New Jersey Soft Tissue Injury Lawyer

man suffering from back pain after a car accident

As lawyers, we often hear from insurance company adjusters that “your client suffered only soft tissue injuries.” To that, we respond, “Are you aware that the heart, brain, liver, and other organs are soft tissue?” The reality is that soft tissue injuries are often far more serious injuries than broken bones. In fact, if you ask most orthopedic surgeons whether they would prefer to suffer a broken arm or neck, or back injury if they were in a car accident, they will almost always choose the fractured arm. The reality is that soft tissue injuries may not be visible, but their effects often are far worse than broken bones or lacerations. After suffering a soft tissue injury, the accident victim often suffers the indignity of some inexperienced lawyer, or an insurance company discounting and minimizing their injuries as mere “soft tissue injuries”. For that reason, soft tissue injuries are a contentious area of law when it comes to dealing with insurance companies. In fact, in New Jersey, automobile accident victims often are required to prove that their soft tissue injuries were caused by the accident and are permanent in nature. Experiencing pain alone is not enough to win a lawsuit when the injured person is subject to a “limitation of lawsuit threshold,” also known as “limited tort” or the “verbal threshold.” The severity of the injury and the type of insurance you have will determine your legal options. Fortunately, we have good news. If you’re reading this and looking for help after a soft tissue injury, you’ve come to the right place, because the experienced partners and associates of our New Jersey personal injury law firm are experts in the field of personal injury and suing defendants represented by insurance company lawyers.

People who suffer soft tissue injuries due to another party’s negligence deserve money for their recovery. A soft tissue injury attorney at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. can likely prove that you qualify for money damages and will fight for your results, even if that means going to court. Our firm has twelve certified trial attorneys who are ready to go to bat for you. We have a great record of winning cases against New Jersey Insurance companies such as GEICO, Allstate, New Jersey Manufacturers (NJM), Progressive, Plymouth Rock, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Travelers, Chubb, Farmers, Highpoint, Zurich, Selective, USAA, and many other insurance companies.

Why Choose Our New Jersey Soft Tissue Injury Attorneys?

With over 40 years of experience and more than $1 billion in combined verdicts and settlements in New Jersey and New York, we know how to prove the seriousness of soft tissue injuries to build a solid injury case. We do so by preparing most cases for trial, which usually causes insurance company defense attorneys to settle their cases out of court. We have helped over 35,000 people throughout New York and New Jersey get the money they need to move on from not only catastrophic accidents and injuries, but also soft tissue injuries. We’re proud to say that 95 percent of our cases will settle out of court and that over 98 percent of our clients receive money for their injuries and losses.

Here are just a few examples of people we have helped who sustained soft tissue injuries:

An 85-year-old pedestrian was hit by a car, sustaining a soft tissue injury to her left hand and right leg, among many other injuries. She required an above-the-knee leg amputation, and we recovered a $1.9 million settlement.
A 47-year-old man was minding his own business while getting gas when a car accident occurred near him, pushing his car into him, crushing his leg. He suffered several fractures and a soft tissue injury in his left leg, along with tendon lacerations and neurovascular damage. We helped him obtain a $1 million settlement.
A 65-year-old woman was riding a bus that was rear-ended by another bus in the Lincoln Tunnel. She was diagnosed with a soft tissue edema on her left knee, along with cognitive dysfunction from a mild traumatic brain injury, traumatic peri-lymphatic fistula syndrome, disc herniations, annular fissures, and other injuries. We helped her win a $1 million settlement.

Soft tissue injury cases are tough to prove, and you shouldn’t take your chances with a law firm that has never handled them before. We’re happy to meet with you in person or virtually via FaceTime or Zoom to discuss your case, and can assist you with on-site Spanish translation, as well as translation for many other languages if English is not your preferred language. The consultation is confidential and free, and if you hire us on a contingency fee basis, we get paid a percentage of the settlement, only if we win your case. Call us to learn about your rights and legal options. Contact our firm today to learn more.

What Are Soft Tissue Injuries?

Soft tissue is a catch-all term encompassing many types of bodily tissues, including:

Skin – The skin is the body’s largest organ. It acts as a protective barrier between your internal organs and the outside world.
Muscles – Your body has three types of muscles. Skeletal muscles are responsible for movements at the joints. Cardiac muscles make up your heart. Smooth muscles move food along your digestive system.
Tendons – The many elastic tendons in your body connect muscles to bones. One of the most well-known tendons is the Achilles tendon, which connects the calf muscle to the heel bone.
Ligaments – Ligaments connect bones to other bones. They are far less elastic than tendons, making them more susceptible to damage.

What is a soft tissue injury? A soft tissue injury is an injury that occurs when one of these tissues suffers a tear, rupture, contusion, or other type of harm. Symptoms vary depending on the specific type of injury, but soft tissue injuries are nearly always accompanied by significant and sometimes chronic pain.

Types of Soft Tissue Injuries

Some of the most common soft tissue injuries include the following:

Neck Injuries – These injuries include injuries to the spine, consisting of herniated discs, also referred to as ruptured discs, protrusions, slipped discs, and some types of bulging discs. The area of the spine suffering from herniated discs is called the Cervical Spine.
Back Injuries – People injured in slip and fall accidents and automobile collisions often suffer injuries to the upper and lower back that can also include herniated and bulging discs requiring epidural injections or surgery. Low back injuries commonly result from car accidents as the seat belt pins the hips to the seat, and the body is forced forward due to the momentum of the rear impact or side impact crash. Back pain often radiates down one or both legs.
Brain and Spinal Injuries – The human brain, beneath the skull and spine, is composed of soft tissue that is often bruised by a serious concussion that can cause temporary and permanent injury.
Internal Injuries – Injuries to the organs, such as a person’s liver or spleen.
Tears – Accident victims often suffer tears to the soft tissues in their knees, ankles, shoulders, and hip, such as a labral tear of the hip, or a torn meniscus within the knee compartment.
Muscle strains – Overstretched or torn muscles often happen in the calves, thighs, neck, back, and shoulders. Symptoms can involve pain, stiffness, bruising, swelling, and decreased function.
Ligament sprains – These injuries commonly happen in joints like the knees, wrists, and ankles. They cause pain, joint instability, bruising, and limited mobility.
Tendonitis – Swelling and damage in a tendon can occur from overuse or sudden injury. Tendonitis often happens in the shoulders, elbows, heels, and knees.
Bursitis – Bursitis is an inflammation in fluid-filled sacs called bursae, which prevent friction between tissues. It often affects the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees.
Skin abrasions – Abrasions include scrapes, scratches, burns, and friction injuries to the top layer of the skin. These can cause painful stinging and an increased infection risk.
Nerve damage – Overstretched or compressed nerves can cause numbness, tingling, weakness, radiating pain, and increased sensitivity in the affected body part.

Common Causes of Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft tissue lesions and injuries can arise from a variety of harmful incidents, such as:

Traumatic impacts – Car accidents, airbag injuries, sharp blows in contact sports, and workplace accidents can stretch muscles, tendons, and ligaments past their breaking points. Whiplash from traffic collisions is a common source of neck and back strains.
Slip, Trip, and Falls – Few people appreciate the magnitude of injuries one can suffer from a fall on a sidewalk, or from defective stairs, loose carpeting, broken sidewalks, and potholes. These injuries can result in herniated discs, fractures, including hip fractures, brain injuries, and even death from a fall down accident.
Lifting injuries – Improper lifting strains the muscles and tendons in the back, neck, and shoulders. This often causes painful sprains and tears. If someone is injured on the job, they often can win compensation by making a claim against their employer’s workers’ compensation insurance.
Direct blows – Falls, accident impacts, sports collisions, or workplace injuries can directly damage or tear the skin and other soft tissues.
Poor ergonomics – Repetitive movements, sustained awkward postures, and improper workstation ergonomics contribute significantly to cumulative injuries from repeated stress.
Overuse – Repeating the same motions over and over can deteriorate tissues and prevent adequate recovery time. Tendonitis and other nerve conditions often result from overuse.
Unusual twisting – Ankle sprains often happen from landing awkwardly and twisting joints beyond their normal range of motion, resulting in debilitating pain and loss of function.

If your injury occurred on the job at work, you could be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, even if your injuries resulted from wear and tear on your body through repetitive motion injuries, heart attacks caused by on-the-job stress, or if you were the cause of the injury. A soft tissue injury lawyer can evaluate the specifics of your situation and identify all possible sources of compensation for the harm you suffered.

Treatment for Soft Tissue Injuries

Soft tissue injury treatment focuses on relieving pain and restoring strength and mobility to the affected area. Common treatments for severe soft tissue injuries include:

RICE – This acronym refers to an initial treatment protocol for soft tissue injuries. Resting the injured area reduces the risk of further harm. Icing reduces inflammation and pain. Compression with bandages stabilizes the tissue and limits swelling. Elevation also reduces swelling by facilitating fluid drainage.
Immobilization – Splints, casts, slings, or braces are used to immobilize injuries and prevent further damage during the initial healing phase, especially for severe sprains and tears.
Medication – Over-the-counter medicines (e.g., Advil, Motrin) alleviate pain and swelling. Muscle relaxers ease spasms and stiffness. Topical treatments provide localized relief. Narcotics are sometimes necessary for the short-term management of severe pain.
Physical therapy – Stretching, strengthening exercises, manual therapy techniques, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, hot or cold treatments, and massage therapy can all rehabilitate injured tissues and restore range of motion.
Injections – Cortisone injections and other types of steroid injections deliver anti-inflammatory medication directly to the injury site. Platelet-rich plasma injections can stimulate localized healing.
Surgery – Severe tears of tendons, ligaments, or muscles sometimes require surgical repair. Surgeons can reattach or reconstruct damaged tissues if injuries fail to respond to nonsurgical treatment.

With proper treatment guided by medical professionals, many soft tissue injuries heal entirely within several weeks to months. However, some can cause lasting soft tissue damage or increased susceptibility to reinjury without appropriate medical attention.

Can I Get Money for Soft Tissue Injuries in New Jersey?

New Jersey tort law permits accident victims to pursue several types of money damages in soft tissue personal injury cases, including:

Medical Expenses

For many, medical care costs are one of the most significant sources of financial strain after a soft tissue injury. Medical treatments can cost thousands of dollars, even for seemingly simple injuries.

With a soft tissue injury claim, you can recoup money for:

Ambulance rides
ER visits.
Doctor’s appointments
Specialist visits
Pain Management
X-rays, MRIs, CTs, and other scans
Surgical procedures
Physical Therapy
Crutches, braces, and other assistive devices
Medications

Lost Income

Depending on the nature of your job and the severity of your injury, you could be temporarily unable to return to work after the accident. Even if you only have to miss work to attend medical appointments, the loss of work hours can significantly impact your finances. A successful claim can replace the income you have lost for injury-related reasons.

Lost Earning Capacity

Soft tissue injuries are sometimes so severe that they prevent you from ever returning to your previous job. If you work in a physically demanding job, a ligament tear might limit the range of motion necessary to perform your duties. If you have to take on less lucrative work due to your injuries, your injury claim can compensate you for this expected shortfall.

Pain and Suffering

You can also seek money for the injury’s subjective effects on your physical and mental health. An experienced New Jersey personal injury attorney can help you understand how much money you can expect to recover for not only your past and present pain, but for a lifetime of future pain and suffering resulting from a soft tissue injury.

What You Need to Know About Automobile Insurance Soft Tissue Injury Threshold

For car accidents, it’s important to note the type of auto insurance you have because the type of coverage you or a family member purchased can affect your soft tissue injury claim. New Jersey drivers have the option to purchase insurance policies with a “threshold” or “no threshold.” The threshold determines if you can sue for non-permanent soft tissue injuries. Sometimes the threshold option is referred to as a “limitation or lawsuit option” or a “verbal threshold.” The threshold option is more cost-effective, but it may limit your ability to file a lawsuit for your injuries. This does not apply if the soft tissue injuries you suffered were caused by an accident from a collision with a commercial vehicle such as a box truck, tractor-trailer, Taxi, UBER or LYFT, Amazon delivery van, or other commercial vehicles.

If you chose the no threshold option, you can sue for your temporary or non-permanent injuries in a lawsuit. However, if you choose the threshold option, there are other exceptions where the threshold does not apply. The exceptions to the Limitation on Lawsuit Threshold Limited Tort include cases involving:

Bodily injury resulting in death.
Dismemberment
Significant disfigurement or significant scarring
Displaced fractures
Loss of a fetus
Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement.

Your physician will need to use special language in order to break the threshold, allowing you to seek additional monetary damages for your injuries. For that reason, car accident injury lawyers may refer to your threshold as a “Verbal Threshold.” Our attorneys can explain more about how these laws apply to you, and more importantly, how to get around and break the threshold. If any single injury breaks the tort threshold, then the injured person is entitled to be paid for all of their permanent and non-permanent injuries.

Statute of Limitations to File a Soft Tissue Injury Lawsuit

New Jersey’s statute of limitations stipulates that you have two years from the accident date to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you fail to initiate legal action by that deadline, you could lose the right to pursue the results you deserve. However, if someone was injured as a minor, they have until their 20^th birthday to sue by filing a lawsuit against the defendant. A knowledgeable New Jersey lawyer can handle every aspect of your injury claim, including filing promptly to protect your right to recovery.

Talk to an Experienced Soft Tissue Injury Lawyer in New Jersey Today

If you have suffered soft tissue injuries in an accident, the experienced and compassionate attorneys at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. understand how difficult this time must be. We want to help you recover from your losses and hold the at-fault negligent party accountable for their wrongdoing. With us on your side, you can work toward justice and move on toward a brighter future. We only receive payment if we win a financial award, in your case, so you have nothing to lose by contacting us today for a free consultation with a soft tissue injury lawyer.

Why Pick Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. As Your Personal Injury Lawyer

Over $1 billion dollars of combined verdicts and settlements in New Jersey and New York
Over 45 years of experience in representing injured people in New York and New Jersey
In-house Workers’ Compensation Department for on-the-job Injuries
No up-front money and cases accepted on a contingent fee basis. No Fee if No Recovery
Over 70 Cases settled for over One Million Dollars
In-house Investigators and in-house medical illustrators
Two Partners were past presidents of the New Jersey Association for Justice
Most Partners recognized Thompson Reuters
On-staff medical doctor to assist with medical-legal matters
Convenient offices throughout New Jersey and Manhattan
Several Partners Teach other attorneys Personal Injury Law at statewide seminars
Client resources include The Consumer’s Guide to New Jersey Personal Injury Claims 2^nd edition (2024) by Partner’s Jeffrey Salomon and Garry R. Salomon
Thirteen Partners who are experts in personal Injury Law
All consultations are free, confidential, and can be in person, at home, hospital, or via Zoom, FaceTime, etc.
We speak over ten languages, including English, Spanish, Polish, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Albanian, Italian, Arabic, French, and Hebrew. We can also communicate in Chinese, Indian Language dialogs, and Vietnamese, with translation assistance.
We are available for consultations 24/7, seven days a week
Over 30,000 satisfied personal injury trials with over five-star Google reviews
Our lawyers are licensed to practice law in federal courts and NJ, PA, CT, GA DC State Courts
Twelve (12) Lawyers Certified by Supreme Court of New Jersey as Civil Trial Attorneys
Highly trained support staff of Paralegals, legal assistants, medical billing clerks, and case managers dedicated to delivering quality client service
Many case results have been recognized, published, or reported regarding Truck, bus, and car accidents, motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian accidents, and slip-trip-fall accidents, including construction site accidents
Partners have lectured at seminars regarding Wrongful Death Claims in New Jersey
State-of-the-art litigation support and technology to assist clients
We’ve sued all major liability and property insurance carriers
We are an education-based law firm. All client questions are important

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