A serious construction injury can leave you unable to work while bills keep arriving and your family waits for answers. Workers’ compensation may provide some immediate support, but it is not always the only source of recovery.
At the Perecman Firm, our Long Island construction accident lawyers represent workers injured on building, infrastructure, demolition, and renovation projects across Nassau and Suffolk counties. We investigate whether an owner, contractor, equipment company, or another third party was responsible for the accident and liable for losses that workers’ compensation doesn’t cover.
Call the Perecman Firm at (212) 977-7033 or contact us online for a free consultation. We take the time to get to know you and your situation, review your case, and find the course of action that gives you the best chance of a fuller recovery.
Table of contents
- Is Workers’ Compensation Your Only Option After a Long Island Construction Accident?
- The Type of Long Island Construction Project Affects Your Claim
- How Does New York Labor Law Protect Long Island Construction Workers?
- What Construction Accidents Do Our Long Island Attorneys Handle?
- Who May Be Responsible for a Nassau or Suffolk County Jobsite Injury?
- What Compensation Can a Third-Party Construction Claim Provide?
- Results We Have Recovered in Construction Accident Cases
- Why Trust the Perecman Firm With Your Long Island Construction Accident Case?
- FAQs About Working With a Long Island Construction Accident Lawyer
- Speak With a Long Island Construction Accident Lawyer Today
Is Workers’ Compensation Your Only Option After a Long Island Construction Accident?
Workers’ compensation may provide medical care and part of your lost wages after a job-related injury, but it does not necessarily represent the full compensation available to you.
The no-fault workers’ comp system exists so eligible employees can receive basic benefits regardless of who caused the construction accident. In exchange, New York law generally prevents workers from suing their direct employers for ordinary negligence.
That restriction usually applies only to the employer. It does not automatically protect a property owner, general contractor, construction manager, subcontractor, equipment company, or other business whose safety failure contributed to the accident.
A claim against one of those outside companies is called a third-party claim. It is separate from workers’ compensation and may seek damages that workers’ compensation does not provide, including:
- The portion of your lost income that workers’ compensation does not replace
- Reduced future earnings if you cannot return to the same trade
- Future medical and rehabilitation expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Permanent disability, scarring, or loss of independence
- The broader effect of the injury on your daily life and family
For example, you may receive workers’ compensation through your employer after falling from a scaffold. You could also have a third-party claim against the property owner or general contractor if the required fall protection was not provided.
Our Long Island construction injury attorneys investigate the companies involved in the project, identify any claims outside the workers’ compensation system, and pursue the full recovery supported by the evidence.
The Type of Long Island Construction Project Affects Your Claim
The project's location and the type of work being performed can help identify the companies responsible for the unsafe condition. Building, highway, sewer, bridge, and airport projects may involve different contractors, agencies, records, and safety duties.
Long Island construction includes work on the Long Island Expressway, Sunrise Highway, South Shore bridges, Republic Airport, sewer systems, utilities, and redevelopment projects. These jobs place workers around traffic, excavations, heavy equipment, temporary structures, and electrical systems.
After a work-zone crash, we may examine traffic plans, vehicle logs, lighting, and crew control. After a trench collapse, we may focus on shoring, soil, water, inspections, and control of the excavation.
A scaffold fall on a Nassau County building project may involve a developer, an owner, a general contractor, a construction manager, and several subcontractors. Contracts and site records can show who supplied the equipment, directed the task, or could correct the unsafe condition.
The New York State Department of Transportation’s Long Island projects show how many businesses and public entities may participate in one job. At the Perecman Firm, our Long Island construction accident lawyers identify every responsible party, which can expand the insurance compensation available to you.
How Does New York Labor Law Protect Long Island Construction Workers?
New York gives construction workers protections beyond ordinary negligence rules. These laws may hold owners, general contractors, and their agents responsible even when they did not directly employ the worker.
Labor Law § 240(1) Covers Certain Height-Related Accidents
New York Labor Law § 240(1), commonly called the Scaffold Law, requires proper safety devices for certain construction, demolition, repair, alteration, painting, cleaning, and pointing work.
The law may apply when a worker falls from a scaffold, ladder, roof, platform, or unguarded opening. It may also cover an unsecured or improperly hoisted object falling from above.
A Long Island Labor Law § 240 claim does not depend on union membership, immigration status, or job title. What matters is the work, the elevation risk, and how the accident occurred.
Labor Law § 241(6) Addresses Specific Safety Violations
Labor Law § 241(6) may support a claim when construction, excavation, or demolition work violates a specific New York Industrial Code rule.
These rules address blocked passageways, unstable flooring, unguarded openings, defective machinery, unsafe excavation, and falling materials. A worker’s share of responsibility may reduce compensation without ending the claim.
Labor Law § 200 Applies to Unsafe Work and Property Conditions
Labor Law § 200 reflects the duty to provide a reasonably safe workplace. Liability may depend on who directed the work or created, knew about, or should have discovered a dangerous condition.
Our Long Island construction accident attorneys connect each theory to the work, safety equipment, site conditions, and authority of the companies involved.
What Construction Accidents Do Our Long Island Attorneys Handle?
Our attorneys handle accidents involving falls, falling materials, electricity, excavation, machinery, demolition, and unsafe access. We examine the safety failure behind the injury.
Scaffold, Ladder, Roof, and Opening Falls
A ladder may slide because it was not secured, or a scaffold plank may shift during use. A roof edge, skylight, platform, or floor opening may lack guardrails, covers, tie-offs, or a safe anchor point.
Our lawyers examine the equipment, task, inspection records, site photographs, and testimony from the people who directed the work.
Struck-By Accidents and Falling Objects
Unsecured tools, steel, concrete, lumber, facade materials, and suspended loads can cause catastrophic injuries. Workers may also be struck by trucks, forklifts, excavators, or other equipment moving through a crowded site.
A Nassau County construction accident attorney may review rigging plans, crane logs, spotter assignments, video, and restricted work zones.
Electrical Injuries, Fires, and Explosions
Overhead lines, exposed wiring, temporary power, damaged cords, and poor lockout procedures can cause shocks, burns, falls, fires, or explosions. We investigate who controlled the electrical work and whether the required safeguards were working.
Trench and Excavation Collapses
A trench collapse can bury or crush a worker within seconds. Missing trench boxes, inadequate shoring, unsafe soil placement, water accumulation, or failed inspections may contribute.
Our Suffolk County construction site injury lawyers may examine the excavation contractor, general contractor, owner, engineer, and utility company.
We also handle Long Island construction site accident claims involving:
- Crane and hoisting accidents
- Structural collapses and demolition accidents
- Defective tools and machinery
- Chemical exposure and burns
- Caught-in or caught-between accidents
- Unsafe stairs, platforms, and walkways
- Work-zone vehicle accidents
These cases may involve contractors, manufacturers, or vendors. Call (212) 977-7033 for a free review. We can investigate before conditions change or records disappear.
Who May Be Responsible for a Nassau or Suffolk County Jobsite Injury?
Several companies may share responsibility for a single construction accident. Contracts may assign safety duties on paper, while daily reports, emails, testimony, and site records show who actually controlled the work.
| Potentially responsible party | What our attorneys examine |
|---|---|
| Property owner or developer | Statutory duties, project oversight, notice of hazards, and authority over the property |
| General contractor or construction manager | Safety responsibilities, supervision, scheduling, equipment, and power to stop unsafe work |
| Subcontractor | Work that created the hazard, direction of the crew, and control of tools or machinery |
| Equipment company or manufacturer | Design, guards, maintenance, repairs, inspections, warnings, and modifications |
| Public agency or outside vendor | Contract duties, traffic control, deliveries, inspections, and project involvement |
Your direct employer is usually protected from an ordinary negligence lawsuit by workers’ compensation. That protection does not automatically extend to the other companies involved.
Our attorneys obtain contracts, permits, reports, photographs, video, equipment files, witness testimony, and medical evidence. Those records can reveal who had the duty and ability to prevent the accident.
What Compensation Can a Third-Party Construction Claim Provide?
A third-party lawsuit may seek losses that workers’ compensation does not fully cover. Value depends on the injury, future care, lost earning ability, responsibility, and available insurance or assets.
| Type of damages | Examples |
|---|---|
| Medical and rehabilitation costs | Hospital care, surgery, therapy, medication, assistive equipment, and future treatment |
| Income-related losses | Lost wages, reduced earning capacity, lost benefits, and vocational retraining |
| Personal losses | Pain and suffering, disability, emotional harm, scarring, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life |
| Family and wrongful death losses | Lost financial support, household services, parental guidance, medical costs, and funeral expenses |
A complete damages analysis must address future surgery, permanent restrictions, lost union benefits, reduced retirement income, and whether the worker can return to the same trade.
Doctors, life-care planners, vocational professionals, and economists may document losses that will continue for years. Our attorneys use that evidence to show the full scope of your injuries and the impact they’ve had on your life.
Results We Have Recovered in Construction Accident Cases
Our construction accident results include recoveries for falls, falling objects, unsafe equipment, and other jobsite accidents:
- $30 million for the family of a construction worker who fell 44 stories
- $19 million for a worker struck by a falling steel beam during crane operations
- $15.2 million for a worker injured in a fall from a frame ladder
- $11.8 million for a union worker with a career-ending back injury after a scaffold fall
- $4.3 million for a worker injured when an unsecured scaffold plank shifted
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome, but they do show the level of fight we bring to every client’s case. The value of each case depends on its own evidence, injuries, defendants, and available insurance.
Why Trust the Perecman Firm With Your Long Island Construction Accident Case?
A construction case requires Labor Law knowledge, substantial resources, courtroom preparation, and attorneys who remain accessible to the worker and family.
A Long Island Presence With More Than Four Decades of Experience
David H. Perecman founded the practice in 1983 and built its reputation through construction and catastrophic injury litigation. Our Jericho office serves Long Island clients.
David chaired the New York State Trial Lawyers Association’s Labor Law Committee and lectured other attorneys about construction accident law. Steven Dorfman brings more than 20 years of trial and appellate experience.
Zach Perecman has secured multimillion-dollar construction recoveries, including $19 million in a falling-beam case and $4.3 million after a scaffold accident.
Resources to Build Complex Construction Accident Cases
Cases involving serious or catastrophic injuries may require the involvement of engineers, investigators, doctors, life-care planners, and economists. We invest in those resources when they strengthen the evidence and document long-term losses.
Many other attorneys refer complex catastrophic injury cases to us when defendants dispute responsibility or when records are difficult to obtain. We prepare cases for courts in Mineola and Riverhead.
Nearly $1 Billion Recovered and Recognition With Meaning
For more than four decades, we have recovered nearly $1 billion for injured clients through verdicts and settlements. Our awards and professional recognitions reflect different parts of our work:
- Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” recognized David H. Perecman for plaintiffs’ personal injury litigation.
- The Best Lawyers in America® and Super Lawyers® Top 100, New York Metro reflect sustained peer recognition.
- TopVerdict™ recognized two of the 20 largest U.S. work-accident settlements in 2020.
- The New York Law Journal's “Top Verdicts in New York” reflects significant case outcomes.
- Client satisfaction honors and an Avvo 10.0 rating reflect service as well as legal work.
These honors reflect trust among peers, trial experience, preparation, client service, and a dedication to excellence that we live and work by.
“They really looked out for me and made sure I always knew what was going on and explained everything clearly.” – Rob M.
FAQs About Working With a Long Island Construction Accident Lawyer
How long do I have to file a Long Island construction accident lawsuit?
Most New York personal injury lawsuits must be filed within three years under Civil Practice Law and Rules § 214. Government-related claims may require notice within 90 days, so prompt review is important.
Can an undocumented worker bring a construction injury claim?
Yes, immigration status generally does not prevent a New York construction injury claim. It may affect lost-wage damages, so employment and earnings evidence requires careful documentation and handling.
What if the contractor says I caused my own accident?
Under Labor Law § 240(1), ordinary comparative negligence generally does not reduce recovery when a statutory safety violation caused the accident. However, a claim may fail if nothing other than the worker’s own conduct caused the accident. Fault may reduce damages under § 241(6) or an ordinary negligence claim.
Can my employer retaliate because I contacted a construction accident lawyer?
Different laws prohibit retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim, reporting certain safety violations, or exercising other protected workplace rights. Tell your lawyer immediately about threats, reduced hours, reassignment, termination, or pressure to change your account so the conduct can be evaluated under the law that applies.
How long does a construction accident case take on Long Island?
A construction accident case may take months or several years. Timing depends on medical recovery, the defendants' expert analysis, court schedules, negotiations, and whether a trial is necessary.
What is a typical Long Island construction accident settlement?
There is no reliable typical settlement. Value depends on the injury, future care, lost earning ability, liability, insurance, and available defendants. We evaluate the evidence rather than promise a number.
How much does a Long Island construction accident lawyer charge?
The Perecman Firm offers a free case review and handles all personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay no attorney’s fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Speak With a Long Island Construction Accident Lawyer Today
A construction injury can threaten your trade, income, independence, and family’s security. Our attorneys can identify the responsible companies and explain whether a third-party claim may provide additional compensation.
Call the Perecman Firm at (212) 977-7033 or contact us online for a free consultation. Our Long Island personal injury lawyers represent clients throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties.