How We Handle Your Auto Accident Claim

When a car accident turns your life upside-down with no warning, you might feel like you’re in this all alone—but you’re not, and you don’t have to face the aftermath alone, either.

Console & Associates P.C., have handled thousands of car accident claims over decades of legal practice. We can help you recover the compensation you deserve to afford medical care, make up for lost wages, and otherwise reclaim your life.

We have recovered $100 million in compensation for our clients

Our car accident attorneys represent injured victims throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

If you’ve been injured in a car accident call (866) 778-5500 today to for a free, no obligation consultation with an experienced legal professional at Console & Associates P.C.

New Jersey Car Accident Attorneys

Console and Associates, P.C. (Marlton Office)

1 Holtec Drive, #100
Marlton, NJ 08053
(856) 778-5500
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Console and Associates, P.C. (Newark Office)

494 Broad St #208b
Newark, NJ 07102
(862) 229-1137
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Pennsylvania Car Accident Attorneys

Console and Associates, P.C. (Philadelphia Office)

100 S Broad St #1523 Suite B, Philadelphia, PA 19110
(215) 225-2040
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When it comes to getting the most money possible for a car accident claim, experience with the legal process counts. Our car accident attorneys handle claims like yours every single day, so we’ve negotiated with numerous auto insurance companies and helped clients with a variety of different injuries. If you’re looking for an auto accident attorney you can count on to fight for you—without having to pay upfront for legal representation—look no further than Console & Associates P.C.

All it takes is a phone call to get our skilled car accident attorneys involved in your claim at no upfront cost. Contact us today for a free consultation at (866) 778-5500.

What Types of Car Accident Cases Are Handled by Console & Associates P.C.?

The car accident lawyers at Console & Associates handle claims involving all types of motor vehicle collisions that result from negligence, including:

• Uber & Lyft accidents
• Taxi accidents
• Passenger accidents
• Bicycle accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Bus accidents
• Van accidents
• Truck accidents
• Hit and run accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Drunk driving accidents
• Distracted driving accidents
• Auto defect-related accidents, including tire failures and airbag malfunctions

Whether a driver’s negligence or another type of breach of duty of care is to blame for your injuries, we have the experience to investigate the collision and pursue the compensation you deserve.

Rollover accidents, rear-end crashes, T-bone collisions, head-on wrecks, sideswipe accidents—our auto accident lawyers have handled them all over our decades of practicing personal injury law. Car accident cases can be complex, involving numerous liable parties and complicated chains of events, or they can be relatively straightforward. Whatever the situation, a free consultation with the car accident attorneys at Console & Associates P.C. can help you understand your legal rights and options for pursuing compensation.

Every year, 4.5 million Americans are injured in auto accidents, according to the National Safety Council. Many injured victims will never receive the compensation they deserve for what they’ve lost.

Why Do You Need a Car Accident Attorney?

An auto accident lawyer represents accident victims in court—and so much more. You need a car accident attorney to conduct a thorough crash investigation, build a legal strategy tailored to the unique facts of your claim, and calculate the full extent of your damages.

Whether through a trial or an out-of-court settlement, an attorney has the best chance to get maximum compensation for a claimant. Accident victims with professional legal representation get 3.5 times more money, on average, according to a 2014 study by the Insurance Research Council. Some of the reasons attorneys can get clients more money is because they have the skills to identify all parties that bear legal liability for a collision and to make sure that a settlement covers all kinds of legally recognizable damages a victim sustains.

When Should You Hire an Attorney After a Car Accident?

You should hire an auto accident attorney for any claim that meets the following criteria:

• You were not at fault (or less at fault than other parties involved) for the crash, and
• You suffered injuries serious enough to affect your life.

Fault for an Auto Accident Can Be Complicated (But an Attorney Can Simplify It)

Car accident causes are often multifaceted, and the injured person sometimes shares some real or alleged fault for the crash. An experienced car accident attorney can use evidence to prove that the defendant’s negligence was the primary cause of the collision and work to minimize any liability on your part.

Given that sharing liability for a crash tends to reduce the average car accident settlement, if it doesn’t prevent the victim from getting compensated at all, minimizing liability is important.

What Are the Common Causes of Car Accidents?

Every auto collision is unique, but crashes often stem from a set of common causes. The most frequent causes of accidents include:

• Violations of traffic safety laws, which include speeding, tailgating, failure to use turn signals or obey traffic regulating signs and signals, and failure to stay in the lane
• Careless or reckless driving that endangers others on the road
• Drunk driving, whether or not the person was over the legal BAC limit
• Driving under the influence of any drug—illegal, prescription, or over-the-counter—that impairs driving capability
• Distracted driving, which may encompass texting, mobile phone usage, grooming, eating, and other distractions that take the driver’s attention away from the road
• Drowsy driving, which can be as dangerous as drunk driving when it slows down a motorist’s reflexes or causes them to fall asleep at the wheel
• Driver fatigue, which can set in on a long drive and lead to highway hypnosis and lapses in attention
• Teen driving and inexperienced driving, which can contribute to trouble recognizing dangerous situations on the road and making poor decisions in driving situations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Road construction that creates traffic congestion, unexpected shifts in traffic patterns, and other unfamiliar conditions that contribute to a crash
• Inclement weather that can make road conditions more dangerous by decreasing visibility and making roads wet, slippery, or icy
• Poorly maintained roadways, such as those with large potholes that are difficult to safely avoid
• Obstacles on the roadway
• Defective vehicles or parts that cause or contribute to a collision when they malfunction

Most car accidents result from some form of negligence. While lawsuits usually focus on a driver’s negligence, some claims revolve around a manufacturer’s negligence or even a government agency’s negligence. A car accident attorney can investigate the crash and determine not only the precise event or behavior that caused the collision but also the negligence that led to this event or behavior.

What Are the Types of Car Accident Injuries?

The injuries that arise from a motor vehicle collision depend on many factors, from the force and angle of impact to the victim’s size, position in the vehicle, and susceptibility to certain types of damage. Some car accident injuries are mild, but others are catastrophic and life-threatening. Many of the injuries that fall along this spectrum have some sort of significant impact on the victim’s life.

Some common types of car accident injuries include:

• Cuts and lacerations, which may require stitches, staples, or surgical glue to close
• Bruises
• Broken and fractured bones
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and other open or closed head injuries
• Neck and back injuries, which in severe cases may require surgery
• Spinal cord injuries, which may lead to partial or complete paralysis
• Soft tissue injuries, including whiplash, nerve damage, and herniated discs
• Limb loss, whether due to the severing of a limb in the accident or to injuries that necessitated surgical amputation
• Pregnancy loss

The car accident lawyers at Console & Associates P.C. have assisted clients with these and other types of car accident injuries. An experienced auto accident attorney understands the full extent of how a car wreck affects your life. This makes our law firm well-suited for securing our clients the settlements they deserve.

You’re already going through so much, but you don’t have to do it alone.

We can help.

Who Is Liable for My Car Accident Injuries?

Some of the parties that can be found to hold car accident legal liability may include:

• A motorist
• A commercial vehicle driver
• Trucking companies
• Bus companies
• Taxi and rideshare companies
• Employers of motorists who cause crashes while in the course of their employment
• Bars that over-serve alcohol to motorists who cause a drunk driving crash
• Vehicle owners
• Vehicle renting or leasing companies
• Car dealerships
• Auto repair shops and mechanics
• Automobile and auto parts manufacturers and sellers
• Road construction site managers and planners
• Government agencies responsible for road maintenance and design

Although they aren’t accused of negligence, insurance companies for defendants like those described above hold car accident responsibility in a financial sense. Most car accident settlements are paid by auto insurance companies. This fact is particularly good news for auto accident victims, like passengers, who may have to sue a friend to get compensation for their car accident injuries and losses.

What to Do After Getting Into a Car Accident?

Do you know what steps you need to take after an auto accident to protect yourself? Many drivers don’t, and instead, they wind up making some of the biggest car accident mistakes. If you’ve recently been in a crash, take the following steps before it’s too late.

1. 1. Call the police.R eporting an auto accident isn’t just a smart move; in many states, it’s the law. Bringing the authorities to the scene is crucial for documenting the crash with an official car accident report.
   2. Get medical help. When injuries require urgent stabilizing treatment, car accident victims often go straight to the emergency room. Even if your injuries don’t seem alarmingly severe, you shouldn’t wait to get them checked out by a doctor. The sooner you get examined, the sooner you can document your injuries for the purposes of attaining a car accident settlement and begin getting the care you need to get better.
   3. Make detailed notes and take pictures (if possible). While you wait for help to arrive, use your time to preserve as much evidence pertaining to the car accident as you can. Take pictures and videos, diagram the basic positions of vehicles, note down the location of the crash, and record the contact information and statements of any eyewitnesses. Of course, only do what you can, and avoid putting yourself in harm’s way or making any moves that make your injuries feel worse.
   4. Don’t give a police statement without a lawyer. It’s generally not a good idea to admit fault for the accident, especially early on, when an attorney hasn’t fully investigated the causes of the crash. Cooperate with the officer and answer their questions politely, but don’t volunteer additional information. (You should also follow this guideline when speaking to insurance companies involved in the collision, at least until you have an attorney to represent you.)
   5. Take down the other driver’s information. Police presence on the scene gives you an opportunity to record the other driver’s information without having to worry about hostile behavior on their part. Get their name and insurance information as well as the license plate of their vehicle.
   6. Speak to a car accident lawyer. A free consultation with an auto accident attorney can help you understand the legal process and get a feel for whether you can and should pursue a claim. No-win, no-fee legal representation gives all accident victims the opportunity to pursue the compensation they deserve without worrying about the cost of the claim. During your initial free consultation, you can get answers to your questions about the legal process and provide the information an attorney needs to evaluate your claim.
   7. Notify your insurance company. If you are covered by an auto insurance policy, you are legally required in many states to promptly notify your insurer of the collision. Even if you weren’t actually driving at the time of the crash, your auto insurance company might have some obligation to pay for the crash, especially if you live in a no-fault state. When you talk to an insurance company adjuster, be aware that even your own insurance company isn’t on your side and is primarily looking out for its own interests. The insurer’s goal is to pay out as little on your claim as possible.

Importance of Police Accident Reports

What’s most important about a police car accident report is that it serves as an authoritative source that documents the collision. You will need this documentation if you pursue a car accident settlement. Once the official police report is available, it’s important to get a copy of that report, which your auto accident attorney will review and draw from in the course of pursuing your claim.

How to Prove Liability in Car Accident Cases

To establish legal liability on the part of a defendant, you must prove the following elements:

1. 1. Existence of a duty of care: In car accidents, the duty of care is usually to follow traffic safety laws and take reasonable precautions to avoid endangering others on the roadway.
   2. Breach of duty of care: Many different actions or omissions can constitute a breach of the defendants’ duty of care, such as speeding, driving while impaired or distracted, or otherwise driving carelessly or recklessly.
   3. Damages: To pursue a car accident settlement, you will need to show that you suffered legally recognizable damages because of the crash.

Proving a driver’s negligence is more challenging than you might expect. Having professional legal representation is crucial if you want to make a strong case that the defendant was negligent and ensure that all of your damages are covered by your settlement. Studies have shown that the average car accident settlement is significantly higher for claimants who hire an attorney than for those that don’t.

How Serious Do Car Accident Injuries Need to Be to Make a Claim?

An auto accident injury can be life-changing even if it wasn’t life-threatening. Car accident lawyers often help victims who sustain catastrophic and debilitating injuries, but they also assist individuals whose injuries aren’t quite as severe yet still impact the claimant’s ability to work, move around, and generally live their life. The sooner you bring on a car accident attorney to handle your claim, the more effectively your lawyer will be able to make the legal process easier on you.

You pay nothing unless we win.

What Will an Auto Injury Lawyer Cost You?

With our No Fee Promise, it costs nothing upfront to hire skilled legal representation for your auto accident claim. The car accident lawyers at Console & Associates P.C. offer a no-obligation legal consultation and free legal advice as part of the no-win, no-fee representation we provide to the clients who hire our law firm. You will only ever pay a portion of the money we recover for you, and if we don’t succeed in getting you compensation, you owe nothing.

Schedule a Free Consultation

When you put your claim in the hands of an experienced car accident attorney, they handle every aspect of the legal process for you. You don’t have to deal with the hassle of the claims process, and the average settlement for auto accident injuries is higher when an attorney is involved.

Console & Associates P.C. offers all potential clients a free legal consultation. During this consultation, we will gather the information needed to thoroughly evaluate your case, educate you on what to expect from the legal process, and answer all of your questions. While the answers to some common questions—like the time it takes to resolve a claim and the typical car accident settlement amount—are fact-specific and unique to your case, we can draw on our decades of experience to help you understand what the claims process and its realistic outcomes will look like.

FAQs

When Would My Own Auto Insurance Policy Pay for My Damages?

Many states (12, as of 2021) have no-fault auto accident insurance laws on the books today. Generally, these laws mean that the insurance companies covering each driver involved in an accident are responsible for paying for certain damages—typically medical care—arising from a collision, no matter who is at fault. Even if one driver was clearly in the wrong, both drivers would have their medical bills covered by their own auto insurance companies.

No-fault laws allow injured victims to begin getting medical care right away, even if fault for a crash hasn’t been determined. However, if you get seriously hurt in a no-fault state, you may still need to sue the other driver for damages that no-fault auto insurance coverage, such as personal injury protection (PIP), won’t cover.

Another instance when you might seek compensation for accident-related damages through your own insurance policy is when the driver who hit you was uninsured or underinsured. If your auto insurance policy includes uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage, then your own insurer would stand in for the other driver’s insurer and would be responsible for paying your damages, up to your coverage limits.

Is It Worth Getting a Lawyer for a Car Accident?

Yes, hiring car accident legal help is worth it. Not only do attorneys get their clients 3.5 times more money, on average, than unrepresented claimants get for themselves, but the best car accident lawyers also make the claims process easier on their clients. When you’re already struggling to deal with injuries and the financial burden of an accident, having someone else handle these hassles for you is priceless.

What Is the Average Payout for an Auto Accident?

People injured in car accidents often want to know about “average” or “typical” settlements, but a settlement is always based on damages, which are unique to your injuries and the facts of your accident. For example, the average settlement for car accident back and neck injury matters is much higher for claimants who required surgery than for those who were successfully treated with more conservative methods.

What we can tell you is that our attorneys have a long history of fighting for the maximum amount of compensation our clients deserve and have recovered more than $100 million for our clients.

How Do I Choose a Car Accident Lawyer Near Me?

When selecting an attorney for your auto accident claim, look at their case results, their commitment to your recovery, and what their clients say.

References and Resources

• National Safety Council
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• 2014 Attorney Involvement in Auto Injury Claims study by the Insurance Research Council