Robert Kornfeld is a Seattle area personal injury attorney whose practice includes construction injury accident claims for all workers on or off of the jobsite. Most often these injuries arise in the workplace in a construction setting. Sometimes on the job injuries occur which are not in construction but may involve serious injuries too.

Mr. Kornfeld's firm, which handles serious construction injury and accident cases, all over the state of Washington and the Northwest, is based out of the Seattle area. Mr. Kornfeld is experienced in handling injuries involving cranes, derricks, shoring and trenching, trips and falls, scissor lifts, scaffolding, falls from above 10 feet, fall protection, fall restraint, tie off, ladders, iron worker injuries and electrical and other serious construction injury claims, including claims involving WISHA and OSHA violations by general and subcontractors and employers on a job site. 

Mr. Kornfeld handles a variety of construction litigation in Washington State including Kirkland, Bellevue, Seattle, Everett, Renton, Kent, Auburn, Marysville, Arlington, Puyallup, Spokane and Tacoma. 

Usually when there may be many trades on a construction site, one trade or even the general contractor may accidentally cause another worker from a different trade to be seriously injured. This is called a third party claim. The injured worker can bring file a lawsuit to recover compensation because of the negligence of another employer or its employees on the construction site.

In Washington, the general contractor of all work sites and/or an owner developer have a non-delegable duty to provide a reasonably safe work place and to enforce specific WISHA regulations. The leading case on this issue is Stute. It held that the general contractor has a nondelegable duty to enforce all WISHA regulations e.g. the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act.

If a worker is injured in the work place, he may file a worker's compensation claim. An injured worker not only has a right to file a worker's compensation, e.g. a Labor and Industries claim, but he may also have a viable "third party claim" to recover damages against the negligent contractor, subcontractor or independent trade. This would be a claim against a negligent company or it's employee on a job site which caused the worker's injury. The injured worker may file a third party claim against the employer of the negligent worker. The Kornfeld firm handles third party claims for injured workers.

An injured worker may not bring a third party claim against his or her own employer. However, it is very important to understand that an injured worker may recover general damages on a third party claim on top of and in addition to a recovery of his or her full worker's compensation- L & I benefits.

The election of a third party claim will not compromise or affect your right to receive complete L & I, or workers' compensation benefits. It would simply be foolish not to hire an attorney to pursue a third party claim for you. Typically, the State of Washington will not zealously pursue a third party claim for you, as its concern is merely the recovery of and reimbursement to it of the payout of its worker's compensation benefits to the injured worker. The state has no concern to help the injured worker recover disability compensation and general damages. A third party claim is designed to recover general damages from the negligent third party, which may include pain and suffering, disability, loss of earning capacity, and compensation for future and permanent injuries.

The State is not cut out or set up to recover these types of third party damages for workers. For this reason, it is so important that you elect not to assign your third party recovery to the State, and that you elect to pursue it on your own with the assistance of an experienced personal injury lawyer who handles construction litigation injury claims. Mr. Kornfeld has handled these types of cases for over 25 years.

A worker who elects to bring a third party claim does not give up his right to worker's compensation benefits for wage loss, medical expenses, vocational retraining, and whatever other benefits are provided. It behooves all workers who are injured, by reason of the fault of another, other than a fellow employee, to bring a third party claim. This allows an injured worker to RECOVER the financial compensation he/she deserves. Workers compensation/L & I benefits will not typically make an injured worker whole, whereas through a third party claim, the injured worker has a chance to be fully compensated.

A third party claim allows the injured worker to RECOVER general damages for your pain and suffering, inconvenience, loss of opportunity to enjoy life, loss of and including the companionship of family members, loss of services, emotional and psychological distress, death, disability, permanent injuries, dismemberment, and other damages.

If you were injured by the negligence of another on a construction site or while on the job, consult the Law Office of Robert Kornfeld for a free consultation and case evaluation to determine if you have a viable third party claim. You pay nothing for attorney's fees unless Mr. Kornfeld recovers money for you and there is no money up front. We can be reached at 1 (800) 282-4878, or email at rob@kornfeldlaw.com  or set up an in-person meeting at a mutually convenient time and location, at the hospital, your home or another location near you.