Riverside Construction Accident Lawyer
New condominiums, restaurants, and other building projects are continually going up in the Downtown Riverside area. Construction companies employ hundreds of laborers to work on these projects, as well as contractors, supervisors, and project managers.
When workers are around heavy and powerful construction equipment and machinery on a daily basis, they significantly increase their chances of becoming involved in an accident. Unfortunately, these accidents often lead to debilitating and permanent injuries.
When construction workers suffer injuries while on the job, they may be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim seeking various benefits. In addition, they may be eligible to file a third-party claim or lawsuit against a construction site supervisor, construction equipment manufacturer, or other person/entity, depending on the accident circumstances.
If you have suffered injuries in a construction site accident, you should never leave the outcome of your case to chance. In fact, you must have knowledgeable legal counsel advocating for your legal interests every step of the way.
The experienced Riverside construction accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP have the experience to recover the workers’ compensation benefits, along with the third-party settlement compensation you deserve.
Our legal team has recovered millions of dollars for our accident-victim clients, including injured construction workers. We can aggressively negotiate with the insurance company to recover the benefits and damages that you deserve. If the insurance company does not compensate you fairly, we welcome the opportunity to resolve your case efficiently in court.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a Riverside construction accident lawyer, please call us or contact us online to learn more.
Special note for other law firms: Our legal team primarily represents victims of catastrophic accidents and injuries with difficult or challenging cases. We also accept referrals of complex cases from other law firms regularly. Feel free to call us to discuss how we can serve you regarding a referral construction accident case.
Types of Construction Accident Injuries
Individuals working on and around construction equipment are more likely to suffer serious injuries. This is especially true when workers are present atop tall ladders and scaffolding and operate dangerous equipment.
Some of the most common injuries that construction accident victims occur include permanent soft tissue injuries, broken bones, deep lacerations, spinal cord damage, paralysis, traumatic head injuries, crush injuries, internal organ damage, eye injuries, and internal bleeding.
If you suffered any of these injuries in a recent construction accident, you should report the accident and your injuries to your employer’s human resources department and your work supervisor. You should also insist on receiving a copy of any report filed.
As soon as possible after your construction site accident, you should also seek prompt medical treatment for your injuries, either at an urgent care facility or hospital emergency room. You should never allow the cost of treatment to prevent you from seeking medical care. Further, never try to tough it out and see whether your injuries will heal on their own. Instead, you want an immediate diagnosis and treatment plan for your injuries.
Follow your doctor’s orders. If they advise you to refrain from working, you should stay home and rest. You can seek benefits to cover your medical expenses and lost wages, so never try to push through the pain and continue working.
You should seek knowledgeable legal counsel right away. While you treat for your injuries, the experienced Riverside construction accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can begin gathering your medical records, medical bills, lost income documents, and other potential evidence to use in your workers’ compensation or personal injury claims. After you complete your medical treatment, we can begin taking legal action on your behalf.
Common Construction Accidents in Riverside
One of the main reasons why construction site injuries are so prevalent is that workers are around heavy and dangerous equipment every day. Some of the most common examples of dangerous equipment at construction sites include ladders and scaffolding, jackhammers, diggers and dump trucks, cranes, explosives, and chemicals,
Construction accidents in Riverside may happen because of:
- Falls from tall scaffolding and ladders on the worksite
- Motor vehicle accidents that involve a construction vehicle
- Defective construction equipment that malfunctions and causes a worker to suffer injuries
- Defective products that cause electrocution injuries and burns when they malfunction
- Explosions on construction sites that result in physical injuries or blindness
- Incidents where a piece of construction equipment runs over a worker, resulting in crush injuries
- Injuries that occur during a building collapse on a construction site
If you sustained injuries in a recent accident on a construction site, you should receive the legal help you need right away. Waiting too long to retain experienced legal counsel in your case may jeopardize your right to recover a claim for workers’ compensation benefits or personal injury compensation.
The experienced Riverside construction accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can help you determine your claim-filing eligibility and work to recover the monetary benefits and damages you need.
Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim in Riverside
Injured construction workers may be eligible to pursue a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. The California Workers’ Compensation System allows injured workers to recover various monetary benefits if they suffered one or more injuries or illnesses while working at their jobs and while working within the scope of their employment.
To qualify for benefits, a worker must ordinarily have been on the job and performing a job duty when the injury or illness occurred/developed. In most cases, workers who suffer injuries while traveling to and from work are not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.
Moreover, workers’ compensation benefits are available without regard to fault. Therefore, it does not matter how your construction accident occurred or who caused it. You may still be eligible to recover workers’ compensation benefits if you satisfy the remaining qualifications.
The experienced Riverside construction accident lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can review your accident circumstances with you and determine your eligibility for filing a workers’ compensation claim. If you are eligible to move forward with a claim, we can handle everything for you and file the appropriate documents with your employer’s insurance company.
What are Potential Workers’ Compensation Benefits?
Injured construction workers who file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits may receive monetary compensation.
First, the accident victim can pursue compensation for their medical expenses, as well as for a portion of their lost earnings, if they are unable to work after their accident. If they have to switch jobs or careers due to their injury, they may be eligible for vocational rehabilitation benefits. Finally, injured construction workers can receive benefits for permanent injuries and losses.
To recover some types of permanency damages, accident victims must have a qualified medical provider on board in their case. This doctor can perform a permanency evaluation on the accident victim, determine the body part or parts injured, and assess a permanency rating on those injured body parts. The medical provider must also relate, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that the injury or injuries are permanent.
Recovering Third-party Damages in a Construction Accident Claim or Lawsuit
In addition to filing a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, injured construction workers can file a third-party claim seeking additional monetary damages.
Although injured workers may not file a personal injury claim or lawsuit against their employer, they may file a legal claim against a third-party individual or entity. For example, if a work supervisor, contractor, project manager, or other individual was negligent in maintaining construction site vehicles or supervising other workers, the injured worker may have a valid legal claim against one of those individuals.
Moreover, if the construction site accident resulted from an equipment defect, the accident victim can pursue legal action against the product manufacturer or distributor.
An injured construction worker can pursue a third-party claim against a repair facility that performed defective work on a piece of construction equipment that later malfunctioned, causing the worker to suffer injuries. Finally, if the construction worker suffered injuries in a motor vehicle crash that a negligent driver caused, the worker can file a personal injury claim with that negligent driver’s insurance company.
The experienced Riverside construction accident attorneys at Bentley & More LLP can help you determine if you are eligible to file a third-party claim or lawsuit against someone other than your employer.
If you are, we can file the claim and negotiate it with the responsible party’s insurance company. We can also file a lawsuit on your behalf seeking monetary damages if the insurance company will not compensate you sufficiently.
Potential monetary damages that accident victims can recover as part of a personal injury claim or lawsuit include pain and suffering, mental distress, loss of use of a body part, loss of life enjoyment, inconvenience, anticipated medical costs, and loss of spousal companionship. However, in some instances, an at-fault party’s insurance company may reduce the compensation they offer you in a third-party claim if you already recovered benefits as part of your workers’ compensation claim.
Filing a Third-party Claim in a Riverside Construction Accident
To recover favorable monetary compensation as part of a third-party claim, victims of construction accidents can file a personal injury claim with the responsible party’s insurance company. To properly review the claim, the insurance company will look at various types of documentation. That documentation will typically include copies of the accident victim’s medical records and medical bills, photographs of the accident victim’s visible injuries, property damage photographs, if any, photographs of the incident scene, and lost income documentation from an employer.
The accident victim may also prepare a personal statement that describes how the construction accident affected their overall life and well-being.
Once insurance company adjusters receive the documentation that they need, they might contact the accident victim’s lawyer and place a settlement offer on the table. In most instances, the settlement offers are extremely low and are not worth accepting. Insurance companies make these low offers to see if accident victims will settle their cases quickly.
At Bentley & More LLP, our legal team can aggressively negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf and then pursue the highest monetary compensation available to you in your case. We can also threaten the insurance company with courtroom litigation if they do not take your case seriously and put a favorable settlement offer on the table.
If you decide to reject a settlement offer from an insurance company adjuster, we can file a lawsuit on your behalf in the court system and litigate your case to a resolution. During litigation, we may continue our negotiations with the settlement adjuster and help you answer written questions, called interrogatories, from the defense attorney. We can also prepare you for a deposition and, if necessary, for a jury trial.
Finally, we may help you explore alternatives to trial, such as mediation or binding arbitration. Our legal team can answer all of your questions and help you make the best possible decisions in your case.
Contact a Riverside Construction Accident Lawyer About Your Legal Options Today
If you suffered injuries as a construction worker, you should seek immediate medical treatment after your accident. Next, you should retain experienced legal counsel to help you recover the benefits and damages you deserve. Reach out to a Riverside personal injury lawyer.
At Bentley & More LLP, our lawyers have the necessary knowledge and experience to successfully handle a workers’ compensation claim, personal injury claim, or both on your behalf. In either type of case, we will aggressively negotiate with insurance company adjusters and pursue the maximum monetary recovery you deserve.
If you are eligible to file a third-party claim, we can threaten the insurance company with litigation if they fail to offer you sufficient settlement compensation. We can handle your case through the court system and pursue a favorable jury verdict or binding arbitration result that fairly compensates you for your losses.
For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a Riverside construction accident attorney, please call us at (949) 870-3800 or contact us online for more information.
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Bentley & More LLP – Riverside Office
Phone: (949) 870-3800