Dangerous situations are common at a construction site. Workers and visitors must take many precautions and follow safety regulations to remain injury-free in this environment. Even so, accidents may happen, potentially leaving victims with life-changing injuries.
If you suffered an injury at a construction site, you might have the right to seek financial compensation for your hardships. A construction accident attorney at Sadaka Law can represent you in your effort to seek a monetary award related to your injuries. Learn more about the process, your rights, and how a seasoned legal professional might serve your interests.
When To Hire a Construction Accident Attorney
If you suffered injuries in a construction site accident, you might want to reach out to a construction accident lawyer as early as possible. They will examine the facts of your case, determine your claim’s validity, and advise on how you should proceed.
Understandably, some victims might hesitate to reach out to an attorney because they believe the insurance company will take care of them. Victims may be unsure how to proceed because they are unfamiliar with injury accident claims, leaving them feeling stuck.
Even if you didn’t reach out to a lawyer immediately after your accident, you can still seek legal assistance at almost any point in the process. The following are reasons you might want the assistance of a lawyer moving forward.
Types and Severity of Injuries
When you face the possibility of a lifetime of hardships from your injuries, your potential injury claim amount could be significant. An injury lawyer will accurately estimate the financial award you can request from an insurer based on the severity of your injuries.
Complexity of Case
If the facts regarding the at-fault party are in dispute, a construction accident lawyer will perform their own investigation to build a case. Your lawyer’s experience with investigating similar cases is invaluable in this situation.
Disputes With Insurance Companies
If you are struggling to convince the insurer about the severity of your injuries, an injury lawyer’s know-how is indispensable. We can bring facts to the negotiating table that show how your injuries will affect your life now and in the future.
How a Construction Accident Attorney Can Help
Our construction site accident attorneys provide multiple services for our clients. We attempt to maximize your injury settlement award through the steps we take on your behalf.
Investigate the Accident and Gather Evidence
If you are seeking a personal injury award after the construction site accident, you must be able to show that another party behaved recklessly or negligently. Through our investigation, we will seek facts that show negligent actions occurred and that they led directly to your injuries.
Identify Liable Parties
Through our investigation, we not only try to show what happened but might also try to determine who is at fault for the accident. In a personal injury case, we need someone against whom to bring the lawsuit. We don’t need to identify a liable party in a workers’ comp case.
Navigate Workers’ Compensation Claims
Although workers’ compensation claims don’t require a liable party, filing a claim can still be difficult. You must complete multiple timely forms and steps to keep your workers’ comp claim alive. If you make errors along the way, you could jeopardize your chance to receive a claim.
Negotiate Settlements
Most personal injury lawsuits never make it to trial. Instead, they settle out of court after negotiations between your construction accident attorneys and the insurance company. Negotiating on your own can be intimidating. Requisite experience is invaluable when standing up to an unfair insurance company with only its interests in mind.
Construction Accident Law in New Jersey
After your construction site accident in New Jersey, you may need a workers’ compensation attorney or a personal injury attorney. The type of case you have depends on the circumstances of your accident. At Sadaka Law, our team can handle either of these circumstances, thanks to our extensive experience and track record of helping all kinds of injury victims.
Workers’ Compensation vs. Personal Injury Claims
Understanding the difference between workers’ comp and personal injury cases is important for construction accident victims.
- Workers’ Compensation: If you are an employee at the construction site and suffered injuries during the normal course of work, you likely need to file a New Jersey workers’ compensation claim.
- Personal Injury: If you were a visitor to the construction site, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit after the accident that was not your fault. If you were an employee who suffered injuries because of defective products or the negligent actions of someone other than your employer, you might be able to file both workers’ comp and personal injury claims.
Workers’ comp cases do not require proof of negligence or liability on another party’s part, making it easier to receive a financial award than in a personal injury case. However, you cannot seek a judgment of pain and suffering in a workers’ comp case, so your total financial award could be lower than in a personal injury case.
OSHA Regulations and Violations
If your employer knowingly violated OSHA regulations, leading to an accident and your injuries, you could file a personal injury claim instead of a workers’ compensation claim. To learn about your options in a case like this, reach out to our NJ construction accident attorneys. Proving such violations requires an extensive investigation from our attorneys.
Third-Party Liability
If our construction accident attorneys can show that a third party caused the construction site accident that led to your injuries, we may be able to bring a personal injury lawsuit. The third party could be:
- A delivery driver
- A refuse truck driver
- A subcontractor working on-site
- A repair person servicing a piece of equipment
- A power company employee
- An intoxicated coworker
Our construction site injury accident attorney’s investigation can show whether any third parties are liable for your accident.
Common Types of Construction Accidents
Because of the various types of work occurring at a construction site, many different types of accidents are possible. Some of the most common accidents on construction sites include the following.
- Electrocution: During construction projects, electrical wiring is often concurrent with building construction. If electricians do not provide adequate warning about exposed live wires, someone at the construction site could touch it inadvertently, causing an electrocution.
- Falling Objects: Construction sites use heavy tools and equipment, often well above the ground. Should a worker drop one of these items, it could strike someone at ground level and cause severe injuries.
- Falls From Height: Construction employees often must work on the upper floors of unfinished buildings, which could lead to a fall that results in life-altering injuries.
- Machinery Accidents: Machinery injury accidents at a construction site could involve a malfunctioning piece of machinery or someone else using the equipment improperly.
- Scaffolding Accidents: Workers could encounter a dangerous scaffolding accident at a construction site that leads to a fall. If someone does not assemble the scaffolding properly or a driver crashes into it, it could collapse and injure anyone using it.
- Slip- or Trip-Related Falls: Slips and trips are common at a construction site. Incomplete stairs, spills of slippery chemicals, poor lighting, and broken handrails could cause construction employees to lose their balance and fall.
- Trench Collapses: Workers must take significant precautions to prevent a collapse when digging trenches at the construction site. After digging a trench, the nearby ground can become unstable. If dirt falls into the trench, it could trap and crush workers.
Fatal injuries are possible in construction site accidents. If your loved one died in an accident at a construction site, surviving family members may have the right to file a claim with the aid of our New Jersey wrongful death attorneys.
Damages Recoverable in a Construction Accident Case
You may seek several kinds of financial damages after your construction accident. Our construction accident attorneys will determine the proper amount to request in each category.
Medical Expenses
Under a workers’ comp or personal injury claim, you can seek reimbursement of your medical costs. You will seek actual costs incurred on the date of the negotiated settlement and an estimated amount for future medical expenses.
Lost Wages and Earning Capacity
If you miss work because of your injuries, you can receive money for the wages you could not earn. The workers’ comp system places a cap on this amount based on your normal wages — usually 70%, according to the New Jersey Dept. of Labor. Personal injury cases are not subject to this cap.
If your injuries are permanent and you cannot work as much or in the same job in the future, you can receive payments for these projected future wage losses.
Pain and Suffering
When filing a claim under New Jersey workers’ compensation, you cannot seek a pain and suffering award. A personal injury claim does allow a pain and suffering award, which could be quite large, depending on the medical hardships you’re facing.
Finding the Right Construction Accident Attorney
When you need a construction accident attorney to guide you in seeking an injury award, don’t expect that just any attorney can handle the work. A tax lawyer or criminal law attorney will not have the experience to deal with specific situations related to injury claims (and vice versa).
Experience in Construction Law
Along those same lines, an injury attorney who only handles car accident cases may struggle to investigate the multiple potential causes of construction site accidents.
Construction accidents often involve dealing with the workers’ compensation system. Not every personal injury lawyer has a firm grasp of the complexities involved in handling workers’ comp cases.
At Sadaka Law, we have experience representing injury victims in multiple circumstances, including personal injury and workers’ comp. This experience allows us to handle many construction site accident cases, even those where the victim could seek awards under both criteria.
Track Record of Success
When seeking an attorney for construction accident claims, pay attention to any claims the law firm has won for past victims.
An attorney who doesn’t have a track record of winning workers’ comp claims for victims might not be able to help with the situations specific to your case. Before hiring construction accident attorneys, ask about their success rate with cases similar to yours.
Call Sadaka Law Today
If you suffered injuries in an accident at a construction site, you may have the right to receive compensation. A financial award could significantly benefit your life when your injuries leave you unable to work and collect a salary.
Trust our construction accident attorney to guide you through seeking damages. Regardless of whether your case fits under the workers’ compensation system or as a personal injury claim, we can help. Contact Sadaka Law today at (800) 810-3457.
Construction Accidents Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. It is advisable to retain a construction accident attorney whether you bear no or partial responsibility for the accident. These attorneys can help you determine if there is a potential case against your employer or someone else other than your employer.
The initial consultation and case evaluation are always free. During this appointment, the construction accident lawyer evaluates your case and advises you if it is eligible for a trial.
Our attorneys work on a contingency basis. This means that if you win your case, our attorney will collect a percentage of your award. Contact a construction accident lawyer at Sadaka Associates to learn more about our other costs and fees.
When you get injured in a construction accident, seek medical attention at your nearest emergency room. This will give you proof of your injuries should you wish to take legal action.
Make sure the relevant department in your company knows that you have been injured while on the job. Document evidence that may have caused your injury, and then — most importantly — contact an experienced construction accident attorney to ensure that those responsible are held legally liable.
There is no typical fair settlement for a construction site accident. However, our attorneys will always seek a fair settlement for you. Our goal is to work toward a settlement that will enable you to cover your medical bills and loss of wages at a minimum.
The settlement amount varies depending on the circumstances of the case and the individual. Contact one of our construction accident attorneys to discuss your individual case.
You can bring a legal claim against any person or party whose fault caused your injuries. This excludes your employer and coworkers because their liability is covered by workers’ compensation. In the case of a general contractor, your remedies are applicable in cases where you can prove their negligence.
Yes, you can. As long as you can prove that a person at the job site (not your employer or coworkers) contributed to your injuries due to their negligent behavior, you can bring a lawsuit against them. At the same time, you can collect workers’ compensation benefits.
However, your workers’ compensation provider may be legally entitled to part or all of their money once the courts compensate you.
There is no straightforward answer to this. In short, a general contractor or owner may be liable to pay you damages for your construction site injury if they fail to:
- Use proper care to provide a safe workplace
- Fail to warn of hidden dangers
Suppose a general contractor or owner creates unsafe conditions (themselves or via an employee) and receives a notice to remedy the harmful conditions from inspectors or state authorities. In the case that they do not address the unsafe conditions, workers can bring an action against the general contractor or owner.
General contractors or owners may be liable if injured parties prove they willfully or unknowingly violated safety regulations and statutes. The difficulty lies in providing these violations.
In certain circumstances, construction workers may also sue other subcontractors responsible for your worksite-related injury.
Plaintiffs in a construction accident case can recover damages for past, current, or future:
- Loss of wages
- Medical bills
- Pain and suffering
- Punitive damages
If the plaintiff dies, their survivors will recover total financial compensation for their monetary loss due to their loved one’s death in addition to damages for emotional distress. Survivors can also seek punitive damages if they can prove that their loved one survived for a short while after the accident or injury occurred.
Experienced construction accident attorneys often retain the services of construction and safety professionals. As construction accidents litigation is complex, these knowledgeable resources can help explain to a jury the issues surrounding relative liability, contracts, and insurance coverage, benefitting your construction accident case.
Approximately 90-95% of construction accident cases settle before going to trial. However, complex legal issues and workers’ compensation liens make these cases challenging to settle without intensive litigation processes.
Typically, a plaintiff injured at a construction site or the loved ones of someone killed in a construction accident has two years from the accident to engage a construction accident attorney and bring the case to court.
The law allows for an extension of this period in rare circumstances. For instance, if the case involves a public individual or party, plaintiffs or their representatives must bring the claim to court within six months of the incident.
