legal 1/14/2020 27.) ATV & Off-Road Vehicle Accidents, Oilfield Accidents,Workers' Comp - gtg

legal 1/14/2020 27.) ATV & Off-Road Vehicle Accidents, Oilfield Accidents,Workers’ Comp – gtg

Posted on January 14, 2020, 10:15 pm By David Strebler

Our Lead Attorney Discusses All-Terrain and Other Off-Road Vehicle Accidents

If you have been involved in a Texas ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle) accident or some other form of off-road vehicle injury, you likely have many unanswered questions. Our Texas ATV and off-road accident attorneys will fight to get you fair compensation for your injuries.

Most of our life experience surrounding vehicular accidents comes from driving a car or truck. So we’re all familiar with the insurance claims process and how it can be either very simple or dangerously complicated. But on the other hand, few people appreciate the value, or the ramifications, an off-road vehicle such as an ATV or motocross bike. But since this portion of personal injury law can be somewhat obscure due to the relatively low occurrences, most personal injury lawyers rarely venture beyond passenger car accidents. This is often due to the low number of instances, or the sometimes tricky process of seeing them through to their logical, successful conclusion for the injured plaintiffs; especially if the injury lawyer is working on retainer. All lawyers want cases that are winners. But not every case looks like one on first-glance. They might not have the necessary experience should you require the services of an experienced Texas injury attorney who has more experience in these other vehicle accidents than most injury lawyers in Texas.

Our depth of knowledge includes all types of accidents vehicular accidents. We know and successfully argue these “off the beaten path” vehicle accident laws to prove your case and help you win restitution for your injuries. They will hopefully come from an insurance settlement. But if it comes to a trial, we’ll fearlessly litigate your case as well.

But we must warn you, off-road vehicles like these come with a certain amount of public prejudice that the insurance industry universally bases virtually all of its denials when claims are filed as a result of serious off-road injuries. One prominent reason is the plethora of preconceived notions about those who use (or recreate) on off-road vehicles. There is generally an assumption of higher risk that goes along with such vehicles that can make it more difficult to win damage claims or civil cases. This inflexible thinking can cloud off-road vehicle accident cases and make settling them with an insurance company, or litigating them in civil court much more complex than more traditional vehicle accidents.

It’s not easy. We’ll grant you that. But until you visit with one of our ATV and off-road accident attorneys, you’ll never know.

If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident involving any type of vehicle, then call us today for a free consultation at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free). We offer a free, comprehensive and fully confidential legal consultation. We encourage you to ask every question you need in order to completely understand your injury case and how it is best pursued.

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ATV Accidents – Often it’s Not About Driver Liability, but the Vehicle Itself, or Where it is Operating

At first glance an all-terrain vehicles (ATV) or universal terrain vehicle UTV may seem harmless enough. But some of them on flat ground are capable of reaching passenger-car-like speeds. And yet they offer little to no protection in the event of a crash. There are a number of ATVs on the market today that have built-in negative attributes which make them extremely likely to cause an accident. A recent study by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has revealed that there are an average of 700 deaths and 135,000 accidents that occur annually to the drivers and passengers of ATVs. And not all of them are the rider or driver’s fault: much as insurance companies might want us to believe.

Many Texans use all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) for a variety of purposes. They enjoy them for weekend recreation or quickly reaching into the back state for hunting, camping and fishing. ATVs can also function as light work vehicles in areas where roads are scarce, or nonexistent. With the dangers inherent in riding an ATV, most people, just like with motorcycles, assume the drivers themselves are responsible for any accidents in which they get involved and don’t deserve to be compensated for the injuries they suffered. And a lot of the time, they use the same reasoning, that the rider is careless and exhibits risky behavior, just like all those devil-may-care motorcyclists in thinking that ATV riders are responsible for their accidents. The same convenient bias holds true for insurance adjusters to automatically deny an injury claim.

Time after time, an experienced attorney exposes this inaccurate assumption in an ATV accident injury case. In many instances, ATV accidents find their sources in faulty mechanics and poor design that lead to roll-over accidents through a defective product lawsuit against the manufacturer. Other times, property owners are held responsible for creating the conditions, often without even knowing, that led to the accident. ATVs can often be unsafe vehicles even when the rider was driving safely. And sometimes other riders who are near the ATV operate their vehicles unsafely or recklessly and cause accidents that produce injuries or even deaths. You need an experienced ATV accident injury lawyer to prove that you were operating your off-road vehicle safely, that someone’s negligence caused your injuries and that you deserve just-damage compensation for their irresponsible behavior.

ATV & UTV accidents can be catastrophic as the vehicles do not possess many (or any in some cases) active or passive safety features. In many cases the lack of basic safety features, such as seat belts, result in the occupants being ejected from the vehicle. Additionally, the vehicle often lands on the victim crushing their extremities or causing other horribly catastrophic injuries.

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The Yamaha Rhino: Just one of Several ATVs that Have Been Found to Have Defects
The Yamaha Rhino is a very popular all terrain vehicle largely because of its narrow track (the lateral distance between the it’s tires as seen from the front or rear) and it’s short wheelbase (the longitudinal distance from the center point of the front wheel to the center point of the rear wheel). And this design makes it very easy to transport in the back of a small pickup truck. The vehicle was deliberately designed with that very thing in mind. However the vehicle’s smaller dimensions create a built in handicap by not providing a wide enough base to compensate the vehicle’s relatively high center of gravity. The end result is a vehicle that is much more apt to roll over.

Rollovers comprise the largest percentage of three and four wheeled ATVs. But the Rhino comes with a dangerous penchant for doing that when the experienced rider doesn’t necessarily expect it to behave that way.

This vehicle is designed and marketed for the purpose of traveling over uneven terrain, various slopes and gradients, under various conditions of reduced traction. Combine these types of environments with a vehicle that is a likely rollover candidate and you have a very high probability of an innocent victim suffering a serious injury. Yamaha is fully aware of the numerous accidents that have occurred as a result of this apparent defect, yet they have continued to sell these ATVs for many years virtually unchanged, other than sternly warning riders to be aware of this proclivity. But if you know product law, a warning does not offer blanket immunity to a defective product lawsuit.

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Off-Road Motorcycle Accidents are Another Instance Where Insurance Companies say “NO” out of Habit, and Prejudice

This group of apparently “devil may care” motorcyclists are almost universally singled-out for denials by insurance companies whenever they file an injury claim, for the very same reasons as ATV riders. They charge that “BMX-motocross” riders know what they’re getting into the minute they hop on that off-road bike as they invoke the “assumption of higher risk” when automatically denying claims. And we admit that in a larger share of such cases or claims, that reason might be valid. But what if others outside of the biker had a hand in the events that caused a catastrophic accident?

Might someone have wandered onto the course and in his attempt to avoid hitting that person, the biker ran into a tree or over a ledge? What if the owner of the property on which the bike trail lies has not removed serious obstacles that would obviously cause a disastrous wreck: even if the bikers all sigh liability releases? One thing about releases that few know, there is a mutual assumption of responsibility. The biker agrees to abide by the terms of the release, but the owner of the property must make all reasonable efforts to provide a safe trail. Just because a release is signed doesn’t universally protect property owners. This holds true for not only sanctioned BMX course owners but anyone who owns the property and allows off-road bikers onto that property.

And then there are injuries resulting from defective products. Recently, it has come to light that some of the handlebar assemblies on certain BMX bikes may be defective, causing them to fail in high-stress situations and making the bike careen out of control. There have also been defective product lawsuits against some BMX brake manufacturers from time-to-time. And even with the development of space-age technology when it comes to crash helmets or other protective wear, sometimes they can also be defective. That’s why it’s important for off-road bikers (and all motorcyclists for that matter) to regularly visit the CPSC’s website to learn about any defects that may be associated with the motorcycles they might own.

Personal injury lawyers who focus on motorcycle accidents – both off-road and on – are best equipped to discover all of the facts surrounding your legal case or insurance claim. Because motorcycle accidents can be complex, it is important for victims to seek out a personal attorney who has access to expert witnesses and knows which experts to involve in the legal claim.

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General Negligence Lawsuits: Are You Just Fishing in the Dark?

Sometimes, when the facts of an off-road case might not suggest a specific cause, but the investigation suggests some form of negligence involved in an off-road vehicle accident, attorneys and their clients might file a general negligence lawsuit against those who are believed to be defendants.

These kinds of civil actions are just what the title implies. But the reality of a general negligence lawsuit, and the fact that it is not explicitly linked to any specific sort of civil damage claim, like a work injury or a car wreck, or even a defective product, makes them something of a catch-all. And because of this, often general negligence lawsuits can be very difficult to prove for two reasons. Essentially, a general negligence lawsuit is literally seen by many as “throwing everything at a wall to see what sticks.” And some (mostly insurance companies and defense attorneys) see general negligence suits as something akin to walking into a clothing store and trying everything on to see what looks good on you.

Because of this, the levels of general negligence proof can be extremely high. And this is why it is very hard for you and your attorney to not appear as if you’re filing a nuisance lawsuit. So the simple fact of the matter is this: You and your ATV and off-road accident attorney must have clear and overwhelming proof that your argument is legitimate. The more proof you can offer up to the insurance company or civil jury, the better. And even then, especially in light of our latest round of Texas tort reform in 2011, you can still get blown out of the tub, even if you do everything right and end up paying the very people you are trying to sue.

When you go to trial, the first thing your legal opponents will do is ask the Judge to summarily judge all of your accumulated but still unrepresented evidence and determine if you have what is called a “prima facie” case. If the judge rules that you do have a case, then you go to the next round of litigation, consideration of motions. But if the judge thinks your case is a bunch of bushwah and dismisses it, guess who is on the hook for all court costs and attorney fees? Certainly not the defendant.

Now, this is not to say that a general negligence lawsuit cannot be won. The key to winning one comes from the quality of your attorney’s investigations and the specialized experts that are available to your legal counsel to devise a clear plan, then paint a lucid picture of liability: not to mention your Texas off-road accident injury lawyer’s ability to negotiate with the insurance companies to offer a fair settlement.

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Insurance Company Legal Opposition Can be Very Stout in an ATV or Other Off-Road Accident

Accidents involving any off-road vehicle often cause catastrophic injuries to these unfortunate plaintiffs. Many times the road to recovery can be long, and very expensive. Long term and permanent disability to the ATV or off-road biker can also be a factor, in addition to months or years of lost income. All of this adds up to very large insurance claims and very aggressive defenses against these people who are injured and try to recover rightful compensation that will pay their bills as they convalesce. A knowledgeable ATV and off-road accident attorney really can be a biker’s best friend.

We’ve spoken of the “cultural popularity” when it comes to blaming those who operate “non-traditional” vehicles for any and all accidents they are involved in. That bias makes many feel that people who operate off-road motorbikes and should automatically accept this “high risk” behavior as part of their lifestyle and live with the results of their lifestyle. And that preconception is warmly embraced by insurance companies as a favorite excuse to not pay accident claims, which is the real business that insurance companies are in.

But there is one common thread to all off-road vehicle accidents The injuries to the victims are often very expensive, cause some form of disability, a lot of pain and suffering, and usually prevent these people from working. So they fight like the devil to avoid paying a serious injury claim or civil suit.

They use adjusters to make you think they’re on your side, only to trick you into saying something that can be used against you later. They use delaying tactics to pay what are clearly justifiable claims. They offer woefully inadequate compensation settlement packages that don’t come close to paying your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages because you can’t return to work immediately; or disability if you can’t return to work at all. And the insurance companies have very good attorneys to hide behind in their efforts to not pay your claim.

But just because they think they can treat you this way if you’ve been involved in these types or any other vehicle accident, doesn’t mean the insurance companies are right in doing it. But the only real way to defeat them is with an experienced injury attorney who understands the subtle nuances of liability when it comes to these many types of mishaps under the general heading of “other vehicle accidents.”

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Our Law Firm Will Fight for Your Injury Rights from Any Vehicle Accident

If you expect to be compensated for injuries you sustained in an off-road accident, you need an experienced local personal injury lawyer who knows how to investigate such accident scenes to uncover all of the evidence that backs you up: then present it in a manner that proves your injuries resulted from someone else’s negligence.

Our Law Firm has a great deal of experience investigating all sorts of vehicle accidents. And insurance carriers, along with their attorneys, know that when we’re on the case that we won’t go away as we pursue justice for our injured clients. Negotiating fair settlements with insurance companies and, if necessary, taking them to court in order to win damage compensation often convinces your opponents to offer that fair settlement that will relieve you of this sudden financial nightmare and help you recover as you should.

So, Before you speak with an insurance company, or accept even a single dollar of payment or compensation from anyone, or sign anything, or attempt to file a lawsuit on your own, you must contact a competent lawyer.

We have won just compensation for hundreds of clients against every major insurance company in the state. And once they see the handwriting on the wall, they are more apt to offer a fair settlement rather than risk an even higher civil judgment from a jury, in addition to the cost of a trial. We use our intimate understanding of the laws in question, coupled with state-of-the-art investigative techniques to devise a strategy that serves the specific needs of your case. This can deliver fair restitution for your injuries.

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First, Before Your Case Begins You Must Have Some Very Important Information About Your Employer

Many oilfield accidents can be attributed to worn or defective rigging and machinery, negligence that causes explosions, heavy objects falling, slip and falls and a host of other hazards. And with workers sometimes being pushed to their physical limits every day, many of them feel obligated to take drugs to keep up the pace. Drilling contractors regularly turn a blind eye to this illegal practice. Most don’t even drug test their employees in the field simply because production is more important than worker safety. So it’s easy to see why numerous mishaps occur. Broken bones, head, and crush injuries and even deaths are genuine risks of petroleum production. When that happens, Texas workers’ compensation insurance provides a “no-fault” coverage umbrella. This means drilling contractors and rig owners have a liability buffer that allows them to avoid the creation and maintenance of a safe workplace: because if they don’t have to pay full-value for worker injuries, they usually aren’t all that concerned over them.

But Texas oil and gas drilling companies are not required by the state to purchase workers’ comp insurance. So when you are injured on the drilling rig or platform you need to determine if your employer carries workers’ comp or not: because how you seek compensation for your injury is predicated on the answer to this first, and very important, question, Employers who subscribe to worker’s comp are “subscribers.” Those who don’t are viewed as “non-subscribers.” And which answer applies determines which one of a host of completely different methods and strategies is used to win your case.

The insurance “pool” of funds that pay workers’ comp claims on behalf of companies that subscribe to the program comes from contributions by participating in private insurance carriers. Subscribing companies are also protected from all but a few civil lawsuits. Workers’ comp does deliver a certain amount of financial relief to employees who are injured on the job site, primarily for medical bills and short-term income loss and some of (but not all) disability. This “no-fault” insurance covers drilling and pipeline employees of subscribing employers, no matter how the accident occurred or whose fault it was. But this quick and easy coverage comes with a real threat to these injured workers. This is due to the fact that the limited amount of money received for the injury usually doesn’t cover the total damages, especially if the injury is severe, long-term, or causes permanent disability.

And since – with an exception – workers can’t sue their subscribing employer, their right of access to fair reimbursement is virtually nonexistent. And as we have already suggested, workers comp benefits for major injuries and disability (and lost wages) just don’t match-up with fair-market compensation levels. Workers’ comp “benefit cap” amounts hardly ever fairly compensate employees who suffer long-term injury on the job site, or wrongful death. Workers’ comp benefits the employer, not the employee. And you can thank the legislature and the insurance lobby for that.

The one exception that does allow employees to sue their workers’ comp subscriber employer occurs when the employer commits gross (or willful) negligence that causes a fatal accident on the drilling rig or pipeline. But effectively proving gross negligence can be very difficult without an experienced drilling or pipeline accident attorney to navigate those tricky waters.

But there’s another side of the workers’ comp coin. There are approximately one-in-two employers who do not participate in the program. Many drilling contractors, their subcontractors, and pipeline transport companies are perfectly willing to hold their breath and risk being a workers’ comp non-subscriber. Considering the fact that workers’ comp disproportionately benefits them, sometimes this might seem curious that they don’t sign-up. Eventually, the odds catch up with them and someone gets hurt or killed. Then, because they aren’t protected, the injured worker can sue them for civil damages, without any benefit caps.

One of the things non-subscribers do to avoid a work injury lawsuit amuses us. Many of them involve the employer trying to sweep the fact that he is a non-subscriber under the rug and claims to have workers’ comp when he really doesn’t. The employer will try to quickly close the matter by offering to pay the benefits injured workers normally receive from workers’ comp by asking them to sign what appears to be workers’ comp release. You’d be surprised how many employers resort to this, and how many of their deceitful claims our experienced drilling accident attorneys unmask, quickly followed by a non-subscriber lawsuit.

But for an injured drilling or pipeline accident injury sufferer to win compensation from a non-subscriber, the only avenue is to file that lawsuit. An experienced petroleum production accident lawyer can easily identify your company’s workers’ comp status and quickly take the best legal option available to you.

An experienced drilling accident attorney with our Law Firm will help you win your oil and gas injury liability case anywhere in Texas or out in the Gulf. Call our Law Firm now at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation and find out how we can help you. We can answer all of your questions and tell you the best way to win the compensation you deserve from your injury on a drilling rig or pipeline.

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The Best Strategies, and Investigations, Produce the Best Legal Results for You

Once it’s determined whether or not your employer is a workers’ comp subscriber (or not), the next steps involve formulating a specific strategy to get that compensation you deserve from your drilling rig or pipeline-related injury. There are several options, and combinations, available. We’ve already told you about the exception that allows you to sue a workers’ comp-covered employer for gross negligence, even if it’s difficult. So if your loved one’s death occurred while working on a rig or pipeline and the accident was caused by employer gross negligence, then you, as an immediate family survivor, may file a civil wrongful death lawsuit. But there is a side issue that comes into play in these unusual cases.

Workers’ comp’s no-fault insurance dramatically lowers the standards of negligence when calculating the value of a claim, especially if the accident causes a worker’s death. Those same standards apply in civil cases surrounding gross negligence in death-related lawsuits, including workman’s comp wrongful death. So if a family member has died due to negligence, proving gross negligence in a civil case against a subscriber is easier.

Injured workers who are employed by non-subscribers can be directly sued, as we have also mentioned. But an equally practical approach, regardless of whether the employer is a subscriber or not, involves third-party claims and lawsuits against those who were negligent and contributed to the drilling or pipeline workers’ injury. Faulty equipment that breaks and caused an injury might place the manufacturer of a defective product at risk of a civil suit. Maybe the owner didn’t care for his equipment properly, or it was old and not properly reconditioned before being put back in service, or the owner of the rig (or the drilling contractor) did not create a safe workplace. These are a few of the many instances of employer (and third party) negligence for which the defendant can be held legally accountable for your injury, medical bills, pain, suffering, lost wages, and disability. Sometimes employees of contractors or subcontractors or other vendors might have caused the accident. And don’t forget the corporation that owns the rig. All of this comes under the purview of the legal concept in Texas law called “respondeat superior.” It states that employers of those found to be liable for the accident are ultimately responsible for the actions or inaction of their employees, and maybe even subcontractors in some cases.

So, armed with all this new knowledge, your apparent legal strategies could involve:

Suing your workers’ comp non-subscriber employer and all identified third parties for damages
If your employer is a workers’ comp subscriber, file your normal claim and augment its coverage benefit cap with targeted civil suits against al identified third party defendants for supplemental damages. Often, a workers’ comp claim and third-party lawsuits will combine to produce fair cumulative compensation.
But just jumping to either strategy doesn’t happen immediately. Because you have to learn who did what, when, and the degree of negligence that caused your injuries. If property owners are suspects, you must know what they knew and when they knew it. The ability to properly investigate the accident scene and the roles everyone played in your drilling rig or pipeline accident is absolutely necessary. This is another reason why it’s best to hire an experienced drilling rig and pipeline attorney to manage this intricate case, and the equally complicated investigation that produces the evidence which leads to your best legal strategy.

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Hope for the Best, but Prepare for Trouble Once the Civil Lawsuits are Filed

The now-complete investigation has revealed liable third party defendants and/or a non-subscribing employer. It’s time to begin your lawsuit. What happens next?

It usually begins (with your attorney on your behalf) filing a claim, on your behalf (the plaintiff) against the non-subscribing employer, or third-party defendant, stating that the injury has caused you harm. It will include the total damage amount you are seeking. If the defendants are insured, they simply turn this over to their insurance company, unless they’re self-insured or not insured.

The insurance company will most-likely dispute your allegations immediately and without consideration, because that’s what insurance companies do until they know you are serious and won’t go away. This begins the “negotiation phase.” And it’s possible that negotiations could produce the damage amount you seek, especially if the insurance company knows you have a very strong case. That’s the best-case scenario.

But much more often, drilling rig injury cases are contested and you will be forced to file an actual lawsuit. And the burden of proving that employer or third party negligence caused your injury which produced the damages you seek is squarely on you and your attorney’s shoulders. Here is where the strength of your case lies in the quality of your lawyer’s investigative powers.

Sometimes your case is strong, but your employer’s or third parties’ insurance company still resists paying your injury claim, even if the defendant/policyholders want them to in order to make you go away. So, insurance companies encourage them to “circle the wagons” with them by threatening higher premium payments. This happens because insurance companies hate paying claims and do all they can to influence their defendants to resist you just as belligerently as they. And when it comes to the tactics used to deny paying your damages, we’ve found that defendants, their insurance companies (and their lawyers) most often use a traditional defense found in personal injury law to avoid paying injured employees rightful compensation.

The primary liability defense strategy is to charge the plaintiff with the sole proximate cause. This means the victim was totally to blame for his drilling or pipeline injuries. In order to invoke the sole proximate cause against you, the defendants say and do anything to try and suggest that you alone were careless or irresponsible and caused your painful injuries. They do everything they can to sully your reputation as a worker and a human being to make their point. They try to enter evidence that has no bearing on the case, other than try and prove their flimsy charges. And since insurance companies are very experienced, and their attorneys very shrewd, when it comes to fighting your claim or civil case, you must expect any trick they can come up with to change the argument, and hopefully have a good Texas petroleum accident lawyer to shift the liability spotlight back on the defendants and away from you.

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Defendants Question Whether a Genuine Employer-Employee Relationship Exists so They Can Avoid Paying You

In addition to the sole proximate cause defense, another popular way for employer-defendants to wiggle out of paying you damages from your drilling accident, finds many clever employers saying that you are technically not an employee to begin with. This – they will claim – renders the issue of their liability moot. When faced with an expensive personal injury liability lawsuit in the workplace, employers know they are not responsible for injuries to their subcontractors, or a subcontractor’s employees. So many of them will, in-reality, hire employees, then turn around and claim they are instead, contractors. But anyone can claim anything. Proving it is another matter; especially when you have an experienced Texas drilling and pipeline accident attorney to unmask their subterfuge. Remember, the burden of proof is on you. And that includes disproving every charge they fire at you, no matter how frivolous it might be. In a trial, when it gets to the point of feckless defendant charges, things start looking pretty good for you.

While many drilling companies claim this non-employee point, they know that a true employer-employee relationship exists for the purposes of accident liability and that you have the right to receive to damages from this defendant. Here are some of the ways to disprove this employer ruse and confirm an employer-employee relationship exists.

Social security or taxes have been withheld from your paycheck by the employer.
The essential equipment for the job was supplied to you by the employer.
Your work has been regularly managed, overseen or inspected by your employer.
A specific work schedule has been set for the job by the employer. You are not free to come-and-go as you please.
Your employer requires you to complete a task or sign a document that limits your rights while working for the employer. The most common examples are taking a drug test or signing a document that states you comply with an employee handbook.
You have been employed for an undetermined period of time and not just for a single job.
You are paid by a salary or an hourly wage and not on a job-by-job basis.
In cases where an employer claims you have been “borrowed” from another company, or hired through a third-party employment agency, the rules for determining the working relationship are closely related to those above. But depending on defendant allegations, there can be some discrete, but crucial differences in determining the employer-employee relationship. Some of these conditions may include:

If the borrowing employer can hire or fire you at any time, you are clearly an employee. Otherwise, you are a contractor.
Most of the time, if the borrowing employer can pick a particular worker, then the worker is an employee. If the agency that provides the worker is allowed to send any worker they choose, the worker is a contractor.
This answer is the same when it comes to tools and equipment. If you provide them, then you are a contractor. If the employer provides them, then you’re an employee.
If the agency can substitute the borrowed worker for another at-will, the worker is a contractor. If the lending agency cannot, then the worker is an employee.
If you are borrowed indefinitely, then the worker is an employee. But if you’re borrowed for a specific project with a specific date of completion, then you’re a contractor.
If you are borrowed or “leased” because of a skill that is unique or hard-to-find, then you’re a contractor. But on the other hand, if an employer borrows you to fill a position that just about anyone can fill, then you’re an employee.
If the borrowing employer agrees to pay your social security and income tax, then you’re an employee. If the borrowing employer does not accept this responsibility, then you’re a contractor.
Our Law Firm conducts a methodical investigation of your employer to prove any one of these employee standards. We will depose co-workers, review contracts and examine pay stubs to prove an employer-employee relationship existed when you suffered an on-the-job injury.

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Most Every Defendant Strenuously Avoids Paying Injury Damages You Rightly Deserve: Whether they’re Insured or not
As we’ve already told you, personal injury civil defendants break down into two basic categories. They are either covered (and represented) by an insurance carrier, or they are self-insured. No matter what category they fall into, they persistently fight to avoid paying your injury damages.

Defendants who have insurance coverage know they can also rely on the attorneys they have, either on staff or permanent retainers to vigorously defend their shared interest (which is to not pay your damage claim). They are very good at denying drilling rig and pipeline accident injury claimants and their lawsuits. You can anticipate a great deal of belligerence from this defendant team. It’s their job to take a “how dare you?” position, especially when they’re trying to deny respondeat superior and turn the sole proximate cause tables against you. They can terrify a claimant who has no attorney, or who has retained an inexperienced one.

But you can beat them with good evidence, a just cause and an experienced petroleum workplace accident attorney in our community who knows how to counter every trick they try to pull. And don’t forget, one of the corporate petro-giants might be involved (usually behind the scenes, pulling everyone’s strings). This is why you must be fearless, just like your experienced lawyer, because you can win.

But arrogant insurance companies and their lawyers who are pitted against you are governed, to-a-point, by a legally mandated code of ethics surrounding their behavior, and the lengths they can go in defending themselves. There are no such rules governing the behavior of self-insured contractors and subcontractors who are defendants in your lawsuit. And they are apt to use every malicious trick they can think in order to defend themselves against your civil damage suit. Some of those tricks are immoral. Others are even illegal. And all their equally threatening attorneys need to do is deny any knowledge of this sneaky, reprehensible behavior by their clients, just like Sergeant Schultz (“I see nothing, I know nothing”).

You will likely deal directly with an officer of the self-insured drilling or pipeline company. This person’s salary is coming out of company profits. Whatever injury award you are paid comes directly out of company funds (or a cash bond), which means your employer, or that third party, is taking money out of his own pocket. This is why a self-insured company officer uses any trick he can think of to deny your claim and protect his company’s (and his personal) assets.

These people deliberately destroy evidence, intimidate and even bribe witnesses. Sometimes they’ll resort to physical threats against you or even your family. Often, when a self-insured drilling or pipeline defendant is involved, early-on we file motions that prohibit anyone with the company from inappropriate behavior towards our clients. And regularly, such motions clearly demand they make no attempt to communicate with our clients, or their families unless one of our attorneys is present.

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Texas Injury Laws do not Govern Offshore Drilling: But our Law Firm Handles Those Cases too

If you have been hurt on an offshore drilling rig or pipeline, the laws that govern those injury cases stop at the Texas coast. When the rig is “on the water” several completely different laws from those in the state provide the basis for damage compensation from a work-related injury. On one hand, this makes things easier for you. But on the other hand, winning just compensation can be just as tricky.

Platform drilling injury cases typically fall under the purview of the Jones Act (which is officially known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1930). Other legislation that is even older might also factor into your case: such as the Limitations Liability Act of 1851 and/or the Death on the High Seas Act, which has its roots in English Common Law. The Limitations Liability act might be a stretch, seeing as how it was enacted long before the existence of the modern insurance company. But there are some obscure loopholes in all the above laws that could apply to your case, depending on the issues and events surrounding it.

Generally, the same types of damages available through Texas Civil Law are available to offshore platform workers. But as we’ve mentioned, how you and your attorney win just compensation for injuries, lost wages, pain, suffering and death benefits are quite different due to some of those obscure loopholes, the insurance companies who underwrite offshore drilling companies, and their very specialized and talented attorneys.

Regardless of whether your accident occurred offshore or deep in the heart of Texas, you should contact one of our Law Firm’s Texas drilling and pipeline accident attorneys in order to fully understand your injury compensation rights and the process of winning damages for those injuries.

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What You MUST Do (and Not Do) Today to Win Petro-Accident Injury Compensation

The first rule is this: Before you speak with an insurance company, or accept even a single dollar of payment or compensation from your employer, or sign anything, or attempt to file a lawsuit on your own, you must contact a competent lawyer. If you don’t do this immediately, you’re cutting your own legal throat.

Your employer or its insurance provider wants you to accept what they think is a fair settlement, in order for them to save money. They don’t care if the settlement is enough or not. Frankly, their view of fair compensation and yours are usually light-years distant. In order to prevent them from taking advantage you, it’s also never a good idea to discuss any details of your intentions, or anything else surrounding the injury, with your employer, a third party, anyone with the insurance company, or even your co-workers without a lawyer protecting you.

You must also accept the critical importance of acting swiftly in order to present your best case this one time. You only get one shot. Make it your best because you can’t go back and ask for more damages. Evidence begins to fade immediately. The physical details of the accident change in the blink of an eye; especially if a guilty defendant is trying to cover his tracks. Witnesses change their stories, or forget what they saw, or even disappear when it’s time to go to court. All of these, and more, seriously endanger your ability to win the restitution you and your family deserve. This is why you need to act fast.

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Understanding Workers’ Comp Non-Subscriber Compensation and Your Legal Rights in Texas

If you’ve recently been hurt on the job it is extremely important that you seek the help of an experienced legal professional who specializes in work-related injuries, especially if there are negligent parties who do not subscribe to Texas Workers’ Compensation. Without an experienced work injury lawyer, you have virtually no hope of receiving the fair compensation you deserve.

Work injury cases can be some of the most complex in the legal world. The precise approach in handling your case depends on a large number of variables. But the most important point is first learning the truth of whether or not your employer subscribes to workers’ compensation. If he or she does subscribe, the employer is protected from further litigation and all you must do is file a claim through the workers’ comp program. Because it greatly benefits them, a lot of Texas employers may tell you they have workers’ comp, even when they are actually non-subscribers. As you read further you’ll understand why.

And though some aspects of workers’ comp law do apply to a non-subscriber case; a clear understanding of it is essential in your understanding of the specific strategy that your work injury attorney with our Law Firm can craft for you. So, if you want to receive every compensation dollar you deserve from a workplace injury, regardless of whether workers’ comp covers your employer or not, you must get help from an experienced attorney.

Understanding Workers’ Comp is Necessary, Even if it Might Not Apply to Your Work Injury Lawsuit

Workers’ compensation is essentially state-sponsored group insurance. It is nothing like a privately underwritten liability insurance policy that a non-subscriber to workers’ comp would purchase. Due to intense pressure by the insurance industry and their lobbyists, the legislature created and modified original (over 50-year-old) state workers’ injury compensation program around 10 years ago. Today, workers comp is a complicated government bureaucracy. It protects employers from lawsuits and generally disregards the legal rights of employees to be fairly compensated for serious injuries when the employer is truly negligent. Workers’ comp benefits come out of a “pool” of funds that are provided by private insurance carriers. In Texas, employers may elect not to subscribe to workers’ compensation insurance.

Employers who participate in workers’ comp fund this insurance pool through the premiums they pay through the participating insurance companies which, in turn, band together to provide “umbrella insurance coverage” to the workers of the participating employers. Today, around half of Texas’ businesses participate in the state’s workers’ comp program and are virtually bulletproof when it comes to civil actions being filed against them for workplace injuries. It is assumed (but again, not required) that non-subscribers get their liability coverage from a commercial insurance carrier. So if you are injured on-the-job and your employer is a workers’ comp non-subscriber, you have every right to seek a claim from their insurance underwriter if they have private coverage, or in court from them directly through a civil action if it turns out they have no coverage at all.

Workers’ comp insurance provides some benefit to injured employees: and if their injuries are not serious, it can be pretty good for them. If your employer subscribes to workers’ comp and you are injured on the job, you will receive some reimbursement. It doesn’t matter how the accident occurred or whose fault it was because it’s “no-fault” insurance. But many times the amount of money you receive doesn’t cover the actual expenses of a serious job-related injury. And since employees of subscribers cannot file a lawsuit those employers, but still need the payment for their injuries, we have helped many identify all liable third parties from which they can receive a more equitable settlement, in addition to their workers’ comp claim. More often than not there are third parties involved in such serious injuries that an investigation by the injury attorney will reveal.

For example, if you are hurt at a construction site and your employer’s workers’ comp covers your injury claim, you can’t file a lawsuit. But many construction site injuries are often the fault of at least one third-party and maybe more. Let’s say you are hurt in a scaffolding collapse and the equipment belongs to a subcontractor who didn’t properly assemble it. The subcontractor is liable. The company that built the scaffolding might also be liable if your injuries are due to a defect in the equipment and you can likely file a product liability claim against the scaffold’s manufacturer. So even if you cannot file a lawsuit against your workers’ comp-covered employer, you may have non-subscriber options that allow you to seek fair compensation for your job-related injuries over-and-above a workers’ comp claim. Our work accident injury attorneys will help you identify all likely defendants in your case.

And don’t forget that your employer may claim to have workers’ comp when he or she, in fact, does not. Employers may even try to quickly pay you benefits you would receive from workers’ compensation insurance and ask you to sign what they may represent as a “standard release” in order to further their deception. Your Texas non-subscriber work injury attorney will thoroughly investigate your employer and determine whether or not he or she has workers’ comp coverage. If your employer doesn’t and you have a very strong claim, we can help you file and win a powerful non-subscriber lawsuit.

If a third party is a workers’ comp subscriber for his employees but is involved in your injury claim, you can file a work injury lawsuit against this person or company because you are not an employee, And of course, any third party may also be named a defendant in a non-subscriber lawsuit.

The best ending for your workplace injury produces a fair settlement without having to go to trial. But if a trial becomes necessary, we will persuasively litigate your case to win the judgment you deserve so you can get back on your feet and resume a normal life.

So if you or someone you love has been hurt on the job, the Texas work injury lawyers of our Law Firm can help you recover the compensation you need and deserve, and bring those responsible for your work injuries to justice.

But the first step is for you to contact us at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation to find out every legal option that is available to you and keep you from becoming an even more tragic victim of workplace injury and negligence that you already are.

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Is the Money Paid by a Workers Compensation Claim Really That Bad?
To us, workers’ comp payouts for serious injuries can be described in one word: appalling.

Victims of a job-related accident whose employer has workers’ comp receive no-better-than 70% of their lost income. But there is a $600 weekly a cap. So a carpenter who earns $70,000 a year and suffers a serious job-related injury, his workers’ comp coverage pays no more than a measly $600 per week in lost wages as he recovers from your injuries until he returns to work. And even that benefit runs out in 26 weeks unless he files for permanent disability. With such little compensation, hopefully, that carpenter will recover quickly.

There is another glaring danger to employees who are awarded workers’ comp claims. The amount they receive does not take into account the true value of lost future potential income. If you were to suffer long-term disability and cannot return to work, the most you would ever get from your employer’s workers’ comp disability is that same $600 workers’ comp amount per week for the rest of your life, through you previously earned about $1400 every week. Now you may receive an additional disability one-time lump sum, but that total amount of workers’ comp disability is insignificant when compared to the total amount of your lost future income.

And for some, it gets even worse. Let’s say you’re an employee at a warehouse in the evenings while you work your way through graduate school during the day to become a CPA. You suffer a serious spinal injury on the job and are physically unable to work or even continue your education. You still receive the same 70% of only your warehouse salary for the rest of your life. And since healthy CPAs often earn ten times that of a warehouse worker ($10-$12 an hour if you’re lucky) you lose a huge amount of potential income: certainly seven figures or more, from the many years you would have earned that huge accountant salary. This poses disastrous consequences for injured workers and their families. Lost future earnings is where the insurance companies that contribute to the workers’ comp coverage pool make a killing at worker-expense because they are immune to fairly compensating you for lost future earnings.

Is it any wonder why you must have an experienced Texas work injury lawyer who can effectively investigate your case and represent you? If your employer does not have workers’ comp, you must know so that you can recover a fair settlement for your injuries. And regardless of whether or not your employer has workers’ comp or not, you and your attorney must immediately begin the search for every third party who’s liable for the injuries you have suffered at work so that together we can aggressively pursue all legitimate claims against them. Our workplace injury lawyers build strong cases. And we tirelessly fight for your right to win the fairest compensation you deserve.

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Here’s How Non-Subscriber Lawsuits Work to Fairly Compensate You

In non-subscriber injuries, you have a right to file a traditional personal injury lawsuit against your employer to compensate you for a variety of damages. They may include:

The income you lost for the time your injury prevented you from working.
Your diminished earning capacity if there is long-term disability.
All of your medical expenses, including long-term healthcare if there is a disability.
Property damage.
Your physical pain and suffering.
Mental or emotional distress that you suffer due to your injuries.
With the help of their experienced attorneys and insurance companies (if they are insured) liable employers try to frustrate an injured employee’s claims by alleging that you and only you, the employee, are responsible for your workplace injury. In your plaintiff lawsuit, you are accusing defendants of being the proximate cause of the accident. Your insurance and legal opponents are essentially turning the tables and accusing you of the very thing they have done: You did it to yourself. You and your attorney must disprove those allegations and keep the spotlight where it truly belongs, your employer.

If you suffer a lifting injury at work, your employer might claim that since you were working alone at the time and there are no witnesses, your injury is your fault. But if our attorneys can connect the responsibility for your injury back to your employer, it’s much easier to prove negligence and the odds of winning your case get much better.

One way to prove employer negligence finds your attorney proving your employer’s inability – or refusal – to give you proper safety training or the right safety equipment. Or another might reveal that your boss didn’t tell another employee to help you lift an obviously heavy object and caused your injury. And there are several other ways a skilled attorney can turn the tables on your employer and prove negligence as the cause of your on-the-job injury, not you. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff (you). But so is the burden to disprove everything that defendants accuse of you. And sometimes those countercharges can be patently false and ridiculous.

Proving employer liability for an injury usually calls for intricate tactics so a jury understands the more discrete standards of legal liability. Our experienced attorneys are thoroughly familiar with non-subscriber work injury law, know how to prove your injuries were caused by your employer’s negligence and lay the real blame for them at your employer’s feet. The work injury attorneys at our Texas Law Firm effectively help you prove your case and win the fair compensation you need in non-subscriber injury cases against your employer and any liable third-parties who contribute to your on-the-job accident.

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Many employers, regardless of whether they are workers’ comp subscribers or not, mistakenly believe (or purposefully claim) that their employees are “contractors:” which allows them to escape liability in work injury cases. This is because Texas work injury law states that only “traditional” employees are eligible to file work injury lawsuits, not contractors. But Texas law does not provide clear guidelines for determining employee status for the purposes of civil liability. This means an experienced work injury attorney must rely on previous rulings to determine whether a worker is an employee or contractor. In Texas, the sum of the current “case law” is very clear. “In terms of civil liability, an employer-employee relationship is determined by the actual working relationship between employer and employee, not by a contract.”

Numerous conditions can establish an employer-employee relationship. The most straightforward is a variety of different documents that either state you are an employee, or gives clear public indication on the part of the employer that you indeed are. One clear-cut example is if a worker is performing services that are unique to an employer’s business. For instance, if a person works at Wal Mart, wears a Wal Mart shirt and badge, and serves Wal Mart customers, that person is a Wal Mart employee, regardless of the presence or absence of any sort of “contract” this person might have signed.

Over the past ten years, the line between who is “technically” an employee and who is not has become very confusing for non-attorneys or inexperienced lawyers and, in some cases, very murky. Sometimes you, or your employer, might think you are an employee when you are, in truth, not. Many employers make the mistake of believing that by hiring contractors, they can automatically escape liability in work injury cases. And other non-subscriber employers may know full-well that you’re an employee, but purposely mislead you into thinking you are a contractor.

A skillful and well-seasoned local non-subscriber work injury lawyer knows how to prove the employer-employee relationship by meeting at least one the following standards, and often more of them:

Social security or taxes have been withheld from your paycheck by your employer.
The essential equipment for the job was supplied to you by your employer.
Your work has been regularly managed, overseen or inspected by your employer.
A specific work schedule has been set for the job by your employer. You are not free to come-and-go as you please.
Your employer requires you to complete a task or sign a document that limits your rights while working for the employer. The most common examples are taking a drug test or signing a document that states you comply with an employee handbook.
You have been employed for an undetermined period of time and not just for a single job.
You are paid by a salary or an hourly wage and not on a job-by-job basis.
In cases where a worker is borrowed from another company, or a third-party agency, the rules for determining the working relationship are related, but there can be some crucial differences. Some of these conditions may include:

If the borrowing employer has the power to hire or fire a borrowed worker at any time, the worker is clearly an employee. Otherwise, the worker is a contractor
Most of the time, if the borrowing employer is allowed to pick a particular worker, then the worker is an employee. If the agency that provides the worker is allowed to send any worker they choose, the worker is a contractor.
If the worker must provide them, that person is a contractor. If the employer provides them, the worker is an employee.
If the employment agency can substitute the borrowed worker for another at-will, the worker is a contractor. If the lending agency cannot, then the worker is an employee.
If the worker is borrowed indefinitely, then the worker is an employee. If the worker is borrowed for a specific project with a specific date of completion, the worker is a contractor.
If a worker is being borrowed or “leased” because of a skill that is unique or hard-to-find, then the worker is a contractor. But on the other hand, if an employer borrows a worker to fill a position that just about anyone can fill, then the worker is an employee.
If the borrowing employer agrees to pay the worker’s social security and income tax, then the worker is an employee. If the borrowing employer does not accept this responsibility, then the worker is a contractor.
Our Law Firm conducts a thorough investigation to demonstrate the existence of one of these standards and prove an employer-employee relationship existed between you and your employer/defendant. We will depose co-workers, review contracts and examine pay stubs to establish that you were in fact an employee when you suffered an on-the-job injury.

But this general topic brings a couple other important points that may or may not apply to your specific case. If you were hired by an employment agency to work at an “employer’s” company and suffered a workplace-related accident, your attorney must determine if the employment agency has workers’ comp. If so, then you would file a workers’ comp claim against the agency, which would then make the company where you actually performed the work a third-party defendant in your accident injury civil case. And if the agency is a non-subscriber, then it’s non-subscriber claims across-the-board.

Also, if your employer loaned you out to another company where the accident occurred, the issue of workers’ comp subscription is the primary determiner of your legal strategy and the company where you suffered your injury will likely be treated as a third-party defendant in any civil claim or suit. Again, if all defendants are non-subscribers, then workers comp will not apply in any way.

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Why Should I Fear my Opponents In a Workplace Injury Case?

In all non-subscriber and third party injury claims or cases, the defendants often have large insurance companies with gifted attorneys to fight your compensation rights at every turn. And other times your employer is either “self-insured” or uninsured. They too fight just as hard, and are capable of underhanded and sometimes vile tactics to avoid paying for your workplace injuries.

Non-subscribers are represented by insurance companies most of the time. Their carriers use complicated delaying tactics and dispute you at every turn. Their attorneys are usually either in-house, or on-retainer. They are very good at defending insurance companies from people like you every day. Insurance companies are in the business of collecting high premiums and stubbornly avoid paying reasonable claims. They make you prove every little point of your case, file “nuisance motions” until – or if – they are persuaded that you and your attorney have a strong case. They won’t give up, even if they lose in court as they will then attack the amount of compensation you ask for and accuse you of filing a nuisance lawsuit. But they don’t always win, especially when you have a work injury attorney who knows every trick they pull, and how to counter it.

But as bad as insurance companies can be in an injury claim or lawsuit, employers who are liable for workplace injuries and are self-insured, or have no insurance altogether, are the most shameful. The shocking tactics we’ve seen some of them use in defending themselves against legitimate civil actions are disgraceful and sometimes, downright illegal.

Together, we will seek a settlement through an officer of the company or maybe even directly from your employer if it is a small company. This person’s salary is tied directly to the company’s profits. Any amount paid to you for an injury comes directly out company coffers. So by compensating you, your employer literally takes money out of his own pocket. We are rarely surprised when a self-insured company officer uses any and all means for denying your claim in order to protect his company, and personal, assets. Often, their lawyers turn a blind eye to such shameful behavior and will claim ignorance to their clients’ devious actions. If you take on one of these defendants by yourself, you’re just asking to get creamed.

Self-insured companies can sometimes deliberately dispose of damning evidence, bribe witnesses, and even intimidate you. They sometimes resort to physical threats to you and your family. Over the years we’ve seen hundreds of tricks self-insured defendants use against our clients. And it’s the reason why, when we represent a client against a self-insured company, the first thing we often do is to file motions that prevent anyone with the company from behaving inappropriately against our clients. Sometimes a motion includes demands that they make no attempt whatsoever to communicate with our client unless one of our attorneys is present.

We will not be intimidated. And we will not allow our clients to be intimidated either as they pursue justice for the serious work injuries they suffer. It’s their right to be fairly compensated. And it is our mission to protect them, and make it happen.

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An Experienced and Local Accident Injury Lawyer with our Law Firm is Your Best Shot at Fair Compensation

We’ve given you a lot to think about. And you still probably have questions about the legal reimbursement avenues available if you have suffered a workplace injury that is significant enough to justify legal action. But that’s our point in sharing the many nuances of Texas workplace law, and employer liability due to serious on-the-job injuries. Many things can, and do, happen that affect your ability to be fully and fairly compensated for your workplace injury.

Our Law Firm can help you seek fair reimbursement for being hurt on the job through no fault of your own. If your employer does not have workers’ compensation, we help you build the strongest non-subscriber lawsuit possible and counter the arguments and underhanded tactics that are used time and again by non-subscriber employers and the defense lawyers who help them avoid liability. And if your employer has workers’ comp, we will help you identify, plus seek additional damages from every other liable third party. We immediately and thoroughly investigate your employer to clearly establish whether or not he or she subscribes to workers’ comp, and plan an effective strategy once we know. We investigate the accident scene thoroughly, preserve evidence and hire experienced workplace injury specialists that cover just about any workplace injury scenario. We build strong, bulletproof cases!

Did You Know?
Our Texas Texas attorneys have won hundreds of work injury cases. Call us today to discuss your case. 1(800) 862-1260

But for your sake, please keep this very important piece of “free advice” in mind.

Before you speak with an insurance company, or accept even a single dollar of payment or compensation from your employer, or sign anything, or attempt to file a lawsuit on your own, you must contact a competent lawyer. If you reach out to us for a free consultation, we will quickly tell you what your legal options are and how we can help you recover the appropriate compensation for your work-related injury.

The non-subscriber work injury attorneys at our Texas Law Firm regularly win fair and just compensation for injured workers who were refused assistance by other firms. Not long ago we successfully handled a case for a worker who was injured on the job, but had initially signed-on to his job as an independent contractor. Eight different law firms said he had no case because the company that hired him used contract workers. But we weren’t convinced and ultimately, our firm found the “smoking gun” that proved he was an employee and won a seven-figure settlement for this injured, and very grateful, employee, because we successfully established a clear employer-employee relationship.

The professional workplace accident attorneys at our Texas Law Firm have helped injured workers win the compensation they deserve for decades. We have successfully investigated and resolved hundreds of high-profile work injury cases in our clients’ favor. We have faced-down virtually every major insurance carrier and work injury defense firm in the state. These corporations know how successful our attorneys are. And that’s why most of the time they offer our clients sizable and fair settlements once they know we’re on the case. They don’t want to face us in court.

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