David M Fried

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.