San Antonio Construction Accident Attorneys

Michael Grossman, San Antonio Construction Accident Injury Lawyer, Explains the Process of Construction Worker Injury Claims

If you or someone you love has been injured in a construction accident and you are considering seeking financial compensation, you should know how complex this process can be.

Do you have a legal question?
Enter your phone number below and let's talk.
--

Texas laws regulating construction accidents and other workplace injuries are very complex, and construction companies in particular are adept at manipulating technicalities within these laws to escape legal liability completely. The type of case you need to file depends on a number of different factors, including whether or not your employer subscribes to workers’ compensation insurance, and whether you are a contractor or an employee. An experienced San Antonio construction accident attorney from Grossman Law Offices can help you understand your specific situation and make the best decision for you and your family.


Difficulties in Construction Accident Cases

Construction accidents cases are made more difficult partially due to the nature of the work. Construction work is dangerous. Faulty equipment, trench accidents, and scaffolding accidents in particular can cause severe injuries or even death. But despite these increased risks, many construction companies do not focus on safety, and choose instead to focus on manipulating the system in order to avoid liability when one of their workers does get hurt.

In the past, tort reform in Texas changed the laws that govern construction accidents substantially. Among other things, the tort reform effectively divided construction accident cases into two categories: construction accidents that are covered by workers’ compensation insurance (called subscriber cases), and construction accidents that are not governed by workers’ compensation insurance (called non-subscriber cases).

This distinction is incredibly important. It determines how you need to approach your case, what tasks your attorney will need to fulfill, whether or not there will be limits to the amount of compensation you can receive, who can receive compensation, and numerous other elements of your case.


What is Workers’ Compensation Insurance and How Does it Affect my Case?

The Texas Workers’ Compensation Act was established in 1993, and provided a means for companies to protect themselves from lawsuits. That point bears repeating: workers’ compensation insurance is designed to protect employers, not employees. The workers’ compensation act allows employers to purchase workers’ compensation insurance. This coverage provides money for an employee’s medical expenses and a portion of his or her lost wages if that employee is injured on the job. But in exchange for this coverage, employees are not able to file a lawsuit against an employer. It is important to note that employees do not have a choice in this scenario. If a worker’s employer subscribes to workers’ compensation insurance, then that worker cannot file a lawsuit if he or she is injured (in almost all cases).

Unfortunately, companies will often bend the rules and an injured employee will not receive enough money to cover his or her expenses, even if his or her employer is protected by workers’ compensation insurance. An attorney with knowledge of workers’ compensation laws can explain in more detail what sort of situation you are in and what options you have available.

Despite the legal protection offered by workers’ compensation insurance, some employers choose not to subscribe to it. In the construction industry, this is even more common. These employers are called non-subscribers, and non-subscriber cases are substantially different from subscriber cases. While the workers’ compensation act provides protection to employers who subscribe to it, it also enacts penalties against those employers who choose not to subscribe. Employers without any sort of workers’ compensation insurance lose many of their legal defenses, and there are no limits to the amount of money that an injured worker can potentially recover.

Do you have a legal question?
Enter your phone number below and let's talk.
--

But this does not mean that a non-subscriber case holds no challenges. Since non-subscribers cannot rely on the legal defenses afforded to subscribers, they employ a different tactic: defense attorneys who focus solely on protecting non-subscribers from lawsuits. There is virtually only one option open to these attorneys: building a case against you. All their efforts will go towards proving that you were injured by your own carelessness, trying to help your employer escape liability through some obscure technicality. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of construction accident law, they are often successful against victims who do not have strong legal representation. But the San Antonio construction accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have a successful track record going up against these defense attorneys. We can protect you from their underhanded tactics and make sure you receive a fair settlement.

Construction accident cases are different from other workplace accident cases because a large percentage of construction workers are contractors rather than employees. Ostensibly, Texas law states that employers do not have legal liability for the safety of non-conventional workers like contractors. Many construction companies try to use this as a loophole to avoid legal liability and to avoid paying for workers’ compensation insurance. They will hire almost exclusively contractors and then not subscribe to workers’ compensation insurance, thinking that this protects them from any legal liability.


What can I do to Secure the Compensation I Need?

But even contractors are not without options. The experienced construction accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices can circumvent this narrow interpretation of the law in order to secure the compensation you deserve. For example, even if an employer specifically hires you as a contractor, certain factors in that working relationship can lead to it being legally considered an employer-employee relationship rather than an employer-contractor relationship. Our attorneys have twenty years of experience examining these types of cases, and we have helped hundreds of people who thought they had a workers’ compensation claim, when in reality, they had a non-subscriber case. This is a good thing, as it allowed our attorneys to go after their employers for a much higher settlement – a settlement that would fairly compensate them for the injuries they received.

Even in cases where an employee has a workers’ compensation case and cannot file a lawsuit against an employer, there may be other liable parties. For example, this is very common in scaffolding accidents. If an employee is injured in a scaffolding collapse and his employer has workers’ compensation insurance, he may not be able to file a lawsuit against his employer. But scaffolding is often maintained and assembled by a separate company, and the injured worker may be able to file a product liability lawsuit against that company in addition to receiving money from his workers’ compensation claim. Situations like this are quite common in construction accident cases.

The bottom line is that these lawsuits are complex. Many people think they have a subscriber case, when in fact they have a non-subscriber case; or people will not realize how many other liable parties were involved in their accident. Our personal injury attorneys can help. For the past twenty years, we have been successfully investigating and litigating construction accident cases. We have seen every kind of complex worker-employer relationship, and we will thoroughly investigate your situation and explain to you exactly what options you have available for seeking compensation. If you have been in a construction accident, we can help you secure the compensation you deserve. If, on the other hand, you have already received a workers’ compensation settlement, but you are unsatisfied with the results, contact our attorneys. There may be other avenues available to you for seeking compensation, and we can help you find that out. Our attorneys are dedicated to making sure that you receive the settlement you deserve. So if you or someone in your family has been hurt in a construction accident, contact an aggressive San Antonio construction accident attorney from Grossman Law Offices today.

Use the navigation menu to the left to read about more specific construction work injury topics including construction site hazards, fatal construction accidents, scaffolding fall injuries, trench collapses, and workers' compensation.


Some of Our Most Recent Successful Cases
$550,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / Workers' Compensation Gross Negligence
(policy limits) A father of two was killed on the job when he fell from a personnel platform atop an elevated piece of machinery. The defendant was initially afforded protection from a liability suit by virtue of their workers' comp policy. Upon thorough investigation, it became evident that gross negligence was at the root of the accident, and suit was filed accordingly. A successful outcome was obtained through litigation.
Total Recovery:
$550,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$220,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$40,000.00
$162,500.00 Recovery - Workplace Accident (Shoulder Injury)
Recovered for worker who injured their shoulder while lifting a heavy object.
Total Recovery:
$162,500.00
Attorney Fees:
$81,250.00
Litigation Expenses:
$3,784.00
$226,000.00 Recovery - Workplace Accident (Shoulder Injury Requiring Surgery)
Our attorneys were hired by a delivery driver who sustained a serious shoulder injury when a worker for a third party negligently operated a fork lift. The accident occurred as the plaintiff delivered a load of hay bails to a commercial farm.

An employee of said facility attempted to unload the trailer with a forklift. In doing so, he pushed several bales of hay off of the flatbed, over the side opposite the forklift. Consequently, several of the 400 lb (est.) bales of hay struck the plaintiff who was working to disconnect tie downs on the opposite side of the trailer. This resulted in serious injury to the plaintiff's shoulder.

The defendants took an aggressive stance and denied the claim, asserting that the plaintiff was the sole proximate cause of his own injuries by virtue of the fact that he was standing in a known dangerous area. Suit was filed soon thereafter. Our attorneys argued that the plaintiff's ordinary work duties, and indeed the normal protocol for all flatbed delivery drivers, consists of letting loose the materials to be unloaded. We maintained that the true cause of the plaintiff's injuries was that the forklift operator rushed into unloading the trailer.

Furthermore, the manner in which he unloaded the trailer was itself a contributing element of the defendant's negligence. The forks that were incorporated into the forklift in question were not compatible with stabbing hay bails; they were ordinary forks that were designed to be positioned below a heavy object that was to be lifted. The case was successfully resolved in mediation.
Total Recovery:
$226,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$84,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$5,500.00
$75,000.00 Recovery - Workplace Accident (Soft-Tissue Injuries)
Recovery for worker who suffered soft tissue injuries when his fork lift was struck by a delivery truck.
Total Recovery:
$75,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$25,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$350.00
$300,000.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident / Work Injury (Facial Fractures and Head Trauma)
A loading dock worker suffered serious including numerous facial fractures and minor brain trauma when an 18-wheeler back into him, crushing him against the loading dock. The plaintiff's employer was a subscriber to Texas Workers' Compensation coverage, thus a claim was rightly filed against the third party trucking company whom the truck driver operating the reversing 18-wheeler worked for.

The plaintiffs asserted the position that the trucking company in question was liable on the basis of respondeat superior and negligent retention. The defendants argued that the plaintiff was the sole proximate cause of his injuries by virtue of the plaintiff putting himself in harms way. They maintained that the plaintiff simply walked behind the reversing tractor trailer as it pushed back toward the loading dock.

It was later determined through deposition testimony that the truck driver had indeed instructed the plaintiff to stand behind the trailer in order to determine the vehicle's proximity to the dock. Once this fact came to light, the defendants agreed to mediate whereby the case was satisfactorily settled.
Total Recovery:
$300,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$120,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$9,807.00
$1,450,000.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident (Brain Injury)
Our firm was hired by a delivery driver who suffered a closed head injury resulting in the permanent loss of smell in a head-on accident. The incident occurred as the driver of an 18-wheeler lost control of his vehicle and veered into oncoming traffic. Our client's delivery vehicle was struck head-on, causing massive damage to both vehicles.

Our client was taken to an area hospital where he was treated for minor bodily injuries and a closed head injury which originally manifested itself as a concussion and temporary memory loss.

Suit was filed against the defendants following their failure to respond to our correspondence in a timely manner and litigation began. Included in the suit were both the defendant truck driver and his employer. The results of our investigation and the physical evidence from the accident scene made it apparent that the defendants had indeed caused the accident. Defense counsel soon conceded liability
Total Recovery:
$1,450,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$560,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$31,410.00
$150,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / Workplace Accident
(policy limits) Recovery of a disputed life insurance policy for the family of a contractor who died on the job.
Total Recovery:
$150,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$50,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$341.00
$335,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death/ Commercial Vehicle Accident
The mother of a young man hired our firm to investigate the death of her son following a fatal car accident. The incident occurred as one of the two vehicles involved ran a red light and drive into the path of the other. The defendant was driving a work vehicle for a construction company. The defendant survived the accident and stated to police that the decedent caused the accident. The police could not conclusively determine who was at fault, yet the police report strongly implied that the decedent was likely at fault based on the statement provided by the defendant.

The plaintiff's mother was not convinced. Through a thorough investigation, we ultimately determined that the stoplight that the defendant claimed that our client ran, in fact, worked on a timer whereby the light was always green between certain hours unless a vehicle traveling on the intersecting road had been stopped at the right light for more than 30 seconds. Based on an analysis of the vehicles and tire markings, it was conclusively determined that both vehicles were traveling at the speed limit, which clearly indicates that the defendant driver had not accelerated from stop, rather, he was traveling at the speed limit, which would not have triggered a green light for the defendant.

The logical implications of this information is that the light could not have been red for the plaintiff, and it certainly would have been red for the defendant. As a consequence of this information, the case was resolved through litigation.
Total Recovery:
$335,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$134,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$63,000.00
$125,000.00 Recovery - Workplace Accident (Closed-Head Injury)
Recovery for injured worker who suffered a closed head injury in a scaffolding accident.
Total Recovery:
$125,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$30,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$2,135.00
$700,000.00 Recovery - Commercial Vehicle Accident / Work Injury (Fractured Pelvis, Other Internal Injuries)
A loading dock employee suffered a fractured and damage to internal organs as the result of a crushing injury sustained when an 18-wheeler backed into him and crushed him between the trailer and loading dock.
Total Recovery:
$700,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$175,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$1,084.00

"When I Lost My Father..."

Get Adobe Flash player

Our Cases in the News

Get Adobe Flash player

Contact Us

Fill out the form below and a legal professional will contact you shortly.

Full Name:

Phone Number:

Email Address:

Describe your situation:

   

Related Articles

Click to Call

--
Enter your phone number above and click "Call Me" to talk to one of our lawyers about your potential case.

Our Clients' Words

Recent Successes