The Upper Big Branch Disaster

The upper big branch disaster was just a horrible nightmare for 29 West Virginia families. A series of bad decisions by management resulted in 29 miners losing their lives. They were working on a long wall section with other miners where an enormous amount of the mine wasn’t rock dusted or sprayed with limestone to limit coal dust, which is explosive. But there was an explosion and the coal dust lifted into the air and started a chain reaction. In addition, certain types of safety devices on the long wall were not operating properly. Sprayers that knock down what the deep miners call “pops” – when you hit methane pocket and it ignites. If you’ve got a sprayer on the drill bit that will tamp down any explosion and keep it from spreading. Sadly at Upper Big Branch there were so many deficiencies in the safety procedures being used that those guys never had a chance. When the explosion began it was all over. There are photos of pieces of equipment that weighed several tons that were moved literally hundreds of feet. The rails used to move equipment were actually bent like pretzels due to the severity of the explosion. […]

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Worker’s Compensation

The most important question to the worker is, “Is the lawsuit going to be against your employer? Or is it going to be against a third party, not your employer, because that’s who hurt you?” For instance, if you go to a work site and you are told, “We want you to paint this room.” But the person who brought you there, the premises owner doesn’t tell you, “Oh, and by the way, that’s a high-voltage room.” They can be sued for straight negligence. Likewise, if you got to a facility to do your job, and you’re given a defective piece of equipment, and you are told, “You can use this piece of equipment to do this,” and the equipment is defective, that’s a straight negligence lawsuit that you can file against the person who gave you the defective equipment. I had a very interesting case once where a welder was in a chemical plant, and he got what’s called a welding ticket, which is essentially a certification from the company who owned the chemical plant that the vessel he was going to weld on had been cleaned and did not have any dangerous gases. And so he put his

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No Two Injury Settlements are the Same

Every injury settlement is unique. In each case, we gather as much information as possible from our clients but no two cases are alike so there isn’t any kind of average amount for a settlement. Some people may only miss a few days of work while others may never be able to work again. Some injuries though serious, will heal, though it may take one to two years to become pain-free or scar-free. But for many their scars will be visible for life just as the pain may exist the rest of their life. Cases are evaluated differently based on the type of injury. Obviously, the more serious the injury – such as paralysis and burns – due to the horrific and devastating injury. And many times the entire family is affected by the injury and it changes their lives as well. These cases can lead to a high settlement value. Any cases where a limb is amputated or multiple limbs are amputated – those are at the high end of the personal injury settlement scale. Also, how you are hurt affects what the settlement is likely to be worth. In aviation cases, normally, people know for several minutes that

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If You Suffer a Back Injury at Work, do You Have a Lawsuit?

If you suffer an injury at your workplace that is your employer’s responsibility, whether you can file suit or not depends on a specific law. You are dealing with a deliberate intent suit instead of a normal negligence lawsuit and this requires a lawyer spending time with you in order to gain full understanding of what happened and why, and if safety rules were broken by your boss. In the case where someone else hurt your back such as an independent contractor or a delivery company, this constitutes a normal negligence lawsuit. Many times the actual premises may not be safe and an example of this might be where electricians are hired to do a low voltage job. They then get into a high voltage area and are seriously burned or electrocuted, and this requires close examination of all the parameters involved in their injury. Since back injuries can range from strains to sprains, the most important question will be, “How did you hurt your back?” Sprains and strains will not result in a big lawsuit, but if you are paralyzed and your career is ended, then the lawsuit will be much larger and more complex. We need to evaluate

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Will a Workplace Injury Claim Affect Your Job Status in Your Company?

If you are concerned about filing a workplace injury claim while still employed with the same company, the law says that your company cannot discriminate against you for taking your rights to court. Unfortunately, because we live in the real world and we know that discrimination exists even when the law states it should not, the vast majority of people who are injured need to seek protection for both themselves and their family through a lawsuit. The lawsuit has to be a good lawsuit, and our law firm never encourages suits that are groundless or silly, but when heavy industrial accidents, explosions and electrocutions result in injuries with lifelong consequences, these are rarely, if ever, frivolous cases. However, here at the Segal Law Firm, most people we represent are so seriously injured that they are typically not able to return to work with the same company. When you lose a limb, suffer a burn or are severely blinded, your ability to work in the industrial workplace greatly diminishes and re-employment is most likely going to be in a different industry with a totally different job. A second factor in suffering a serious injury is that your employer will more than

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Don’t Wait Two Years- Evidence Disappears

You may have two years to file a lawsuit, but trust me when I say that you don’t want to wait that long to call an attorney. The fact of the matter is- evidence disappears. The longer you wait to call, the harder and harder it gets to bring your case. It doesn’t matter what type of case it is; tractor trailer, coal mining or mesothelioma. You need to call The Segal Law Firm as soon as you’ve been in accident so that we can make sure critical evidence doesn’t disappear right out from under you. Tractor Trailer Wrecks If you’ve been in a tractor trailer accident, it’s imperative that you or a family member call us immediately after you wake up in the hospital. We’re going to want the black box from the truck, the driver’s log books, the GPS information and the home office data about where the truck was and how fast it was going. Those are all pieces of evidence that are going to disappear pretty quickly it you’re sitting around waiting for two years to give us a call. Coal Mining Accidents When it comes to coal mining accidents, we’ve got to be a part

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The Most Commonly Asked Questions of Lawyers

Commonly Asked Questions The two most common questions we get asked when people come to the law firm and meet me for the first time, is first, do I have a case? And second, how am I going to pay you to handle my case? The first question is a rather complex question because it depends on how were you hurt. Who is responsible? Who’s doing the investigation? Is it AMSHA? OSHA? The police? Who’s looking into this and whom are we going to have to talk to see if you have a case? Here at the Segal Law Firm we handle cases on what’s called a “contingency fee basis.” It’s important that you get your contingency fee agreement in writing. Generally speaking, somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of whatever is recovered will pay the attorney’s fees. The range depends upon the complexity of your case, as well as the risk involved in the case and the type of experts that are going to be involved. Other questions to ask when evaluating a case include: Do they need a firm like the Segal Law Firm? Do they understand the contingency fee contract? We don’t get paid unless we make

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Oil and Gas Rig Explosions: Getting A Case Started

An oil or gas rig explosion can result in incredibly severe burns, injuries or even death for workers onsite. If this should happen to you or a loved one, it’s critical that you find an attorney immediately with the experience to handle your case. Here at The Segal Law Firm, we have tried several oil and gas cases and we know exactly where to start investigating to get the information we need to protect you and your family. The very first thing you should do after an accident is call us up here at the office. Obviously, I would like you to ask questions about our experience, how we handle the cases and the fact that we don’t charge working men and women lawyer fees unless we win their case. We don’t collect money until they take a settlement or we get them a jury verdict. Once I feel like I completely understand your point of view and we have our contract in writing, I will start my investigation of the case. Let me emphasise as well that I don’t need to actually speak to the injured party. Many times, these poor folks are so debilitated that they can’t speak

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Coal Mining Dangers: Required Safety Measures to Prevent Disaster

The most serious danger to a coal miner underground is methane gas – the natural by-product of mining coal. There are very specific safety measures that the Federal and State government require to protect miners. And you’ll find that disaster after disaster after disaster, certain things were not done that should have been done to protect the coal miner. Proper Ventilation First, improper ventilation – All ventilation in an underground coal mine must be approved by Federal and State inspectors. Proper ventilation keeps the air moving away from the coal miners and takes any methane or noxious gases away from the miners’ face. It’s typically referred to as “out by” work. Skilled workers that know how to keep the air moving in the right direction must perform it. Rock Dusting Second is rock dusting – When there is an explosion in a coal mine, very fine particles of coal dust fly into the air and make more tiny explosion. You get a chain reaction. The explosion gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and it goes throughout the entire mine because it’s just feeding itself. Rock dusting is when limestone is sprayed all over the mine to keep the

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Back Injuries in the Workplace

Back Injuries can occur in any work place. These are questions that a lot of people could have – no matter their career:           1. What are the most common causes of back injuries in the workplace?           2. How are back injuries in the workplace handled legally? Is the Injury a Worker’s Compensation Case? The back injury situation, with regard to workplace injuries, is a complicated one. First of all, if they suffer a back injury while they are working for their employer and it is no one else’s fault, it is a workers compensation case. Now on the other hand, if you hurt your back working at a power plant, a chemical plant or an industrial facility while working for your employer, you may have a different type of lawsuit. Timing is Important It’s important that you call early, tell us what happened, who you were working for and see if we can figure out a way to help. A lot of times people hurt their backs in a situation where they are either being required to lift too much or lift something in a confined space where they can’t possibly do it safely. Other times it can be a

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