If you have been involved in a construction site accident, you have likely suffered injuries that require medical treatment and time off work. Such injuries not only pose physical and emotional challenges for victims and their families, but also create significant financial burdens for them. If you are going through a challenging time after your construction accident, you should consider retaining the services of an experienced Los Angeles construction accident lawyer to help.

How Does a Construction Accident Lawyer Help?

When you have a good construction accident lawyer on your side early on in the process, he or she will help you understand how to file a civil lawsuit and under what legal situations such actions can be brought. They provide several benefits, the most impactful being outlined below.

Answers Your Questions and Responds to Your Needs

One of the most underrated parts of hiring a good construction accident lawyer after an injury is the benefit of being able to have specific questions about your case answered by someone that knows what they are talking about.

How long will the process take? How will this affect my employment? You won't have to rely on bad information to feel confident about what you can expect.

Helps You Avoid Pitfalls

You may be able to file a construction accident lawsuit against a person or entity (other than your employer), but it would be very difficult for you to determine without extensive experience in this specific legal field.

Injuries that involve scaffolding, ladders, equipment, or other items and situations regularly found on a construction site need to be examined with a trained eye. When a product or business are partially responsible for an injury, they open themselves up to being held responsible for compensating victims.

These are known as third-party lawsuits. They are personal injury lawsuits that are filed in civil court and they are regularly overlooked. Construction accident settlements and verdicts resulting from third-party lawsuits can result in compensation for pain and suffering, something that workers' compensation claims do not.

Without a good construction accident lawyer, catastrophic injury victims can easily overlook opportunities for compensation that cost them millions of dollars.

Help You Be Taken Seriously

If you were accused of murder, would you go to trial without an attorney? Of course not; when your life is on the line, you want to give yourself the best odds possible.

Is the compensation you receive from your construction site injury “no big deal”? That is the message you are sending to those whose job is to limit your compensation.

Retaining a construction lawyer will make them think twice about messing with you. It can make the difference between receiving fair compensation for your losses and losing money as you try to pay your medical expenses and other related costs.

Helps to Secure Maximum Compensation

An experienced construction accident lawyer can help you secure compensation to cover any loss incurred as a result of the work-related accident including but not limited to medical expenses, lost income, future medical costs, loss of earning capacity and pain and suffering. In addition, an attorney may be able to help a family that has lost a loved one in a construction accident recover additional compensation by filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the at-fault parties.

While workers are entitled to receive workers' compensation benefits after a construction accident injury, it is important to remember that these benefits are often woefully inadequate when it comes to fully compensating workers. In cases where families have lost a primary wage earner, workers' compensation death benefits are extremely inadequate.

When to Hire a Construction Accident Lawyer

If you have been injured on a construction site accident, it would be in your best interest to hire an attorney early on in the process. A knowledgeable lawyer can help you avoid the pitfalls and costly mistakes that could potentially jeopardize your construction accident lawsuit.

Since construction accident victims tend to struggle with medical expenses and monetary losses due to lost wages, it might be in their best to contact an attorney sooner than later. It may be ideal to contact a lawyer within a week of the accident so he or she could get to work on your case right away.

If your employer or an insurance company approaches you with a settlement agreement soon after the accident, do not rush to approve it or sign it without first talking to your lawyer. The settlement may not work to your advantage especially if you have more injuries or financial losses that have not been taken into account in the settlement offer.

You may also require additional surgery or treatment later. If you rush into a settlement, you may not be able to seek compensation for these types of losses later.

What Should You Ask a Construction Accident Attorney?

Many attorneys provide free initial consultations to determine whether they can take your case. Before your meeting with your lawyer, you should have as much information as possible including details about the accident, your injuries, number of workdays missed, medical records, salary statements and documentation of your financial losses. This type of detailed information will help the lawyer evaluate your case and determine its value.

It is important that you find an experienced construction accident lawyer who is well versed in laws relating to workers' compensation, workplace safety, negligence, product liability laws and premises liability laws. Here are a few factors to consider and a few questions to ask when you are thinking about retaining an attorney:

• How long has the attorney practiced law and what part of his or her practice is focused on construction accident cases?
• How many construction cases has the firm handled recently? What types of construction accident cases have they handled?
• What is a typical settlement amount for cases similar to yours?
• What is the attorney's fee structure? Will you be responsible for out-of-pocket expenses? Does the firm work on a contingency fee basis, which means you don't pay anything unless they recover compensation for you?
• Are there any references you could talk to?

If you are injured and are unable to see the lawyer in his or her office, do ask the lawyer if they can meet you in your home, the hospital or the rehabilitation facility. This can be important if you are still recovering.

Third Parties in a Construction Accident Case

There are a number of entities other than the employer who can be held liable for a construction accident injury. For example, a general contractor or construction company that fails to provide a safe environment for workers can be held accountable. In some cases, a sub-contractor whose negligence caused the accident can also be held liable.

When a dangerous condition on a property caused a construction accident, the property owner can also be held liable. There are also situations in a construction site when a dangerous piece of machinery or equipment may cause or contribute to the accident. If that occurs, the manufacturer of the defective machinery or equipment can also be held liable. If you have lost a loved one in a construction site accident, you may also be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking compensation for damages such as medical expenses, funeral costs, lost future income and loss of love, care and companionship.

Construction Accident Attorneys Available Now

The experienced Los Angeles construction accident lawyers at Greenberg and Ruby Injury Attorneys have a long and successful track record of handling these types of cases and securing maximum compensation for injured clients and their families. Their work injury lawyers operate on a contingency fee basis, which means you don't pay any fees or costs unless they recover compensation for you. Call (323) 782-0535 to obtain more information about pursuing your legal rights from experienced professionals.