Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog

A former Dallas Cowboys player claims he suffered a career-ending injury in the team's indoor practice facility when it collapsed last year. He is seeking damages from the builder and companies operated by team owner Jerry Jones.

The victim, Jamar Hunt, says in a court filing that he suffered serious, disabling and permanent injuries in May 2009 after the structure fell.

Hunt was a rookie free agent from the University of Texas at El Paso trying to make the team as a tight end and deep snapper at the time.

Michael Guajardo, Hunt's attorney, said the player suffered a herniated disk in his neck when a steel support fell on him.

Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple said the team isn't commenting on Hunt's claim.

Hunt is making the same allegations against the companies that special teams coach, Joe DeCamillas, and team scout Rich Behm, made earlier this year.

DeCamillas suffered broken vertebrae and Behm was left paralyzed from the waist down. Both filed identical lawsuits in separate Dallas courts that alleged negligence by the company that built the facility, Summit Structures LLC, and cite three entities controlled by Jones for improperly supervising repairs.

Last month, Behm and DeCamillas reached settlements with Summit and its Canadian parent, Cover-All Building Systems Inc. after a Canadian court lifted a stay blocking legal proceedings against the failed company and allowed the two Cowboys employees to collect proceeds from its insurance.

If the tent-like structure was poorly designed and made (as it appears), then Hunt has every right to sue for damages caused by poor construction. I wish Mr. Hunt and Mr. Guajardo luck on this serious injury case.

Information and commentary is provided by Dallas/Fort Worth Personal Injury Lawyer Mark Anderson. The Anderson Law Firm can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000.

Firefighters rescued two maintenance workers Thursday morning from the roof of Cowboys Stadium after they slipped on ice and slid 250 feet down onto a gutter. One was taken by helicopter to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas for chest and head trauma and a broken leg and the other by ambulance to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth for a back injury.

The men, who have not been identified, work for the subcontractor Birdair. They were not wearing their safety gear when they went out onto the roof, according to firefighters. According to the Dallas office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an official has already gone to the stadium to start an investigation into this accident.

12 to 15 firefighters were involved in the rescue, which required them to use stretchers and ropes to secure the injured men. Thankfully, fire fighters have been preparing for such a rescue and becoming knowledgeable about every aspect of the building since construction first began

Since work began on the stadium in April 2006, 175 work-related injuries were reported. One person was killed in June 2008, an electrician who touched a high-voltage line.

Information provided by Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Dallas at 214-327-8000, in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900, and anywhere in Texas toll free at 877-294-1115. He can also be contacted by clicking here.

Last week I blogged about a terrible accident in Bridgeport, Texas. The city released a preliminary engineering report last Friday after an investigation into the awning fall that killed Leslie Denison and injured her classmate Rebekah Logan. The report concluded that inefficient structural supports connecting the awning to the building, combined with weather factors, caused the awning to unexpectedly collapse.

The Bridgeport High School students were crushed by the falling awning last Tuesday when they were running as part of their cross country training.

According to the report, the city was unable to find records indicating the age of the building or how long the awning has been attached to Club Barbell and the neighboring businesses. The awning was attached to the top of the building on a grouted stone block wall, which can wear down over time, according to the report. The report also noted that there was no evidence of proper structural supports such as braces or bolts attaching the awning to the building. Weather may have played a part in the tragedy as well; the awning had a wood rather than metal frame, and wood can shrink, swell, or even warp from humidity over time.

There are two more awnings, located on either side of Club Barbell, addressed in the report. While one was determined to be fine, the other has structural problems and is considered dangerous.

This report is not that surprising. Something had to have caused this awning to fall. In this case, it just sounds like poor workmanship by the installer and poor maintenance by the building owner. It would be interesting to know how long the awning had been there.

Information provided by Texas Board Certified Attorney Mark A. Anderson who can be reached at 817-294-1900 or contacted by clicking here.

A seventeen year old senior at Bridgeport High School was tragically killed today when a storefront awning fell on her as she was running through downtown Bridgeport with a classmate. The girl, Leslie Denison, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her friend and felllow BHS cross country runner, Becca Logan, also 17, was transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth where she was listed in stable condition.

This tragedy happened in front of Club Barbell on Halsell Street about 4 p.m. The girls were merely running down the sidewalk when the awning and connected bricks and mortar came crashing down. This is an absolutely incredible case of bad timing. I have heard of tree limbs falling and injuring runners, but this is unimaginable. How does a store awning just come crashing down?

This wrongful death certainly will be investigated, but for now one must wonder and speculate how it happened. Was the awning recently attached? Were there recent modifications to the awning or any part of the front of the building? Were there any signs of stress? Who installed the awning? Hopefully these questions and many more will be answered. Sometimes it takes extensive civil litigation to find out all of the real answers.

Information and commentary provided by Texas Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson. Phone 817-294-1900 and www.maafirm.com.

SCENE OF TRAGEDY

If you have been injured in an automobile wreck, truck collision, motorcycle crash, or any other type of accident which causes personal injuries in Texas, you must be aware of the relevant law called the Statute of Limitations. This law requires you to file a lawsuit at a local Texas Courthouse within two years of the date of the accident. If you have not resolved your injury case before then, it is absolutely imperative that this very strict two-year deadline is complied with. Failing to file a lawsuit within the two-year time frame eliminates your right to pursue a claim forever.

And it's imporatant not to wait until the eve of your two years to think about purusing an injury claim. If you've been injured as the result of another person's negligence, you should consider hiring a Board Certified Injury Attorney as soon as possible after your accident. Sooner is better because crucial evidence must be collected before it disappears. Plus, it's very common for injured parties to make mistakes on their claims if they don't have the guidance of an experienced personal injury lawyer.

The common mistakes injury victims make are discussed in detail in the newly released book by Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson. It's appropriately titled, 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck Your Texas Accident Case. This informative book is available for FREE to Texas residents who may order it by calling 817-294-1900 or by visiting: www.DontWreckYourCase.com.

New reports are being released which indicate the Dallas Cowboys organization was aware of potential building flaws prior to the recent collapse of its practice facility in Irving, Texas.
The collapse happened May 2 after a strong thunderstorm knocked parts of the roof off while the team practiced, injuring 12 people and permanently paralyzing one team employee from the waist down.

The Cowboys hired Canada-based Summit Structures back in 2003 to design and build their practice structure, even with the knowledge that a Philadelphia building constructed by the same company had collapsed after a snowstorm. Fortunately, that collapse happened on a weekend and no one was injured. However, the Cowboys weren’t so lucky and now they might have to pay for their error.

Experts have concluded that design and construction flaws including the overall engineering of the structure was what caused the Cowboy facility to fail. Cowboy organization spokespeople declined to say whether they were warned about the Philadelphia incident or how much research they did on Summit before contracting their services.

It is clear now though, that reports, text messages and comments from multiple sources have been leaked which show there was some sort of knowledge on the part of the organization that they didn’t feel the facility was built as well as it could have been.

For the unfortunate few who were hurt in the collapse, they have multiple options should they decide to pursue a claim. There is the designer/builder Summit Structures and any related contractors who might have been negligent. But what about a personal injury claim against the Cowboys? If the Cowboys provided its employees with workers compensation coverage, then no claim can be brought against them by their own employees—the workers comp benefits are their sole source from the Cowboys. But if the Cowboys did not provide comp (it’s not mandatory) or if the injured person was not employed by the Cowboys, then any successful claim would have to prove negligence on behalf of the Cowboys to be successful.

If you have been injured as the result of another person or company’s negligence and you feel you have a valid claim, please contact the Anderson Law Firm to learn your rights at 817-294-1900.

If you have been injured in an auto accident, or any other type of accident for that matter, you have a ton of options when it comes down to hiring a lawyer for your Texas accident claim. Hiring an attorney is a very important decision and it's sometimes very difficult to try and weed through all of the attorneys out there who hold themselves out as being “injury attorneys.” So how do you know you're making the right decision? The best thing to do is to limit your search to only attorneys who are Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This is a designation held by only 2% of the roughly 80,000 lawyers who practice law in Texas.

What does it mean to be Board Certified? It means that the attorney has passed a rigorous test on injury topics, has tried a certain number of cases to a jury, has been recommended by local attorneys and judges and has been practicing a certain number of years. There are plenty of qualified attorneys in Texas who are Board Certified, so there's no reason that an injury victim should settle for a lawyer who is not Board Certified.

The importance of hiring a Board Certified Injury Attorney is discussed in Mark A. Anderson’s new book, 15 Mistakes That Will Wreck your Texas Accident Case. This book is full of information which is helpful to accident victims. The Anderson Law Firm is offering a copy of the book FREE to Texas residents. To order your free copy, please call the firm at 817-294-1900. The book can also be ordered online at www.DontWreckYourCase.com.

Construction work can be dangerous. Construction work presents many potential causes for injury. Workers are injured in construction accidents every day here in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Construction accidents shouldn’t be a fact of life, but they are. If you have been injured in a construction accident, you might have a personal injury claim on your hands in certain circumstances.

If a construction accident occurs because of negligence, it might warrant a personal injury claim.
Accidents happen. But when accidents happen because someone didn’t do his or her job properly, it can become a personal injury claim. When the negligence of one of your co-workers causes your injury, both that co-worker and your employer may be at fault for your injury. Consider an example where a co-worker fails to assemble a piece of scaffolding correctly. If you’re up on that scaffolding, it falls and you become injured, you might have a personal injury claim against the co-worker who assembled the scaffolding, your employer and even the scaffolding manufacturer.

Construction accident claims can get complicated, so consult a lawyer.
Construction accidents can have their roots in a variety of causes. If you’re using a piece of equipment that fails and injures you, you could have a product liability case contributing to your construction accident. If you’ve got a piece of equipment that someone else failed to operate properly, then that person and his employer could be at fault for your accident.

A personal injury lawyer with experience in construction accidents can help you figure out what caused your accident, and whether it’s a product liability case, a personal liability case or something else entirely. In some cases, a personal injury crosses the boundaries of several types of cases, so an experienced lawyer can help you sort it out and pursue the correct parties to get you a remedy for your injury.

For a free consultation on your rights if you have been injured in a construction accident, please contact the Anderson Law Firm at 817-294-1900 or Contact Us Online.

Yesterday in Dallas, Texas, two workers were injured in a construction accident when a crane lowering a 9-ton pipe toppled over. The weight of the crane caused the cab of the machine to lift off the ground, leaning over the side of a building at a 45-degree angle. The pipe fell and landed on two work vehicles, while the actual crane landed on the roof. The injured included a man in one of the work vehicles who suffered a head injury when the pipe crashed into the vehicle roof. The other was a man on the roof of the building who suffered injuries to his legs and ankles.

(Photo courtesy of Star-Telegram.com)

There seems to be a rash of construction accidents involving cranes in Texas lately. Back in June, a man died in Dallas when something fell from a crane and struck him, and the very next day, three workers were hurt when a crane cable snapped at the new Cowboy stadium in Arlington. Then in July, a similar thing happened in Houston when a heavy crane toppled, but that time, the accident was so bad, that four people were killed and another seven workers were badly injured. These accidents just go to show how hazardous and unstable construction sites can be—especially when there is large machinery involved like tall cranes.

Not all of these on-the-job accidents end up in the civil legal system. First of all, the existence of worker’s compensation insurance coverage plays a role. If the injured party was covered by worker’s comp, and the accident was due to the negligence of a co-worker, then the laws of the State of Texas prohibit the injured party from making a claim against his employer. If there is no worker’s comp coverage, or if the responsible party is not a co-employee, then the injured party or their family is able to make a claim against the negligent person or company for damages.

The analysis of whether a claim can be made and who it should be against is sometimes tricky. If you are faced with the problems assocaited with an on-the-job injury, take advantage of the free case review offered by Board Certified Personal Injury Attorney Mark A. Anderson of Fort Worth, Texas.