By Robert I. Feinberg | Published January 19, 2018 | Posted in Personal Injury | Comments Off on Concerns when the other side is holding back records
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Concerns when the other side is holding back records
Once again we’ll look at the concerns that a plaintiff may have as to whether the other side is altering and/or holding back certain documents or information that could be helpful to the plaintiff. When I say plaintiff, I mean the person who is pursuing his or her personal injury action. In the last blog we talked about ethical rules, rules that impose on the other side’s attorney, as well as your own, a duty of good faith in the pursuit or defense of a case.
Ethical Rules Imposed on Lawyers will be of Big Help
Over the years, I’ve heard a legitimate question from my personal injury clients. Let me start off by assuring you as the would-be client that the other side and its lawyer has a duty to be ethical and candid. The highest court of Massachusetts, the Supreme Judicial Court, has established and promulgated ethical rules. They are contained in Supreme Judicial Court Ethical Rule 3.07. Specifically, let’s look at two.
OSHA Did Not Investigate This Construction Site Accident But Maybe
In a recent blog I talked about ways to prove your construction site accident case and I ended with a discussion of OSHA. I said if they came and investigated, that would be a fertile ground of material for your lawyer. However, there are circumstances, in fact many, where even if a serious accident occurred, OSHA will not come to investigate. Recently, there are more stringent requirements on having OSHA investigate. Let’s assume that we are dealing with those times where there has been no investigation of the construction accident.
Safety Manuals or Safety Handbooks
The major players at a construction site will have their own safety manuals or safety handbooks, or at least they should. Those important manuals/handbooks will be made available to their employees. Take the case of a general contractor. We know from prior blogs that a general contractor must designate a person with the responsibility of safety.
Handling a Construction Site Accident Case
Proving fault for an accident on a construction site is not easy and handling a construction site accident in the right way is not easy. It requires a lot of work. I would like to review some of that work in this brief blog. As we draw to a conclusion of these construction site accident blogs, it is an appropriate time to provide a summary of the necessary work.
Proving Liability in a Serious Construction Accident Case
You have a serious construction accident case and the question is, as I have pondered in the past blogs, how do you go about establishing or proving liability on the part of the general contractor or another subcontractor? Again, the injuries can be varied and, unfortunately they are often severe. They can happen as a result of any number of reasons: unguarded stairway, unsecured plywood over a hole, or a fall from a roof.
Why Construction Accidents Occur
Before we begin a little background: I have been asked what you can and cannot say at a deposition. New lawyers are always told in trial preparation classes to never say “this is the last question.” The reason why is because, invariably, it isn’t. There’s almost always another question that occurs to a lawyer. The lawyer will want to ask the question despite having already said that they had finished their questions.
Construction Site Accidents
Construction site accidents involve many players and they can be complicated. They also involve many defendants. There is one unmistakable document that governs the relationship of the parties. It is the friend of the injured working man. That document is the American Institute of Architect’s General Conditions, Form 201-2007. It sets out the rights and responsibilities of the parties.
Injuries on a Construction Site
Unfortunately, injuries can occur in many different ways on a construction site. There are often falls and that is the leading cause of an injury on a construction site. A fall can occur on a roof, in an unguarded hole, or an unguarded stairwell and so forth. There could be a scaffolding accident involving a crane or other heavy machinery. There might be exposure to hazardous materials.
The Role of OSHA Regulations in Construction Site Accidents
Construction sites are known to have heavy machinery, steep heights, and a whirlwind of activities from a large number of actors. Naturally, all this brings considerable risks. The statistics bear the danger out so it is no surprise that the industry is heavily regulated by federal, state and administrative bodies.
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