We are excited to announce a major win secured by Jones Jones LLC Associate Ian Leaderman. This win showcases:
- The aggressive approach needed on construction claims involving allegations of injury to many body parts and medical conditions;
- The success that results from a detailed review of on-site and emergency room records; and
- The importance of bringing to the law judge’s attention any change in claimant’s account of the mechanism of injury.
Attorney Ian Leaderman recently litigated a claim involving an injured employee of a construction company. The claimant was initially injured due to striking his face while at work on a construction site. The claim was established for the head and left eye only. Approximately, one month later after the establishment of his claim, the claimant alleged that in addition to the accepted and established body parts, he also injured his neck, back, bilateral knees, bilateral shoulders, as well as developed PTSD.
Attempting to establish additional body parts is an activity that defense carriers and attorneys often observe; especially when it comes to claims involving construction incidents. Why do we see this pattern of additional body parts repeatedly be raised on construction claims? Well, very often, the claimant not only has a workers’ compensation claim, but he or she may also have a general liability suit. This lawsuit enables the claimant to seek large monetary payouts by way of settlement or court decision. Expanding the workers’ compensation injuries on construction claims to as many body parts and conditions as possible may assist in this other lawsuit. Therefore, it is important to defend workers’ compensation construction claims with an aggressive approach to limit exposure on both the workers’ compensation claim and the general liability lawsuit.
Attorney Leaderman undertook the necessary aggressive approach on this case. He was able to gather and review the construction company’s on-site medical report and the emergency room records from the day of the accident. Upon a thorough review of these records, it became evident that the claimant had put forth two different version of the injury event. The initial emergency room records and on-site accident report detailed a strike to the face with injury to head and left eye. Subsequent medical reports began to list all of the additional body parts the claimant was attempting to amend the claim to include. Most interestingly, these reports also detailed a completely different mechanism of injury—involving an item falling from a ceiling. Attorney Leaderman was able to highlight these discrepancies to the law judge, which ultimately culminated in all of the additional body parts and conditions to be disallowed entirely. Jones Jones LLC is happy to guide you through the intricacies of construction litigation and apply this same detailed litigation approach to your claims.
Contact us at clientservices@jonesjonesllc.com today to set up a consultation.