After a construction accident, you could be facing serious injuries, mounting medical bills, and impacts on your ability to earn income after you have recovered.
We can help you sort through your legal options and move forward with a construction site accident claim or lawsuit. Our team has a track record of winning record-setting awards for victims of construction accidents—and your Chicago construction accident lawyer can fight for every dollar available in your construction accident case. We’re recovered millions of dollars for workers injured in the construction industry, notorious for including many of the most dangerous occupations.
In this Article
What Should You Do Immediately Following Construction Accidents in Chicago?
After suffering through the accident, construction accident victims could have a few different options for moving forward depending on the details of the construction accident case. These options may include seeking workers’ compensation and/or filing a third-party claim or lawsuit.
Can you sue your employer?
If you are wondering about whether or not it could be possible to sue your employer, know that construction workers are only rarely able to do so.
If you accept workers’ compensation benefits, you will not be able to take legal action against your employer. Typically, you could only file a suit against a construction sites employer if you can prove that their actions were exceptionally egregious and you have not yet sought workers’ compensation. You could also sue a construction sites employer if they did not purchase workers’ compensation insurance, but they were required to do so.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits
If you were a worker and your construction accident injury occurred while you were performing your job duties, our Chicago construction accident lawyers could help you file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. This workers’ compensation claim could cover any necessary medical costs, partial wage replacement, and other benefits, per the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Keep in mind that workers’ compensation claims do not allow you to seek compensation for non-economic losses from a construction accidents, such as pain and suffering.
Filing a Third-party Claim or Lawsuit
Other construction accidents may be the result of a negligent third party (that is not your employer). Such parties may be parts or equipment manufacturers, vehicle drivers, subcontractors, or other parties.
If you are eligible to file a third-party claim, you could pursue pain and suffering damages.
An experienced Chicago construction accident attorney can help you understand what your options are based on the details of your specific case.
What if you were injured on a construction site but you’re not a construction worker?
It is also possible to be injured on a construction site when you are not a construction site worker. This may be the case if you are a pedestrian injured when passing by construction sites or a vehicle driver passing through construction.
In these situations, a Chicago construction accident attorney from our legal team can help you determine whether or not a construction company could be liable for your losses and help you move forward with a construction site accident claim or suit.
Let Us Help You Determine What Your Case Is Worth
One of the first questions you may have is: How much compensation is available in my case? We will listen to your story and work to understand the nature of your construction site injuries and damages after a construction accident.
We Will Help Calculate your Case Value
In helping calculate the case value of construction accidents, we will ask you to tell us more about:
The extent of your construction accident injuries and your prognosis
The costs of your medical care and the expected future costs of your care
How your ability to go back to work has been (and will be) affected by your construction site injury
How your injuries have affected your day-to-day life and ability to provide your own self-care
If your relationship with your spouse or your family has been impacted
To what extent the accident or your injuries have affected you emotionally
We Will Gather Evidence to Prove Your Injuries
To build your case, we will also gather additional evidence of the extent of your injuries, such as your medical records and statements from your doctors. Generally, the more severe your injuries were and the more they’ve affected you, the greater the amount we could potentially seek on your behalf as an injured worker.
Still, don’t try to guess what you can get from a claim or lawsuit. Our Chicago construction accident lawyers have experience calculating goal settlement or award amounts, and we can tell you how much you could seek. We have always fought hard on behalf of injured workers especially those in the most dangerous occupations such as in the construction industry to recover the maximum compensation possible.
We Will Include Your Past, Present, and Future Damages in Your Claim
Some construction accident victims may not realize that they could seek compensation for all of their personal injury-related losses, whether those costs or losses happened in the past or they will be expected in the future.
You could pursue past and anticipated losses such as:
Medical bills: Reflecting your emergency care, visits to a doctor or specialist, surgeries, hospitalization, medications, physical therapy, and more
Income losses: Including any paychecks you missed due to your injury and any future reduction in your ability to work as you did before your injury
Pain and suffering: Reflecting your physical pain and emotional hardships following your injury
One reason you may want to work with our Chicago legal team is that we understand how to valuate construction site accident cases—and will work aggressively to pursue every dollar available whether it is from workers’ comp benefits, insurance companies, or the construction companies themselves.
Why hire a lawyer for construction accidents?
A personal injury lawyer from our team can help you navigate the process of your injured construction worker case from start to finish. We can:
Help you determine your options to recover compensation
Gather evidence
Prove negligence and liability, if you’re filing a third-party claim or lawsuit
Represent your best interests throughout your case
Negotiate a settlement
We Can Help With The Claim Process
If you are filing a workers’ compensation claim, one of our construction injury attorneys may be able to assist you with the process. We can help you fight any denials to your claim or handle issues with benefit payments with the insurance companies.
Our Case Results for Past Clients
We are proud of the settlements and awards we have secured for our past construction accident clients, including:
$7.5 million for a worker who fell due to a faulty support wall, which was at the time a record high award for this accident type in DuPage County
$3.2 million for injuries after a worker fell in an exposed trench
$1.4 million for a construction worker injured when they were exposed to carbon monoxide
We are happy to tell you more about our past successes in construction accident cases. We will bring our experience to bear in your construction accident lawsuit.
You Have a Time Limit on Your Ability to Take Action
Depending on the legal actions available to you, you may want to be aware of relevant deadlines that could affect your ability to seek compensation from construction site accidents.
You should report your personal injury to your employer within 45 days if you're seeking Illinois workers’ compensation (and your timeline could be different based on your injury type, per the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission).
Contact Our Team Now
If you contact our team sooner rather than later, we can work to ensure that your case meets all important deadlines. When you suffer a serious injury you do not want to miss out on the full and fair compensation that you not only deserve but also need to help cover your medical expenses and overall recovery.
Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Rights and Improve the Value of Your Case
Fortunately, you don’t have to suffer the consequences of your injuries without seeking compensation. You can take the following steps to protect the value of your case:
Notify your employer of your injuries sooner rather than later.
Seek medical care and follow through on additional recommended care.
Avoid making any recorded statements about your accident or injuries if an insurance company contacts you.
Don’t accept any early settlement offers without seeking a free consultation from our team.
Our Chicago Construction Accident Attorneys Are Available and Ready to Help
If you or a loved one has experienced an injury at a construction site, our staff of Chicago, IL construction accident attorneys can support you in understanding the law and help you get the full compensation you deserve.
We Have The Experience You Need
The Kryder Law Group, LLC has extensive experience litigating construction injuries. In a case of this nature, you may want the help of a lawyer familiar with construction practices and the safety regulations included in OSHA’s occupational safety requirements. If you have been injured at a construction site, contact The Kryder Law Group, LLC for a free, no-obligation consultation.
(312) 223-1700 