Our Practice - Construction Accidents

Construction Accidents

Construction accidents involve complex legal issues that a firm like Duffy + Partners can expertly handle for you (Straub). Electricians, pipe fitters, laborers, carpenters, glazers, and many others have relied upon Duffy + Partners to navigate through the maze of standards, regulations and statutes in order to fully compensate injured workers and provide for their families for the rest of their lives. Despite the numerous defenses invariably lodged by the insurance companies and their counsel (i.e. borrowed servant, workers compensation, assumption of the risk, etc.) our team of attorneys, experts and investigators fights tenaciously to maximize every recovery.

A construction failure can result in massive property damage. In NCO Group, Duffy + Partners obtained a $28,200,000 verdict for property owners who suffered catastrophic losses due to failures in construction sequencing that ultimately resulted in the virtual destruction of several businesses by way of flooding. While the defendants argued that they were not negligent, or that their negligence did not cause the damages suffered by the plaintiffs, the jury clearly found otherwise.

In Voce, a 49 year old union glazer was caused to suffer a permanent hip injury, resulting in his inability to return work, when the ladder he was working on, collapsed into a nearby ditch. The jury returned a $6,500,000 verdict for Mr. and Mrs. Voce, finding the general contractor negligent by providing an unsafe working environment for Mr. Voce and his co-workers.

In Straub, Duffy + Partners obtained a $4,500,000 verdict in favor of Doug Straub, a construction worker, and his wife, Carol. Mr. Straub suffered many broken bones and a closed head injury following the failure of a sewer plug which exploded, breaking bones in his face, arms and legs. The verdict was appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court twice and was ultimately affirmed resulting, with delay damages, in payment of approximately $6,500,000. The verdict was reported as one of the largest verdicts in the State that year.

In Davia, Duffy + Partners obtained a +$1,900,000 million settlement for a contractor who suffered multiple injuries after a fall from scaffolding that had been improperly and unsafely built by another contractor on a construction site.

In Kee, Duffy + Partners obtained a $1,500,000 settlement for a union plumber who fell through a rotted floor during a commercial construction project. While Mr. Kee fell only 2 feet, he suffered bilateral shoulder injuries resulting in his inability to continue work as a union plumber.