LaFollette Construction Accident Lawyer

A fall from a roof, a trench that gave way, a load that swung loose from a crane: when a construction site in Campbell County turns violent, the injured worker is often looking at surgery, months off the job, and an employer’s insurer already asking for a recorded statement. Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette handles serious injury and wrongful death cases for people hurt in and around LaFollette, and across Campbell County, Anderson County, Claiborne County, and the rest of East Tennessee.

A LaFollette construction accident lawyer has to work through a problem unique to this field. Most injured workers can only claim workers’ compensation against their own employer, and that system does not pay for pain and suffering. But construction sites are crowded places. General contractors, subcontractors, equipment owners, property owners, and manufacturers all share the same ground, and when one of them causes the injury, a separate lawsuit against that outside party may be possible. That lawsuit is where a case can reach the full value of what the worker lost.

The money at stake is not small. A fall from scaffolding can mean a spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury, and a worker who can never return to a job site faces a lifetime of lost earning capacity. What you do in the first days, and how quickly the right people preserve evidence, often shapes everything that follows.

What to Do After a Construction Site Injury in Campbell County

Get medical care first, and tell every provider that the injury happened at work. Your own employer will direct you through the workers’ compensation process, and you should report the injury to your supervisor promptly and in writing. Beyond that, the most valuable thing you can do is protect evidence that outside parties will not protect for you.

Photograph the spot where you were hurt before anyone cleans it or repairs it: the missing guardrail, the frayed sling, the unmarked hole, the ladder, the harness. Write down the names of coworkers who saw it happen and the names of every company working on the site that day, not just your employer. On a multi-contractor project, the company that caused your injury may be one you have never dealt with directly. If equipment failed, ask that it be kept as it is. A broken harness, a failed lift, or a defective tool is the heart of a product case, and it can be repaired, returned, or discarded within days.

Be careful with insurers. Adjusters for a third party’s carrier may call you quickly and sound sympathetic. Anything you say can be used to assign you blame, and Tennessee’s comparative fault rules make that blame matter a great deal. You can decline to give a recorded statement until you have spoken with a lawyer.

Then watch the calendar. Personal injury lawsuits in Tennessee generally must be filed within one year of the injury under Tenn. Code Ann. 28-3-104. That window can stretch to two years if criminal charges were brought against the person who caused the injury and the prosecution began within the first year, but you should not count on that. If a government entity is responsible, such as a city or county project, the Governmental Tort Liability Act requires suit within 12 months. A wrongful death claim runs from the date of the injury, not the date of death. Workers’ compensation claims carry their own separate notice and filing rules, which is one more reason to get advice early.

Third-party lawsuits in Campbell County are typically heard in the circuit court for the judicial district that includes Campbell, Claiborne, Fentress, Scott, and Union counties, which is the Eighth Judicial District. Cases involving parties from different states can end up in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, whose Northern Division sits in Knoxville and covers Campbell County. We can tell you which forum fits your case once we know who the defendants are.

Common Construction Accident Situations We Handle

• Falls from Heights: Roofs, scaffolds, ladders, and unfinished floors are behind some of the most severe injuries on any site. When a safety harness fails or guardrails are missing, liability may reach the equipment maker, a subcontractor responsible for fall protection, or the party that controlled the site.
• Struck-By and Caught-In Injuries: Swinging loads, falling tools, backing equipment, and collapsing walls injure workers who did nothing wrong. A third-party driver or an equipment operator from another company can be the responsible party.
• Trench and Excavation Collapses: Utility and foundation work around LaFollette’s hillside terrain can involve deep cuts. A collapse can bury a worker in seconds, and the question of who was responsible for shoring and inspection often involves more than one company.
• Defective Machinery and Safety Equipment: Lifts, saws, nail guns, harnesses, and hoists can fail because of design or manufacturing defects. A product claim against the manufacturer can reach damages that workers’ compensation does not.
• Electrocution and Burns: Contact with energized lines and faulty wiring causes catastrophic injuries. Third-party liability can fall on a utility contractor, a property owner, or a company that failed to de-energize or mark hazards.
• Roadway Work Zone Crashes: Crews working along U.S. Highway 25W and other busy corridors are exposed to passing traffic. A distracted or impaired driver who strikes a worker is a classic third-party defendant, and Tennessee’s hands-free law is relevant when a phone was involved.
• Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury: These injuries often end construction careers outright. Documenting future medical care and lost earning capacity is central to any claim that involves permanent harm.
• Wrongful Death on the Job: When a worker dies, the right to sue passes first to the surviving spouse, then to children or next of kin, or to a personal representative, and recovery can include lost income and funeral expenses.

Why Choose Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette for a Construction Injury Case

Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette is a Tennessee personal injury firm whose attorneys bring more than 170 years of combined experience to serious injury and wrongful death cases, and the firm has recovered over $100 million for clients. It serves injured people in LaFollette, Campbell County, and throughout East Tennessee. There is no fee unless we recover compensation, every consultation is free, and if your injuries make travel hard, we can meet you at home or in the hospital.

For construction cases, a few things matter most. The firm’s workplace injury practice is built around third-party claims, the lawsuits against someone other than the employer. Bruce D. Fox served on the Tennessee Advisory Council on Workers’ Compensation from 2008 to 2021, which gives the firm a close view of how the workers’ compensation system interacts with outside lawsuits. He has tried more than 125 jury trials, is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and received the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a past TTLA president and has been selected to Mid-South Super Lawyers 17 times.

Partner Brad C. Burnette holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has served on the TTLA Board of Governors, and partner John Willis also sits on that board and is a past president of the Anderson County Bar Association. Two of the firm’s partners spent the early part of their careers defending insurance companies, trucking companies, and businesses, so they understand how the other side builds its defense against an injured worker.

The results reflect that trial focus. The firm recovered $1.5 million for a Knox County roofer who suffered a traumatic brain injury when his safety harness failed, $1.6 million for an Anderson County man struck head-on by a commercial delivery truck on his way to work, and $3.4 million for the family of a man killed in a Morgan County rear-end collision caused by a construction company driver. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any other case. Attorney Michael C. Beehan is fluent in Spanish, and the firm welcomes Spanish-speaking clients: hablamos español.

How Third-Party Construction Claims Work in Tennessee

The structure of a construction injury case surprises many workers. Tennessee reformed its workers’ compensation system for injuries occurring on or after July 1, 2014, and that system generally prevents an employee from suing their own employer. It pays medical care and a portion of lost wages, but nothing for pain, suffering, or the loss of the life you had. A third-party lawsuit fills that gap. It can seek the full range of damages Tennessee law allows, including the full value of lost earning capacity, which is especially important when an injury leaves someone unable to do any kind of work.

Finding the right defendants takes real investigation. Who owned the property? Who was the general contractor, and who controlled safety on the site? Which subcontractor created the hazard? Who manufactured the equipment? We look at contracts, site safety plans, inspection and maintenance records, and equipment histories to answer those questions. The employer or its workers’ compensation carrier typically has a right to be repaid from your third-party recovery for benefits it has already paid, so the two claims have to be coordinated from the beginning.

Fault matters too. Tennessee follows modified comparative fault: you can recover only if you are less than 50 percent at fault, and your award is reduced by your share. Defendants may also try to assign fault to people who are not even in the lawsuit, including your own employer, and Tennessee has abolished joint and several liability in most negligence cases. That means a defendant pays only its own share of fault, which makes finding every responsible party all the more important.

On damages, Tennessee generally limits noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, to $750,000, or $1 million for a defined catastrophic loss such as paraplegia or quadriplegia, amputation of both hands, both feet, or one of each, or severe burns covering a large part of the body or face. Economic damages, including medical expenses and lost income, are not capped. The noneconomic limits are lifted in limited circumstances, for example where the defendant was impaired by intoxication or destroyed evidence. Punitive damages, where allowed, are limited to the greater of two times compensatory damages or $500,000.

Questions About LaFollette Construction Accident Claims

Can I sue my employer after a construction accident in Tennessee?

In most cases, no. Workers’ compensation is generally the only remedy against your own employer. You may, however, have a third-party claim against another contractor, a property owner, an equipment manufacturer, or a negligent driver whose carelessness contributed to the injury.

How long do I have to file a construction injury lawsuit?

Tennessee’s general deadline for personal injury lawsuits is one year from the date of injury. It can extend to two years if the person who hurt you faced criminal charges brought within that first year. Claims against government entities have a 12-month deadline. Workers’ compensation has separate deadlines, so do not assume one clock covers both.

What if I was partly at fault for my own fall or injury?

You can still recover if you are less than 50 percent at fault, but your award is reduced by your percentage. At 50 percent or more, the claim is barred. Defendants often point at the worker, so a careful investigation of site conditions and safety failures is important.

Who can be responsible besides the contractor who hired me?

Possible defendants include the general contractor, other subcontractors, the property owner, an equipment owner or rental company, and the manufacturer of a defective tool or safety device. The right defendants depend on who controlled the hazard that hurt you.

Does a third-party lawsuit affect my workers’ compensation benefits?

The two run side by side, but the workers’ compensation insurer generally has a right to be reimbursed from your third-party recovery for benefits it has paid. Handling that reimbursement carefully, and sometimes negotiating it, is part of getting you the most from the combined result.

What if a family member died in a construction accident?

The right to bring a wrongful death claim passes first to the surviving spouse, then to children or next of kin, or to a personal representative. The one-year clock runs from the date of the injury, not the date of death. Recovery can include lost income, medical and funeral expenses, and the value of the life that was taken.

Do I need a lawyer if I only have a workers’ compensation claim?

Our firm focuses its workplace injury practice on third-party claims, so we look first for outside parties who may be liable. If someone other than your employer contributed to your injury, you may have a case worth far more than workers’ compensation alone. We can review the facts with you for free and tell you honestly whether a third-party claim exists.

Will it cost me anything to hire your firm?

No. Personal injury clients pay nothing up front, and we are paid only if we recover compensation for you. Consultations are free, and if you cannot travel, we can come to your home or the hospital.

What if the company that hurt me carries only minimal insurance?

Tennessee’s minimum auto liability limits are 25/50/25, which can fall far short of a serious injury. Construction companies often carry larger commercial policies, and we look at every layer of available coverage, including your own uninsured motorist coverage if a vehicle was involved, rather than stopping at a minimum.

How long does a construction injury case take?

It depends on how severe the injury is, how many parties are involved, and whether the defendants will pay a fair amount without a trial. Cases involving permanent injuries often take longer because we need to understand your long-term medical needs before settling. We prepare every case as if it will be tried in front of a jury, which helps push insurers toward fair offers.

Can you help if I live out of state or the job crew was from another state?

Yes. We handle the investigation, insurance negotiations, and court filings here in Tennessee and keep you updated by phone and email wherever you live. Some cases involve out-of-state companies, which can affect where the case is filed, and we sort that out early.

Serving LaFollette and Campbell County Construction Injury Clients

We represent injured workers and their families in LaFollette and throughout Campbell County, including Jacksboro, Caryville, Jellico, and the communities around Norris Lake and Cumberland Gap. Neighboring Claiborne County is also within our reach, including Tazewell and Harrogate, along with Anderson County communities such as Clinton, Oak Ridge, and Norris, and Union, Scott, and Morgan counties nearby.

Our work extends across East Tennessee, from Knoxville and Knox County to Maryville and Blount County, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge in Sevier County, and Roane County, Jefferson County, and Monroe County. We also represent clients from Johnson City to Nashville and Memphis. Whether the project was a commercial build, a road crew along a highway, a roofing job, or a home under construction, we can review what happened and tell you what your options are.

Talk With a LaFollette Construction Accident Attorney Today

The window to build a strong case is short, and evidence on a construction site disappears quickly. If you or someone in your family was hurt or killed on a job site, a LaFollette construction accident attorney at Fox, Farley, Willis & Burnette can review what happened at no cost, explain whether a third-party claim exists, and begin preserving the proof. Call us for a free consultation. We will come to you if you cannot come to us.