Construction Site Injury Litigation: Pursuing or Defending Claims Against Site Owners, Contractors, and Other Third Parties

About the Course

Introduction

This CLE course will provide guidance to personal injury plaintiff and defense counsel for pursuing and defending against claims of construction site accident injury. The panel will discuss effective tactics for assessing potential claims; identifying all potential defendants, including construction site owners, contractors, architects, engineers, and product manufacturers; strategies for defending property owners, general contractors, and construction managers; collecting and preserving evidence; and proving or defending liability and damages.

Description

Personal injury plaintiff and defense counsel in construction site accident cases face a wide range of legal issues and challenges, including evaluating potential theories of liability and responsible parties, conducting effective investigation and discovery, evaluating evidence, assessing additional insured and indemnification issues, developing a case that will warrant summary judgment for plaintiff or defendant, working with experts, proving or defending against liability and damages during mediation or trial, and more.

Attorneys must have an expert understanding of federal and state safety laws applicable to the construction industry, common law standards of care, how to negotiate and effectively communicate with insurance adjusters, and how to allocate liability when there are multiple defendants.

Listen as our authoritative panel discusses considerations and best practices for personal injury plaintiff and defense counsel when pursuing or defending construction site accident injury claims, from assessing claims and potential defendants through proving and defending damages.

Credit Information

Date + Time

event
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
schedule
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

I. Introduction

· Most frequent causes of construction accidents (falls, struck-by, caught-in/between, electrocutions)

· Governing statutes: federal and state

· Interrelationship with workers' compensation

II. Incident investigation

· By counsel and private entities

· By enforcement agencies (OSHA)

III. Crafting a "No Duty of Care" defense

· Case laws from states including New Jersey, New York, Colorado, California, Florida

· Case Examples Where “Duty of Care” is Imposed

· Case Examples Where “Duty of Care” is Not Imposed

IV. Factual investigation and discovery: building a persuasive defense

· Interviews of principals, employees, former employees, third parties, and review of project records

· Investigation of publicly available project records

V. Targeting favorable results through dispositive motions and mediation

VI. Working with experts to demystify OSHA regulations

· Critical Role of Experts

· Seeking to Bar Expert Report as a “Net Opinion”

VII. Risk transfer: strategies to mitigate risk for construction site injuries

· Review written contracts, indemnity agreements, and insurance policies

VIII. Communicating with clients and claim professionals to increase success and make your work more rewarding

· Collaborating with clients and claim representatives

· Mastering defense handling guidelines

The panel will review these and other key issues:

What are the different theories of liability that are generally pursued in construction site injury claims?
How can defense counsel establish lack of a duty of care owed to a plaintiff in certain jurisdictions?
What are potential pitfalls to avoid in working with experts and other witnesses?
How are liability and damages approached when there are multiple defendants in a construction site injury case?
What are some effective strategies for calculating or defending against damages in construction site injury cases?