Construction sites can be perilous places for every member of a crew. Bosses who don’t keep the safety of their teams in mind can compromise both a build and their employees’ safety. Fortunately, team members injured at a worksite have rights. You may qualify to pursue compensation for your losses with help from a construction accident lawyer in New York.
What’s more, you don’t have to maneuver through that legal minefield alone. If you were injured in a construction site accident, you can turn to the team at Morelli Law Firm. Our New York City personal injury attorneys can walk you through your rights and fight for maximum compensation on your behalf.
What a New York Construction Accident Lawyer Can Do for You
Construction accidents can leave you and your loved ones short on money. After all, you have to pay for the medical treatments you need to adequately recover. During that time, though, you may not be able to do the work that originally brought your family income.
With all those bills abruptly on your plate, you may not want to pursue legal action against a supervisor or another negligent party for fear of losing your income. That’s why our office strives to help you overcome your financial barriers. When you come to work with our team, we can help you by:
- Bringing together essential case documents
- Submitting complaints and demands within the state’s deadlines
- Representing you in negotiations and trial situations
- Emailing or calling liable parties to arrange meetings
- Managing case-related communications to promote civil interactions
You can learn more about these services during your free construction accident case consultation.
Damages You Can Recover After a Construction Accident
Following a construction accident, there are a variety of damages you will likely be able to recover. The exact damages that apply will depend on a wide variety of factors, including the injuries you sustained, the actions of the liable party, and whether you are filing a personal injury lawsuit or a workers’ comp claim.
All available damages can be split into three overarching categories.
Economic Damages
Economic damages cover all of the losses you sustained that were monetary in nature. These damages include both money you were compelled to spend and income you were prevented from earning. Some of the most commonly claimed economic damages in construction accident cases include:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical costs
- Lost wages
- Decreased ability to earn income
- Property damage
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages cover all other losses caused by your accident. You need to understand that these damages will only be available if filing a personal injury lawsuit. Workers’ compensation claims do not cover non-economic damages. Some of the most commonly claimed non-economic damages in construction accident cases include:
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Emotional distress
- Diminished quality of life
- Mental anguish
- Permanent disability
Punitive Damages
In rare cases, punitive damages will also be available. As with non-economic damages, these damages are not awarded in workers’ comp cases.
Punitive damages are meant to serve as a punishment for the liable party rather than as a means of replacing loss sustained by the injury victim. These damages are reserved for extreme situations involving criminal negligence or the willful intention of causing harm.
New York Construction Accident Lawyer Near Me 877-751-9800
Personal Injury Cases or Workers’ Compensation Cases: What to Expect
If you’re injured on the clock, it can be difficult to determine which of your civil options you’d prefer to pursue. Construction accident cases can be classified as personal injury suits or as workers’ compensation suits. While workers’ compensation suits fall under the broader category of personal injuries, attorneys approach the two cases differently.
The first thing to consider is the legal deadlines. When you approach a personal injury case, you have to work within your statute of limitations to deliver a complaint to a county clerk. Your communication with your supervisor regarding your losses may be limited depending on your case’s liability.
If you pursue a workers’ compensation claim, you need to inform your employer that you intend to file a claim within 30 days of your accident. You’ll then need to submit a Form C-3 employee claim online. A construction accident lawyer in New York can guide you through this process.
How Workers’ Compensation Works
Workers’ compensation is a way to process injury claims without going through the court system. It is a no-fault system, so you do not have to prove that someone was negligent to get compensation. You just have to prove you were injured on the job.
The damages you can get from a workers’ compensation case are limited compared to a lawsuit, and they’re not guaranteed. Your employer’s insurer may try to deny your claim. If that happens, you can appeal their ruling with the help of a construction accident lawyer.
Also, if your employer is the only liable party, workers’ compensation may be your only option unless they’ve committed certain acts. These include gross negligence and retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim.
We Can Investigate Your Construction Accident to Identify a Liable Party
Negligence and a reckless disregard for a person’s safety both contribute to construction site accidents. That said, your site manager isn’t the only person who has to look out for your physical well-being. Liability for your losses may also fall to:
- Site owners
- Team architects
- Engineers
- Manufacturers
- Contractors
- Subcontractors
If you were injured because of the actions of a third party, it may be possible to pursue both a lawsuit against the third party and a workers’ compensation claim against your employer. Your ability to do so will depend on the circumstances of the case.
A construction accident attorney from our team in New York City can conduct a private investigation into your case to identify whose negligence may have contributed to your accident. Our team will also inform you about whether you may be able to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit against more than one party.
We Can Calculate Personal Injury Damages to Determine Your Case’s Value
When you pursue a construction accident, you want to know what kind of financial support you’re fighting for. Before you ever submit a complaint to a county clerk, our team can work with you to calculate the value of your losses.
Your losses can be both economic and non-economic in nature. Your case will have unique losses, considering your individualized circumstances. In turn, you can look to case precedent to determine what your average construction accident settlement might look like.
Calculating the Value of a Construction Injury
Economic losses relating to a construction site accident have a defined value. For example, the bills you receive for essential medical care and wages lost all constitute economic damages. Others can include essential property repair or replacement, reduced earning potential, or permanent disability.
On the other hand, you have your non-economic damages. These damages do not come equipped with bills. Instead, they cover your pain and suffering as well as your reduced quality of life. You can reference other New York personal injury or workers’ compensation cases to calculate the dollar value of these damages.
What to Do With a Settlement Offer
Some construction companies will reach out to you with a settlement offer shortly after your accident. If you do receive a settlement offer, wait to accept it. Many companies use settlement offers to limit their court time and keep you from your case’s maximum compensation.
You can compare a settlement offer against your own compensation calculations. Our team can help you put an estimate together and negotiate with a construction company on your behalf. We can even protect you from retaliation should a company try to dismiss or punish you for negotiating your settlement.
Taking a Construction Accident Case to Trial
Regardless of the kind of case you intend to pursue, you have to file a complaint to pursue compensation for a construction accident. Complaints allow you to bring your losses before a county clerk, but they do not guarantee a trial. Instead, they allow you to then issue a summons and negotiate for compensation.
That said, not every compensation conversation goes as planned. If communication breaks down or a liable party refutes your request for support, you can transition into a trial.
Civil trials involve several stages, including discovery, opening statements, witness examination, and the delivery of the verdict. When you work with our office, one of our New York construction accident attorneys will be with you through each of these stages. This way, you’ll have the representation to best fight for your case throughout the proceedings.
Construction Accident Discovery
If negotiations break down after you’ve filed your complaint, your case moves into a discovery phase. Discovery allows you and all other parties involved in your case to pursue evidence backing your claims. As the plaintiff, you can pursue evidence of a breached duty of care. Comparatively, the defendant can gather the means to refute your claim.
You can lean heavily on an attorney during the discovery process. It’s our job to work with law enforcement, third-party investigators, bystanders, and professional witnesses to support your claim. We can also stand by when the defense comes calling, ensuring that your answers to court-mandated questions reflect your needs.
Attending a Construction Accident Trial
With evidence gathered, you can move into a proper trial. A New York court will gather a jury and give your attorney the opportunity to present an opening statement. This statement introduces your construction accident losses to the jury while arguing for another party’s liability.
The defense has the same opportunity to present an opening argument. After these deliveries, though, construction accident trials become analytical. You and an attorney can present your evidence, summon witnesses, and cross-examine the parties that the defense brings to the bench.
Waiting for a Verdict
When you negotiate for construction accident compensation, you have more control over the amount of money you can request. In trials, control over your possible settlement falls to both judge and jury. These parties can approve some of your requests or even add damages to your complaint, depending on the case you present.
After an attorney cross-exams witnesses and presents their closing statements, all that’s left to do is wait. The court will reconvene when a jury decides if you should receive compensation for your losses.
If a court case doesn’t go your way, you may have the opportunity to put in an appeal. Should this be the case, you can sit down with our team to discuss the best ways to approach the bench.
We Have Won Millions for Construction Accident Victims
Morelli Law Firm always strives to help accident victims fight for the compensation they need to cover not only their current damages but their future damages as well. If you suffered a severe injury that will affect you long-term or even permanently, we want to examine what that could mean for the rest of your life.
Our legal team fights hard to get each client the best possible financial outcome in their case. Below are some of our top winnings in construction accident cases we’ve handled:
- $62 million for a construction worker who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury after falling off a roof
- $1.6 million for an electrician who suffered injuries after scaffolding moved underneath him, causing him to fall
- $1.5 million for a carpenter who lost his arm while working on a building in Manhattan
- $1.4 million for a maintenance man who suffered injuries after falling off a ladder
We are not afraid of taking on complex cases, so don’t let a construction company intimidate you. Our construction accident lawyers in NYC will stand by your side and help you fight for the compensation you need to obtain financial recovery.
New York’s Statute of Limitations Sets a Deadline on Your Case
The state of New York does put a deadline on your construction accident complaint. If you opt to file the complaint under the broader umbrella of personal injuries, you have more time to file. New York Civil Practice Law & Rules § 214 gives you three years to take legal action.
That said, you can also file for workers’ compensation after a construction accident. If you do, Workers’ Compensation Law § 28 gives you two years to file your complaint. You can discuss your filing options with a NY construction accident attorney to determine your best path forward.
How Do I Pay for a Construction Accident Attorney
Our construction accident attorneys get paid only if you win compensation in your case. This is called working on contingency. This lets anyone who has been injured get legal representation so they can fight for justice.
When you hire a lawyer that works on contingency, the contract will state what the contingency fee will be. This is usually a percentage of the final settlement or court award. This may change based on the complexity of your case.
Any lawyer worth their money will strive to get you more compensation beyond what you’d have to pay. Ignore the low-ball offers from insurers and find out how much your case is really worth with one call to our firm.
Let a New York Construction Accident Attorney Represent You
Walking away from a construction site accident can leave you in an uncomfortable position. If you’re physically injured, there’s a chance you won’t return to work for weeks or months. You don’t have to go that long without financial support, though. Instead, you can rely on our New York construction accident lawyers.
Morelli Law Firm is ready to help you fight for compensation based on construction site accident losses. To start discussing the support to which you may be entitled, get in touch with us today. You can schedule your case evaluation over the phone or through our online form.