San Bernardino Construction Accident Lawyer
Numerous construction projects are currently ongoing in San Bernardino, including high-rise office buildings, condos, restaurants, and hotels, as part of the Downtown San Bernardino Specific Plan. Developers hire teams of contractors, supervisors, project managers, and laborers to work on these sites.
However, construction workers who are around dangerous equipment every day are prone to severe accidents and injuries. When a construction site worker suffers injuries while at their job, they may be eligible to file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, or they may be eligible to file a personal injury claim against a negligent third party.
If you or a person you care about recently suffered injuries in a construction accident, you should obtain the legal help that you need as quickly as possible. Waiting too long to seek legal counsel to represent you in a workers’ compensation or negligence claim may jeopardize your right to recover the monetary damages you need.
The San Bernardino construction accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP are here to help you handle every aspect of your construction accident claim. Our lawyers can file a workers’ compensation claim for you and represent you at all hearings.
In addition, we can file a personal injury claim on your behalf against a third party or their insurance company for additional compensation. We can explore all of your legal options and help you decide on the best course of action in your case.
Our knowledgeable legal team has recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our personal injury and workers’ compensation clients. Let us help you fight to recover the monetary benefits and damages you need in your case.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a San Bernardino construction accident attorney, please call us or contact us online to learn more.
Special note for other law firms: Our legal team handles catastrophic injury matters. We regularly accept referrals from other law firms, and we have the resources to take on tough cases. Feel free to call us to let us know how we can assist you with a referral.
What Are Some Common Construction Accidents on San Bernardino Development Projects?
Construction and building sites that utilize dangerous machinery are likely to see severe accidents and injuries. Sometimes equipment malfunctions on a job site, and workers fall from high places, causing them to suffer catastrophic injuries and other losses.
Some of the most common accidents on construction sites include:
- Motor vehicle accidents that a negligent driver causes
- Product malfunctions that result from improper maintenance, defective repair work, or product defects, such as manufacturing and design defects
- Explosions
- Slip and fall accidents on the work site
- Falls from tall ladders and scaffolding
- Falling objects that crush workers
If you sustained injuries in any of these accidents on a construction site, our legal team can advise you about your eligibility for filing a workers’ compensation claim or personal injury claim for damages. We can then file all necessary documents with the appropriate insurance company adjuster and begin pursuing the claim on your behalf. Our goal is to help you recover the monetary benefits and damages you deserve as efficiently as possible while still maximizing the value of your case.
Injuries That Construction Workers Suffer
Working on many building and construction sites is inherently dangerous. Construction site dangers typically result from hazardous and heavy equipment on the premises. Some of the most common injuries that construction workers may suffer in an on-site accident include crush injuries, traumatic head and brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, rib fractures, broken bones, permanent soft tissue injuries, internal organ damage, deep lacerations, internal bleeding, and vertebrae fractures.
If you suffered any of these injuries in a recent construction site accident, you should seek prompt medical treatment for those injuries at a hospital emergency room or urgent care center. The medical provider on duty there can physically examine you, order the necessary imaging studies, and help you plan future medical treatment.
Seeking prompt medical treatment after a construction site injury helps to ensure that your injuries do not become any worse. Moreover, if you plan to eventually file a workers’ compensation claim or a third-party claim, early medical intervention shows the insurance company that your injuries are severe and that you have taken your medical treatment seriously. Otherwise, the insurance company may undervalue your claim and refuse to offer you the total monetary damages you deserve.
While you focus your attention on recovering fully from your construction-site injuries, the San Bernardino construction accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can start advocating for you. Specifically, we can obtain copies of your medical treatment records, police reports, witness statements, and other investigatory documents to submit to the insurance company adjuster once you complete your medical treatment.
Workers’ compensation and personal injury settlement adjusters must see these documents to assess your claim accurately. We can also initiate favorable settlement conversations and work towards bringing your case to a prompt, efficient, and fair resolution.
Eligibility to File a Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Construction workers who sustain injuries at a job site may be eligible to bring a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. To qualify for these benefits, a worker must ordinarily have suffered an injury or illness while working at their job and while working within the scope of their employment. In other words, they must ordinarily have been performing a job duty at the time they developed their injury or illness.
Injured construction workers may be eligible for various types and amounts of benefits, depending upon the circumstances of their accident. Generally speaking, the more serious the worker’s accident and injury, the higher the total benefits they can recover in their claim.
First, injured construction workers can claim related medical benefits. In addition, they can recover a portion of their lost income. If their accident and injuries prevent them from returning to work, they may be eligible to receive vocational rehabilitation benefits. Finally, if a medical provider determines they suffered a permanent injury in their construction site accident, they can recover various permanency benefits.
To enhance your eligibility for recovery and permanency benefits in your claim, we can send you for a permanency evaluation with a qualified medical provider. The provider can examine you and draft a medical report establishing your permanent impairment as a percentage—or rating.
We can then include this report in the medical documentation we forward to the insurance company adjuster. Finally, if your case must proceed to a hearing, we can represent you at the hearing and introduce necessary evidence on your behalf.
Can I File a Negligence Claim After a Workplace Accident on a Construction Site?
Some construction workers who sustain injuries on the job may be eligible to file a negligence or third-party claim for additional monetary compensation. Because of the workers’ compensation system, an injured worker cannot legally file a lawsuit against their employer.
However, they can bring a legal claim, or file a lawsuit, against a negligent third party.
For example, an injured construction worker can file a personal injury claim against
- A negligent motor vehicle driver who caused an accident while they were operating a construction vehicle
- A product manufacturer or designer, where a product defect caused a malfunction that led to the accident and injuries
- A negligent supervisor, contractor, or foreman who failed to keep the construction site safe for workers
- A repair facility that performed deficient repair work on a piece of construction equipment, causing it to malfunction
To recover monetary compensation as part of a personal injury claim, the injured construction worker has to satisfy their legal burden of proof in the case.
Specifically, they must establish that the responsible party owed them a legal duty of care they subsequently violated in some way. Next, the injured construction worker must show that as a direct result of the responsible party’s negligence, the accident occurred. Finally, they must show that they suffered at least one physical injury in the construction accident.
As part of a personal injury claim or lawsuit against a third party, an accident victim may be eligible to recover additional monetary compensation for their injuries and other losses. Economic damages may include compensation for past and anticipated medical expenses, past and future pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional anguish, loss of use of a body part, loss of life enjoyment, and loss of spousal companionship.
If appropriate, Bentley & More LLP can establish the legal elements of a third-party liability claim. Moreover, if the insurance company refuses to pay you the proper damages you deserve, we can file a lawsuit, litigate your case in court, and, if necessary, take your case to a civil jury trial or binding arbitration hearing.
What If the Insurance Company Undervalues My Personal Injury Claim?
Regarding third-party personal injury claims, insurance companies are never on your side. In fact, insurance companies do not have your best interest at heart in any way, shape, or form. Instead of compensating you appropriately, insurance companies are only interested in paying you as little monetary compensation as possible in your case. In fact, insurance companies may lose significant amounts of money if they have to pay out a large personal injury settlement, arbitration award, or jury verdict in your case.
In construction accident cases where there is a workers’ compensation component, many personal injury adjusters may allege that the injured worker already received significant compensation through workers’ compensation. However, the problem with that line of thinking is that many accident victims suffer additional losses that stem from their personal injuries.
For example, they cannot always work at the same job or in the same capacity as before their accident. Consequently, they may need to take a significant pay cut. Additionally, construction accident victims who suffer catastrophic injuries often suffer intangible losses, including inconvenience, suffering, and intense pain. All of those losses deserve monetary compensation.
Our legal team can negotiate with personal injury adjusters on your behalf in an attempt to convince them to offer additional settlement compensation on your claim. However, if they refuse to do so, we can file a lawsuit on your behalf in the court system and litigate your case to an efficient resolution there. Even after filing a lawsuit, we may continue to field settlement offers and continue settlement negotiations with the adjuster.
Also, during the litigation stage of your case, we can:
- Retain an experienced medical expert to testify in your case at a deposition or jury trial, or at the very least, prepare a report that details the severity of your injuries and the symptoms you are suffering
- Answer written discovery questions (called interrogatories) from the defense attorney handling your case and exchanging the necessary documents during the discovery process
- Prepare you to testify at a discovery deposition and make the best presentation possible
- Take your case to a civil jury trial or explore alternative dispute resolution options
If your third-party liability case must go to a jury trial, we can introduce evidence and make convincing arguments for your right to recover additional compensation.
Talk to Our San Bernardino Construction Accident Lawyers Today
Greg Bentley & Keith More, Construction Accident Lawyers
Construction accident injuries are frequently severe and subject accident victims to ongoing pain, medical treatment, and losses. If you recently sustained injuries in a construction accident, you should seek legal help as soon as possible. Reach out to a San Bernardino personal injury lawyer.
The experienced and compassionate lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can meet with you right away to discuss your construction accident and start pursuing the workers’ compensation benefits or third-party damages you deserve to recover from your injuries. Let us help you recover the monetary benefits and damages you need to become whole again after your construction accident.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a San Bernardino construction accident attorney, please call us at (949) 870-3800 or contact us online to learn more.
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Bentley & More LLP -San Bernardino Office
Phone: (949) 870-3800