Look for three things.
A firm with record breaking results trying construction cases in court. A team that knows your trade. And lawyers who understand New York's Labor Law inside and out.
Schwartzapfel Holbrook has fought for injured New York construction workers for decades. Our construction accident team handles falls, scaffold collapses, electrocutions, crush injuries and other career ending accidents across all five boroughs.
Workers' comp is not your only option. In many cases you can sue beyond workers' comp and recover far more. We investigate that on every case, from the first call.
NYC construction work runs under Labor Law §240, §241(6), and §200.
These statutes exist because this work is dangerous and owners and contractors control the site. When they cut corners, the law holds them accountable. Not you.
Our record in the city reflects that fight. We have recovered substantial verdicts and settlements for elevator constructors, ironworkers, electricians, laborers, and every trade in between.
Insurers know when our cases hit their desk, an elite team of trial lawyers is behind it.
While Manhattan has many active job-sites, the outer boroughs see many accidents
Brooklyn's building boom never slowed. High-rise work in Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg means scaffold work, hoists, and heights every day. Falls and falling objects dominate the injuries we see here. If you were hurt on a Brooklyn site, do not give a statement to anyone before you talk to a lawyer. What you say in week one shapes your case.
Queens runs on mixed work. Residential towers in Long Island City, infrastructure jobs, and renovation work across the borough. That mix means varied hazards: trench collapses, electrical contact, ladder falls. Many Queens workers are immigrants worried about their status. Your immigration status does not change your rights under New York law. You can bring a claim. We handle it.
The Bronx leads the city in calls to our construction team, and it is our largest borough practice. New residential construction and rehab work drive constant injuries: scaffold falls, roof falls, struck-by accidents. Bronx juries take worker safety seriously, and defendants know it.
$26,500,000
For an operating engineer seriously injured in a car wreck
$24,750,000
For a union laborer who suffered a double leg amputation
$9,500,000
for an elevator apprentice struck by the cab
Most people hurt on a job site have been told the same thing: you can't sue your employer, so all you get is comp. The first half is true. The second half is the mistake that costs workers.
New York's Labor Law was written for exactly this. It lets an injured construction worker go after the people who controlled the site - the owner, the general contractor - separately from workers' comp, and separately from the man who signs your check.
That case is usually the larger one. Which law applies depends on what went wrong.
If you fell, or something fell on you. A scaffold that gave way on a Brooklyn tower. A load that dropped over a Queens hoist. A ladder that wasn't tied off. That is Labor Law §240, and it is the strongest protection a construction worker has in this state. Ironworkers tying Manhattan steel and crews on scaffolding forty floors up work under that law every shift.
If a safety rule was ignored. A floor opening left uncovered on a Bronx rehab. A roof edge with no guard. Debris nobody cleared, lighting nobody fixed. That is Labor Law §241(6) - the specific safety code the city site was supposed to follow and didn't. Carpenters frame those floors. Roofers work the edges the code exists to protect. When the rule was broken, the people who ran the site can be held to it.
If the site itself was unsafe. Live current on a rehab that should have been locked out. A trench that was never shored. That is Labor Law §200, which asks a plain question: did the owner or general contractor keep the workplace reasonably safe? Electricians and plumbers meet those conditions on city sites more often than anyone should. Elevator constructors on high-rise jobs face all three kinds of failure, sometimes in one shift.
You don't need to know which of these fits. That's our job, and it starts with one question: what happened.
Every case our firm accepts is prepared as if it will have to be proven in court. That strategy is how we consistently deliver record breaking results for our clients year after year.
We try construction cases in New York City courts, borough by borough. If you or someone you love was hurt on a city site, call us before you talk to the insurance company. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win.
Job sites change quickly. Evidence can be swept up after an accident, and equipment and records can disappear just as fast. New York gives you three years to file under CPLR § 214, but if a government entity owns the property, you have 90 days to file a Notice of Claim or lose your right to recover.
Often, yes. Workers' comp limits what you recover, but New York's Labor Law lets many injured workers sue owners and general contractors on top of comp. Read more about suing beyond workers' comp, or call us and we will check for you.
It is Labor Law §240, New York's strongest protection for construction workers. If you fell from height or were hit by a falling object, the owner and contractor can be held strictly liable. Comparative fault usually does not reduce your recovery under this statute.
Where you were hurt decides which New York City court hears the case. The Labor Law is the same in every borough. Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx bring the most construction claims we see. Manhattan and Staten Island sites follow the same statutes. What matters is the failure on the job.
Get medical care and report the injury to your employer in writing. Do not sign anything or give a recorded statement to an insurer. Then talk to a construction accident lawyer. Early evidence, like site photos and witness names, can be huge for your case.