Reinartz Law represents injured workers across New Jersey in workers' compensation claims, from denied medical treatment through permanency awards and settlements before judges of compensation. Our firm handles every stage: notice disputes, claim petitions, benefit motions, and settlement hearings at Division of Workers' Compensation offices statewide.
If you were hurt at work anywhere in New Jersey, request a free case review today. Consultations with our New Jersey workers' compensation attorneys are free by phone, video, or in person, and there is never a fee unless benefits are recovered.
You do not have to prove your employer did anything wrong. You do have to work a system built around insurance carriers, and that is where our representation changes outcomes.
Table of contents
- How Does the New Jersey Workers' Compensation System Work?
- What Benefits Can an NJ Workers Compensation Lawyer Recover for You?
- Section 20 vs. Order Approving Settlement: Which Should You Take?
- Why Injured Workers Choose Reinartz Law
- What Should You Do Before Signing Anything From the Carrier?
- New Jersey Workers Comp Lawyer Questions Answered by Our Attorneys
- One Conversation with a New Jersey Workers Compensation Attorney Settles the Guesswork
How Does the New Jersey Workers' Compensation System Work?
New Jersey workers' compensation is a no-fault insurance system run through the state's Division of Workers' Compensation. Nearly every employer must carry coverage, and an injured worker receives benefits regardless of who caused the accident one of several key things every injured worker in NJ should know before filing a claim.
The tradeoff is structural. In exchange for no-fault benefits, workers generally cannot sue their employer for negligence, and there is no jury. A judge of compensation decides every disputed issue, and every settlement requires that judge's approval on the record.
That structure rewards preparation over drama. The judge rules on medical evidence assembled months before any hearing, which is why the quiet early decisions, which doctor's chart says what, and when, decide most cases.
Cases are assigned to district offices around the state, generally by the worker's home county. A New Jersey workers' compensation lawyer who appears in those vicinages regularly knows the judges, the carriers' defense firms, and the pace of each docket, which shapes strategy from day one.
Disputes reach the judge through an Employee Claim Petition filed with the Division of Workers' Compensation. When a carrier withholds treatment or wage checks, a Motion for Medical and Temporary Benefits jumps the queue, reaching a judge in about 30 days. Speak with our attorneys before responding to any carrier decision.
Who Is Covered, and What Counts as a Work Injury?
Nearly every New Jersey employee is covered from the first day of work, including part-time, seasonal, and temporary workers. Coverage does not depend on immigration status, and public employees run through the same system as private ones.
Workers labeled independent contractors are often covered, too. Judges test the label against the actual working relationship, weighing who controlled the work and whose business it served, and many 1099 workers qualify on the facts.
The injury itself can be a single accident or a condition that has built up over time. Occupational claims, from repetitive stress and hearing loss to chemical exposure, are compensable, with the filing clock running from when you knew the condition was work-related.
What Benefits Can an NJ Workers Compensation Lawyer Recover for You?
New Jersey law pays five categories of benefits, and carriers rarely volunteer the full menu. Here is what each one covers and where claims typically go wrong.
Medical Treatment, Fully Paid
Every dollar of reasonable and necessary treatment belongs on the carrier's tab: surgery, therapy, diagnostics, prescriptions, with no copays or deductibles for you. The leverage point sits in N.J.S.A. 34:15-15, which hands your employer the choice of treating doctors outside emergencies.
Undertreatment is the most common fight. When the authorized doctor discharges you too early, or the carrier sits on an MRI approval, we move for benefits rather than wait out the delay.
Temporary Disability at 70 Percent of Wages
While you cannot work for more than seven days, the carrier owes 70 percent of your gross weekly wage, up to the state maximum, currently $1,199 per week. Payments continue until you return to work or reach maximum medical improvement.
Specifically, check the math. Carriers build the wage from payroll snapshots that miss overtime, bonuses, and second jobs, and every underpaid week compounds.
Permanent Partial Disability: Where the Real Money Sits
After treatment ends, your lasting impairment is rated as a percentage and paid against the week counts in the state's Schedule of Disabilities. Backs, necks, and shoulders are rated against 600 weeks. Hands carry 260 weeks, rising to 300 above 25 percent disability. Legs carry 315 weeks.
The chart converts percentages to dollars. A 15 percent partial total award for a back injury pays $28,800 on the current schedule. At 25 percent, the figure is $54,720, and a 40 percent surgical-level award pays $153,360. A 20 percent leg award after a knee injury pays $20,160.
No figure is a promise, and the percentage is negotiated case by case. That negotiation is the core of what a NJ workers' compensation lawyer does, because the carrier's evaluating doctor reliably rates low and the difference is worth thousands per percentage point.
The timing runs on a statutory clock. Permanent disability cannot be assessed until 26 weeks after final active treatment or return to work, so a fast, early offer is a guess by definition, and usually a low one.
What Do Settlements Look Like for Shoulders, Hands, and Hearing?
Ranges are the first thing clients ask a New Jersey workers' compensation lawyer for, and the state chart supplies honest ones. A shoulder rated at 20 percent of partial total pays $41,280 on the current schedule.
Carpal tunnel is rated against the hand: $8,320 at 10 percent and $12,480 at 15 percent on the current chart. Bilateral cases, common in packing and keyboard work, produce two separate awards.
Fingers carry their own week counts, from 80 weeks for a thumb down to 30 for a pinky, and multi-finger crush injuries are often rated against the whole hand instead. Occupational hearing loss has its own line: 60 weeks for one ear, 200 for both.
Where your injury lands inside these ranges depends entirely on the medical proof. The chart sets the grid; the percentage fight decides the square.
Total Disability and Dependency Benefits
When an injury prevents any gainful employment, permanent total disability pays 70 percent of wages for 450 weeks, with payments continuing while the disability persists. When a work accident causes death, dependency benefits support the surviving spouse and children.
These are the highest-stakes cases in the system, and carriers defend them accordingly. Find out where your claim realistically stands: ask for a free evaluation.
Section 20 vs. Order Approving Settlement: Which Should You Take?
New Jersey claims resolve in one of two forms, and the form matters as much as the number. The right choice depends on your medical future, so treat any recommendation that skips that question with suspicion.
Carriers have a preference, and it is not neutral. Closed files worker's compensation cost nothing later, which is why lump sum offers often arrive dressed as generosity.
What an Order Approving Settlement Keeps Alive
An Order Approving Settlement pays a percentage award and preserves two rights. First, the carrier remains responsible for authorized future medical care for the injury.
Second, you can reopen the claim within two years of the last payment if the condition worsens. Reopener awards regularly add value for workers whose injuries deteriorate, and preserving that option costs nothing at the settlement table.
The fee treatment favors workers here, too. Judges customarily direct the employer's side to pay the larger share of the attorney fee on percentage settlements.
What a Section 20 Lump Sum Trades Away
A Section 20 settlement under N.J.S.A. 34:15-20 pays one lump sum and dismisses the case permanently. There is no reopening, no future medical coverage through the carrier, and the worker pays the entire fee from the proceeds.
Carriers pay a premium for that finality, which makes Section 20 the right call in some disputed cases and a quiet giveaway in others. In contrast to the sticker price, the real comparison is net dollars against future medical risk, and we run that comparison with clients before any hearing date.
The math can surprise people. Specifically, a $60,000 Section 20 offer can net less than a $52,000 percentage settlement once the fee treatment and a probable second surgery enter the calculation. The bigger number on paper is not automatically the bigger number in your life.
Why Injured Workers Choose Reinartz Law
Richard Reinartz spent over a decade at two of the largest law firms in the country before founding the firm. He represented injured plaintiffs on one side of the ledger and insurance carriers and Fortune 500 companies on the other.
That defense-side history is a working advantage. We recognize the carrier's playbook, from the low first rating to the recorded statement request, because we have seen it built from the inside.
Our recognition includes an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, selection to the Super Lawyers list since 2010, and membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, reserved for attorneys with recoveries above one million dollars.
Work injuries also drive results beyond the comp system. Our recoveries include $550,000 for a construction accident causing a spinal injury and $110,000 for a fingertip amputation on negligently maintained industrial equipment, both third-party claims built on workplace injury facts.
Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
Work injury files at our firm get read for every available recovery, not just the comp claim. A third-party lens can make a genuine difference. Carriers see us on both comp petitions and negligence suits, and we screen every file for the second case: the careless driver, the subcontractor, the defective machine.
The two claims interact. The comp carrier holds a lien on third-party recoveries under N.J.S.A. 34:15-40, so coordinating both cases is a math problem worth doing right, and doing it under one roof keeps the numbers honest.
There is no cost to find out. Fees in workers' compensation are capped at 25 percent, awarded only by a judge, and only when benefits are recovered. Speak with our team today.
Testimonial
HEATHER F.
"Richard guided me in my suit and made me feel confident in my decisions during my entire case. He made recommendations that I otherwise, would not have known about."
What Should You Do Before Signing Anything From the Carrier?
Paperwork arrives fast after a work injury, and some of it limits your claim. A few habits protect its value while the case develops:
- Consider having a New Jersey workers' compensation attorney review any release, settlement offer, or resignation document before you sign. The Section 20 versus percentage distinction hides in the fine print.
- Many claimants find it helpful to decline recorded statements until they have spoken with counsel.
- Keep your own copies of the incident report, wage records, and every work restriction note.
- Consider confirming that temporary disability checks match 70 percent of your true average wage, overtime included.
- Keep a dated journal of symptoms, appointments, and adjuster conversations. Small records win percentage disputes.
None of this requires a confrontation. It keeps the record clean while you decide your next step.
New Jersey Workers Comp Lawyer Questions Answered by Our Attorneys
How long do I have to file a workers' comp claim in New Jersey?
Two deadlines control. Report the injury to your employer within 90 days at the absolute outside; benefits flow most smoothly with notice inside 14 days under N.J.S.A. 34:15-17. Then a formal claim petition must be filed within two years of the injury or the last payment of compensation, whichever is later.
Can I sue my employer instead of filing for workers' comp?
Generally, no. Workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer, except in rare cases of intentional harm. The practical path is different: collect full comp benefits and pursue a separate lawsuit against any negligent third party, such as another driver or a subcontractor, where pain and suffering damages become available.
Does workers' comp pay for pain and suffering in NJ?
Not as a separate category. The system compensates lasting impairment through the permanency award instead, which is why the disability percentage deserves a real fight. Pain and suffering damages exist only in a third-party lawsuit, one more reason to have a single firm screen your injury for both cases.
What if my employer has no workers' comp insurance?
You still have a claim. Coverage is mandatory for nearly all New Jersey employers, and injured workers of uninsured employers can pursue benefits through the state's Uninsured Employers' Fund while the state penalizes the employer. These cases carry extra procedure, which makes early legal help especially valuable.
Can my employer fire me for filing a claim?
Retaliation for claiming workers' compensation benefits is illegal under N.J.S.A. 34:15-39.1. A worker punished for filing or testifying can seek reinstatement and lost wages. Save every write-up and schedule change that follows your claim; timing is evidence.
One Conversation with a New Jersey Workers Compensation Attorney Settles the Guesswork
Somewhere between the carrier's version of your claim and the statute's version sits the truth about what you are owed. Workers can reach Reinartz Law from any New Jersey county, and we will work out that figure with you in a single free consultation.
There is no fee unless a judge awards you benefits, and no obligation for asking. Whether your workers’ comp claim was just denied or you are holding a settlement offer that feels light, the next step is the same. Contact our office to schedule a no-obligation consultation and get answers today from a New Jersey workers' compensation attorney.
The Reinartz Law Firm - Hackensack Office
Court Plaza South - West Wing
21 Main St Suite 205,
Hackensack, NJ 07601
