Construction Accident Lawyer in New York

If you were injured in a New York construction accident and are unable to work or pay your bills as a result of another party’s negligence, you could be entitled to compensation. The New York construction accident lawyers from Shulman & Hill can help you seek the compensation you need to recover the financial losses you suffered.

Call 212.221.1000 today for a free case review.

Obtaining Compensation After a Construction Accident

As a survivor of a construction accident, you have options for collecting financial compensation. In addition, if you are the relative of a worker who did not survive their injury, you could also have a right to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

You could seek compensation through a workers’ compensation claim, a personal injury lawsuit, or both. Our firm can handle both of these cases for you at the same time.

We understand that seeking compensation can be confusing, especially if you are still trying to recover from an injury or the loss of a loved one. We can be there for you throughout the entire process, so you can focus on healing from your injuries.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Workers’ compensation insurance provides workers with free medical care for their injuries, as well as a portion of their usual wages. You can apply for these benefits and expedite the process by:

• Promptly informing your employer and the state Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) about the injury
• Hiring one of our attorneys to find evidence that supports your claim
• Letting us manage negotiations with your employer or their insurer

Our New York workers’ compensation lawyers can help you apply for these benefits, or appeal a denied claim.

Third-Party Personal Injury Lawsuit

If we can find evidence that another party’s actions contributed to the accident, we could sue them for damages. This would hold the at-fault party responsible and provide you with additional funds to support yourself and your loved ones.

Your New York personal injury lawyer can:

• Collect corroborating evidence from your medical records, witness statements, the police report (if applicable), and audiovisual footage
• File a lawsuit on your behalf
• Represent you at trial

Wrongful Death Cases

After a construction accident that takes the life of a loved one, you and your family have the same options as personal injury survivors. However, you may be eligible to collect different types of compensation. For example, you could collect survivor benefits from the employer’s workers’ compensation insurer, which includes money for funeral expenses and the loss of your loved one’s income.

If you also decide to file a lawsuit against a liable party, you could seek additional money for the sudden loss of financial support and the grief and loss of companionship you experienced.

We Accept All Kinds of Clients

Shulman & Hill handles both personal injury and workers’ compensation cases, and we can file wrongful death lawsuits as well as personal injury suits. This is an enormous benefit to those who qualify for multiple types of compensation. You would not have to retain two separate law firms to handle your cases.

It is our goal to help everyone who has suffered a preventable injury, regardless of the circumstances surrounding that injury. We even work on a contingency basis, so you owe us no attorney’s fees until after you get your compensation.

Damages Available to Construction Accident Survivors

While there are no guarantees as to how much compensation you will receive, several factors can help your lawyer to estimate your immediate and long-term financial losses. For example:

• How serious are your injuries?
• How long will you miss work?
• What insurance limits are at play (if any)?

As previously mentioned, workers’ compensation could reimburse you for medical expenses and loss of income. Lawsuits can secure a wider range of damages, including:

• Pain and suffering: the physical and psychological distress your accident caused
• Reduced quality of life: the leisure and professional activities you can no longer participate in and/or any loss of independence
• Loss of earning capacity: the money you should have earned by working in construction for many more years
• Loss of employment: if you were fired or forced to take early retirement, or if you had to undergo vocational rehabilitation training to find a new type of job

Who Gets Construction Accident Compensation?

Qualifying injuries—in other words, those serious enough to legally justify your lawsuit—include the following (this is only a partial list. Our lawyers can determine whether your injury qualifies):

• Head injuries, including traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
• Bone fractures
• Muscle sprains or strains
• Back and neck injuries, including spinal cord injuries
• Repetitive stress injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome
• Burns from fire, extreme heat, or electricity
• Cuts or lacerations
• Illnesses you were exposed to on the job

A New York work injury lawyer from Shulman & Hill will take all aspects of your injury into account when filing an insurance claim or a lawsuit.

Who Is Liable for My Construction Accident?

To ensure your lawsuit targets the correct party or parties, an attorney from our office will work diligently to collect as much evidence as possible. With enough information, we can tell you if you should sue:

• A contractor, for not following safety procedures
• A manufacturer, for allowing the sale of faulty products and/or not recalling those products fast enough
• A property owner, for allowing unsafe equipment or working conditions on their land
• A maintenance crew, for failing to take care of the equipment or tools they were responsible for
• An inspection agency, for failing to properly inspect the premises and/or allowing unsafe practices to continue

Our firm is not afraid of complicated cases. Even if your case involves multiple liable parties or a powerful liable party with a lot of clout (e.g., a large corporation or the state government), we want to help.

New York Construction Accident Statistics

Construction sites present many dangers, even fatal ones, to the people who work there. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) tracks fatal New York construction accidents, including the following:

• A New York construction worker fell from a building they were working on.
• A New York construction worker was hit and fatally wounded by a scaffold bracket.
• A Bronx construction worker fell and died on a construction site.
• A New York construction worker was hit and fatally wounded by a crane counterweight.
• Numerous workers throughout the city died after falling from a scaffold.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), thirteen construction workers were recently killed, accounting for 22% of all fatal workplace injuries in NYC for the year. Many more each year are seriously injured.

All too often, these accidents aren’t random events. They result directly from inadequate safety measures, such as:

• Scaffolds that cannot support even the minimum required amount of weight
• Tools that are not maintained properly or that contain defective parts
• A lack of harnesses, training, guards, helmets, or other safety features
• A lack of enforcement regarding safety measures
• Objects that end up falling because they aren’t secured properly

Unsafe working conditions, lack of safety training, and malfunctioning equipment are just a few of the reasons injuries occur on construction sites. It’s reasons like these that may have led to your accident. Workers’ compensation gives you the right to recover income and the cost of medical treatment for construction accident injuries. However, under New York labor laws, you could file a personal injury lawsuit and pursue additional compensation. Our firm can handle both your workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury lawsuit for you.

Common Construction Accidents Our Firm Handles

Highly correlated with the statistics mentioned above, some of the most common types of accidents are the cases we see most. These include:

• scaffolding accidents and falls from heights
• being hit by a falling object
• crane accidents, forklift accidents, and other kinds of machinery accidents
• welding accidents
• chemical exposure
• electrocution accidents

Contact Our New York Construction Accident Lawyers Today

Shulman & Hill understands that a construction accident can cause you to miss time from work—sometimes permanently—and creates significant hardship for your family. Our construction accident lawyers are ready to ease that burden by handling all the legal aspects of your case so you can focus on healing and getting your life in order.

We have recovered millions of dollars for construction workers hurt on the job. If you were injured on a construction site, call 212.221.1000, or contact us online to set up a free case evaluation.

We are proud to serve the people of New York and have lawyers who specialize in construction and work-related accidents at all of our offices throughout the city.