A construction site injury can leave you facing surgeries, months of lost income, and a future filled with uncertainty - all while insurance companies push to minimize what they owe. If you or a loved one suffered a serious construction injury anywhere in the Chicago area, you need a legal team that understands both the medicine behind your injuries and the law that protects construction workers.
At Cirignani, Heller & Harman, LLP, our medically trained-attorneys bring over 40 years of experience handling the most complex cases in Chicago - including helping construction accident victims across Illinois.
Catastrophic construction injuries - traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, crush injuries, inhalation exposure - involve layered medical complexity. Our clinician-attorneys can identify underreported injuries like intracranial bleeding, delayed neurological deficits, or respiratory compromise from dust and chemical exposure that a litigation-only firm may overlook entirely.
Construction accidents often involve multiple employers at the site, heavy machinery, commercial vehicles, and overlapping liability among the general contractor, property owner, equipment manufacturers, and subcontractors. Our decades of experience navigating multi-party medical malpractice litigation - where hospitals, physicians, and device makers all share fault - translates directly to the tangled liability questions in construction accident cases.
Many construction site injuries produce latent conditions: post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain syndrome, occupational lung disease from silica or asbestos, and progressive joint deterioration. Our physician-attorneys project these future medical expenses accurately, ensuring your legal claim reflects the true cost of your injuries over a lifetime.
For more than four decades, the most challenging cases have come to CHH Law. That track record of taking on complexity - and winning - is exactly what injured workers need when facing negligent construction companies and their insurers.
Construction accident victims in Illinois often have more than one path to recover compensation. Understanding which legal claims apply - and how to coordinate them - is the difference between a partial recovery and full, fair compensation for your injuries.
Under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305), employers must provide workers compensation benefits for workplace injuries arising out of and in the course of employment. Construction workers experienced 21,400 nonfatal injuries in 2020 alone, and many of those injured workers were entitled to benefits they never fully received.
Filing and managing claims through the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission. We handle every step - from initial filing and documentation to hearings before IWCC arbitrators. In Illinois, workers' compensation benefits require proper documentation and filing within 45 days of the injury, and missed deadlines can jeopardize your entire workers compensation claim.
Securing proper medical treatment and wage replacement. Workers compensation covers medical expenses and lost wages, including temporary total disability when you cannot work and ongoing rehabilitation for serious injuries. Our physician-attorneys ensure that the medical treatment prescribed actually matches the severity of your construction injury - not just what the insurance company's doctor recommends.
Appealing denied claims and fighting for maximum benefits. Workers compensation insurance companies routinely deny or undervalue claims by disputing medical causation or arguing that injuries didn't arise from employment. Our clinical expertise allows us to dismantle those arguments with authoritative medical record analysis.
Workers compensation does not cover pain and suffering, mental anguish, or full lost earning capacity. But under Illinois law, if a third party beyond your direct employer is legally responsible for your injuries, you can file a personal injury claim to pursue the full scope of damages. You can file a third-party claim if another party - such as an equipment manufacturer, property owner, or general contractor - is liable for the unsafe conditions that caused your accident.
Pursuing claims against responsible parties. We investigate every party involved in your construction project to identify who failed in their duty to protect construction workers. This includes the general contractor responsible for site safety, the property owner who allowed dangerous conditions, equipment manufacturers who produced defective or dangerous equipment, and subcontractors whose negligence caused your injuries.
Recovering damages not available through workers' comp. Third-party claims can cover pain and suffering damages, full lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and future medical expenses - categories of harm that workers compensation simply does not address. Construction accident victims can recover over $1,000,000,000 collectively through these types of claims.
Coordinating multiple claims to maximize total compensation. Handling both a workers compensation case and a personal injury claim simultaneously requires careful legal strategy - managing offsets, avoiding double recovery, and ensuring that every element of damage is captured in the right claim. Our medical expertise ensures full damage calculation across both tracks.
Common construction injuries include spinal cord and brain injuries, amputations, severe burns, electrocution injuries, and crush injuries that require lifetime care. Construction accident lawyers may help in situations involving these serious injuries by ensuring that every future cost - surgeries, rehabilitation, assistive devices, home modifications, attendant care - is properly valued and included in your claim.
Spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries from falls, falling objects, scaffolding collapses, and equipment accidents. Falls, slips, and trips accounted for 12% of fatal injuries in 2020, and many survivors face permanent disability. A scaffolding collapse at the University of Chicago resulted in a $23.5 million wrongful death and injury settlement - illustrating the enormous stakes in these cases.
Complex medical cases requiring ongoing care and rehabilitation. Unsafe steel erection and crane accidents are frequent causes of injuries that demand years of specialized treatment. A recent Chicago case saw a $6 million recovery for an Ironworker who suffered a traumatic brain injury when a suspended load fell during high-rise construction downtown.
Commercial vehicle accidents on construction sites. Dump trucks, flatbed deliveries, cranes, and heavy equipment create constant hazards on active job sites. Construction accident cases can involve heavy equipment manufacturers as liable parties alongside vehicle operators and maintenance contractors.
When a construction accident occurs, evidence begins disappearing immediately. Contractors clean up sites, equipment gets moved, and safety logs can be altered. That's why time is critical.
Free consultation within 24 hours of your accident. Contact a construction accident attorney as soon as possible. We respond immediately because the first 24–48 hours are when the most critical evidence exists - and when it's most at risk.
Secure construction site evidence before it disappears. We send spoliation letters to preserve daily safety reports, equipment maintenance logs, OSHA violation notices, blueprints, site photos, and witness statements. Attorneys gather crucial evidence like incident reports and witness testimony that prove liability and establish the full scope of negligence.
Medical evaluation by our physician-attorneys. Our clinician-attorneys guide you to the right specialists immediately - neurosurgeons, neurologists, pulmonologists - and review initial diagnostic imaging to identify injuries that emergency room physicians may have missed. Get medical treatment right after the accident occurs and document the scene of the accident thoroughly.
Coordinate workers' compensation and third-party claims simultaneously. Construction accidents may result in both workers' compensation and personal injury claims. We manage the timing, documentation, and strategy for each track so they reinforce rather than undermine each other.
Investigate OSHA violations and safety protocol failures. OSHA requires employers to provide a safe work environment, and OSHA cited three of the ten most common safety violations on construction sites. When a construction company or general contractor ignores safety regulations, evidence of those safety violations directly supports your negligence claim. Attorneys must have knowledge of OSHA standards to prove negligence in construction accidents.
Medical record analysis using clinical expertise. Our physician-attorneys review hospital records, surgical reports, imaging studies, therapy notes, and progress reports with a clinician's eye - detecting missed diagnoses, causation gaps, and opportunities to strengthen your case that a standard legal review would miss.
Negotiate with insurance companies from a position of medical authority. When our physician-attorneys present damage demands backed by clinical analysis, insurers know they're dealing with attorneys who can match their own medical experts point for point. Avoid giving recorded statements to insurance companies initially - let us handle all communications.
Prepare for trial with expert medical testimony. If fair compensation cannot be reached through negotiation, we prepare every case for trial with the same rigor we brought to the most complex medical malpractice cases in Chicago for four decades.
Ensure all future medical needs are properly valued and included. Compensation amounts depend on injury severity and work return ability, and our clinical knowledge allows us to project life care costs - future surgeries, cognitive rehabilitation, assistive technology, attendant care - with precision that maximizes your recovery.
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I am incredibly grateful for the exceptional legal support I received from Mr. Pylman. Thanks to his expertise and hard work, my issue was resolved successfully, and I couldn’t have asked for a better lawyer to represent me.
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They were compassionate and communicated openly through every step of the process. All of the CHH staff was a joy to work with.
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Dan was the most compassionate and caring professional that we could have. He was not only our attorney but a source of support during the process. I would highly recommend him to any friend or family member.
Our Chicago construction accident attorneys represent injured construction workers across every neighborhood and project type in the greater Chicago area:
Downtown Chicago and the Loop - high-rise construction, crane operations, glass and façade installation, and major commercial projects
River North and Near North Side - mixed-use development, steel erection, and renovation projects
North Side neighborhoods including Lincoln Park and Lakeview - residential construction, mid-rise projects, and remodeling
South Side communities - large infrastructure projects, heavy industrial construction, and institutional expansion
West Side districts and suburban Cook County - commercial retail construction, warehouse and logistics facility builds, and road/bridge infrastructure
All Chicago area construction projects - whether your construction site injury occurred on a high-rise, a bridge, a hospital expansion, or a residential renovation, we are ready to pursue your claim
CHH Law has spent over 40 years handling the most difficult cases in Chicago. Our legal team includes a licensed physician and a certified respiratory therapist - both of whom are also attorneys. This means we read medical records the way clinicians do, not the way typical personal injury attorneys do. For construction accident victims dealing with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, or chronic respiratory conditions from occupational exposure, this clinical perspective allows us to identify hidden injuries, project long-term care costs accurately, and build stronger causation arguments than firms that rely entirely on outside medical experts. As an experienced construction accident lawyer, we bring a level of medical authority that changes how insurance companies and opposing counsel approach your case.
Workers' compensation: You must report the injury to your employer immediately - the formal notice deadline is 45 days from the date of the accident. You then have three years from the date of the accident to file an Application for Adjustment of Claim with the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission if no compensation has been paid, or two years after the last payment of compensation, whichever is later. Workers' compensation claims must be filed within strict deadlines.
Personal injury (third-party) claims: Illinois has a two-year limit for filing personal injury claims from the date of injury under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. For wrongful death claims, the timeline may differ depending on when the death occurs. Missing these deadlines can permanently bar your ability to take legal action - which is why contacting an experienced construction accident attorney immediately is essential.
Cases involving catastrophic injuries - traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, severe burns - consistently result in the highest settlements and verdicts because they require lifetime medical care and cause permanent loss of earning capacity. In Chicago specifically, a scaffolding collapse at the University of Chicago led to a $23.5 million settlement, and a $15 million verdict was awarded to a window glazer crushed by a deteriorated limestone façade. Over $1 billion has been recovered for construction accident clients nationally. Falling objects and equipment failure are common causes of construction accidents that produce these catastrophic outcomes. Construction accident cases involving multiple liable parties - where the general contractor, property owner, and equipment manufacturers all share responsibility - also tend to produce larger recoveries because there are more sources of insurance coverage available.
No. CHH Law handles all construction accident cases on a contingency fee basis - you pay nothing upfront and owe no legal fees unless we successfully recover compensation for you. For third-party personal injury cases, fees are typically a percentage of the recovery (commonly 33–40%), and we advance all costs for expert reports, medical analysis, and investigation. For workers compensation cases, attorney fees are governed by the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission. Our no obligation consultation is completely free - we evaluate your case, explain your legal options, and help you understand what your claim may be worth before you make any decisions.
