Industrial Accident Compensation

Answer:

Damages available to plaintiffs in industrial accidents are similar to those that arise in most accidents. Initially, since most of these accidents occur within the scope of employment, we look at what we call special damages. Special damages would be the amount that an individual loses from a wage benefit as a result of not being able to work, and it also includes the cost of medications and medical care. Oftentimes, medical care in industrial accidents is being covered by the workers’ compensation carrier, and under our laws in New York State, the workers’ compensation carrier has a lien against any type of settlement. This means that we, as your attorney, must take into consideration the workers’ compensation carrier’s interest as we’re going forward.

In addition, what we need to do is hire experts who will provide us with an analysis of your future wage loss and the future cost of medical treatment that you will need going forward for the rest of your life, if necessary. Finally, we look at the pain and suffering associated with your injury case and make a determination as to what we believe that a jury in New York State would provide in a case like yours. We counsel you as to whether we believe that the number that’s being offered by an insurance company, if any, falls within reasonable parameters and, if not, we proceed to trial in order to have a jury make that determination.