Bergen County Divorce Attorney

As a Bergen County divorce attorney, two of the most common questions clients ask me are "how long will my divorce take?" and “how much will my divorce cost?” The answer to both these questions lies very much in the control of you and your spouse. That’s because the approach you take in getting a divorce will greatly determine both the duration and cost of the process. A divorce can take anywhere from a couple of months to well over a year depending upon how quickly you and your spouse can reach an agreement on all of your issues, such as child support, parenting time and child custody, as well as spousal support, division of assets and maintaining your beneficiary status on your spouse’s life insurance policy.

At FYKG, we bring a depth of professional experience and personal insight to each family law matter. We are here to be your Bergen County divorce attorney and to provide assistance to those facing a difficult chapter in their lives.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to settle the issues with your spouse in a civil manner, with the assistance of your attorneys the divorce can proceed smoothly and can take as little as two or three months. On the other hand, if you and your spouse are at odds and each of you holds on to your positions, without compromise, your divorce could drag on for considerably longer. In other words, the legal process itself is the least of it. What causes delay is when people dig their heels in and become intransigent. I’ve seen this happen most often when there are major unresolved emotional issues between a couple and the divorce is viewed as providing an opportunity to settle old emotional scores or get even instead of focusing on the task of finding a basis for compromise that will allow family members to move forward with their lives without acrimony.

Turning to the question of cost, there’s obviously a direct correlation between time and expense in getting a divorce. In fact, it’s often not a simple linear equation. Sometimes a long and bitter divorce can end up being far more expensive for a couple because acrimony breeds more acrimony. Once a couple descends into outright and persistent antagonism there is a tendency to use a Bergen County divorce attorney and the courts to resolve issues that aren’t even really legal issues. An example of this would be fighting in court with your spouse over the division of household items instead of coming to compromise. As bitterness and mistrust feed off each other, more court appearances become necessary and your attorney must spend more time on your behalf, which means legal fees and costs spiral upwards.

At the other end of the spectrum, the trend in New Jersey and in many other parts of the country now is to encourage couples to undertake a Collaborative Divorce, in which both spouses (and their lawyers) agree at the outset to work towards compromise through negotiation and without recourse to litigation. There are considerable advantages to this approach since it can potentially streamline the process, and minimize both the time and expense necessary to reach a final agreement. The option of working through a Collaborative Divorce very much highlights just how much it is in the power of a couple to influence both the time and cost entailed in the process of getting divorced.

So this is one of those situations where the best way to respond to a question is with another question. When a client asks “How long is my divorce going to take and how much will it cost?” the most accurate answer is: it depends on how you and your spouse intend to approach the challenge of resolving the outstanding issues. Will this be a collaborative or contentious divorce, or is it likely to fall somewhere in between? Once a Bergen County divorce attorney has a better idea of how much you anticipate being able to work towards compromise with your spouse, then it becomes much easier to provide realistic guidance on timing and expense.

Estimating the cost and time it takes to get a divorce is difficult and depends on many variables. 

For more information about our experienced Bergen County divorce attorney, call FYKG at (201) 791-4400.

Personal Injury Lawyer Bergen County

One of the biggest rewards I have faced as a personal injury lawyer in Bergen County is bringing a product liability case against a major pharmaceutical company. Going up against any company with deep pockets in the courtroom can be daunting – a matter of David versus Goliath. A major pharmaceutical company presents a particularly interesting adversary because not only are their pockets deeper than everyone else’s but they are inclined to spare no expense when defending one of their major products against a product liability claim. If you have sustained a serious personal injury that you believe may have been caused by someone else's negligence or a defective product, contact Feitlin, Youngman, Karas, and Gerson today for a free consultation. If a third party’s negligence is the reason for your injuries, we will fight relentlessly for you to receive justice and a financial recovery. That is the core of our legal practice. 

Oftentimes, a lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company presents additional issues when the case involves people with an extremely rare medical condition or genetic disorder who end up being severely injured or even killed by a common over the counter medication. I have been involved in several lawsuits of this kind, including a case involving a young girl who suffered from a very rare condition called toxic epidermal necrolysis or TENs, which is a life-threatening skin condition that can be triggered by over the counter medications. While TENs may be treatable if detected early on, unfortunately the condition is very difficult to diagnose quickly (in part because it’s so rare) and by the time it is diagnosed, the injuries can be horrific if not fatal. This was sadly what happened with the case I handled as a personal injury lawyer in Bergen County – the young girl with TENs died after a painful ordeal simply from a normal dose of a non-prescription medication.

It’s important that your attorney understand the legal issues presented in these unique cases. Even if the label on the medication fails to include a warning as to the risk of TENs (or a similar rare condition), the drug company will aggressively defend against a product liability claim on the basis, that the medication and label were both approved by the Federal Drug Agency. This is a strong defense that can be overcome if the plaintiff’s counsel can demonstrate that there was a material inadequacy or omission in the submission that the drug company made to the FDA in the first place. To prove this requires a review of the massive documentation that was submitted to the FDA as part of the drug approval process. It requires a huge investment of time and effort by the lawyers to review and analyze tens of thousands of documents.

At Feitlin, Youngman, Karas, and Gerson, we have significant experience as personal injury lawyers in Bergen County with products liability law in New Jersey. We work extremely hard to obtain the best results for our clients. We will put in whatever time, effort and investment is necessary to insure justice is achieved for you and your family. Our clients’ cause becomes our cause – for us, as litigators, that’s really the bottom line.

For more information on our personal injury lawyer in Bergen County, call Fred Gerson at (201) 791-4400.

Bergen County Car Accident Lawyer

There is rarely any warning when you are involved in a car accident. That’s why they are called accidents rather than “purposes”. So what should you do when you are involved in a car accident? Even though the accident itself may be unexpected, there’s no reason why you can’t have a post-accident plan thought out in advance. A little advanced planning might prove more helpful than you think.

Feitlin, Youngman, Karas, and Gerson, and its predecessors, have been Bergen County car accident lawyers for more than three decades. Our job as your lawyer is to do everything within our power to make sure you receive full compensation and proper care. We can't undo all the damage done by a sudden accident, but we will make sure you don't face these difficulties alone and we will do our utmost to make sure that justice is done.

The first and most important thing you need to do is focus upon any injuries that may have been suffered by you and your family. It is no different than if you, or your children, were involved in an accident at home. Treat the injuries first. Everything else will fall into place thereafter.

So what are the pieces that need to fall into place after the immediate physical well being of you and your family has been addressed? What should you do next?

The answer is rather easy- report the accident to your car insurance company. Don’t call for a Bergen County car accident lawyer first. Don’t contact the insurer for the other driver. Simply notify your own car insurance company of your injury. We will pick it up from there.

The reason that you must contact your insurer is because “No Fault Law” applies in the State of New Jersey. Most people have heard this phrase but have never taken the time to analyze or understand what it means. Quite simply, it means that, regardless of fault, your car insurance company (in almost all instances) covers your medical bills. No matter how many times I have explained this concept to clients, and even to young Bergen County car accident lawyers, they invariably ask me why their car insurance companies cover medical bills when the accident was not their fault? The answer is simple. Some day you might be on the other side of the accident. In other words, what if the accident was your fault? (Remember, they are called accidents not “purposes.”). Under those circumstances, you would still submit your medical bills to your car insurance carrier. This is the essence of the “No Fault Law.” Regardless of fault, you should not have to worry about your medical care. Hence, while our car insurance rates may be high in the State of New Jersey, we do have some of the best motor vehicle coverage in the country. You pay for it. So you might as well take advantage of it.

Importantly, when you do contact your car insurance company, make sure you ask for the appropriate application to seek medical benefits. It is called a Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Application. The application is rather self-explanatory but you can always give us a call to assist you in completing the form. We see them every day.

When calling your insurance company, you should also be aware that you have the right, again, in almost all instances, to pick your own doctors. This is a crucial point. You need not follow any recommendations of the insurance company. If a certain procedure or course of treatment is selected by your doctor, the doctor takes care of seeking the appropriate approval, or “pre-certification”, from your car insurance company. Your focus should be on getting better and treating your injuries, not on whether the suggested treatment will be approved.

This leads to the obvious next question: When does the other driver’s car insurance policy come into play? This is where we do get into issues of “fault.” If we can show that the accident was not your fault, but largely, if not entirely, the fault of the other driver, and that you have suffered a compensable injury or injuries, this is when we make a claim (or file suit) against the other driver and seek compensation from his/her car insurance company.

So, in sum, there are only two issues to address. First, you must focus upon your injuries. Take care of yourself and your family. This is why you purchased the insurance in the first place (even if you did not know that is why you were purchasing the insurance). Second, speak to us and we will make the appropriate claim against the other driver and his/her car insurance company. Remember, as Bergen County car accident lawyers, we do this every day.

One last issue to address: if the accident was the fault of the other driver and you did suffer a compensable injury or injuries, the other insurance company will know that too… and they want to save money – not yours, but that of their own insured! For that reason, do not speak to them at all about your injuries. We will deal with the other insurance company. We are not looking to save them money but to make sure that you are fully and properly compensated for your injuries. Again, we do this every day.

Do you need a Bergen County car accident lawyer? We have significant experience helping car accident victims to be compensated for their injuries. Contact Jeff Youngman at (201) 791-4400.