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A SKILLED NEW JERSEY LAWYER ON YOUR SIDE

     Being injured on the job can be one of the most stressful and difficult times in life. Your routine, livelihood and body are broken. Your family, and family budget, are in jeopardy. In New Jersey, injured workers face a system where insurance companies deny legitimate claims, delay payment of income benefits, refuse to authorize necessary medical treatment and offer lowball settlements to those injured workers who do not have legal representation.

     At this point, you are probably confused and anxious. Rest assured, I shall take the time to personally review your case, using my skill as a New Jersey Attorney to apply NJ Law to your case for your protection and the best possible outcome. I take the time to get to know you, what you need and how I can help.

     I am proud that my law offices have been voted by the readers of the Courier Post newspaper as "One of The Best Law Offices in South Jersey" for the years 2011, 2009, 2007 and 2003.  This distinction follows our past "The Best Law Office in South Jersey" for the years 2010, 2008, 2006 and 2004.

HELPING INJURED WORKERS OBTAIN BENEFITS SINCE 1994

     Your mental and physical health, as well as your legal rights, need protection. You need a skilled New Jersey lawyer. I have the experience and dedication to provide you excellent service. I have been handling workers compensation cases since I established my firm in 1994. I have eighteen years of experience as a New Jersey lawyer. To find out how I can be of assistance in your case, contact my office for a free initial consultation with a member of my staff.

     I have heard the lawyer jokes. Please read my response below to one of the most famous misquoted lines from Shakespeare: "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." I think you will find the context in which Shakespeare used that line instructive to understand just what in fact he meant. Some of your confusion and anxiety may include which lawyer to trust your matter. The greatest professional satisfaction I receive is the compliment from a client expressing gratitude and appreciation for the long hours of work on their matter and the result I achieved for them. They do not tell lawyer jokes after my representation.

PROTECTING YOUR RIGHTS, FIGHTING THE INSURANCE COMPANY

     New Jersey Workers Compensation law is complex. There are numerous pitfalls for the unwary. The system can seem overwhelming. I am a straightforward and aggressive New Jersey lawyer who will navigate the system on your behalf. I handle all types of work injuries with a list of common work injuries listed on this page. Exceptional service with personal attention is the hallmark of my career as a New Jersey lawyer.

     I can promise you the following: representation from a diligent, dedicated New Jersey lawyer focused on thorough preparation, giving you personal attention and striving for the best possible outcome.

NO FEE UNLESS I GET RESULTS FOR YOU

     No recovery, no fee guarantee. There is no charge for me to review your potential claim. If I take your case, I do so on a contingency fee basis which means that you do not pay a fee unless I successfully resolve the claim in your favor.

     In choosing a New Jersey lawyer, remember the words of a famous poet of the Roman Empire named Manilus: "Finis Origine Pendet". The words translate into English as "The end depends on the beginning." Your choice of an attorney is the beginning. I invite you to begin by contacting me at (856) 596-8000.

     Thank you for visiting my site.

Work Injury Statute of the Week

International School Services, Inc. v. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, 408 N.J. Super. 198 (App. Div. 2009)

Holding: An order declaring that plaintiff was obligated to provide workers’ compensation coverage for its overseas employees is reversed and the matter is remanded for further discovery respecting the employees’ contacts with New Jersey and for reconsideration under Connolly.

International Schools Services (ISS) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. It employs 163 teachers in overseas schools under annual renewable contracts, which are often renewed for several years at a time. The overseas employees work entirely overseas and not in New Jersey. Of these employees, 108 were United States citizens, and 55 were foreign nationals. None of the United States citizens are New Jersey residents. In its contracts with foreign schools, plaintiff agrees to maintain all insurance required by law, including workers' compensation insurance for its overseas employees. Plaintiff passes the costs of such insurance onto the schools it serves. Beginning in 2003, Plaintiff was unable to find an insurance carrier in the voluntary market that would provide workers' compensation insurance for all of its overseas employees. Plaintiff filed a verified complaint in the Law Division seeking a declaratory judgment that its overseas employees were not covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act. The trial court found that the Act requires that a “New Jersey Company” provide workers' compensation insurance for all of its employees, wherever they work.

Under the Act, employers are required to provide for payment of obligations arising from workplace injuries through insurance coverage. The Act broadly defines an “employee” as one who performs services for an employer for financial consideration. In Connolly v. Port Auth. of New York and New Jersey, 317 N.J.Super. 315 (App.Div.1998), the court noted that the following factors traditionally trigger jurisdiction in the New Jersey compensation court: (1) the injury occurred in New Jersey; (2) New Jersey is the place of the employment contract or hiring; (3) the employee lives in New Jersey and there were at least some employment contacts in New Jersey; and (4) “where there exists neither location of the injury, location of the employment contract or hiring, or residency of the employee in New Jersey, jurisdiction may still arise where the ‘composite employment incidents present a[n] ... identification of the employment relationship with this State.’ ” The location of the employer, however, is never, by itself, sufficient to confer jurisdiction over out-of-state injuries. In reviewing the record, the found that the trial court did not consider the appropriate factors in making its determination as to whether the plaintiff was required to provide coverage under the Act to its overseas employees. The trial court should have taken the Connolly factors into account. The court held that the record did not allow it to make a generalization as to whether the Act applied to any of the plaintiff’s overseas employees, and thus the case was reversed and remanded for expansion of the record to clearly ascertain whether any of the plaintiff’s employees came within the Connolly analysis. If plaintiff could demonstrate that none of its overseas employees had sufficient contacts with New Jersey to support a workers' compensation claim, plaintiff was not obligated to maintain such coverage.