Client Paralyzed Falling Through Unmarked Construction Hole

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• Client Paralyzed Falling In Unmarked Construction Hole - News

Unmarked Construction Hole Accident

Clay Miller, partner in Miller Weisbrod Olesky, obtained a $5,500,000 settlement for his client Jose Luna for injuries sustained in a construction site accident. Mr. Luna was paralyzed when he fell in a hole that was concealed by an unmarked and unsecured cover while working on a roof of a day care that was being constructed in Plano, Texas.

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Miller brought suit against the General Contractor (Journeyman Construction, Inc.) and the subcontractor (Fox General Trades, Inc.) that had initially created the hole and placed the cover. The hole was part of the original plans of the project and was intended to be a roof hatch once the building was complete.

On December 18, 2013, Jose Luna was walking across the roof of the building to obtain some plywood for a wall he was building. He felt his foot contact something and then the sensation of falling. Upon impact with the floor one story below, Luna’s spinal cord suffered a severe injury leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

The General Contractor attempted to place blame on the subcontractor that had installed the hole cover. Through discovery it was determined that the hole cover had been installed and secured but not marked as required by OSHA.

OSHA safety regulations require that hole covers be both marked and secured. OSHA 1926.502(i)

Through progress photos it was determined that the hole cover had been unsecured approximately one month before Luna’s fall and after the area was released by the subcontractor to the General contractor.

Through deposition questioning, the job superintendent admitted that the hole cover had been unsecured under his orders to take measurements of the hatch hole. This was a different story than he had told his company safety director post-accident—he tried to blame the incident on the subcontractor and Luna’s employer. During a trial cross-examination weeks before the start of trial, the job superintendent admitted the following:

A settlement was reached with the subcontractor the Friday before trial for $500,000. The insurance carrier for the General Contractor was stuck at $3,000,000 up until the morning of trial.

As the Court was beginning to hear Motions in Limine and just before jury selection, the carrier (facing a noon deadline) increased its offer by $2,000,000 allowing the entire case to settle for $5,500,000.

With this settlement, Luna’s life care plan can be fully funded with a structured settlement and upfront cash payment.

Over the last twenty plus years, Clay Miller has partnered with law firms across the state of Texas on a referral and joint venture basis to pursue cases of catastrophic injury and wrongful death arising from construction and work site incidents. Miller Weisbrod Olesky would welcome the opportunity to work with you to obtain justice for your clients injured or killed on the job.

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The Leader In Construction Accident Litigation

With a 30-year history heading the Construction Accident Department of Miller Weisbrod Olesky, firm partner Clay Miller has a proven record of holding construction companies accountable and achieving multi-million dollar settlements and court verdicts for his clients. Clay has handled construction accident cases in all major cities in Texas and numerous smaller counties. In one recent trial, Clay won a construction accident verdict of $26,500,000 for his client who suffered a spinal cord injury after a construction accident fall.

Clay has been consistently listed in Super Lawyers as one of the Best Lawyers in Texas, published in Texas Monthly, for over 15 years.

Clay is a past president of the Dallas Trial Lawyers’ Association and served as Chair of the Advocates for the Texas Trial Lawyer Association where he continues to serve on the board of directions. Clay is also a member of the elite American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) limited to a select group of trial lawyers who have tried to a jury verdict a significant number of cases and who are recognized for their professionalism.

Clay is regularly invited to speak to Trial Lawyer Groups around Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and across the state of Texas on the topics of construction accidents, trial tactics in complex construction cases and techniques to investigate and gather evidence in construction accidents, picking a jury in construction accident cases, as well as how to prepare a winning legal and trial strategy in Construction Accident Cases throughout Texas.

Our construction accident legal team includes Josh Birmingham, who is currently on the Dallas Trial Lawyers Board of Directors and served as the president of the Mesquite Bar Association for four years. Josh was named Thomson Reuters | Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2016 and 2017.

We also have on our team Michael Orth, a board certified personal injury trial lawyer who has spent the last decade representing injured Texans and their families. Michael’s success in scores of personal injury cases across federal and state courtrooms has earned him the coveted Board Certification in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Led by a formidable legal team with an extraordinary record of court verdicts and settlements in construction accident cases, Miller Weisbrod Olesky is regularly recognized by the US News and World Report as one of the top injury law firms in the United States.

Miller Weisbrod Olesky Dallas Construction Accident Lawyers