NYC Construction Accident Lawyer

Construction workers face challenging and dangerous working conditions. It’s no wonder it’s one of the top five industries with the highest injury rates. If you’ve been injured while on the job at a construction site, it’s time to contact a New York construction accident lawyer. Construction accidents are often complex and difficult to navigate, which is where an experienced attorney can help. The Weinstein Group Law Group, PLLC has over 30 years of experience in representing victims of New York construction accidents. Contact us today at 718-587-0944 to schedule your risk-free case evaluation. New York Construction Accident Lawyer can help you in the event you fall off some scaffolding at a job site.
Table of Contents
Why should I contact a construction accident lawyer?
What are common causes of construction accidents?
How to Receive Financial Compensation for a Construction Accident
Workers’ Compensation vs Personal Injury Lawsuits
Filing for Workers’ Compensation for a Construction Accident
Filing a Lawsuit for a Construction Accident Injury
Who can be held liable for a construction accident?
What should you do if you’re injured on a construction job?
What damages can a New York construction accident lawyer help me recover?
Statute of Limitations for Construction Accidents
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Why should I contact a construction accident lawyer?
Given the high amount of risk involved, construction sites are heavily monitored by state and federal safety regulations. However, despite the stringent standards that govern construction work, multiple parties involved often fail to protect their workers. Construction site owners, equipment manufacturers, general contractors, and sub-contractors may all play a part in a construction accident. However, all of these parties will do whatever they can to reduce their liability when a worker is hurt. You don’t have to navigate the complicated insurance claims process alone. Work with a skilled New York construction accident lawyer who can thoroughly investigate your accident, determine each party’s liability, and guide you through the legal process.

What are common causes of construction accidents?
Despite Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements and inspections, three of the top ten most frequently cited safety violations in 2019 occurred on construction sites. Failure to comply with OSHA’s safety regulations often results in construction site accidents that otherwise were preventable. Some common causes of construction accidents include:

Falls from elevators
Falls from ladders
Scaffolding accidents
Getting struck by falling objects or debris
Inadequate training
Improper use of tools
Electrical accidents
Slip and falls
Collapsed structures
Crane accidents
Equipment malfunctions
Fires
Exposure to toxic materials
Compressed gases
Welding accidents
When safety regulations are ignored, the risk of one of these accidents increases dramatically.

How to Receive Financial Compensation for a Construction Accident
The laws around construction worker injuries are complicated, but they lean in favor of the worker. When you’re injured on the job, New York gives you two different ways to get the compensation you need to pay for medical bills and lost wages: filing for workers’ compensation or filing a personal injury lawsuit. For many construction workers, this is the only way to provide for their families after an accident. If you are a construction worker injured on the job, contact us today.

Workers’ Compensation vs Personal Injury Lawsuits
You do not have to sue your employer to receive financial compensation. In fact, under New York law you can’t sue your employer. Instead, there are two legal options for you: a workers’ compensation claim or a lawsuit against a negligent third party. In most cases, the smartest move is to pursue both. Receiving workers’ comp doesn’t disqualify you from pursuing a lawsuit.

Filing for Workers’ Compensation for a Construction Accident
Workers’ comp is a form of insurance that your employer is required to carry. It protects both you and your employer. Here’s what you need to know about workers’ comp:

You can receive compensation for both your medical costs and a portion of your lost wages.
You don’t have to prove your employer did anything “wrong.” Workers’ comp pays out whether there was a safety violation or not.
Employers will not generally challenge a workers’ compensation claim.
Workers’ comp does not endanger your job. In fact, workers’ comp protects your employer from liability.
All injured workers are eligible for workers’ comp.
Our first move in your case is to make sure you have a claim filed for workers’ compensation. This helps protect you whether you have grounds for a lawsuit or not.

Filing a Lawsuit for a Construction Accident Injury
Construction accidents generally don’t happen unless a safety rule is broken. It can be anything from not being given a stable, safe ladder to being issued scaffold harnesses that have frayed ropes. It can also mean pushing employees to work too fast or under strenuous, unsafe conditions. When a work accident involves a violation like this, your injuries are a direct result of someone else’s negligence. This is when a lawsuit is appropriate. Pursuing a lawsuit is important for three reasons:

Workers’ compensation does not pay out anything for pain and suffering. You can only get this form of compensation from a personal injury lawsuit.
Workers’ comp rarely pays out 100% of all of your costs, especially missed wages. A lawsuit allows you to get the full amount you need.
The construction industry is New York’s most dangerous industry. If construction companies aren’t held liable for injuries, they will not improve safety conditions for future workers.
A lawsuit like this is never aimed at your employer, but rather a third party that played a part in the events leading up to the accident.

Who can be held liable for a construction accident?
While employers are exempt from personal injury lawsuits for construction accident injuries, it’s still possible to file a lawsuit against a third party under New York Labor Law Section 200. These can include:

Construction site owners
General contractors
Sub-contractors
Prime contractors
Equipment manufacturers, retailers, or wholesalers
Architects
What should you do if you’re injured on a construction job?
If you are injured on the job, see a doctor immediately. In serious situations, you’ll be rushed to the emergency room. Even if your injury doesn’t seem serious, it is highly recommended you go see a doctor. Some seemingly minor injuries can become severe enough to end your career if left untreated. Many construction sites will have their own doctor to send you to; sometimes they’re even on site. They often don’t have the diagnostic tools to make a full assessment. They will take a statement from you while you are still in pain and before you know the severity of your injury. That statement is for the insurance company to use against you. Similarly, some insurers will offer to send a nurse along to your doctor appointments to “coordinate care.” That nurse’s incentive is to reduce the number of expensive treatments you’re approved for since the insurance company has to pay for them. Go to a doctor you know you can trust. If the nature of your injury is urgent, go to the emergency room right away. The insurance company can wait to get a statement until you have a lawyer at your side.

What damages can a New York construction accident lawyer help me recover?
The consequences of a construction accident aren’t limited solely to the resulting injury. The injury can lead to severe emotional, physical, and financial consequences for the construction worker and their family. It’s difficult to estimate what sort of impact a construction accident will have on you and your loved ones. For this reason, filing a personal injury lawsuit against a negligent third party may be your best option to recover as many damages as possible. Your construction accident attorney can help you recover damages for:

Pain and suffering
Loss of wages
Reduction of future earning capacity
Physical therapy
Recovery expenses
Therapy or counseling treatment
Loss of consortium for loved ones left behind
Statute of Limitations for Construction Accidents
Once you’re injured on the job, the clock is ticking. You have a tight deadline to file your case. These deadlines are variable and can be very confusing:

If you’re working for a municipal entity, you have as little as 90 days to file a notice of claim.
If you’re working for a private entity, you have up to three years to file a lawsuit but should give notice much sooner.
Workers’ comp must be filed within two years, but notice should be given much sooner.
If you wait to file a notice of a lawsuit, even if you’re within the three-year deadline, you may not get any money. The insurance company will attempt to “disclaim” it because of the amount of time that has passed. For this reason, it’s crucial that you contact a construction accident lawyer as soon as possible to give you the best chance of recovering your rightful compensation.

Contact a Leading New York Construction Accident Lawyer Today
The bottom line is that any time you’re injured on a construction job, you need to look out for yourself and your family. The Weinstein Group, PLLC has represented injured workers for 30 years from all industries, including:

Iron workers
Carpenters
Mason tenders
Tin knockers
Steamfitters
Sandhogs
Laborers
Shop stewards
The Weinstein Group, PLLC prides itself on the respectful and open communication we maintain with all of our clients. When you hire us as your New York construction accident lawyer, you’ll gain legal representation that prioritizes you and your family. Our lawyers aren’t afraid to take aggressive legal action against negligent parties. Take a look at what makes us different to get a sense of how we operate. When you call The Weinstein Law Group, PLLC, you don’t pay a dime unless we win. It doesn’t matter how long we worked on your case. If you don’t receive financial compensation, we don’t charge you a single cent. Don’t pass up the money that you deserve. Call The Weinstein Law Group, PLLC today, and we’ll give you a 100% free case consultation. We’ll answer your questions and suggest the next step for you to take, whether you hire us or not.

New York Slip and Fall Lawyer

If you slipped and fell in a store or on someone else’s property and suspect negligence is to blame, you need to get in touch with a New York slip and fall lawyer as soon as possible. You may be eligible to collect compensation for the suffering you’ve been forced to endure.

Steven Weinstein is a skilled New York slip-and-fall lawyer with years of experience representing clients in cases similar to yours. Please contact The Weinstein Law Group, PLLC online or call (718) 587-0944 to learn more about how we can help you get the money you deserve.

Steps to take after a slip-and-fall

If you suffer an injury in a slip-and-fall accident, please try to keep the following in mind. These steps will help your health and strengthen your case.

Seek medical care

You might think that you’re fine even though your body just struck a hard surface, but that might be due to the adrenaline flowing through your system. Once that adrenaline subsides, you’ll quickly realize just how seriously you’ve been hurt.

If emergency personnel recommend you take an ambulance ride to the hospital, please follow that recommendation. If you’d rather not accept that trip, at least get to your doctor or a nearby urgent care facility. If you don’t get treatment, your injuries could worsen considerably. This could delay your recovery.

Report the incident

Tell the manager or property owner about the incident immediately. They should fill out an accident report detailing how the accident occurred. Get a copy of that report because it could prove to be very important to your case.

Gather evidence

Don’t assume that the report will fully explain why you slipped. If you’re physically able to do so, use your phone to take pictures of the accident scene. If, for example, you slipped on a puddle of liquid, get a photo of that puddle. Whatever caused you to fall, take a picture immediately. Those photos could provide the proof needed to help you obtain maximum compensation.

Connect with an attorney

Once you’ve received the medical treatment you need, get in touch with a New York personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Time is going to be of the essence because your attorney is going to need to investigate the accident. The earlier that investigation begins, the less likely it will be that critical evidence will disappear.

When to file a claim

You have three years to file a personal injury claim in the aftermath of a slip and fall accident in the state of New York. If you don’t take action within three years of the date you were hurt, you won’t have any recourse to obtain compensation.

Even though you have three years, you really should act immediately so the investigation can begin in a timely manner. Not only can evidence vanish, but witnesses may change their minds about talking, or their memory might not be as clear regarding the details. There could also be significant changes made to the place where you were hurt.

Potential damages you can claim

Anytime someone suffers an injury due to another’s negligence, the financial losses they incur are known as “damages” in legal terms. If you choose to file a lawsuit, you’ll be doing so in an effort to recover compensation to pay for your damages. The following is a look at some of the damages you may be able to claim.

Economic damages

If you’ve been severely hurt, you’re going to have substantial medical expenses. You might need surgery and might have an extended hospital stay. You might also need prescription medications and physical therapy. Your medical bills, as well as your lost wages, are examples of economic damages.

Non-economic damages

You may also have damages that can’t be proven simply by producing receipts or pay stubs. There’s a very good chance you’ll also experience non-economic damages, ones that are subjective. You may have a loss of quality of life because your injury won’t let you do the things you love. You may be experiencing mental distress or be in a lot of pain.

These are all examples of non-economic damages. You’ll need the help of a seasoned New York slip-and-fall lawyer to have the best chance of obtaining compensation for them.

Compensation you may be entitled to

You might be eligible to obtain a substantial amount of money for your economic and non-economic damages. But unless they know all the facts of your case, no attorney worth your time will make any promises regarding how much to expect. Your New York slip-and-fall lawyer will need to investigate your case before giving you any idea of what kind of compensation you may receive.

Who may be liable for your injury

A slip-and-fall case can be extremely complex for a lot of reasons. The most important one is that more than one person or entity could have played a role in causing the accident. These are just some of the parties that might face liability for your injury.

Property or business owner

It doesn’t matter where your accident occurred, or whether it was on private or public property. Whoever owns or manages the premises has a legal obligation to keep them in safe working order or to make sure people know where to watch their step. If you fell because of an unsafe condition, the owner or manager is at fault—most of the time.

Business manager

You might also be able to sue the manager of the place you suffered your injury. For instance, the manager of a grocery store may have failed to have an employee clear up a spill in a timely manner. If they just let that spill sit there, and you slipped as a result of that inaction, the manager may face liability.

Landlord

You might have been hurt in your apartment complex, or while visiting a friend living in a rental house. Let’s say you tripped on an uneven sidewalk, or you fell down stairs that were unsafe due to not being maintained. In this kind of instance, you might be able to sue the landlord for failing to address the hazard that led to your being hurt.

How our attorneys prove liability

Skilled New York slip-and-fall lawyers with The Weinstein Law Group, PLLC have decades of experience investigating slip-and-fall cases. We know how to gather evidence from many different sources. We’ll interview witnesses, obtain footage from nearby surveillance cameras, and take many other steps to get the proof it will take for you to win.

How to deal with insurance after a slip-and-fall

The best way to deal with an insurance company is simply not to deal with them at all. You’ll likely face harassment from adjusters who want to trick you into admitting fault. But a New York slip-and-fall lawyer can shield you from those tactics. Once you have legal representation, just refer all insurance company correspondence to your attorney.

Cost of hiring a slip-and-fall lawyer

You have nothing to lose by choosing The Weinstein Law Group, PLLC. The only way we’ll get paid is if we win your case and you obtain full and fair compensation. This is called working on a “contingency fee basis.” Our ability to be paid is reliant on our ability to achieve a successful result on your behalf.

How our New York slip-and-fall lawyers can help

Steven Weinstein has seen hundreds of slip-and-fall cases. He has learned from firsthand experience which cases are likely to win at trial or get a settlement. He will listen to the facts of your case and help you decide if it’s worth it to move forward. And with The Weinstein Law Group, PLLC you pay absolutely nothing unless we win money for you.

Don’t pass up money when you need it most. Call us today and set up your free consultation. You’ll get all your questions about your case answered, and we’ll help you understand if you’re likely to get compensation. Call us at (718) 587-0944 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation.

Call us at 718-587-0944 or fill out our online case form and schedule your free consultation today.