What Is Negligence and How Does it Affect My Texas Construction Accident Case?
Personal injury cases rely on an attorney’s ability to define, determine, and prove negligence. If you wish to make a financial recovery for injuries and damages caused by a Texas construction accident, you need an attorney who can prove negligence did in fact occur.
How is Negligence Determined in a Texas Construction Accident Case?
The Legal Information Institute defines negligence as a failure to behave with the level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised under the same circumstances. While the behavior in question usually consists of actions, it can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act.
When attempting to ascertain whether a person’s conduct or behavior lacked reasonable care, lawyers will consider the four elements that are required to establish a prima facie case (a legally required rebuttable presumption). The elements are:
- The existence of a legal duty that the defendant owed to the plaintiff
- The defendant’s breach of that duty
- The plaintiff’s sufferance of an injury
- Proof that the defendant’s breach caused the plaintiff’s injury
When it comes to a construction site, your employer, contractor, and co-workers owe you a general duty of care and must conduct themselves in a reasonable and prudent manner. This duty of care can also extend to the owners of the property that is under construction, any transportation companies responsible for transporting materials to the site, as well as the manufacturers of machinery and products being used in the construction project.
If any of these parties acted in a way that contributed to your injuries, you may have a case for negligence.
How Will My Attorney Establish Negligence in My Texas Construction Accident Case?
When working to determine whether negligence resulted in your accident and injuries, your attorney will often apply what is commonly called the “but-for” test. In a statement, that would be “but for the actions of the defendant, my client would not have suffered his injuries.”
If the statement is true, your attorney will have established cause-in-fact or “actual cause.” This is then strengthened through investigation, the gathering of evidence, and interviewing witnesses. Your attorney may also incorporate the help of expert witnesses to help prove negligence and discover if the actions of the defendant violated federal or state regulations.
Expert witnesses often used in Texas construction accident cases include:
- OSHA consultants
- Accident reconstructionists
- Welding experts
- Confined space permit experts
- Engineering experts
- Safety equipment experts
- Occupational and environmental health experts
- Hazardous chemical experts
- Process safety management experts
These experts can provide detailed information about a construction accident. Because of the experts Thomas J. Henry uses, we are able to bring in information that many other law firms lack. We use a multitude of expert witnesses, putting you in the best position possible to achieve the compensation they deserve.
What Should I Do If I Have Been Involved in a Construction Accident?
There are certain steps you can take to help preserve your rights as a victim of a workplace accident. By following these guidelines, you can put yourself in a better position to achieve the compensation you deserve for your injuries. If you suffered a work injury, follow these steps:
- Seek immediate medical attention for your injuries.
- Report the injury to your supervisor as soon as possible.
- Be sure your employer makes a written report of the accident.
- Collect names and contact information of any witnesses to the accident.
- Take photos of the accident area, including of any tools or equipment involved in the accident.
- Write a detailed account of how the accident took place.
- Contact an experienced work accident lawyer to discuss your rights as an injured worker.
Contact and Experienced Texas Construction Accident Attorney
If you or a loved one were injured on the job, contact Thomas J. Henry. Workplace accident victims deserve quality, dynamic representation from attorneys with the experience and legal resources to properly develop their case. Oftentimes, workplace injuries are severe and debilitating and put individuals out of work for an extended period of time.
Our work accident lawyers will take immediate action on your case and make sure you are comfortable and informed throughout the entire legal process. Contact us today for a free case review. Our firm has offices in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Houston, serving clients across Texas and nationwide.