Were you injured on a construction site in Fillmore, CA?
At Cohen Injury Law Group, we trace the hazard that hurt you to the party that created it.
If you were hurt on a construction site in Fillmore, CA, the injury usually traces to a specific hazard, and that hazard usually traces to a specific party. A defective piece of equipment, a subcontractor’s unsafe work, and a property owner’s neglected condition each point somewhere different. A Fillmore, CA construction accident lawyer at our firm can identify who created the danger and pursue full compensation for what it cost you. We are ready to help you sort out what happened. Reach out to get started.
Construction Accident Lawyer Fillmore, CA
Construction is among the most dangerous work there is, and the injuries tend to be severe. What makes these cases different from an ordinary workplace injury is that the site is rarely controlled by a single company. A general contractor, several subcontractors, equipment suppliers, and the property owner may all be present on the same Fillmore job site, whether a housing development, a commercial build, or agricultural construction in the surrounding valley, and any one of them can be the reason a worker is hurt.
The danger is concentrated in a handful of recurring hazards. Federal safety officials identify four leading causes of construction death, known as the Focus Four: falls, struck-by incidents, caught-in or between accidents, and electrocutions. CDC research confirms these four account for the majority of construction fatalities each year. Each of these hazards has a cause, and each cause has a party responsible for it, which is where a construction claim begins.
Types of Construction Accident Cases We Handle in Fillmore
Most serious construction injuries fall into a few categories, and the mechanism of the injury often points to who is responsible. Our firm handles the following types of construction accident cases in Fillmore, CA.
- Falls from height. Falls are the leading cause of construction deaths, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, and they often trace to a missing guardrail, an unsafe scaffold, an unsecured ladder, or the absence of fall protection that someone on the site was responsible for providing.
- Struck-by injuries. A worker hit by falling material, a swinging load, or moving equipment may have a claim against the party that stacked the load unsafely, operated the equipment carelessly, or failed to secure the area. These injuries range from broken bones to fatal head trauma depending on what struck the worker and how fast.
- Caught-in and caught-between injuries. Trench collapses, unguarded machinery, and being pinned between equipment and a fixed object cause some of the most catastrophic construction injuries. They frequently trace to a failure of shoring, guarding, or lockout procedures, and where the danger came from the condition of the property itself, premises liability principles can also apply.
- Burn injuries. Contact with overhead power lines, exposed wiring, or ungrounded equipment can cause electrocution, severe burns, and internal injury, and responsibility can fall on the party that left the hazard live.
- Equipment and machinery failures. A defect in a crane, a power tool, a lift, or heavy machinery can support a product liability claim against the manufacturer or a maintenance claim against whoever was responsible for keeping it safe.
- Brain injuries. A fall, a struck-by blow, or an electrical injury on a site can cause a traumatic brain injury, an outcome whose effects and costs can reach across a lifetime.
- Wrongful death. When a construction accident takes a worker’s life, the surviving family may bring a claim against the parties whose conduct caused it.
Why Choose Cohen Injury Law Group as My Construction Accident Lawyer in Fillmore, CA?
Tracing Each Hazard to the Party That Created It
A construction injury almost never has just one possible defendant. The same fall can implicate the contractor who ran the site, the subcontractor who built the scaffold, and the company that supplied a defective harness, and only a careful investigation sorts out which of them is responsible. We identify every party whose conduct contributed to the hazard, because workers’ compensation from an employer rarely covers the full loss, and a separate claim against a negligent third party often does.
That work suits the way our firm approaches these cases. Our founder, Wayne Cohen, has spent his career on the plaintiff side since 1991 and has recovered millions of dollars for the people he represents. He holds a law degree earned cum laude at the University of Miami School of Law and has taught trial advocacy at GW Law School since 1993.
Sorting out who controlled a hazard depends on paperwork rather than recollection, since the answer usually sits in subcontractor agreements, equipment service records, safety meeting logs, and daily reports kept by different companies. Nicholas Cohen, the firm’s managing partner, directs the collection of those files across each contractor on the site. He completed his undergraduate degree at USC and his law degree at Loyola Law School Los Angeles.
A personal injury lawyer in Fillmore, CA at our firm looks past the employer to every other party on the site, because that is where the full recovery is usually found.
What Is Important to Understand About a Construction Accident Case?
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Construction Accident Cases
A construction injury can carry costs that a workers’ compensation claim was never designed to cover. Economic damages account for the medical care, the surgery and rehabilitation a serious injury demands, and the earnings lost while the worker recovers, along with the future care and diminished earning capacity when the injury is permanent. A third-party claim can reach these losses in full, where comp reaches only part.
Noneconomic damages, which workers’ compensation does not provide at all, compensate for the pain, the lasting physical limits, and the toll the injury takes on a person’s life. Liability rests on proving that a party other than the employer failed to use reasonable care, whether a contractor, a subcontractor, an equipment maker, or the property owner. California applies a comparative fault rule, so an injured worker’s own share of responsibility reduces the recovery without eliminating it.
What Are Important Aspects of a Construction Accident Case?
Construction claims carry features that set them apart from other injury cases:
- Workers’ comp and a third-party claim can run together. A worker can collect workers’ compensation from an employer and still pursue a separate claim against a negligent third party, and the two are coordinated rather than exclusive.
- The site has many players. Contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and owners each carry their own duties and their own insurance, so identifying every source of liability is central.
- Safety rules define the standard. OSHA regulations set the baseline for site safety, and a documented violation can help establish that a party failed to use reasonable care.
- The evidence disappears fast. Sites change day to day, equipment is repaired or removed, and conditions are corrected, so documenting the scene early is often decisive.
What Is the Construction Accident Case Timeline?
A construction claim runs on a schedule shaped by the injuries and by how many parties are involved. The stages typically unfold like this:
- Treatment comes first and runs its course until a physician can say the injuries have settled, which sets the claim’s real value.
- We work the site, collecting the incident report, any OSHA findings, photographs, equipment records, and the accounts of coworkers and other witnesses.
- We name every liable party, from the general contractor to a subcontractor to an equipment manufacturer, and coordinate the third-party claim with any workers’ compensation benefits.
- We put the proof of fault and a complete tally of the losses in front of the responsible parties and their insurers.
- We file suit and prepare for trial if the parties responsible will not offer a fair resolution.
The general deadline to sue a negligent third party is two years from the date of the injury under Section 335.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure. A workers’ compensation claim follows its own separate deadlines, which is one reason to get advice early.
What Should You Bring to Your Construction Accident Consultation?
You do not have to gather everything before reaching out, but these help us evaluate the claim:
- Any incident or injury report filed with the employer, contractor, or site supervisor
- Records and bills from the medical care you have received
- Photographs of the site, the equipment, and the conditions where you were hurt
- The names of the contractors, subcontractors, and equipment on the site
- Any workers’ compensation paperwork you have already received
We will review what you have and explain how the third-party claim and any workers’ compensation benefits fit together in your situation, including which parties on the site are likely responsible.
Reach Out to Cohen Injury Law Group to Schedule a Consultation
Our attorneys can identify every party responsible for your construction injury, coordinate a third-party claim with your workers’ compensation benefits, and pursue the full compensation your injuries warrant. If you were hurt on a construction site in Fillmore, CA, you owe no fee unless we recover for you. If you are ready to talk it over, contact us and we will begin looking into what happened.
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Santa Monica
2636 Lincoln Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405 -
Santa Monica – Broadway
520 Broadway, 2nd Floor
Santa Monica, CA 90401 -
Los Angeles
633 W 5th St, Unit 2876A
Los Angeles, CA 90071 -
Ventura
394 E Main St, Suite 302
Ventura, CA 93001
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