When a Debtor is Considering Bankruptcy and Maintains a Personal Injury Claim

When individuals file for bankruptcy, they are required to disclose all their assets and liabilities. However, some potential debtors are not aware that he or she is required to disclose potential lawsuits in which the debtor may obtain a monetary windfall. Specifically, if the debtor has a pending personal injury action, then the case must be disclosed. In fact, even if the personal injury complaint is not filed, but the debtor maintains a potential claim, then the asset must be disclosed on the bankruptcy petition. Failure to disclose your assets can constitute bankruptcy fraud.

Like many jurisdictions, New Jersey has enacted laws that prohibit the transfer of assets intended to avoid the reach of creditors. In New Jersey, this law is known as the New Jersey Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (“NJUFTA”). The purpose of the NJUFTA “is to prevent a debtor from placing his or her property beyond a creditor’s reach” and from “deliberately cheat[ing] a creditor by removing his property from the “jaws of execution.”

The most beneficial protection provided to individuals and corporate entities filing during bankruptcy proceedings is the “automatic stay”. The automatic stay is immediately invoked upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition and prevents any creditor from taking actions to collect a pre-petition debt. This article will explore whether any other individual or corporate entity also obligated to the same debt (also know as a “co-debtor”) is protected by the automatic stay, even if they did not seek bankruptcy relief.

While individual debtors are permitted to use power of attorneys during  bankruptcy proceedings, there are rare circumstances that obtaining a guardian ad litem for an incompetent individual may be beneficial to administering the bankruptcy estate. As such, this blog will analyze the law and rare request for a guardian ad litem for purposes of a bankruptcy proceeding.

           One of the most common personal injury actions relate to an individual losing their balance and subsequently suffering injuries from a fall. Generally, when a fall occurs you can’t help but ask yourself, did I trip on something? Did I slip on something? While the distinction between a trip and slip may seem nonsensical, the legal distinction is important for a successful personal injury action. This blog will explore the differences between a slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall case, and how to obtain a successful outcome

One of the more difficult issues that can evolve during a personal injury case is the assertion of liens by a healthcare insurance carrier and provider, Medicaid and Medicare, and workers’ compensation insurance carrier, or for past due child support obligations.  In short, liens are a property interest held by a third-party against the financial recovery awarded for personal injury settlement or final judgment obtained. In other words, a Plaintiff may be required to pay a portion of their settlement proceeds to a third-party for a related lien.

This can sometimes be a surprise to an injured party, because after years of litigation they believe the fight it over. However, counsel for the plaintiff may need to challenge and negotiate down a lien to ensure a larger net recovery for the injured client. This article will discuss some of the common liens that may affect the potential net recovery by a plaintiff in a personal injury case.

While the thrill of riding motorcycles is second-to-none, the risks associated with operating a motorcycle are evident. Those risks are generally unrelated to trained motorcyclist operating a bike in a safe manner, but instead are associated with the potential negligence of individuals driving automobiles on the same roadways. While wearing helmets, protective clothing, and safe riding techniques do reduce the risks, bikers are simply more prone to serious injuries. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that motorcyclists are 28 times more likely to die in a collision. From 2011 to 2015, there have been over 12,000 crashes in New Jersey involving motorcycles. In 2015, there were 2,300 motorcycle accidents in New Jersey, which resulted in 49 fatalities.The most common injuries sustained in motorcycle collisions are skull, spine, elbow, leg, wrist and arm fractures, tendon and ligament damage, brain injuries, internal organ damage, and soft tissue injuries such as herniated discs.

This blog will focus on motorcycle insurance, liability, and their relationship with New Jersey law.

A Power of Attorney is a unique legal document that permits a designated party for conducting certain transactions on behalf of an individual. Some of these transactions may relate to insurance, property, banking, participating in legal proceeding, and health. A Power of Attorney can be limited to specific transactions or may be general enough to allow the designated party to conduct any transaction that the individual could have conducted. Over the years, our firm has filed numerous bankruptcy petitions using a Power of Attorney and has successfully litigated this issue.

The loss of life is tragic for family members and on rare occasions loss of life may occur during a bankruptcy proceeding. If you are a successor-in-interest to a decedent’s estate that is in a bankruptcy proceeding, then you will need to be aware of what happens to debts when the debtor unfortunately passes away. While debts owed by the decedent may not automatically pass onto a successor-in-interest, it is important to be aware that creditors may seek assets from the decedent’s estate to sell and satisfy claims.

Suffering from a personal injury accident can be devastating not only to the individual injured, but also to the individual’s family members and friends. Our firm often receives inquiries from individuals concerning potential lawsuits against a public entity. Many people are surprised to learn that an individual can seek recovery from a government entity for injuries directly related to their tortuous actions. Unlike personal injury claims against private individuals and entities, the New Jersey Tort’s Claims Act sets forth guidelines in which a plaintiff may recover for the tortuous actions of public entities and public employees.