San Francisco, California Construction Accident Attorneys

San Francisco Bay Area · Los Angeles · San Diego · Sacramento · San Jose

Any worker injured at a job site through the fault of defective equipment, poor safety management, or employer neglect, needs representation by construction accident attorneys who are specialized in the field. At Walkup, we are familiar with the needs of injured construction workers, as well as those who are injured off-premises by activities occurring at construction projects. Construction zones, building projects and construction sites are inherently dangerous. Careful site management and supervision are required in order to protect workers and the public, from risks that are not of their making.

Our San Francisco, California construction accident attorneys represent workers from California. Even though your injury occurred at work, depending on the circumstances of your case, you may be entitled to compensation above and beyond workers’ compensation benefits.

If your construction site injury was caused by a defective product, machine, or tool, you may have a defective product liability claim. Inadequate safety precautions, dangerous design, architectural defects or errors can result in other avenues of liability. As with all our cases, we will examine and investigate your construction site injury claim from every perspective.

Our California construction accident attorneys have successfully represented clients who have fallen from cranes, scaffolding, and ladders, been injured by earthmoving equipment and forklifts, and who have suffered electrical injuries and burns. Since 1959 we have represented hundreds of injured workers in third party cases against defendants other than their employers.

EXAMPLES OF OUR SUCCESS

Dangerous Construction Site – $7,000,000 Settlement

Our construction site specialists represented a 40-year-old utility worker who was badly burned over more than 60 percent of his body while performing routine telephone line replacement. During the course of his work, a rotted power pole fractured, and high voltage lines carrying in excess of 12,000 volts of electrical current fell on our client who was standing in his bucket truck. Our attorneys brought suit against the responsible utility, and demonstrated that the rotten pole should have been discovered more than five years before the date of this tragedy. Using experts in the field of plastic surgery, internal medicine, forensic economics, and job site management, our attorneys recovered $7,000,00 on behalf of the injured worker. The recovery included reimbursement for lost wages and future wages and benefits as well as past medical expenses exceeding $1,000,000. As part of the settlement, our attorneys also negotiated reimbursement and resolution of an outstanding worker’s compensation lien in excess of $1,000,000.

Unsafe Scaffold – $2,000,000 Settlement

Our construction litigation team obtained a cash and annuity settlement with a value in excess of $2,000,000 on behalf of the survivors of a sheet metal worker who fell four stories to his death through a defective scaffold railing at a construction site near San Francisco . The decedent was working as an independent contractor on a re-roofing project at a large private residence. Our attorneys demonstrated that the building, which had been entirely scaffolded by a subcontractor, was in an unsafe condition. Using experts in construction site management, scaffold erection, and forensic economics, our wrongful death attorneys proved that the scaffold and its cross-arms has not been properly secured and that it was this error which resulted in the decedent’s death. The recovery included economic damages exceeding $1,000,000, representing the loss of future salary, benefits and household services of the decedent.

Falling Rebar – Permanent Back Injury

Our construction litigation team obtained a settlement in a confidential amount on behalf of a 25-year-old scaffold erector who was injured during the construction of a multiplex movie theatre in the San Francisco Bay Area. While working the fifth story of a eight story building, next to an unfinished elevator shaft, our client was struck by a 12 foot length of rebar which had been dropped by employees working for a different subcontractor. The metal rods struck our client in the neck, resulting in multiple ruptured discs. Utilizing experts in the field of construction site management, orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation, our construction site team demonstrated that our client could no longer work in manual labor, or as a scaffold erector. Suit was brought against the company which employed the laborers who dropped the length of steel. The settlement included full compensation for all lost wages, past and future, reimbursement of past medical expenses, an amount to compensate our client of pain and suffering, as well as a fund to offset the cost of any needed future treatment or surgery. The settlement also included resolution of an outstanding claim for worker’s compensation benefits which was asserted by our client’s employers.

Negligent Job Site Management – $2,000,000 Settlement

Our construction site team recovered a settlement having a value of $2,000,000 on behalf of a laborer who suffered serious abdominal and pelvic injury, including ruptured bowel and spleen, as a result of a trench cave-in at a home reconstruction project in San Francisco. Our client was nearly killed when the trench collapsed, crushing him against the foundation of the building being remodeled. His injuries included extensive inpatient hospitalization and rehabilitation and left him unable to perform any tasks involving manual labor or exertion. Because of his lack of formal education, he was unable to secure re-employment in a sedentary occupation. The recovery negotiated on his behalf included recovery of past and future lost wages, reimbursement of medical benefits, resolution of an outstanding worker’s compensation lien, and a lump sum cash payment in satisfaction of his claim for pain and suffering.

Negligent Excavation – Spinal Injury

Our construction site litigation team negotiated a settlement having a value in excess of $850,000 on behalf of a welder who suffered injury at five separate disc levels when an excavation project at an office building construction site collapsed. Our client was injured when he was struck in the back by a piece of compacted clay weighing an estimated 150 lbs. The chunk of earth fell from a section of the partially excavated wall which had not been properly shored or secured. Our attorneys brought suit against the excavating company, an entity different from our client’s employer. The multiple lumbar compression fractures prevented our client from returning to his occupation as a welder because he was unable to bend, lift or twist as required in his job. The excavating company, which attempted to show that the accident was somehow caused by our client, paid the entirety of the settlement.

Contact Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced San Francisco, California construction accident and employee rights attorney.