If you or someone you love has been involved in a workplace accident that was not your fault, you may be feeling isolated and unsure as to what to do next. Pursuing compensation and the recovery of your damages is the logical step. If the accident resulted in injuries, you should not be left out of pocket, facing medical bills and time off work, and you deserve to be compensated for the pain and suffering you have gone through.
Pursuing compensation is not easy, but fortunately, you do not have to face the challenge alone. At Chris Morrow Law, PLLC, our Georgetown, TX work injury lawyers are ready to help. We can help you calculate your damages, negotiate for settlement, and provide professional legal counsel.
If the accident you were involved in was caused by a negligent employer, it might be necessary to pursue a workplace injury claim to recover your damages. Everyone deserves to be safe at work, and that means your employer should provide adequate training, warn you of any hazards, and should provide health and safety equipment that is maintained to a high standard.
It all starts with a free initial consultation. We offer this to clients to give them the space they need to ask any important questions and to be heard by a lawyer who will listen compassionately to their story. Based on what you tell us in this meeting, we will evaluate your case, and if it is worth pursuing, we will tell you.
If you decide to proceed with representation from a work injury lawyer from our team, they will take your case on, working on a contingency fee basis. This means that we take the case on for no upfront cost. We don’t charge to pursue your compensation, we simply take a percentage of your settlement if we win. If we lose, you pay nothing.
We take the risk for our clients so they can seek justice for their injuries without fear of being left worse off if they lose.
Chris Morrow Law, PLLC – The Attorney That Works
With over 25 years of experience in Texas personal injury law, our law firm has a long history of success. We have won cases just like yours, and this gives us an advantage when it comes to adapting our strategy for your case specifically.
Call us today and seek a free consultation with a Georgetown, TX, work injury lawyer at 512-520-8100.
Your Rights as an Injured Worker in Georgetown, Texas
Federal legislation grants specific rights to employees. These rights include the right to a safe work environment. This means your employers have a legal obligation to ensure you are as safe as possible while at work.
In accordance with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), your employee rights include:
- To have safe equipment to use
- To be fully protected from toxic chemicals
- To be provided safety gear such as a helmet, eye protection, gloves, and anything else required by your job
- To be properly trained and in a language you understand
- The right to report an illness or injury and to receive copies of your medical records
- To have access to the workplace injury and illness log
- To seek copies of test results regarding hazards in the workplace
- The right to request an OSHA inspection and speak with an inspector about any concerns you have without any fear of repercussions
The Most Common Reasons for Workplace Injuries
Slip and Falls
One of the more common accidents that occurs in the workplace is slips, trips, and falls. Untidy and unsafe working conditions can easily cause these accidents and the injuries can range in severity.
Falls from height can easily be fatal, with most serious injuries occurring from a height of only 2 meters. Trailing cables and poor signage are other common culprits for accidents, especially when employees are carrying objects that mean they cannot watch the floor.
Transportation-Related Accidents
Transportation-related accidents, such as being crushed by plant machinery and moving forklifts, make up nearly 50% of all workplace injuries that occur. Across the country, there is a workplace transportation-related accident every single 4 minutes.
Contact with Objects and Equipment
Moving objects and machinery also have the potential to cause serious injuries.
There are three common ways that incidents like this occur:
- Impact – This occurs when there is a moving part or object that crushes the victim.
- Entrapment – Where parts of the body are caught in equipment.
- Contact – Where the body comes into contact with hot surfaces, abrasive surfaces or sharp edges.
Construction Work Dangers in Georgetown, TX
As a construction worker, there are a number of risks that you face every day. This means there needs to be a much higher awareness of health and safety protocols on a construction site compared to an office.
Construction workers rarely know their true rights when they are injured due to negligent work conditions. This means that it is rare that an injured construction worker raises a lawsuit against their employer.
If you have been injured on a construction site, you need to speak to a Georgetown, TX work injury lawyer immediately.
How to Seek Compensation For a Workplace Injury in Georgetown
Accidents can happen in any workplace, so workplace injury claims come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. The situation and the circumstances that led to the event will always be unique.
When it comes to raising a workplace injury claim, though, your case will most likely follow this framework.
Step One: Research Potential Attorneys to Take on Your Personal Injury Case
Most injury victims begin by researching which attorney they wish to represent them in their case. When you are bringing a case against an employer, it usually means that you will be up against a workplace insurance company. These insurance companies are large, and have the resources to employ the strongest possible legal teams to reduce their payouts. Leveling the playing field begins by hiring a personal injury attorney with a strong reputation.
Step Two: Take Advantage of The Free Consultation
You will likely have a number of choices when it comes to choosing your attorney, and one of the best ways to narrow the decision down, is to take advantage of the free consultation that most good personal injury lawyers offer new clients. Use this meeting to ask important questions and to grill your attorney about their past victories and strategy.
You should also take the time to ensure that you and your personality have synergetic personalities. If you clash, or you feel uncomfortable in their presence, you may struggle to discuss personal matters when necessary. You may be working with the attorney for the next several years, remember.
Step Three – Investigation
The first step after agreeing to representation is the investigation of your case. To do this, they will look at your evidence, search for their own, and speak to expert witnesses if necessary. They will take over liaising with other parties and file your paperwork.
After they have built a strong case, they will calculate the damages you have suffered.
Step Four – Negotiation
By calculating your damages, your attorney will know what they believe your case to be worth in terms of fair and reasonable compensation. This will give them a strong starting point to begin negotiating for a settlement figure.
They will approach the other party and will negotiate for a settlement that is fair. The other party has several options at this point. First, they may decide to accept the settlement. In this case, you receive your settlement, and the case is closed. Second, they may decide to counter-offer, in this case, your attorney will negotiate until the settlement is one you find acceptable.
Thirdly, if the counteroffer is not acceptable, or they declined your offers altogether, you will need to escalate the case.
Step Five – Court Case
Escalating the case to the courtroom means that your attorney is going to need to use the case they have built for you, their skills in litigation, and the evidence you have collected to convince the Judge and jury that you are deserving of being awarded the compensation you are seeking.
How Much Compensation Can I Claim After a Workplace Accident in Georgetown, TX?
The amount of compensation you can claim will depend upon the severity of your pain and suffering and the other damages you have incurred. Catastrophic injuries will require long-term medical care, and your legal representation will need to take this into account.
The more experience your Georgetown, TX work injury lawyer has in similar cases where they have had to calculate personal injury damages, the better.
Here are the main damages they will consider:
Medical Bills
After an accident victims are often gobsmacked by how quickly their medical expenses add up. Even those who believed their insurance policy had good coverage can often find that their coverage is surpassed relatively quickly, leaving them in a tricky situation, especially as most victims are already losing wages due to time off work.
Thankfully, by working with your Georgetown, TX work injury lawyers, you will be able to pursue the recovery of all the medical bills you have had to pay thus far, and you will be able to seek compensation to cover all of your future medical care as well.
If your treatment is going to require a lifetime of care, then you need to pursue the maximum compensation to ensure your posts are covered down the line. Your lawyer may look to medical experts to help them gauge what this looks like cost wise.
Loss of Earnings
Taking time off work to receive treatment, therapy, or to recover mentally usually means that you are going to suffer lost wages.
Fortunately, you are entitled to recover all the losses you have suffered when the accident has happened because of negligent parties. Your lawyer will work with you to calculate what your losses equate to. To help them, you can provide them with your contract, payslips, and bank statements. This will help them to see what your lost income is worth.
For some people, injuries suffered at work are so serious that they will not be able to work in the same capacity ever again. These are complicated cases, and your lawyer may turn to financial experts who can help them to calculate what a life-time of lost earning potential should look like.
Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering compensate you for your pain, trauma, and emotional suffering. These damages are subjective, meaning your lawyer will be the one who decides how much they are worth based on their past experience. This is why it is important to choose a lawyer who can show their past success. They will have more experience calculating pain and suffering damages that are fair and reasonable, and this makes them harder to dispute, either in settlement negotiations or in court.
Pain and suffering also includes any loss of enjoyment of life you have suffered. This is a broad term but if you can no longer do the things you love anymore because of the injuries you have suffered, you deserve to be compensated for that loss. If you cannot ride a horse anymore or play football on the weekends, you should be compensated for your losses.
You can help your lawyer in calculating these damages by keeping a daily journal of your thoughts, pain levels and mood levels. Even if it is as simple as a 1-10 number for your pain and mood, this will help your lawyer massively.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages can only be awarded if your case goes to court and the Judge believes the at-fault party acted with gross negligence. They are designed to be a punishment.
Contact a Georgetown, TX Work Injury Lawyer Today
At Chris Morrow Law, PLLC, our team of personal injury lawyers can draw upon countless victories worth of experience. We cover car accidents, fall accidents, workplace accidents, and any other form of personal injury accident.
We have a reputation for fierce advocacy, and a number of insurance companies in the state of Texas know us by name. They know we don’t back down from a fight, and they know we won’t settle for anything less than what our clients truly deserve.
Our Georgetown, TX work injury lawyers are fierce litigators as well as thorough negotiators, meaning no matter what direction your case moves in, we are prepared to handle it. From building a confidence-inspiring client-lawyer relationship, to the end of your case, we have your back.
Our phone lines are active 24/7 so that you can seek help when you need it most. Arrange a free consultation today and find out what we can do for you.
Give us a call and contact us today at 512-520-8100.
