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Knowledge, experience, and dedication have brought the lawyers of The Epstein Law Firm to the forefront of their profession. From personal injury to civil litigation, they have built a strong record of success in achieving justice for their clients.
Our practice is diverse and well-established. Recognizing that every case is unique, we always begin by listening to you.
The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. has been successfully representing clients throughout New Jersey since 1973
When a serious injury turns your life upside down in Passaic County, you need a law firm that knows every inch of the local landscape — from the I-80 corridor through Paterson to the winding roads of West Milford and the historic mill district around the Great Falls. The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. has been fighting for injured New Jerseyans since 1973, bringing a combined 120 years of legal experience to every case we take.
Our Passaic County personal injury lawyers handle everything from truck crashes on Route 46 to slip-and-fall injuries in Wayne’s shopping centers. We know the Passaic County courts, the local hospitals, and the tactics insurance companies use against injured families. Call (201) 231-7847 today for a free case evaluation — you pay nothing unless we win your case.
The Epstein Law Firm
Passaic County personal injury legal help
Our Passaic County personal injury lawyers can review your claim and explain the evidence, deadlines, and next steps that may apply.
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Not every personal injury firm understands Passaic County. We do. Our attorneys have practiced before the Passaic County Superior Court in Paterson for decades. We have investigated crashes on the Route 23 corridor, deposed witnesses from Clifton to Ringwood, and gone toe-to-toe with the insurance carriers that cover commercial trucks on I-80 and NJ Transit buses on the Main and Bergen County lines.
What sets us apart:
Passaic County blends dense urban corridors with rugged northwestern terrain, and its roadways carry some of the heaviest commuter and truck traffic in northern New Jersey. High-risk areas our clients know too well include:
Our attorneys represent Passaic County clients across the full spectrum of personal injury law:
From highway crashes to premises injuries, our attorneys know how to build Passaic County injury cases that win. Find out what your claim may be worth.
The steps you take in the hours after an injury can shape your entire case:
Strong cases are built on strong documentation. Insurance companies pay attention to proof, and so do juries. After an accident here, the following kinds of evidence can make a meaningful difference in the outcome of your claim.
One more point matters enormously: avoid gaps in treatment. If weeks pass between medical visits with no explanation, the insurance company will argue you must not have been seriously hurt. Follow your doctor’s plan, keep every appointment, and tell each provider about every symptom — even ones that seem minor.
New Jersey’s statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. Miss it, and your claim is barred. (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 (statute of limitations))
If a public entity is involved — a Passaic County road defect, an NJ Transit bus, a municipal sidewalk — you must file a Notice of Tort Claim within 90 days. Missing this deadline usually ends your case. (N.J.S.A. 59:8-8 (Tort Claims Act notice))
New Jersey’s modified comparative negligence rule means you can recover even if you were partly at fault — as long as you were not more than 50% responsible. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. (njcourts.gov)
Many injured people worry that something they did — braking late before a light on Route 46 in Clifton, crossing Broadway mid-block in Paterson, merging into fast traffic on Interstate 80 near Totowa — means they have no case at all. In New Jersey, that is usually not true.
New Jersey follows a rule called modified comparative negligence, found at N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1. In plain language: fault for an accident is divided as percentages among everyone involved, adding up to 100%. As long as your share of the fault is 50% or less, you can still recover compensation — but your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. If a jury values your case at $100,000 and finds you 20% at fault, you would receive $80,000.
The critical line is 51%. If you are found 51% or more at fault, you are barred from recovering anything at all. Because of that threshold, how fault gets divided is often the most fought-over issue in a case. Consider a common local scenario: a driver turns left across Route 46 without yielding while a pedestrian crosses mid-block outside the crosswalk. Both sides share blame, and the exact split — 70/30, 50/50, or something else — can determine whether the injured person recovers anything.
Expect the insurance adjuster to push hard to assign you as much fault as possible. Adjusters may ask whether you were looking at your phone, whether you braked late, or whether you saw a warning sign — every percentage point shifted onto you reduces what they pay, and reaching 51% eliminates their obligation entirely. That is why evidence matters so much: police reports, witness statements, and surveillance footage are what keep the fault allocation honest. Do not give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer before speaking with a lawyer.
An injury here can have more than one responsible party, and identifying all of them matters — each additional defendant is another potential source of compensation. Depending on what happened, liability may fall on:
Sorting out who is responsible often requires investigation beyond what is obvious at the scene, which is why early legal help makes a difference.
Our attorneys do not stop at getting you money for your bills. A fair and full financial recovery may include compensation for:
Claims against the government play by different — and much stricter — rules than claims against private parties. If your injury involved a public entity or public employee, the New Jersey Tort Claims Act controls your case, and its deadlines are unforgiving.
The most important rule: under N.J.S.A. 59:8-8, you must serve a written notice of claim on the public entity no later than 90 days after the injury. The notice must describe what happened, when and where, and the nature of your injuries and damages. Miss the 90-day deadline, and the statute says you “shall be forever barred from recovering” against the public entity or employee. Courts enforce this strictly — cases have been dismissed over missed notices no matter how serious the injury.
If the 90 days have already passed, all is not necessarily lost: N.J.S.A. 59:8-9 allows a motion for permission to file a late notice, but it must be made within one year of the injury, and you must show extraordinary circumstances for the delay plus that the public entity was not substantially prejudiced. After a timely notice, you generally must wait six months before filing suit, and the lawsuit itself must be filed within two years.
Public-entity claims come up here more often than people expect. Examples include:
Because more than one public entity can be involved — city, county, state agency, transit authority — notice must go to each potentially responsible entity. Identifying every entity and calendaring every deadline is one of the first things an attorney does, which is why contacting a lawyer quickly after this kind of accident is especially important.
Personal injury lawsuits arising in Passaic County are generally filed in the Passaic County Superior Court, 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson, NJ 07505. (NJ Courts — Passaic Vicinage) Knowing the local courts, filing procedures, and jury tendencies is a real advantage — and it is one our attorneys have.
After a serious injury, getting prompt treatment also creates the medical records your case will depend on. Major facilities serving Passaic County include St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson and Chilton Medical Center in Pompton Plains. Keep copies of every emergency room visit, follow-up appointment, prescription, and therapy session.
What happens in the first weeks after an accident often determines the strength of the case months later. When the firm takes on an injury case in this county, the investigation starts immediately — before skid marks fade on a highway shoulder, before surveillance video is overwritten, and before witnesses scatter.
The process typically includes returning to the scene to photograph and measure conditions exactly as they were: sight lines at the intersection, the state of the roadway, lighting, signage, and traffic patterns at the same time of day the crash occurred — whether that was a Route 46 merge in Clifton, a turn off Hamburg Turnpike in Wayne, or a pedestrian crossing in downtown Paterson. Witnesses identified in the police report — and others found by canvassing nearby businesses — are interviewed while memories are fresh. Where cameras may have captured the incident, the firm sends written preservation demands to store owners, building managers, and agencies such as NJ Transit so footage is not routinely deleted.
In serious cases, accident reconstruction experts are brought in to analyze vehicle damage, download electronic data, and model how the collision occurred. Medical evidence gets the same rigor: the firm works with treating physicians to document the full extent of injuries, obtains complete records and imaging, and where needed consults medical experts to explain causation and future care needs to an insurer or jury.
The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. has represented injured New Jersey clients since 1973, handling cases from its three offices in Rochelle Park, Englewood Cliffs, and Montclair. Every case starts with a free consultation — call (201) 231-7847 to discuss what happened and what the investigation of your claim would involve.
Passaic County is home to roughly half a million residents across 16 municipalities, with the county seat in Paterson. It is a county of contrasts: dense urban centers like Paterson, Passaic, and Clifton in the south give way to suburban towns like Wayne and Totowa and to the wooded, lake-dotted hills of West Milford and Ringwood in the north — headwaters country that supplies water to millions of New Jerseyans.
Paterson is the birthplace of America’s industrial revolution, anchored by the Great Falls of the Passaic and its National Historical Park, while the county’s corridors carry enormous commuter and truck volume: Interstate 80, the Garden State Parkway, and Routes 17, 21, 23, and 46, plus NJ Transit’s Main and Bergen County lines. Shopping hubs like Willowbrook Mall draw regional traffic, and Garret Mountain Reservation and Lambert Castle sit above the city. That mix — heavy highway traffic, dense pedestrian corridors in the cities, commercial and industrial activity, and recreation areas — shapes the injury landscape here, from multi-vehicle highway crashes to pedestrian collisions on Broadway and Market Street to workplace injuries at warehouses and construction sites.
Understanding where people in this county drive, walk, ride, work, and shop — where traffic bottlenecks, where buses stop, where the freight corridors run — is part of what allows an injury claim here to be investigated and presented effectively.
The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. has been successfully representing clients throughout Passaic County, NJ since 1973, including:
Our top-rated accident attorneys have an office located nearby Passaic County at 340 West Passaic Street, Rochelle Park, NJ 07662. Call (201) 231-7847 today for a free consultation.
New Jersey’s two-year deadline — and 90-day notice for public-entity claims — means time matters. Talk to a Passaic County injury lawyer today, free.
The Epstein Law Firm serves clients from three New Jersey locations:
Call (201) 231-7847 for a free consultation.
Below are answers to common questions about personal injury claims in Passaic County, New Jersey. This information is general and not legal advice — contact our office for guidance about your specific situation.
When you are injured on the job, the only legal claim you can normally pursue against your employer is a workers’ compensation claim. However, you may also be entitled to pursue a personal injury claim when a third party caused your work injury — for example, if you were hurt in a car accident during your employment by another negligent driver, or injured by defective equipment or machinery at the worksite.
Third-party work injury claims often involve complex questions about who is legally responsible and which insurance applies. Our attorneys investigate every potentially liable party so that nothing you are owed is left on the table.
Sources: NJ Courts — Civil Division overview; N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 — limitations of actions.
Most personal injury claims settle without a trial. At The Epstein Law Firm, P.A., we diligently pursue negotiated settlements that get you the financial recovery you need as efficiently as possible, because we know many clients are nervous about testifying or worried that litigation will delay their compensation.
But when litigation or trial represents the best option for pursuing maximum compensation on your behalf, we will tell you so — and we will be fully prepared to fight for your interests in the courtroom.
In New Jersey, the general rule is that you have two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you miss this deadline, the court will almost certainly dismiss your case and you will lose your right to compensation.
Some exceptions can extend or shorten the deadline, including claims involving minors and claims against public entities, which require a Notice of Tort Claim within 90 days. Speak with a Passaic County personal injury lawyer as early as possible so no deadline is missed.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2 — two-year personal injury limitations period; N.J.S.A. 59:8-8 — 90-day tort claim notice requirement; NJ Courts — Civil Division overview.
Every case is different. The value of a claim depends on the severity of your injuries, the cost of your medical treatment, how much work you missed, whether you face lasting disability, and the strength of the evidence proving fault.
Insurance companies routinely undervalue claims, especially before a lawyer is involved. Our attorneys document the full scope of your losses — including future care and diminished earning capacity — and negotiate from a position of trial-ready strength.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.2 — damages in personal injury actions; NJ Courts — Civil Division overview.
Yes, in many cases. New Jersey follows a modified comparative negligence rule: you can recover damages even if you were partly at fault, as long as your share of fault does not exceed 50%. Your compensation is then reduced in proportion to your percentage of fault.
Fault is often disputed, and insurers try to push more blame onto injured people to reduce payouts. We gather the evidence needed to keep the fault allocation fair.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1 — comparative negligence statute; NJ Courts — Model Civil Jury Charges.
New Jersey is a no-fault state for auto injuries, which means your own Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage generally pays your initial medical bills regardless of who caused the crash. PIP is mandatory on standard auto policies in New Jersey.
If your injuries are serious enough to step outside the no-fault system — or when another party’s negligence clearly caused the crash — you may pursue additional compensation from the at-fault driver’s insurance. We help you coordinate these benefits so bills do not fall through the cracks.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4 — personal injury protection benefits; NJ Department of Banking and Insurance — auto insurance guide.
Claims against public entities — including NJ Transit, Passaic County, and its municipalities — are governed by the New Jersey Tort Claims Act. The most critical rule: you must file a formal Notice of Tort Claim within 90 days of the incident.
This deadline is far shorter than most people expect, and missing it usually ends the case before it begins. If a bus, train, county road defect, or public sidewalk played a role in your injury, contact us immediately so the notice is filed correctly and on time.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 59:8-8 — Tort Claims Act notice requirement; NJ Transit — customer claims information.
Most Passaic County personal injury lawsuits are filed in the Passaic County Superior Court, located at 77 Hamilton Street in Paterson. This is where civil jury trials for county cases take place.
Our attorneys have litigated in this courthouse for decades and know its procedures, judges, and jury pools — local experience that directly benefits your case.
Sources: NJ Courts — vicinage court locations; NJ Courts — Rules Governing the Courts.
Nothing up front. We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no legal fees unless we recover compensation for you. Your free case evaluation is exactly that — free, with no obligation.
This arrangement lets injured people and their families get experienced legal help immediately, regardless of their financial situation.
Sources: N.J. Court Rule 1:21-7 — contingent fees in personal injury cases; NJ Courts — self-help center.
Bring anything related to your accident: police or incident reports, photos of the scene and your injuries, medical records and bills, auto insurance information, and any correspondence from insurance companies. If you missed work, bring pay records too.
Do not worry if you do not have everything — we can obtain missing records for you. The most important thing is to call early, before evidence fades and deadlines pass.
Sources: NJ Courts — self-help center; N.J. Court Rules — professional conduct.
“We want to express our deepest gratitude for the exceptional work you did to insure that our father’s unfortunate accident did not go unrecognized; my dear dad would have appreciated your professionalism, unstoppable work ethic and most of all your compassion every step of the way. Please know we have the highest regard and the utmost respect for you.”— Deb & Joe
“We want to express our deepest gratitude for the exceptional work you did to insure that our father’s unfortunate accident did not go unrecognized; my dear dad would have appreciated your professionalism, unstoppable work ethic and most of all your compassion every step of the way. Please know we have the highest regard and the utmost respect for you.”
“Thank you again for all of your help, support and advice. You’ve made a trying and difficult time much easier to deal with for my family and myself. You will never have any idea how much your efforts were, and will forever be appreciated.”— F. D.
“Thank you again for all of your help, support and advice. You’ve made a trying and difficult time much easier to deal with for my family and myself. You will never have any idea how much your efforts were, and will forever be appreciated.”
The Epstein Law Firm, P.A. has recovered significant verdicts and settlements for injured clients, including:
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court.
New Jersey law and court sources cited on this page:
When you are injured on the job, normally the only legal claim you may pursue against your employer is a workers’ compensation claim. However, you may be entitled to pursue a personal injury claim for your work injury in addition to a workers’ compensation claim when your work injury was caused by a third party; for example, if you were injured in a car accident in the course of your employment that was caused by another negligent driver, or if you were injured in the workplace by defective equipment or machinery.
We know that many clients may be reluctant to go to court in their personal injury claim, as they may be nervous about testifying in court or worried that litigation means it will only take longer to recover compensation for their injuries. At The Epstein Law Firm, P.A., we diligently pursue negotiated settlements that help you get the financial recovery you need as efficiently as possible. But when litigation or trial represents the best option for pursuing maximum compensation on your behalf, we advise you when this is the can, and we will be prepared to fight for your interests in the courtroom
We want to express our deepest gratitude for the exceptional work you did to insure that our father’s unfortunate accident did not go unrecognized; my dear dad would have appreciated your professionalism, unstoppable work ethic and most of all your compassion every step of the way. Please know we have the highest regard and the utmost respect for you.
Thank you again for all of your help, support and advice. You’ve made a trying and difficult time much easier to deal with for my family and myself. You will never have any idea how much your efforts were, and will forever be appreciated.
$31,000,000
$13,585,000
*Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances. *No aspect of the advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court. View Rating Methodology
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340 West Passaic Street Rochelle Park, NJ 07662
Fax: 201-845-5973 201-231-7847
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560 Sylvan Avenue, Suite 1000-A Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 (By Appointment Only)
201-734-3763
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18-20 Lackawanna Plaza, Suite 200 Montclair, NJ 07042 (By Appointment Only)
973-381-8410
The Epstein Law Firm
The Epstein Law Firm