New Jersey Law of Personal Injury with the Model Jury Charges

Donald A. DiGioia, a member of Weiseman DiGioia, P.A. in Mountainside, New Jersey, is certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Civil and Criminal Trial Attorney. Mr. DiGioia has been a practicing trial lawyer for more than 45 years. He lectures on trial techniques at seminars throughout the state and has published writings, including a chapter in the volume, New Jersey Trial and Evidence (NJICLE 2008). He has been an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University Law School on trial advocacy topics. He is a member of the New Jersey Association for Justice (formerly ATLA-NJ), and has served on the Board of Governors of that organization. An Advocate of the America Board of Trial Attorneys-North Jersey Chapter, he is a member of the Union County Bar Association and has served on the Union County Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointment Committee. A former Chair of the District XII Ethics Committee, Mr. DiGioia currently serves as a Special Master by Supreme Court appointment. He was named as the Professional Lawyer of the Year by the Union County Bar Association in 2004. He is a Master and former President of the Richard J. Hughes Inn of Court, and he previously served as President of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers-New Jersey (ACDL-NJ).

James Hely was appointed judge of the New Jersey Superior Court, sitting in Union County, in July 2009, and concluded his service in 2023. He is a former member of Weiseman Hely DiGioia in Mountainside, New Jersey, and was certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Civil Trial Attorney. He has been a frequent lecturer for the New Jersey Association for Justice (formerly ATLA-NJ), the New Jersey Defense Association, NJICLE, the Union County Bar Association, and the New Jersey Law Journal. He has published books and articles on trial practice in Trial Magazine and other journals. In 1984, he and another attorney obtained the largest injury award in the history of New Jersey up to that time. In 1988, he achieved the first punitive damage award against the Audi 5000 for unintended acceleration. He has been an Executive Committee member of the New Jersey Association for Justice, a Master of the Richard J. Hughes Inns of Court, an Advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates-North Jersey, and board of trustees member of the Union County Bar Association. For ten years, he served on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on the Rules of Evidence.