New York protects construction workers more forcefully than almost any other state, and insurance carriers have spent decades learning how to work around those protections. A New York construction accident lawyer earns their fee in the gap between those two facts. We have been handling and resolving these cases since David Perecman founded the firm in 1983.
The Perecman Firm, PLLC is a construction injury law firm representing workers hurt on job sites across New York City, Queens, and Long Island. We have recovered nearly a billion dollars for injured people and their families, including $29.95 million for the family of a worker who fell 44 stories and $19 million for a signal man struck by a falling steel beam. Construction and New York Labor Law work is the center of what we do, not one item on a list.
Injured on the job in NYC, Queens, or Long Island? Call (212) 977-7033 for a free consultation.
Table of contents
- Who Should You Hire as Your New York Construction Accident Lawyer?
- Founded on Construction Cases in 1983
- Why Do New York Construction Cases Work Differently?
- We Handle All Types of Construction Accident Cases in New York
- How Do We Build a Scaffold Law Claim?
- What If Your Injury Had Nothing to Do With Height?
- The City Records and Courts That Shape a New York Construction Case
- A $19 Million Case the Defense Said Was Our Client's Fault
- Our Construction Accident Results Over $2 Million
- Why Handling the Comp Claim and the Lawsuit Together Matters
- What Happens in the First 30 Days After You Call Us?
- Who Are Our Construction Injury Lawyers?
- FAQs Answered by a Construction Site Accident Lawyer in New York
- Talk With a New York Construction Accident Lawyer
Who Should You Hire as Your New York Construction Accident Lawyer?
Hire a New York construction accident lawyer who handles Labor Law cases every week, can name the attorney behind each construction result, keeps your comp claim and lawsuit together, and is ready to try your case if the offer is too low. We won't claim to be the best firm in New York, but we will show you how to evaluate your attorney so you can choose the best fit.
A search for "construction accident lawyer near me" can turn up dozens of New York firms. These are the questions worth asking each one, and our answers:
- Are construction cases most of what you do? Yes. New Labor Law decisions circulate through our office every week and are discussed internally, which shapes which cases we take, including borderline and contested ones other firms have turned down.
- Who would actually handle my case? A named attorney with construction results of their own. Every result on this page lists the attorneys who handled it.
- Will you handle my workers' comp claim too? Yes. We keep the compensation, third-party, and disability claims under one roof so nothing falls between them.
- Will you try my case if the offer is too low? We prepare cases to be tried, because knowing we can take a case all the way is what moves a carrier. We also handle our own appeals, about five to seven in a typical year by Zachary Perecman's estimate, and we have changed the law on appeal after losing at the trial level.
- Can we talk in my language? We work with Spanish-speaking and Polish-speaking workers, and attorney Mariusz Sniarowski is fluent in Polish.
"We've had cases come in with a fact pattern that another firm, frankly a good firm, rejected. We look at it and say, wait a second, this is a Labor Law case. There's liability here, and we can win it."
Zachary Perecman
If another firm has already told you there is no case here, we would like to look at it ourselves: call (212) 977-7033 and tell us what happened.
Founded on Construction Cases in 1983
Construction cases go back to the very start of David Perecman's solo practice. He couldn't afford to advertise, so his work came through other lawyers, and an older attorney nearing retirement handed him his personal injury caseload to handle. A good share of those files were construction accidents, and many of the injured workers were Polish construction workers, a far larger presence in New York City's trades then than today.
A Founder Who Taught Construction Law to Other Lawyers
That start shaped everything after it. David chaired the Labor Law Committee of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA) from 2005 to 2010 and served on its Executive Committee and Board of Directors through 2024. For years, he lectured lawyers, court personnel, and the public on construction accident law, including through NYSTLA's construction accident seminars.
When contractors, owners, and insurers campaigned to weaken the Scaffold Law in 2013, he spoke out publicly against it. Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America recognized him every year from 2008 until his death in November 2024.
Today his son, Zachary Perecman, and Managing Legal Officer Steven Dorfman carry that work forward with the firm's construction team. Alongside David, the two of them secured the $19 million settlement described below. The firm still serves Polish-speaking workers, a connection that goes back to that first caseload, as well as Spanish-speaking workers across the city.
Why Do New York Construction Cases Work Differently?
New York construction cases work differently because the Labor Law shifts responsibility onto the parties who control the money and the insurance, not the workers who swung the hammer. The Scaffold Law dates back more than a century, to the years when New York was building its first skyscrapers and workers were dying at a rate the city could not ignore. Owners and general contractors had no financial incentive to provide proper safety, so the Legislature gave them one.
Your Claim Is Usually Not Against Your Employer
The practical consequence today is that your lawsuit usually is not against your employer at all. Workers' compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against the company that pays you. The building owner, the general contractor, the other trades, and the equipment companies remain answerable in a separate personal injury lawsuit, and that lawsuit is where the real compensation lives.
We Handle All Types of Construction Accident Cases in New York
The Perecman Firm represents workers hurt in every kind of construction accident on job sites across New York City, Queens, and Long Island, including:
- Crane accidents
- Ladder falls
- Scaffold accidents
- Falls from heights
- Construction site trips and falls
- Falling objects
- Demolition accidents
- Machinery and heavy equipment accidents
- Defective or missing safety equipment
- Caught-between accidents
- Fires and explosions
- Toxic exposure
- Vehicle accidents on construction sites
We represent union and non-union workers in every trade, including carpenters, electricians, ironworkers, laborers, masons, plumbers, roofers, welders, and window washers, as well as undocumented construction workers.
How Do We Build a Scaffold Law Claim?
Falls are the leading cause of construction injuries and deaths in New York City, and falls and falling objects are what Labor Law 240(1), the Scaffold Law, was written for. It makes owners, general contractors, and their agents responsible when a missing or inadequate safety device leads to the injury. They cannot reduce your recovery by blaming you; they have to prove you were the sole cause and where the statute was violated, which is close to impossible.
"There's a belief that Labor Law 240 is a slam dunk. A guy falls off a ladder, you win. It's not. There's a lot that goes into it."
Zachary Perecman, construction accident attorney
Carriers work to shape the accident report and witness accounts early, so we get there first. We ask whether the load or the worker should have been secured, which device would have prevented the injury, and who was responsible for providing it.
Not every job-site injury qualifies under the Scaffold Law: repairs are covered, routine maintenance is not, and decorative work generally falls outside the statute. Courts have also extended Labor Law 240 beyond simple falls, to heavy objects that descend a short distance or topple from the same level as the worker.
What If Your Injury Had Nothing to Do With Height?
Trips, slips, electrical contact, unguarded saws, and open holes usually fall under Labor Law 241(6). It holds owners and contractors responsible when a specific New York State Industrial Code rule is violated on the site, even if another company created the hazard. Unlike the Scaffold Law, it allows comparative fault, so your share of blame can reduce the award but does not end the claim.
These cases turn on finding the right Industrial Code provision, and a citation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), while useful evidence, cannot stand in for one. We often plead Labor Law 200, the general duty to keep a site safe, alongside both sections, because the three laws work together in most construction claims.
The City Records and Courts That Shape a New York Construction Case
The NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) keeps records that are often among the first things we request after a New York City construction accident, because they can show who controlled the site, what violations were already on file, and whether the city had stopped work there. DOB's 2025 construction safety report counted 320 injuries and 10 deaths on building construction sites that year, with falls the leading cause, along with 7,618 stop work orders, up 24% from 2024. Queens recorded the most construction deaths of any borough, and Brooklyn drew the most stop work orders.
A stop work order or open violation at your site doesn't prove a Labor Law claim on its own, but it can point to the safety device that was missing and the company responsible for providing it. DOB enforcement data also shows a small group of heavily cited properties reappearing year after year, so we look at a site's violation history, not just the day of the accident.
Where These Cases Are Filed and Appealed
When people search for a "construction accident lawyer near me," the local detail that matters most is where the case will be heard. Most Labor Law lawsuits are filed in New York State Supreme Court, the state's main trial court for serious injury cases, in a county tied to the parties or the accident. In the city, that means Supreme Court in New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx, or Richmond County, and on Long Island, Nassau or Suffolk County.
Appeals from Manhattan and the Bronx go to the Appellate Division, First Department, while appeals from Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island go to the Appellate Division, Second Department.
A claim against New York State itself, such as an injury on a state-owned project, goes to the New York State Court of Claims instead, under its own notice rules and deadlines.
A $19 Million Case the Defense Said Was Our Client's Fault
Our client was the signal man for a crane lift at a Manhattan job site when a steel beam struck him. The defense theory was simple: he stopped watching the load after he gave the signal, turned his back, and injured himself.
What the investigation actually established was a chain of failures that had nothing to do with him:
- The load traveled out of the crane operator's field of vision
- The tag lines meant to stabilize the load were too short, so it swung and rotated without control
- The operator was a trainee who was not monitoring his load display, which would have shown the weight spiking the moment the beam snagged on a beam already installed
- He kept pulling, and the cable snapped
- The trainer responsible for watching the load did not watch it and did not call a stop, and received a Department of Buildings violation for the accident
The court granted summary judgment for our client on liability. Under section 240(1), the defense would have had to prove he was the sole cause, and with an unmonitored load display, tag lines that were too short, and a trainer who failed to stop the lift, that argument had nowhere to go.
The case then resolved for $19 million in 2024, in a settlement led by Steven Dorfman, with David Perecman and Zachary Perecman.
Our Construction Accident Results Over $2 Million
The 31 construction results below each exceeded $2 million, and together they total more than $170 million. Each one names the attorneys who handled it.
Many clients assume a verdict and a settlement are the same thing, but they are not. A verdict is what a jury awards at the end of a trial, while a settlement is an amount the defendants agree to pay, whether before trial, at mediation, or partway through trial. Every result in the list below is a settlement, including one reached during trial and one at mediation.
$29,950,000 Settlement – Fatal 44-Story Fall: For the family of a 51-year-old construction worker who fell 44 stories on a New York City high-rise project, under Labor Law 240(1). Adam Hurwitz and Steven Dorfman, with founder David Perecman directing the litigation.
$19,000,000 Settlement – Steel Beam Dropped During Crane Lift: For a signal man struck by a steel beam that fell during a crane lift at a Manhattan site, under Labor Law 240(1) and 241(6). Steven Dorfman, with David Perecman and Zachary Perecman.
$17,000,000 Settlement – Open Elevator Shaft Fall: For a steam fitter catastrophically injured when he fell through an open elevator shaft on a construction project. Steven Dorfman, Adam Hurwitz, and Zachary Perecman.
$7,000,000 Settlement – Ladder Fall During Demolition: For a construction worker who fell from an unstable A-frame ladder while doing demolition work. Adam Hurwitz.
$7,000,000 Settlement – Falling Fence Panels on a Roof: For a worker doing asbestos removal on a roof when three metal fencing panels fell, striking his head, neck, shoulder, and back. Adam Hurwitz.
$6,000,000 Settlement – Hydraulic Lift Failure: For a construction worker who suffered a severe crush injury when a hydraulic lifting system failed on a New York City high-rise project. Steven Dorfman.
$5,600,000 Settlement – Falling Scaffold Component: For a construction worker struck by part of a scaffold that was not secured during dismantling, under Labor Law 240(1). Zachary Perecman.
$5,500,000 Settlement – Crane-Supported Form System: For a carpenter hurt when a crane-supported form system flipped and slammed into the building. Peter Rigelhaupt.
$5,275,000 Settlement – Covered Floor Opening: For a worker carrying a ladder whose leg went through a gap between a plywood cover and a floor opening. Peter Rigelhaupt.
$5,000,000 Settlement – Heavy Machinery Crush Injury: For a construction worker whose ankle was crushed while operating heavy machinery at a New York job site. Mariusz Sniarowski.
$4,355,000 Settlement – Platform Collapse in Elevator Shaft: For a project manager who fell about 20 feet when a platform collapsed inside an elevator shaft. Adam Hurwitz.
$4,300,000 Settlement – Scaffold Plank Fall: For a worker who fell about 12 feet when an unsecured aluminum plank shifted during scaffold dismantling. Zachary Perecman and Adam Hurwitz.
$4,000,000 Settlement – Excavation Fall: For a worker who slipped and fell into an excavation ditch, injuring his knee and shoulder. Adam Hurwitz.
$3,750,000 Settlement – Head Strike and Fall: For a worker who was injured after striking his head and falling while working on a New York job site. Adam Hurwitz.
$3,750,000 Settlement – Hoisting Injury in Manhattan: For a laborer who fractured his ankle while hoisting a heavy object out of a Manhattan basement. Peter Rigelhaupt.
$3,500,000 Settlement – Unguarded Floor Opening: For an electrician who stepped into an unmarked hole where a floor tile had been removed. Adam Hurwitz.
$3,500,000 Settlement – Falling Scaffold Pole: For a construction worker struck by a falling metal scaffolding pole. Erica Colon and Adam Hurwitz.
$3,500,000 Settlement – Floor Collapse During Demolition: For a worker hurt when a building floor collapsed during demolition. Adam Hurwitz.
$3,400,000 Settlement – Fall From Height: For a construction worker seriously injured in a fall from height, resolved at mediation under Labor Law 240(1). Mariusz Sniarowski.
$3,325,000 Settlement – Falling Formwork Board: For a worker struck by a wooden board while dismantling concrete formwork. Steven Dorfman.
$3,250,000 Settlement – Demolition Debris Trip: For a construction worker who tripped over demolition debris. Zachary Perecman.
$3,000,000 Settlement – Debris Dropped Into Elevator Shaft: For a worker struck by demolition debris that fell into the elevator shaft where he was working below. Adam Hurwitz.
$2,950,000 Settlement – Falling Debris and Trip: For a worker who lost his balance avoiding falling debris and tripped over equipment. Adam Hurwitz.
$2,700,000 Settlement – Debris Slip: For a worker carrying plywood who slipped on site debris and suffered a bulging disc. Peter Rigelhaupt.
$2,575,000 Settlement – Facade Stone Fall: For a construction worker whose leg was crushed when a heavy facade stone being installed fell, under Labor Law 240(1) and 241(6). Mariusz Sniarowski.
$2,500,000 Settlement – Debris Trip While Moving Scaffolding: For a worker who tripped on debris while moving scaffolding materials. Zachary Perecman.
$2,450,000 Settlement – Concrete Debris Trip, Resolved During Trial: For a construction worker who tripped over concrete debris, under Labor Law 241(6). Adam Hurwitz and Zachary Perecman.
$2,225,000 Settlement – Eye Injury From Dislodged Nail: For a framer struck in the eye by a nail while working without adequate eye protection. Mariusz Sniarowski.
$2,175,000 Settlement – Blown From Rooftop Work Area: For a worker blown from an elevated rooftop work area while performing installation work. Adam Hurwitz.
$2,050,000 Settlement – Scaffold Fall: For a worker who fell when falling debris made a scaffold unstable. Adam Hurwitz.
$2,050,000 Settlement – No Safe Access From Platform: For a worker hurt stepping from an elevated platform onto uneven ground with no safe means of access. Adam Hurwitz.
Earlier construction recoveries include $15.2 million for a worker who fell off a frame ladder, $9.9 million for a union laborer who fell 10 feet from a rolling scaffold onto a sidewalk, $9 million for a worker who fell 20 to 25 feet when a steel reinforcement bar snapped, and $7.9 million for an injured construction worker. Our full list of verdicts and settlements covers every practice area.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts, and the amounts above reflect those particular cases.
Why Handling the Comp Claim and the Lawsuit Together Matters
An injured construction worker usually has three separate claims running at once, and the way they interact decides outcomes. There is the workers' compensation claim against the employer, the third-party Labor Law suit against the owner and general contractor, and sometimes a Social Security Disability claim. Each has its own requirements and can affect the others, which is why it matters how and when you file.
We handle all three in-house.
"A client doesn't care that they have different claims. They have one life. They had an accident, and this is what happened."
Zachary Perecman
Why the Comp Medical Claim Has to Stay Open
The strategic reason it matters is less obvious. New York courts are slow, and in our experience, construction cases commonly run three to five years, with complex ones running five to seven. Meanwhile, the compensation carrier pushes to classify permanency and cut off benefits, including medical, often around a year after the last surgery.
If the medical gets cut off, the client stops treating. Then mediation arrives, and defense counsel says the client has not been treated in three years, so how badly could they have been hurt?
Keeping the compensation medical claim open, when the carrier will agree to it, takes that argument away, and a firm holding only the lawsuit is in a weak position to protect it. An outside compensation firm may also have its own reasons to settle quickly for its fee, which can quietly damage the third-party case.
The New York State Workers' Compensation Board handles the benefits. Coordinating them with the lawsuit is our job.
What Happens in the First 30 Days After You Call Us?
Our first job in the first 30 days is not evidence. It is making sure you can get treated and keep food on the table, because many construction workers live paycheck to paycheck, and compensation benefits do not always start on time.
The investigative work runs in parallel and cannot wait:
- Identify and reach witnesses, and take signed statements while memories are fresh
- Send an investigator to photograph and measure the scene before it changes
- Locate surveillance footage before it is overwritten
- Serve preservation demands for equipment, video, incident reports, safety materials, sign-in data, and communications
- Identify defendants and deadlines, including notice of claim requirements for public entities such as the City, the Transit Authority, the School Construction Authority, and the Port Authority
- File records requests with federal OSHA, the DOB, and other agencies
- Run ownership searches and pull the DOB job file, which usually identifies the general contractor and yields permits
- Subpoena the employer early for contracts, work logs, safety meeting records, progress photographs, and accident reports
Behind that work stands a roster of construction site safety experts and engineers, along with an investigator who is a former police officer.
When we speak to a witness in that first week, we are not simply learning what happened. We already know what we have to prove, so we know which questions about the project, the equipment, and the instructions will matter in motion practice years later. Those first conversations are frequently what win the case.
The Deadlines That Start Running Right Away
Claims against public entities usually require a notice of claim, and while deadlines vary by entity, 90 days from the accident is the most common. A lawsuit against a private owner or contractor generally must be filed within three years of the accident, and a workers' compensation claim generally within two years, with written notice to the employer within 30 days.
When a worker dies, the family's wrongful death claim generally must be filed within two years of the death. Exceptions can shorten or extend any of these deadlines, so calling early protects every one of them.
Who Are Our Construction Injury Lawyers?
Named attorneys with construction results of their own handle our construction cases. Each one below has recovered more than $2 million in at least one construction case.
| Attorney | Role | Construction results over $2M |
|---|---|---|
| Steven Dorfman | Managing Legal Officer. Joined after more than 20 years as a trial lawyer and partner at a firm focused on catastrophic injury cases | $29.95M, $19M, $17M, $6M, $3.325M |
| Adam Hurwitz | Attorney with more than 38 years of litigation experience | $29.95M, $17M, two $7M results, $4.355M, $4.3M, $4M, and 10 more |
| Zachary Perecman | Managing Business Officer. Handles his own motions and appeals | $19M, $17M, $5.6M, $4.3M, $3.25M, $2.5M, $2.45M |
| Peter Rigelhaupt | Heads the firm's motion and appellate practice. With the firm since 2009 | $5.5M, $5.275M, $3.75M, $2.7M |
| Mariusz Sniarowski | Attorney. Fluent in Polish | $5M, $3.4M, $2.575M, $2.225M |
| Erica Colon | Attorney. Handles her own motions and appeals | $3.5M |
The late David Perecman directed the $29.95 million case and worked on the $19 million case alongside Steven Dorfman and Zachary Perecman.
FAQs Answered by a Construction Site Accident Lawyer in New York
These are the questions injured construction workers ask us most, answered as general information rather than advice about a specific case.
Will my construction accident case go to trial?
Most New York construction cases settle, often at mediation, and the ones that go to trial tend to involve difficult liability or very large damages.
Trial also has real costs for the client: testifying in court, and preparation costs that can reach six figures and come out of the recovery. When a settlement comes close to what a verdict would bring, most clients choose it, but what matters is having a team that can take the case all the way if the number is wrong.
Another firm turned down my construction case. Should I get a second opinion?
A second opinion is worth getting when another firm has turned down a New York construction case, because Labor Law claims often turn on technical questions, such as whether the work was a covered repair or routine maintenance, or whether a falling object should have been secured. A firm that does not handle these cases every week can miss them.
We have accepted cases that other firms rejected. Knowing what to ask when choosing an attorney helps, and so does moving quickly, because filing deadlines keep running while you look.
Do I need a lawyer if I'm already getting workers' comp?
You may still need a lawyer while you're getting workers' compensation, because comp covers medical care and part of your lost wages but does not pay for pain and suffering. If you were hurt on a construction site, a Labor Law lawsuit against the owner or general contractor can recover what comp leaves out, and it runs alongside your comp claim rather than replacing it. If that lawsuit succeeds, the comp carrier is generally repaid from the recovery, which is one more reason the two claims need to be handled together.
Can I be fired for bringing a claim?
New York's Workers' Compensation Law makes it unlawful for an employer to fire or retaliate against a worker for filing a workers' compensation claim. Your Labor Law claim is against the owner and contractor, not your employer, a distinction many workers do not realize.
What does it cost to have my case reviewed?
Having a construction injury attorney at The Perecman Firm review your case costs nothing. We work on contingency, so our fee comes out of a recovery rather than your pocket, and you owe us no fee if we do not recover compensation for you.
Talk With a New York Construction Accident Lawyer
The evidence that decides a construction case tends to disappear quickly. Sites get cleaned, equipment gets returned, and video gets overwritten, often within days of the accident.
If your search for a "construction injury lawyer near me" brought you here, The Perecman Firm, PLLC represents injured construction workers throughout New York City, Queens, and Long Island. Call (212) 977-7033 in New York City, (718) 587-0108 in Queens, or (516) 268-0130 on Long Island. You can also contact us online. Tell us what happened, and we will tell you honestly what we think can be built from it.
Reviewed by Zachary Perecman, construction accident attorney, The Perecman Firm, PLLC
Scope reviewed: statutory framing (Labor Law 200, 240(1), and 241(6)), case results, and attributed quotes.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.