An electrocution lawyer helps people badly burned or otherwise hurt by electricity, and families who lost someone to an electrical accident. At Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP, we investigate why the electricity wasn't controlled, hold every responsible company accountable, and pursue the full compensation these injuries demand, whether you were a worker on a job site or a person hurt by faulty wiring or a downed line.
Electricity is unforgiving. A moment of contact with a live wire or an arc flash can cause deep burns, stop a heart, and leave damage that runs far below the surface. These injuries are almost always the result of a safety failure someone should have prevented. Our Buffalo electrocution attorneys know how to find that failure and prove it. This is one focus of our broader Buffalo construction accident and personal injury practice, so the full weight of the firm is behind your case.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
It covers the full range of harm electricity can do, not just fatal shocks. Strictly speaking, electrocution means death by electricity, but the term is used broadly for any serious electrical injury, from a severe shock, to deep electrical burns, to an arc flash. If contact with electricity hurt you or killed someone you love, that's what these cases are about.
What makes electrical injuries different is that the damage often isn't limited to where the current entered. Electricity travels through the body, so a burn on the hand can come with damage to nerves, muscle, and organs along the way. That hidden harm is a big reason these cases need careful medical documentation.
An arc flash is an explosive electrical discharge, and it's one of the most dangerous hazards on a job site. It releases intense heat, far hotter than the surface of the sun for an instant, along with a blast of pressure and light, causing severe burns, hearing and vision damage, and blunt trauma from the explosion.
A worker doesn't even have to touch a wire for an arc flash to cause catastrophic injuries. These events usually trace back to a failure to de-energize equipment, missing protective gear, or improper work on live systems, all of which point to responsibility beyond the injured worker.
Nearly always a preventable safety failure. Contact with live wires that should have been shut off, missing lockout procedures, unmarked or unguarded power lines, defective tools and equipment, and wet conditions around electricity are among the leading causes.
The common thread is electricity that should have been controlled and wasn't. The failures our Buffalo electrocution lawyers see most include:
Each of these points to a company that failed to follow basic electrical safety, and each is a path to holding someone accountable.
Usually more than one party. Responsibility can reach the general contractor, the property owner, another contractor whose electrical work created the hazard, the manufacturer of a defective tool or piece of equipment, a maintenance company, and, in power line cases, the utility company. Each is a separate source of accountability and coverage.
Sorting out who controlled the electricity, who was supposed to shut it off, and who created the hazard is the heart of the case, and it usually takes electrical engineering experts. We investigate the whole site and the equipment, because a serious electrical injury almost always has more than one party at fault.
Sometimes, yes. When an injury involves a power line, the utility company may share responsibility, for a line that was too low, unmarked, improperly insulated, or left energized when it should have been shut down. These claims are challenging, because utilities defend them hard, but they can be an important source of accountability.
Downed-line and contact cases often involve both a utility and a contractor pointing at each other. We investigate what each one knew and did, so the responsibility, and the coverage, lands where it belongs.
Often, yes, and you should. Workers' comp covers your medical care and part of your lost wages, but not your pain and suffering, and you generally can't sue your employer. A separate third-party claim against the other companies responsible for the electrical hazard can recover everything comp leaves out.
New York also gives construction workers strong protections when safety systems fail, which can strengthen these claims. Between comp and a third-party claim, the full value of a serious electrical injury is far higher than comp alone, and coordinating the two correctly is a central part of what we do.
You may still have a claim through ordinary negligence. If faulty wiring in a building, a downed power line, or a defective product shocked or burned you, you can pursue the property owner, the company that did the work, the manufacturer, or the utility responsible for the hazard.
Electrical injuries aren't limited to job sites. Bad wiring in an apartment, an ungrounded appliance, or a fallen line after a storm can seriously hurt someone who did nothing wrong, and the responsible party can be held accountable just the same.
Because the worst of the damage is often internal. Electricity travels through the body, harming nerves, muscle, and organs along its path, and it can disrupt the heart's rhythm hours after the shock. A small burn on the skin can hide serious injury underneath, which is why prompt, thorough medical care is so important.
This hidden damage also matters for the claim. An insurer may point to a minor-looking burn to argue the injury wasn't serious, when the real harm, cardiac, neurological, or deep tissue, tells a very different story. We make sure the full extent of an electrical injury is documented and understood.
Electrical injuries are severe and often lasting. Deep electrical and arc flash burns, cardiac arrest and irregular heartbeat, nerve and neurological damage, and internal organ injury are common, and a shock can also cause a fall that leads to fractures and head injuries. Many electrical accidents are fatal.
Survivors often face skin grafts, multiple surgeries, long rehabilitation, chronic pain, and lasting neurological effects, along with the trauma of the event. Because the most dangerous harm isn't always visible, immediate medical care is critical, both for survival and for the claim that follows.
The family may have a wrongful death claim, brought through the estate, along with a survival action for what their loved one suffered before passing. For a worker who was killed, workers' comp death benefits may also apply, alongside a third-party claim against the responsible companies.
Electrocution deaths are among the most preventable losses on any job site or property, and holding the responsible parties fully accountable matters for the family and for the people who come after. We handle these cases with the care a grieving family deserves.
An electrocution claim can recover your medical bills, lost income, reduced future earning power, pain and suffering, and the cost of long-term care, and for a worker, it runs alongside workers' comp benefits. Where a company's conduct was truly reckless, punitive damages may be possible.
Because electrical injuries often mean burns, surgeries, and lasting neurological harm, the future costs usually dwarf the immediate bills, and the insurer's first offer never reflects them. We build the number with your doctors and with economic, vocational, and life-care experts, so the demand covers the full arc of what the injury took from you.
By the full lifetime cost of the injury, weighed against every responsible party. Severe electrical injuries can be permanent and expensive to treat, so the value can be substantial when the injuries and the companies' liability are proven thoroughly.
The figure reflects your medical care, your permanent limitations, and the effect on your ability to work and live. Serious burns and neurological damage carry years of costs and often keep a person from returning to their trade, and capturing that takes careful work with the right experts. We build the value and prove who's responsible, so every party at fault answers for their share.
Generally three years from the date of injury to bring a lawsuit, and generally two years for a wrongful death claim if someone was killed. For an injured worker, workers' comp has its own shorter deadlines, and if a utility, public project, or government entity is involved, a formal notice can be due within 90 days.
The evidence is the real time pressure. The equipment, wiring, and records that explain what failed can be repaired or lost long before any legal deadline, so the sooner a lawyer can act to preserve them, the stronger your case.
Get emergency medical care right away, even if the burn looks minor, because electrical injuries can cause serious internal and cardiac harm that isn't obvious. If you were a worker, report the accident to your employer. Photograph the scene, the equipment, and your injuries if you safely can, get witness names, and be careful what you say to any insurer before talking to a lawyer.
Beyond that, hold onto everything and get legal help quickly, because the equipment and the scene can be changed or cleared fast. Don't give a recorded statement or sign anything from an insurer or utility without advice. The faster a lawyer can preserve the evidence, the better your chances of a full recovery.
We move quickly to preserve the evidence and prove what failed. From the first days, we document the scene, secure the equipment, wiring, and safety records, and bring in electrical engineering experts to determine how the current reached you, then build the case and prepare it as if it's going to trial.
Our attorneys identify every responsible party, from a contractor or owner to a manufacturer or utility, and apply New York's worker-protection laws where a worker was hurt. For a worker, we handle the comp claim alongside the third-party case; for a non-worker, we build the negligence claim. We document your injuries and their long-term impact with your doctors, press the claim against every available insurer, and file suit in New York State Supreme Court when needed. We keep these matters in house from start to finish.
We represent injured workers, families, and others hurt by electricity across Western New York, and we handle these cases the same way we handle every case, in house, start to finish, through settlement, trial, and appeal. We know how to preserve the evidence, work with electrical experts, and hold contractors, manufacturers, and utilities accountable.
These cases reward a firm that moves fast, understands the electrical safety rules, and isn't intimidated by a utility's or contractor's legal team. That's what we bring, along with straight answers in plain language, so you always know where things stand. You focus on healing. We'll handle the investigation and the fight.
If an electrical accident burned or shocked you, or took someone you love, in Buffalo or Western New York, the attorneys at Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP are ready to help. Contact us for a free consultation, and a Buffalo electrocution lawyer will review what happened, explain who can be held responsible, and lay out your options, with no fee unless we recover for you.
Don't wait, because the evidence won't. The sooner we start, the more we can do to preserve the equipment, identify everyone responsible, and protect your right to full compensation. When the electricity came from a crane contacting a power line, our crane accident lawyer page covers that overlap as well.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
Disclaimer: This page is for general information only and isn't legal advice. Reading it doesn't create an attorney client relationship. Laws, benefits, and deadlines can change, and the rules described reflect New York law as of 2026. Every case is different, and prior results don't guarantee a similar outcome. For advice about a specific incident, please consult a licensed New York attorney.
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