Dallas Drilling Accident Attorney

Injured in a Dallas Gas or Oil Drilling Accident? Our Texas Drilling Rig Worker Injury Lawyers Can Help

Texas petroleum workers are drilling again in their own backyard, after years of having to travel hundreds of miles to get to an operating rig. New wells are being drilled every day, especially just west out in the Barnett Shale, and old wells are being revived.

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The good news for us is that the oil and gas underneath our state is again very valuable. The bad news: many are working at breakneck speed to get these pricey commodities to market. And with all this frenetic activity, there is a sharp uptake in work related accidents and injuries at the oil and gas drilling platforms and pipelines throughout the state.

When the drilling is done, maintenance work on those wells is rife with just as many hazards as the drilling itself, as many workers are still exposed to hazardous conditions that also lead to injuries. What happens after you are injured on the job from an oil or gas field accident in Texas? Someone had to be negligent, so who was it? Who pays for your injuries, or lost income, or pain and suffering? What happens if your long-term recovery takes months? What if you never fully recover? Who will fight for the victims and the families of loved ones killed in such mishaps?

If this is your first time dealing with such terrible events, you need a superior Dallas drilling accident attorney. If this is not your first time, you know you need one.

You also need to know whether or not your Texas drilling operation had workers' comp insurance, which is where you get started when it comes to reimbursement for medical expenses, some lost wages, and maybe a small amount for pain and suffering. But you also need to know what to do if the drilling contractor or the company that manages the oilfield was negligent in causing your injuries. If this is the situation, then your ability to win compensation depends on how, and if, your oilfield injury lawyer gets to the bottom of the accident and its causes, and who is liable. Then, armed with his best case, this legal specialist will either negotiate a fair deal, or win the case.

Many oilfield accidents can be the result of worn machinery or defective rigging, especially in those areas that have been revived, and where the equipment might not have been renewed properly. Negligence also causes explosions, heavy objects to fall, cranes losing their loads, and a veritable who's who of other hazards. Yes, a lot of times when working as an oil, gas, or pipeline worker, it seems more like combat than a job.

Distress is not only on the equipment, it is on the workers as well. Drillers and roustabouts, sometimes working double shifts for 7 to 10 days straight, can get careless or even negligent. Drugs power some of these obsessive workers to deliver the oil and gas. And it comes as little surprise that drilling contractors and subcontractors are not the most diligent in testing their workers for drugs. Is it any wonder if that numerous mishaps occur that inflict an unseemly large number of broken bones, debilitating head injuries and even deaths? Yes, human tragedy is also a product of the petroleum industries’ obsessive campaign to cut corners (and their costs) and push workers over the brink of their physical ability in coaxing this ‘petro gold’ out of the ground.

In one corner is the worker. In the other, arguably the most powerful companies on the planet, who see their workers as no more than a trivial means to their lucrative ends. Without a Dallas experienced attorney to represent them, injured oilfield workers are little more than a petty nuisance to the energy industry.

Dallas drilling accident attorney Michael Grossman and his legal team at Grossman Law Offices have invested over 20 years of their lives on behalf of injured Oil, gas, and pipeline workers who want nothing more than to fairly resolve their injury claims or civil cases. We have been around long enough to know that without proficient personal injury legal counsel, favorable work injury damage awards are virtually impossible.

First, Determine Your employer's Workers’ Compensation Status

Oil drilling companies that are based in Texas are not required by the state to purchase workers’ compensation insurance. Thus, injury cases are divided into two distinct types that require completely different methods and strategies to resolve. Employers who carry workers' comp are subscribers. Those who do not are non-subscribers. You must first determine whether or not your employer is a subscriber or a non-subscriber before proceeding any further.

Workers' comp benefits are paid from a “pool” of funds that are provided by participating private insurance carriers. Through this “umbrella coverage”, pool subscribers are protected from civil lawsuits. By denying workers the traditional civil venues of compensation, the rights of employees to be fairly reimbursed are severely compromised, because workers’ comp benefits are generally far below fair market compensation levels. As a result, the “benefit cap” amounts rarely, if ever, fully compensate employees involved in workers’ comp covered claims.

Workers comp does provide some financial relief to oilfield employees who are injured on the job site. This “no fault” insurance covers workers, no matter how the oilfield accident occurred or whose fault it was. But this no-fault coverage comes with a hefty price to workers, because the amount of money you receive does not always cover the total expenses of the harm done to you from your job related injury. An oil field worker who has suffered crush injuries, or broken bones, or massive head injuries, or amputations, or dismemberment, or horrible burns from blowouts or explosions; not to mention the families of those who die in the oil patch; these people will never be fully compensated for their injuries, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other immense damages by the paltry amounts received through workers’ comp alone. But on the other hand, the subscriber employers to workers’ comp are doing just fine.

Employers who subscribe to workers’ comp get far more than just pool coverage and lower benefit payments; they are virtually bulletproof when it comes to lawsuits. Unless your employer has committed gross or willful negligence resulting in wrongful death, the subscribing employer cannot be sued in civil court if your loved one has been killed due to a work related accident, unless gross negligence can be proven. This can be very difficult without a Dallas oilfield wrongful death attorney.

Many of Texas’ drilling contractors and subcontractors roll the dice and risk being a workers’ comp non-subscriber. Then when the odds catch up with them, they try to avoid a lawsuit when one of their workers is injured. The non-subscriber may say to that injured employee that they have workers’ comp when they really do not. They try to quickly pay the benefits a worker would normally receive from workers’ comp out of company funds, but only if the worker will sign what they represent as an official-looking ‘standard workers’ comp release’ in order to further their fraud and avoid a non-subscriber lawsuit.

In order to receive restitution from a non-subscriber for a workers' comp oilfield injury, the victim’s only avenue is to file a lawsuit. An experienced oilfield accident attorney can get to the bottom of your company's workers’ comp status, so then you will know what legal options are available.

Alternative Injury Revenue Sources to Worker's Compensation

There are two possible avenues to receiving oil and gas drilling and pipeline injury compensation outside the restrictions of the workers' comp umbrella coverage. We spoke of the subscribing employer’s gross negligence that causes an accident in which a worker is killed. If your loved one's death occurred while working in the oil or gas fields and investigation proves employer gross negligence, the immediate family survivor or survivors may file a civil wrongful death lawsuit in addition to the workers’ comp claim.

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When the accident involves a non-subscribing employer, or another third party, the only real avenue of recovering injury damages is through civil lawsuits against all parties who are found to be negligent in causing your accident. It makes no difference if the negligence was intentional or an oversight, each party is liable if you can prove that they are.

Say, for example, if a faulty or improperly maintained piece of machinery injured you, the owner is liable to pay. Or if it turns out the manufacturer might also be held responsible because a piece of machinery was defective, the manufacturer could be the target of a defective product lawsuit. If your drilling contractor’s truck hit and injured you, even if an employee was driving, the employer is liable through “respondeat superior”, which is a legal term that means the employer is liable for the actions of the employees while they are on the job. If a drilling subcontractor or another employee negligently caused a concussion injury, or any number of accidents happened as a result of negligent behavior by any third party your employer allows on the drilling site, civil damages may be claimed. This same liability might be held against the corporation that hired anyone, including your employer, to oversee the drilling rig or offshore platform.

Even if you cannot sue your employer because he subscribes to workers’ comp, you can still sue any responsible negligent party or parties for your work injury. And, these third party lawsuits do not stop you from filing that workers’ comp claim if it applies in your situation. We have found that a workers’ comp claim supplemented by a third party lawsuit often work together to produce fair compensation for your drilling platform or pipeline work injury, including long term disability if it applies in your situation.

Experience and the ability to properly investigate not only the accident scene but also the roles these third parties have played in your petroleum work related accident is absolutely necessary in order to determine all parties responsible and make them pay for the injuries they have caused. A gifted Dallas drilling accident attorney with Grossman Law Offices will thoroughly examine all of the facts of your case through research and on-site investigation, then develop the proper strategy which he will use to win your deserved amount of compensation for your oil gas or pipeline injury claim.

If Your Case Goes to Trial, be Prepared for Your Opponents to Arrive With Brass Knuckles

Whatever strategy your legal counsel develops, eventually it will be time to begin action. The first shot is yours when your attorney files a claim for damages on your behalf against your non-subscribing employer and each of the third parties that his investigation has determined are liable for your injuries. These claims include the charges for damages and the negligence that caused the damages, as well as the amount of compensation that you seek. When all the defendants receive their notices, one action will happen rather quickly. Defendants who are insured will most likely turn these claims over to their insurance company. Those who are self-insured or not insured, or those who want to handle this matter without involving their insurance carrier, will either try to deal with you directly, or through their attorney.

The insurance carrier is apt to immediately contest your allegations out of hand. It is the nature of the beast. They also do this because they want to see if you are really serious or if this is an attempt at harassment. You can make a strong opening statement if an experienced Dallas drilling accident attorney heads up your case. The insurance company will get the message loud and clear.

At this point, your case has reached the "negotiation phase ". It is possible that these negotiations can lead to a settlement in the amount that you are asking for, especially if the insurance company knows that you have a very strong case. But commonly, drilling rig and pipeline injury cases are contested and you must then be prepared to move forward with your civil lawsuit if you expect to receive any compensation. The burden of proof is on you. Every charge you make, you must prove. And every charge they make to counter your suit, you must clearly disprove. Here is where the strength of your case lies on the quality of your Dallas drilling accident attorney’s investigative powers and his ability to drive home the pillars of evidence that proves defendant negligence.

Your case could be very strong, even rock-solid. But still the defendant's insurance policyholder will resist paying your damages claim, even if the insured defendant wants them to just to end the thing. But insurance companies want to keep defendants in tow. The most common way for them to do that is with threats of higher premiums if their policyholder caves in. Insurance companies hate paying claims. They will do all they can to influence their defendants to resist you.

When they finally do get before the court, insurance companies and most non-subscriber defendants have only one liability defense, sole proximate cause. They will charge you, the plaintiff, as being the sole proximate cause of your accident and injuries, meaning that you and you alone are totally to blame for your drilling or pipeline workplace injuries. They will back up their charges by saying and doing anything in order to claim you were careless or irresponsible and caused your own injuries. They will assail your reputation and try to enter evidence that has no bearing on the case, such as accuse you of beating your wife, or having an affair, or kicking your dog, or showing up at the job site drunk. Since insurance companies are very experienced, and their lawyers are very shrewd, when it comes to fighting your claim or civil case you must expect any trick they can come up with to change the argument and make the jury question whether they are indeed liable. Perhaps when we said that the burden of proof is on you, we should have added there is also a burden to dis-prove.

Defendants Question the Employer-Employee Relationship in Order to Avoid Paying You

After your non-subscribing employer and his attorneys have attempted to prove your sole proximate cause, depending on their success, they will likely shift their strategy to avoid paying you damages from your drilling accident by claiming that in the eyes of the law you are not an employee but rather, a contractor. Employers know they are not responsible for injuries to their contractors or subcontractor employees. Many of them will surreptitiously hire employees, but when one of them gets hurt and files a claim, the employer will argue that the injured person is, instead, a contractor. But as you now know, saying something is one thing. Proving it is another.

While many defendants might conveniently claim this non-employee legal point, they know the truth is that an employer-employee relationship exists, and all they are trying to do is make a different attempt to wiggle out of paying for your injury damages. Here are some of the ways to disprove this employer ruse and confirmed an employer-employee relationship exists:

• Social Security or taxes have been withheld from your paycheck by the employer.
• The essential equipment for the job was supplied to you by the employer.
• Your work has been regularly managed, overseen, or inspected by your employer.
• A specific work schedule has been set for the job by the employer. You are not free to come and go as you please.
• Your employer requires you to complete a task or sign a document that limits your rights while working for that employer. The most common examples are taking a drug test or signing a document that states you comply with an employee handbook.
• You have been employed for an undetermined period of time and not just for a single project. You are paid by a salary or an hourly wage and not on a job-by-job basis.

Some employers might claim you have been ‘borrowed’ from another drilling company, or that they hired you through a third party employment agency. But in these cases, the rules for determining the working relationship are closely related to those above. Depending on defendant allegations, there can be some discreet but crucial differences in determining the employer-employee relationship. (We hasten to add that if you were employed by an employment agency or a different employer/contractor, and were on loan when you were hurt on a drilling contractor's well or pipeline, this employment agency might be the primary employer, and all of your initial injury claims will be against them.) Some of the conditions that are used to determine the difference between contractors and employees under these circumstances may include:

• If the borrowing employer can hire or fire you at any time, you are clearly an employee. Otherwise, you are a contractor.
• Most of the time, if the borrowing employer can pick a particular worker, then the worker is an employee. If the agency that provides the worker is allowed to send any worker they choose, the worker is a contractor.
• The answer is the same when it comes to tools and equipment. If the employer provides them then you are an employee. If you provide them, then you are a contractor.
• If the lending agency cannot substitute the borrowed worker for another ‘at will’, the worker is an employee. If the lending agency can, the worker is a contractor.
• If you are borrowed indefinitely, then you are an employee. But if you are borrowed for a specific project with a specific date of completion, then you are a contractor.
• If an employer borrows you to fill a position that just about anyone could fill, then you are an employee. If on the other hand, you are borrowed or leased because of a skill that is unique or hard to find, then you are a contractor.
• If the borrowing employer agrees to pay social security and income tax, then you are an employee. If the borrowing employer does not accept this responsibility, then you are a contractor.

In addition to investigating the circumstances surrounding liability and negligence in your case, the Dallas drilling accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices will also conduct a stringent investigation of your lawyer to prove any one of these employee standards. If necessary, we will depose coworkers, review contracts, and examine pay stubs to prove an employer-employee relationship existed when you suffered your drilling or pipeline related work injury.

Know Your Defendants and What They are Capable of in Opposing Your Accident Liability Case

When you file a civil claim for damages from any on the job injury, your charges will always be hotly contested. The nature of that opposition is an important part of your attorney’s strategy. Experienced drilling accident attorneys know what to expect, and from whom. For openers, most defendants usually have large insurance companies with many good lawyers to oppose you. The remainder of the defendants will be self-insured or uninsured companies. And if any one of the corporate petroleum giants is involved, you are really in for a fight because all of these have deep pockets and are willing to spend a dime in order to save a penny, if it prevents spending more pennies fighting claimants like you that they think they can beat.

The insurance companies will have lawyers either on staff or on permanent retainer. These lawyers are very good defenders of their petroleum clients against people like you who try to sue them. Out of habit, they will say your charges are frivolous, so right away there is another point you will have a burden to disprove. Insurance companies are always confrontational when someone wants their money. But, you can beat them if you have a just cause for claim, solid evidence, and an experienced Dallas attorney who will anticipate every trick they can pull and is already prepared to effectively counter the claims.

As bad as the insurance companies can be an oil patch injury lawsuit, self-insured contractors and subcontractors are even trickier, and often much more dangerous to your case. This is because, unlike the insurance industry which has legally mandated standards of behavior in these circumstances, self or non-insured petroleum employers have no behavior standards they must meet. Some of the tricks they use in court, or out of it, to wiggle out of paying your damages claim can be blatantly underhanded, and some of them can even be illegal.

You will deal directly with a company officer if the self-insured drilling or pipeline company is small one. This person’s salary is derived from company profits. Anything that you will be paid for an injury will come directly out of company funds. By compensating you, your employer or that third party will be literally taking money out of his own pocket. A sneaky, self-insured company officer uses any and all means to oppose your claim in order to protect his company’s, and his personal, assets.

Self-insured employers and third parties have been known to purposefully destroy evidence, bribe, or intimidate witnesses, sometimes physically. They may even threaten you or your family members. This is why every time Grossman Law Offices represents a client against a self-insured company, the first thing we do is file motions in court to prevent anyone within the company from behaving inappropriately against our clients. There are times these motions will include clear cut demands that the defendants make no attempt to communicate with our clients, or their families, in any way without one of our attorneys present.

OSHA Is of Little Use in an Injury Liability Claim or Legal Case

Many drilling and pipeline accidents and injuries are preventable but for carelessness, recklessness or negligence by petroleum employers and workers on the rig or pipeline. When a company disregards OSHA safety standards or fails to properly maintain equipment, serious accidents happen and workers can be injured or killed. It is a shame that OSHA and all of their safety regulations, which were designed to protect workers while on the job, are today all but ignored or disregarded.

While OSHA sets these guidelines and has the power to fine the offenders, the fine amounts no longer motivate employers to comply with these government standards. Many fine amounts were established many years ago when a few thousand dollars was a stiff fine. They may have encouraged compliance back then, but inflation and other economic factors have reduced OSHA fines to little more than a ‘petty cash’ amount today. And over the years, laws have been added that now seriously restrict OSHA's power through reduction of the agency’s staff and cutting its budget even further.

Even if OSHA does investigate your employer after your accident, do not expect any conclusions to make it up the OSHA ‘food chain’ in time to impact your civil trial. OSHA reports take weeks and sometimes even months to complete, they do not point any fingers or place blame, and they will be of very little use your suit. Only a skilled and experienced Dallas drilling and pipeline accident attorney can help you win the fair compensation you are entitled to from the deep-pocketed petroleum companies or the drilling contractors who are not afraid of OSHA one bit anyway.

The First Rules You Must Follow That Will Produce a Successful Injury Case for You

Rule number one: Before you speak with an insurance company, accept even a single dollar of payment or compensation from your employer, sign any paperwork, or attempt to file a lawsuit on your own, you must contact a competent attorney.

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Rule number two: your employer or its insurance provider wants you to accept a substandard settlement and just go away. Do not allow yourself to be taken advantage of. Do not discuss any details of your intentions, or anything else surrounding the injury, with your employer, a third party, anyone with any insurance company, a lawyer you don't know, or even your coworkers, until you have hire an attorney to protect you. And when you do hire one, follow that legal mind's instructions faithfully and completely.

Rule number three: you must realize the critical importance of acting swiftly. In drilling or pipeline accident cases, the evidence quickly begins to fade. Physical details change quickly. Witnesses change their stories, forget what they saw, or sometimes have even been encouraged to ‘forget’. By waiting too long to hire an attorney and put him on the investigative trail, you seriously endanger your ability to win compensation for your work injury damages that you and your family deserve.

An experienced Dallas drilling accident attorney with Grossman Law Offices will help injured oil, gas, and pipeline workers deal with their cases anywhere in Texas. Put our two decades of experience to work for you. If you want to know what your rights are, how to proceed with your claim, and how much compensation you can secure from your petroleum job related injuries, we can answer all of your questions. Call Grossman Law Offices now at 1-855-326-0000 (toll free), or fill out the form at the top of this page for a free consultation and find out how we can help you.

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