuries, as well as your age. For example, a person in their 20s who suffered facial disfigurement is more likely to get higher compensation than someone in their 70s with the same injury simply because they must live with it longer.
Punitive Damages After a Dog Bite in Newark
Punitive damages are not a form of compensation; instead, they are a way of punishing those responsible. They only apply to those who are guilty of gross negligence or particularly egregious misconduct. One example of this is if the dog’s owner trained the animal to attack viciously.
In New Jersey, punitive damages can’t exceed $350,000 or five times the compensatory damages, whichever is greater.
Keep in mind that punitive damages are rarely awarded. If you think you could be entitled to it, it’s crucial that you turn to a dog bite lawyer for help.
Do I Really Need a Dog Bite Lawyer in Newark?
Searching for and hiring a lawyer can seem like a hassle. After all, the process of filing a claim is simple, right? There are some crucial reasons why you never want to file a dog bite claim on your own.
AVOID GETTING BLAMED
Filing any kind of personal injury claim on your own, even the ones that follow strict liability laws can be tricky. You could have to deal with owners who try to downplay the attack or deny it altogether. Some may claim that you’re partly to blame.
This can impact the success of the claim and could stop you from getting the right amount of compensation.
What’s the best course of action? Get a lawyer to help you if you think you may have some fault in the accident.
The dog owner will try to pin as much of the blame on you as possible. When you hire a lawyer, they’ll gather all of the necessary evidence that shows you didn’t provoke the dog or do anything else that could make you partly liable. A lawyer can reach out to witnesses for you and get their statements.
You may have a lot of medical evidence you can present, but it could be difficult to know how to put together the evidence in the way that best explains what happened. An experienced lawyer will know how to gather what’s necessary.
DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO FILE
There are also statutes of limitations you have to worry about when filing a dog bite claim. Although people assume they’ll have two years in which to file, that’s not always the case. If the dog owner was a government official, for example, the timeline could be much shorter.
When dealing with injuries, you may not notice that time is passing, which can put you at risk of missing crucial deadlines. Turning to a personal injury lawyer with experience in these kinds of claims means you don’t have to worry about missing your chance to get fair compensation.
NEGOTIATE WITH INSURANCE COMPANIES
A lawyer will know how to deal with insurance companies. Homeowners’ or renters’ insurance likely provides coverage, but insurance companies are notorious for trying to avoid paying victims. They may try different tactics to get you to give up your claim.
Some may offer low settlements and threaten not to pay at all if you don’t accept. People who don’t have experience dealing with insurance companies can be unsure of what their rights are and how to defend themselves. By having a lawyer helping you, you don’t have to worry about negotiating on your own.
GET FAIR COMPENSATION
A lawyer with experience in dog bite claims in New Jersey will know what kind of compensation you could be entitled to. They can help you with non-economic damages like pain and suffering, which are subjective.
If you try to file the claim on your own, you could end up getting less than what you’re entitled to. This is because insurance companies won’t tell you everything you could claim. When you have a lawyer by your side, they’ll watch out for your rights to get the maximum compensation possible.
TAKE YOUR CASE TO COURT
If the insurance companies are not offering a fair settlement or are disputing your degree of fault in the accident, it’s possible to file a lawsuit and take the case to court. You’ll always want to have a lawyer to do this for you.
Who Do I Hire? Choosing a Qualified Dog Bite Lawyer
One of the most important decisions you can make when filing a dog bite claim is getting the right lawyer for the job.
You must find a lawyer with experience in these kinds of claims. Even if the attorney has worked in personal injury law, they may not have the necessary experience to handle dog bites. Look for someone who has represented and won these claims.
You want to feel comfortable with the lawyer you choose. Filing a claim can be a long process, and it’s essential to have someone by your side who will be compassionate while providing legal representation. You need to be able to comfortably communicate with the person.
A personal injury lawyer has to offer their services on a contingency basis. This means they don’t get paid unless you do. Added fees are the last thing you want to worry about if you’re dealing with medical bills and other expenses.
You don’t want to turn to a lawyer who will promise a win. Even if the claim is strong, a reputable lawyer will always tell you there aren’t guarantees.
Your lawyer must also be available. If you can’t get them on the phone when you have questions or if scheduling a consultation with them means waiting weeks, they’re not the right choice. When dealing with claims that have statutes of limitations, like dog bites, you have to act quickly.
How Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq Can Help
A dog bite can be a distressing experience that often leaves people with injuries and emotional trauma. Often, people are afraid of filing a claim, especially if they know the dog’s owner, but this means they’re left paying for medical expenses and lost wages out of pocket.
At Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, we recommend considering filing for damages. Because of New Jersey’s strict liability laws, you can likely get compensation to cover the suffering you’ve experienced.
Our team has decades of experience helping people through dog bite claims. We’ll carefully assess your claim to see what the best options are and offer a fair representation of what you can expect in terms of compensation.
As one of the only bilingual firms in New Jersey that provides these kinds of services, we offer help to both Spanish- and English-speaking communities.
We treat each of our clients like family. That means you can expect compassion and respect from the moment you step through our doors.
One of the things that makes us stand out from other firms in the state is our dedication to communicating with our clients. You’ll never have to struggle to get in contact with us. We get how tough it can be to wait for information on your claim, so we’ll always keep you updated.
We’re tenacious litigators. This means we’ll never under-settle your claim. If negotiations have stalled or insurance companies aren’t playing fair, we’ll file a lawsuit and take your case to court.
Whether you’ve suffered a relatively mild injury or a severe one that has the potential to affect the rest of your life, turn to experienced Newark dog bite lawyers like us at Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq. Schedule a consultation with us online or by calling 1-800-923-3456.
No Fee Unless
GGL Wins
We've got you covered.
We are available 24/7/365
OFFICIAL PARTNER OF RUTGERS ATHLETICS
Newark Dog Bite Lawyer
Address: 20 Green Street Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: (973) 922-0903
Open 24/7 365
Office:
8:30-6:00 Monday
8:30-6:00 Tuesday
8:30-6:00 Wednesday
8:30-6:00 Thursday
8:30-6:00 Friday
Recent GGL Wins
Medical Malpractice
A 30-year-old pregnant woman went into labor. The doctor failed to take proper steps in the baby’s delivery, making the mother wait in the hallway for ten hours while the baby’s heart rate began to drop. The baby was delivered via C-Section; he was blue from lack of oxygen resulting in Cerebral Palsy.
$14 Million
Verdict
Construction Accident
Mediation award resulting from an industrial explosion causing disfiguring burns and severe orthopedic injuries.
$7,8 Million
Verdict
Auto Accident
31-year-old man who was cut off by another car causing his car to flip over. He sustained head injuries, facial injuries, and half of his pinky finger was amputated.
$3 Million
Verdict
No Fee Unless
GGL Wins
Request A Free Consultation
We've got
You covered
We are available 24/7/365