A scaffolding accident lawyer helps workers hurt in a fall from, or a collapse of, a scaffold, using some of the strongest protections New York law offers. At Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP, we pursue the claims that pay for everything workers' comp leaves out, and in scaffold cases, New York holds property owners and contractors to an especially high standard. If you fell from a scaffold, you likely have a stronger case than you've been told.
Scaffold work puts people high in the air on equipment that's only as safe as the crew that built it. When a plank gives way, a guardrail is missing, or a scaffold isn't secured, the fall that follows can end a career or a life. Our Buffalo scaffolding accident attorneys know exactly how New York's worker-protection laws apply to these cases, and how to turn them into full compensation. 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.
Some of the strongest in the entire country, and scaffold falls are exactly what they were written for. New York holds property owners and general contractors almost automatically responsible when a worker is hurt in a fall from a height, or by a falling object, because a safe scaffold, guardrails, or fall protection wasn't provided. For these gravity-related accidents, the responsibility falls squarely on the companies in charge.
This is the single biggest reason scaffold cases are so valuable, and why so many injured workers are shocked to learn what their claim is actually worth. When the required safety equipment wasn't there, or wasn't safe, the owner and contractor can be held liable no matter how careful the individual worker was. Using that protection well is what separates a comp check from a full recovery, and it takes a firm that handles these cases regularly.
Usually far less than you'd expect. In many scaffold and height cases, New York's strongest protections apply even when the worker made a mistake, so the usual argument that you were partly to blame often doesn't reduce your recovery. What matters is whether proper safety equipment was provided and whether it failed.
Insurers still try to pin fault on the worker, because it's their reflex. But when a scaffold lacked guardrails, wasn't properly built, or wasn't equipped with fall protection, that safety failure is what the law focuses on. We keep the case there, where it belongs.
The full range of scaffold failures, each of which can cause catastrophic injuries. Whether you fell from the scaffold, the whole structure came down, or something dropped from it onto a worker below, these accidents share a common cause: a scaffold that wasn't safe.
Our Buffalo scaffolding accident lawyers handle cases involving:
Whatever form it took, the question is whether the scaffold was safe and who was responsible for making it so.
Almost always a safety failure someone should have prevented. Improper assembly, missing or inadequate guardrails, insufficient planking, overloading the platform, a lack of fall protection, and defective components are among the leading causes. Weather adds another layer, especially here.
Buffalo's ice, snow, and wind turn scaffolds into serious hazards for much of the year, and crews that don't adjust for conditions put workers at real risk. Nearly all of these causes point back to a company's choice, to skip a guardrail, to reuse a damaged part, to push work in bad weather, rather than to the worker who got hurt. Establishing that failure is the heart of the case.
Usually more than one company. Because you generally can't sue your own employer, the value of your case depends on the other responsible parties: the property owner, the general contractor, the scaffold company that built or supplied it, another subcontractor, or the manufacturer of a defective component. Each is a separate source of accountability and coverage.
New York's worker-protection laws put special responsibility on owners and general contractors for scaffold safety, which is why these parties are so often on the hook. We investigate who built the scaffold, who was responsible for it, and whose failure led to the fall, because a serious scaffold case usually has more than one party to answer for it.
Often, yes, and in scaffold cases the difference is dramatic. 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, backed by New York's strong scaffold protections, can recover everything comp leaves out.
That third-party claim is where the real value lives, and the height-related protections make it especially powerful. Between comp and the third-party case, the full value of a serious scaffold injury is far higher than comp alone. Coordinating the two correctly, including any comp lien, is a central part of what we do.
You have a claim through ordinary negligence. If a scaffold collapse or falling debris hurt you while you were passing by or near a site, you can pursue the owner, contractor, or scaffold company whose carelessness caused the failure.
A collapsing scaffold can reach well beyond the work zone, and a bystander had no warning and no protection. The question is the same as any scaffold case, whose failure let it happen, and we find the answer.
Falls from height cause some of the most severe injuries in construction. Scaffold accidents commonly result in traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage and paralysis, and multiple fractures, and the worst falls are fatal.
Survivors often face many surgeries, long rehabilitation, and permanent disability that can end a career in the trades. Because serious harm like internal injuries and brain trauma isn't always obvious right away, immediate medical care after any scaffold fall protects both your health and your claim.
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 strengthened by New York's scaffold protections.
Scaffold deaths are among the most preventable losses on any job site, and holding the responsible companies fully accountable matters for the family and for the workers who come after. We handle these cases with the care a grieving family deserves.
A scaffold accident 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 fall injuries are so catastrophic, the future costs, surgeries, lifelong care, lost earning power, 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 fall took from you.
By the full lifetime cost of the injury, made stronger by New York's height-related protections. Because liability is often clear in a scaffold case and the injuries are severe, the value can be substantial when the harm is proven thoroughly.
The figure reflects your medical care, your permanent limitations, and the effect on your ability to work and live. A spinal cord injury or a traumatic brain injury carries decades of costs and often ends a career in the trades, and capturing that takes careful work with the right experts. The strong liability in these cases means the fight is usually about the value of your injuries, and that's a fight we're built to win.
Generally three years from the date of injury to bring a third-party lawsuit, and generally two years for a wrongful death claim if someone was killed. Workers' comp runs on a separate, shorter track, with early notice and filing deadlines, and if a public project or government entity is involved, a formal notice can be due within 90 days.
Those overlapping deadlines are easy to miss, and job-site conditions change quickly as work continues. The sooner a lawyer can preserve evidence and file the right claims, the stronger your case.
Report the accident to your employer and get medical care right away, then protect the evidence. Tell your supervisor so it's documented, see a doctor even if it seems minor, and photograph the scaffold, the scene, and your injuries if you safely can. Be careful what you say to any insurance company before talking to a lawyer.
Prompt reporting and treatment protect both your health and your comp rights. Beyond that, get the names of coworkers who saw what happened, hold onto everything, and don't give a recorded statement or sign anything from an insurer without advice. The scaffold may be taken down or repaired quickly, so getting a lawyer involved fast helps preserve the proof.
We handle both tracks at once: your workers' comp benefits and the third-party claim that New York's scaffold protections make so powerful. From the first days, we investigate the scaffold and the site, preserve the evidence, and identify every responsible party, then build the case and prepare it as if it's going to trial.
Our attorneys secure the accident reports, safety records, and any inspection findings, work with construction safety experts, and apply New York's worker-protection laws to establish liability. We make sure your comp claim is filed correctly and on time, document your injuries and their long-term impact with your doctors, and press the third-party claim against every available insurer, filing suit in New York State Supreme Court when needed. Most cases settle through negotiation or mediation, but we build each one for trial, and we keep these matters in house from start to finish.
We represent injured workers and their families across Western New York, and we handle scaffold cases the same way we handle every case, in house, start to finish, through settlement, trial, and appeal. We know New York's worker-protection laws inside and out, and how to use them for the full recovery you're owed.
Scaffold cases reward a firm that understands both the comp side and the powerful third-party protections, and knows how to hold owners and contractors accountable. 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 claims and the fight.
If you were hurt, or lost a loved one, in a scaffold accident 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 scaffolding accident lawyer will review what happened, explain how New York's scaffold protections apply, and lay out your options, with no fee unless we recover for you.
You may be owed far more than you've been told. The sooner we start, the more we can do to preserve the evidence, protect your deadlines, and pursue your full compensation. When a scaffold collapse was part of a larger structural failure, our building collapse 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 injury, please consult a licensed New York attorney.
Our results are driven by personalized strategies that are hand-crafted to fit your needs.
You’re not just a client to us. You are our partner, and we would be honored to make you our next success story.
As former prosecutors and experienced attorneys, we can anticipate how your case will be handled by the other side and tactics insurance companies will use.