Top best Personal Injury Lawyers in ZIP 07928 | 16 available

Sharon Kessel joined the firm in April 2002 as an associate. She is a graduate of New York Law School (J.D. 1992) and Emory University (B.A. 1987). She is licensed to practice law in New York, Connecticut, Georgia and New Jersey. After graduating from law school, Sharon joined the Bronx County District Attorney's office prosecuting felony narcotics cases for 4 years. Thereafter, Sharon joined the prominent Manhattan medical malpractice defense firm of Martin, Clearwater and Bell representing hospitals, doctors and nurses for 5 years.  Sharon plays an  integral role in the preparation and prosecution of hundreds of cases for Blume Goldfaden clients, including conducting depositions of parties, witnesses and experts, arguing motions, performing legal research, preparing legal briefs and working with experts.  Sharon's experience and work have contributed to the exceptional results secured by the firm.

Mitchell Makowicz, a Blume Partner, is a New Jersey Supreme Court Certified Civil Trial Attorney with experience and expertise in various types of medical malpractice, product liability, premises liability and other personal injury cases.. Mitch has successfully obtained verdicts and settlements in a variety of product liability cases, involving products as diverse as hair-care products, toys, a quilting machine, personal scooters, and a conveyor belt uploader. In addition, Mitch has secured recoveries for many clients in medical malpractice claims ranging from improperly performed plastic and orthopedic surgery, to negligence on the part of family medicine practitioners, as well as in the fields of dentistry and chiropractic.. In 1996 Mitch secured a precedent setting appellate court decision allowing suit against a weapons manufacturer under the Products Liability Act. The case involved a 15 year old boy who was accidentally shot with a semi-automatic pistol by his friend who mistakenly believed that the gun was unloaded. The ruling was based upon the manufacturers failure to incorporate a safety device into the gun. More recently, Mitch obtained a large verdict for a woman who fell when she was locked out onto a second-floor balcony because of the faulty installation of a security bar. In addition, Mitch received the highest single-claimant verdict in the history of Middlesex County for a mechanic who was unknowingly exposed to dangerous chemicals on a piece of equipment he was assigned to clean at his job.. A graduate of Seton Hall University (B.A. magna cum laude, 1983), and of Seton Hall University Law School (J.D. cum laude, 1986), Mitch started working at Blume Goldfaden as a law clerk in 1984 before joining the firm as an attorney. He has been recognized by the LawDragon legal resources group as one of America's top 500 attorneys. Mitch is a member of the Essex County and New Jersey State Bar Associations, as well as a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

Laura Carney comes to Blume Goldfaden from the Office of the Attorney General. As a Deputy Attorney General (D.A.G.), Laura spent ten years vigorously defending the interests of the people of the State of New Jersey in a variety of personal injury actions including automobile accidents, train accidents and slip and falls. She also defended railroad claims brought pursuant to the Federal Employer’s Liability Act.. Having been a litigator for the Office of the Attorney General, Laura joins the Blume Goldfaden firm bringing with her insight into litigation from a defense perspective. While serving as a D.A.G., Laura played an integral role in mentoring new Deputy Attorneys General, participated in the Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute (lecturing on how to maximize settlement position), and, was appointed to the Attorney General’s Deputy Advisory Committee.. Laura is designated by the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey as a Certified Civil Trial Attorney. Laura is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Government and Public Sector Lawyers Special Committee, and, the Hudson County Bar Association’s Civil Litigation Committee. She is also a member of the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey and the New Jersey Association for Justice. She also serves as a Barrister in the Hudson County Inns of Court, where she is active on the programming committee.. Laura earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida (B.S., 1993), and her graduate degree from Seton Hall Law School (J.D., 1999).. In her spare time, Laura is an avid runner. As an active member of the New York Road Runners Association, Laura has run over ten marathons throughout the country. Her goals include running the five World Major Marathons, three of which she has completed, and running a marathon in every state.

Kenneth Berkowitz is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.. Since joining Blume Goldfaden more than 20 years ago, Ken Berkowitz has handled dozens of million-dollar settlements and jury verdicts, and has appeared on ABC’s 20/20 news program.. His trial expertise is evident in the significant verdicts he has obtained for clients injured as a result of diverse types of cases, including medical malpractice and product liability, including automobile defects, bicycle safety, and hot water heaters. Some of his cases were also fought in the appeals process that often follows a jury verdict.. In 2003, Mr. Berkowitz forged a record $25 million settlement for a New York family man who was permanently paralyzed from the waist down at a Caribbean resort hotel. Our research indicates that this is the largest recovery for a personal injury claim in New Jersey State Court history.. In 2009, Ken settled a personal injury case for $11 million (confidential settlement).. Utilizing mediation, rather than the lengthy litigation process, Mr. Berkowitz obtained a $2.75 Million recovery on behalf of the family of the limousine driver shot and killed by ex New Jersey Nets basketball star, Jason Williams. By entering into mediation with the attorneys representing Mr. Williams, Mr. Berkowitz was able to bring the civil suit to a swift conclusion - sparing the family of the victim the emotional and financial expense of litigation.. Among the numerous Product Liability and Medical Malpractice recoveries Mr. Berkowitz has obtained are:. A settlement with a present value of 2.75 million dollars on behalf of an infant with spastic quadriparesis following a hypoxic ischemic brain injury at the time of her birth. The infant’s mother was admitted to a local hospital with irregular contractions and spontaneous rupture of membranes for a vaginal birth after C-Section (VBAC). After approximately 15+ hours of labor, the obstetrician decided to perform a repeat C-Section because of a lack of progress in the labor. The Plaintiffs did not claim that the trial of VBAC labor was contraindicated. Rather, the plaintiffs contended that the fetal monitoring strips were indicative of fetal distress, requiring the earlier performance of an emergency C-Section. The infant mother’s uterus ruptured along the previous C-Section incision and the infant’s body extruded outside the uterus. The child was immediately transferred to another area hospital with diagnoses of asphyxia, anoxic seizure disorder and respiratory failure. The claim had been previously rejected by other plaintiffs’ counsel.. After graduating from Union College in New York (B.A. 1971) and the Boston University School of Law (J.D. 1975), Ken Berkowitz clerked for Judge Arnold Stein and then joined a commercial litigation firm in Newark.. Mr. Berkowitz has also handled a number of other significant defective products and medical malpractice cases. He has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Rutgers, teaching trial presentation.

Ken Elwood is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney.  As a Partner at Blume Goldfaden, he handles a wide range of personal injury matters, including medical malpractice, nursing home malpractice, products liability, automobile and premises liability cases.  Below is a sampling of recent results.. In the Winter of 2008, Ken represented the Estate of a 35 year old immigrant worker from the Dominican Republic who died after he had a siezure which was mismanaged by both police and the EMTs who responded. Ken obtained a $2,000, settlement with the Township of Bloomfield.. In the Winter of 2007, Ken secured a $1.1 million dollar jury verdict for our client, a 42 year old man who was involved in a head on collision after being cut off by a car exiting a gas station. The man sustained a tibial plateau fracture to his right leg, which necessitated two surgeries to repair.. In February of 2006, Ken represented a 38 year old father of 2, who was involved in a significant head on motor vehicle collision with an SUV which crossed the center median.  The accident resulted in significant orthopedic injuries and cognitive impairment.  The case settled at mediation for 1.85 million dollars.. In January 2006, Ken represented a 57 year old man who suffered a stroke arising out of a failure to timely diagnose and treat bacterial endocarditis stemming from a strep infection.  This medical malpractice case settled at trial for 1 million dollars.. In April 2006, Ken handled a Nursing Home Malpractice case involving several falls by a 96 year old nursing home resident that resulted in a fractured hip.  The Home had failed to properly assess the resident and take appropriate interventions that would have prevented the falls.  The case settled prior to trial for $300,.. A graduate of Seton Hall University (J.D. 1984), Ken is a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association, and the Morris, Essex and Hudson County Bar Associations. He is a Trustee and Counsel for Voices for Patient Protection, a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and protect the legal rights of victims of medical malpractice.  Ken also serves as a judge for the Seton Hall Law School Appellate Advocacy Program, and is counsel to Consumers for Civil Justice, a coalition of several consumer advocate organizations whose goal is to inform and protect the rights of New Jersey consumers.  Ken was recognized with an award for Meritorious Public Service for his work while serving on the Supreme Court's District Ethics Committee.. Ken joined the firm in 1993, and is admitted to practice in New Jersey, California, and the Federal Court for the District of New Jersey.

Jeffrey J. Zenna is an experienced plaintiff's personal injury lawyer who joined Blume Goldfaden in 1995 (now Blume Forte).   As a New Jersey Supreme Court Certified Civil Trial Attorney, Jeff handles automobile accident, premises liability, product liability, construction accident, and both medical and legal malpractice cases.. Jeffrey Zenna, a Certified Trial Attorney, has made numerous significant recoveries for Blume Donnelly clients in both settlements and jury verdicts; multiple settlements in excess of $1 million, and in 2009, Jeffrey settled a case surrounding a motor vehicle accident involving an Iraq war veteran for more than $4 million (click here to see more information on these and some other recoveries made by Jeffrey).. Of particular and unusual note was Jeffrey Zenna’s representation of a Blume Donnelly client who sustained an injury when she fell at a movie theater. After settlement of the case, the defense made a motion to reopen it, claiming that our client had committed insurance fraud, and had in fact fallen at a location other than the theater. The Court allowed the case to be reopened, and, after approximately 3 years of additional discovery, the case went to trial with regard to the referenced “fraud” issue. After an 8 day trial before a Morris County Judge, Jeff Zenna prevailed on behalf of our client, and the settlement was reinstated. In addition, because of Jeff’s efforts, the possibility that criminal fraud charges might have been filed against our client was eliminated, and the State of New Jersey, which had opened an investigation into the purported fraud, closed their case.. Jeffrey is a graduate of the City University New York School of Law (J.D., 1991). After law school he completed a Judicial Clerkship for the Honorable Mahlon Fast, J.S.C. Since arriving at Blume, Goldfaden, he has received a Master of Laws Degree at New York University School of Law (L.L.M., 1997).. Jeffrey is a member of the Essex, Hudson and Morris County Bar Associations. He is also admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit). As a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, he has lectured for that association with regard to trial advocacy, and has been a member of the William J. Brennan, Jr. Inns of Court since 1997.  Jeff is a long-standing member of the New Jersey chapter of The Miami Project, dedicated to the cure of paralysis.

David Fried is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney, and focuses his practice on liability claims of those injured in auto accidents, falls, from medical malpractice, in aviation and construction accidents, and as victims of lead poisoning. David has extensive experience representing workers injured because proper safety equipment was not provided on the job site, and also handles a significant amount of medical negligence claims surrounding brachial plexus injuries sustained at birth.. David has worked extensively with construction experts to establish clear theories of negligence and responsibility at construction sites where employees of Sub Contractors suffer severe injuries due to the lack of adequate safety equipment or safe working conditions. Many of these cases have involved carpenters and ironworkers who fell from heights where they were not furnished with adequate fall protection. David has been successful in proving the responsibility of the General Contractor, Prime Contractor, Safety Coordinator or other person or entity required to provide safety supervision of the Sub Contractor’s employees, despite the hotly contested claims of liability of the injured worker and his employer. David has resolved several construction site accident cases in excess of $500,000, including one for $900,000 for the death of an ironworker, another for $1.325 million for a construction worker whose scissor lift toppled and did not have an anti-tip device. He resolved another case for $1.37 million involving an electrical system blast that killed one worker and injured another. In that case, through extensive pre-suit investigation, David was able to prove the blast occurred due to arcing because a steel rod had been left in an electrical box, and through discovery, it was proved which defendants were responsible for this condition. David has also been successful in proving the responsibility of governmental entities that failed to properly supervise the work of trench workers employed by contractors on municipal projects.. David has also handled several medical malpractice birth injury cases involving brachial plexus injuries. He won a 1 million dollar verdict from a Middlesex County jury on behalf of a 6 and a half year old boy with a right arm brachial plexus injury where the delivery involved a shoulder dystocia (stuck shoulder during delivery). David established that the delivering obstetrician utilized excessive downward traction on the baby's head at the time one of the shoulders became stuck at delivery, and caused a permanent injury to the boy's brachial plexus nerves which control arm and hand function.. David has also handled and been successful in many other medical malpractice cases involving anesthesia, surgery, failure to diagnose cancer, improper medication, and failure to provide informed consent.. David has also argued two cases before the New Jersey Supreme Court. In one, involving a woman who was exposed to an improperly discarded needle while cleaning a physician’s office, and therefore had a fear that she may have contracted HIV/AIDS, David made landmark law when he persuaded the Court to rule that a person has the right to pursue a claim for the fear of contracting HIV/AIDS without proof that there was actual exposure to the disease, as long as there is proof that reasonable potential for exposure occurred, necessitating ongoing testing. In another Supreme Court case, David was able to prevail in an argument that parents had the right to pursue a claim on behalf of the Estate of their deceased adopted child, even though the death due to medical malpractice occurred before the adoption was able to be completed. David later won a liability trial in that case.. In the Spring of 2005, David Fried settled a case surrounding an aviation accident which involved the negligent repair of an airplane’s engines, causing a malfunction and the plane to crash. As a result of his injuries suffered in the crash, our client was paralyzed from the mid-chest down. David obtained a 7 million dollar settlement on behalf of this client. For more information on this case, please click here.. Mr. Fried also heads the firm's lead poisoning section. He has handled many of cases involving children eating lead-based paint that causes brain damage, which shows up several years after the lead exposure.. A graduate of Rutgers University, (B.A. 1978; J.D. 1981), Mr. Fried is an elected member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He serves as one of two statewide delegates on the Legislative Committee of the New Jersey State Bar.

Brian E. Mahoney, who has been certified and re-certified as a Civil Trial Attorney by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, joined Blume, Goldfaden in the summer of 2004. He has participated in a variety of complex litigation over the past 25 years, involving construction, toxic tort, products liability, medical malpractice and personal injury law. His trial experience has encompassed either trying or co-trying over 50 cases to verdict, including two cases which produced verdicts in excess of $1.0 million.. Mr. Mahoney is the author of New Jersey Comparative Fault and Liability Apportionment (Gann Law Books), a leading treatise which has been published annually since 2000.  In 2005, this treatise was re-titled 'New Jersey Personal Injury Recovery'.  This work has been cited by the New Jersey Supreme Court as authoritative in its field. Mr. Mahoney has lectured on the subject of comparative fault in the Inns of Court program.. An accomplished appellate attorney, Mr. Mahoney has provided briefing or oral argument in several cases which have produced published opinions. In recent years, Mr. Mahoney's appellate successes contributed precedential advancements or clarifications in successor corporation liability law, the doctrine of forum non conveniens, and the law of evidence, experts, and trial practice.. Mr. Mahoney attended the University of Exeter in Exeter, England and received his B.A. with honors from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1976. He received his J.D. with honors from Rutgers Law School in Newark, New Jersey in 1979 and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar the same year.

Experienced Personal Injury attorney serving clients in Chatham and surrounding areas.

Experienced Personal Injury attorney serving clients in Chatham and surrounding areas.

Experienced Personal Injury attorney serving clients in Chatham and surrounding areas.

Experienced Personal Injury attorney serving clients in Chatham and surrounding areas.

Experienced Personal Injury attorney serving clients in Chatham and surrounding areas.

Experienced Personal Injury attorney serving clients in Chatham and surrounding areas.

Experienced Personal Injury attorney serving clients in Chatham and surrounding areas.