Are you looking for a construction accident lawyer in Garden City, NY?
At Isaacson, Schiowitz & Korson, LLP, we are trusted construction accident lawyers serving clients across Garden City, NY for more than 45 years.
If you fell from a ladder during a storefront renovation on Seventh Street, were struck by material dropped from a lift on Franklin Avenue, or were hurt in a trench on a village road project, workers’ compensation is only the first of your claims. The owner and the general contractor answer separately for the site. Our Garden City, NY construction accident lawyer has handled labor law cases since 1973, and we charge no fee unless we recover. Contact our office for a free consultation.
Construction Accident Lawyer Garden City, NY
A construction accident attorney identifies every party other than your employer who controlled the site, the equipment, or the schedule, and brings the claim that workers’ compensation cannot. That claim pays for pain and suffering and the full wage loss, which compensation does not.
Fifty construction workers died on the job in New York State in 2024, and 24 of those deaths involved falls, slips, and trips, according to federal injury data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The injuries that do not make that count, the fractures, the back surgeries, and the head injuries, are the cases a construction accident lawyer in Garden City, NY handles most often.
Types of Construction Accident Cases We Handle in Garden City
Construction in Garden City ranges from single-family additions on Kilburn Road to commercial alterations along Franklin Avenue and utility work beneath Stewart Avenue. Our Garden City construction accident attorneys handle the following cases.
- Scaffold and ladder falls. A worker who falls because a scaffold lacked guardrails or a ladder was the wrong device for the task has a claim against the owner and the general contractor.
- Falling objects. Tools, masonry, and material dropped from a higher level injure the workers below and the people on the sidewalk. We determine who was responsible for securing the work above.
- Crane and heavy equipment accidents. Excavators, lifts, and cranes injure workers when operators are untrained or equipment is defective. The equipment owner, the rental company, and the manufacturer may share responsibility.
- Trench and excavation collapses. Sewer, water, and gas work on village streets requires shoring. We obtain the inspection records that show whether it was in place.
- Electrocution and burns. Contact with live wiring, unmarked underground lines, and temporary power creates claims against the electrical subcontractor and whoever failed to de-energize the work.
- Construction vehicle accidents. Dump trucks, flatbeds, and delivery vehicles strike workers in work zones and on village roads. These claims follow the driver’s employer.
- Pedestrian accidents. A shopper struck by debris or a resident who trips over material left on a sidewalk has a claim outside the compensation system.
- Residential renovation injuries. Additions and replacement homes employ roofers, framers, and masons. The homeowner is usually not liable for a worker’s injury, so we look to the contractor and the subcontractors.
- Wrongful death. When a site accident kills a worker, the family’s claim against the responsible parties proceeds alongside the compensation death benefit.
Why Choose Isaacson, Schiowitz & Korson, LLP as my Construction Accident Lawyer in Garden City, NY?
A Labor Law Practice Led by an Attorney Admitted in 1973
Martin Schiowitz has practiced labor law, premises liability, and municipal negligence since his admission in 1973 and has been with our firm since 1978. He studied economics at Brooklyn College before earning his law degree in 1972, and belongs to the Trial Lawyers Association as well as the Academy of Trial Lawyers. He holds a Super Lawyers rating given to the top five percent of attorneys in his field. His construction clients receive the preparation they would expect from a personal injury lawyer in Garden City, NY handling any serious injury.
Appellate Experience and Defense Training on the Worker’s Side
Jeremy Schiowitz has represented injured clients since 2003, after Brooklyn Law School and a clerkship at an insurance defense firm. He is admitted in New York and New Jersey, argued the appellate decision on train platform gaps against the Transit Authority, and was named to the National Association of Distinguished Counsel’s top one percent.
Our firm has recovered more than $200 million for injured clients. Two of those results involved construction work:
- $765,000 for a 40-year-old worker who slipped on a muddy site and required knee, shoulder, and wrist surgery.
- $200,000 for a bank customer who tripped over an object left by a construction company performing alterations.
Past results do not guarantee a future outcome. We take construction cases on a contingency fee, the consultation is free, and every client has direct access to the attorney handling the case.
What Is Important To Understand About Construction Accident Cases?
What Is The Construction Accident Case Timeline?
A construction accident attorney in Garden City starts the compensation claim and the third-party investigation at the same time, because the site changes within days.
- We file the compensation claim and send preservation letters to the owner, the general contractor, and the equipment supplier within the first week.
- We request the OSHA file, the village inspection records, and the daily logs before the site is altered.
- For a public project, we serve a notice of claim within 90 days of the accident.
- We file the lawsuit in the Nassau County Supreme Court once your treatment plan and your ability to return to work are clear.
- Discovery includes depositions of the site superintendent and the safety officer; most cases resolve after that stage, and the rest go to trial one to three years after filing.
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Construction Accident Cases
New York’s Labor Law places the duty of site safety on the owner and the general contractor. Section 240(1) requires scaffolds, ladders, hoists, and other devices that give proper protection for work at heights. The worker’s own carelessness does not reduce a recovery under that section. Section 241(6) requires construction, excavation, and demolition areas to provide reasonable and adequate protection under the state Industrial Code, and Section 200 requires a reasonably safe workplace.
- Compensation is the only claim against your employer under Workers’ Compensation Law 11, and it pays nothing for pain and suffering.
- The compensation carrier holds a lien on the recovery from the third-party case.
- Third-party damages include the full wage loss, future earning capacity, medical care, pain and suffering, and a spouse’s loss of services.
- Under CPLR 1411, a construction claim is reduced by the worker’s share of fault but not barred by it; the 2026 amendment barring a claimant more at fault than the defendant applies only to motor vehicle claims.
- The lawsuit must be filed within three years under CPLR 214, a wrongful death claim within two years under EPTL 5-4.1, and a claim against a public owner requires a notice of claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law 50-e.
Falls to a lower level caused 389 of the 1,034 construction deaths in the United States in 2024, according to OSHA fall data.
What Should You Bring to Your Construction Accident Consultation?
A Garden City construction accident attorney can tell you at the first meeting which parties other than your employer may be liable if you bring the following items.
- The names of your employer, the general contractor, and the property owner, and any union referral.
- The accident report filed with your employer and the workers’ compensation claim number if one has been assigned.
- The names of coworkers who saw the accident and any photographs of the scaffold, ladder, trench, or equipment involved.
- Hospital records and the names of the surgeon and specialists treating you.
- Any letter from the compensation carrier, the contractor’s insurer, or OSHA.
What Are Important Aspects of a Construction Accident Case?
An OSHA citation helps, but it does not win the case by itself. We prove the elements of liability separately, using OSHA violations as evidence of what the contractor knew and ignored. The scaffold law carries a defense when a worker refuses safety equipment that was provided and available, so we document where the harnesses, guardrails, and ladders were on the day of the accident.
Workers hired through a staffing agency, undocumented workers, and workers paid in cash all have the same Labor Law claim against the owner and the contractor. A written report to the employer fixes the date and the mechanism of injury for both the compensation claim and the lawsuit. The medical damages in a construction case often continue for years, and a back injury that ends a trade career is valued on the lost career. When the owner is the village, the county, or the state, municipal liability rules shorten the deadlines.
Most Dangerous Locations for Construction Accidents in Garden City
State bridge work on the Meadowbrook Parkway continues through 2028, and those projects bring trench, traffic, and night-shift hazards to the roads that border Garden City.
- The Village Building Department reported 475 building permits and about 3,189 inspections in the fiscal year ending May 2025, according to the village’s annual report, which also budgets a $4.2 million curb, sidewalk, and road program.
- The Architectural Design Review Board’s January 2026 agenda included a new entry at 1010 Franklin Avenue, exterior alterations at 126 Seventh Street, and a replacement dwelling on Huntington Road.
- Permits and inspection records come from the Building Department at 351 Stewart Avenue, and federal safety files come from the OSHA Long Island Area Office in Westbury, which covers every Nassau County site.
- The lawsuit’s index number is obtained from the Nassau County Clerk at 240 Old Country Road in Mineola, and the compensation claim is handled through the Workers’ Compensation Board, whose Hempstead District Office is at 175 Fulton Avenue.
- Serious site injuries go to one of the four Nassau County trauma centers designated by the State Department of Health, and orthopedic follow-up is available in the village at the Northwell Orthopaedic Institute at 1001 Franklin Avenue.
Reach Out to Isaacson, Schiowitz & Korson, LLP to Schedule a Consultation
A construction accident attorney in Garden City, NY can tell you whether the owner, general contractor, or an equipment company owes you more than workers’ compensation will pay. There is no fee unless we recover. Contact us to schedule a consultation.
