Electrical Accidents

Trusted New Orleans Electrocution Attorneys Ready to Help You

Summary

• Electrical accidents can cause serious injuries, including cardiac arrest, burns, nerve, brain, and organ damage, and muscle destruction.
• Electrical injuries often require lengthy recovery times and costly medical care that can be financially debilitating for victims and their families.  
• An electrical injury attorney can help recover compensation for a range of damages, including pain and suffering, lost wages, medical costs, permanent disability, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Why Hire HKGC For Your Electrical Injury Lawsuit?

Regardless of how or where an electrical accident occurs, it can profoundly impact a family. Victims often face expensive medical treatment, and for many, this costly medical care is required for the remainder of their lives. Electrical injuries can be so severe that victims need months of rehabilitation, are left unable to work for long periods of time, or suffer permanent disabilities. With the widespread health effects and expenses, electrical injury victims need the best legal representation to ensure they’re fairly compensated.

At Herman, Katz, Gisleson & Cain, we know the physical and emotional pain of electrical injuries can be overwhelming. To make matters worse, insurance companies and others responsible for covering the victim’s losses frequently take advantage of them and pay as little as possible. Without a lawyer, it’s difficult for the injured party to demonstrate the full impact an electrical accident has had on their life.

The attorneys at HKGC hire the experts needed to calculate the extent and cost of medical care you will need, as well as the lost earnings you will sustain as a result of your electrical injury. Our Louisiana attorneys speak to people who witnessed the electrical accident and even contact friends and family to find a witness who can discuss how it’s affected your life.

The electrical injury attorneys at HKGC protect the rights of our clients and fight for the full amount they’re entitled to under Louisiana law. Our extensive experience has provided peace of mind and the financial stability victims deserve. If you’ve been injured in an electrical accident, contact us today for a free case consultation.

Electricity Is Dangerous

Electricity is all around us. Electrical wires run throughout the walls of our homes and businesses. High-voltage overhead power lines trace the path of our most frequently traveled roadways. Many of our schools and recreational areas are situated within yards of electrical substations.

Electricity is dangerous and can lead to serious personal injury or even wrongful death. Unfortunately, these dangers are often hidden from plain sight, or we’re so used to being surrounded by electrical sources, like power lines, that we dismiss or forget the risks of exposure to them. And yet, electrical accidents frequently cause serious injuries, even death.

Health Effects of Electrical Injuries

While laws and regulations are in place to prevent electrical accidents from occurring, there are still approximately 1,000 deaths from electrical injuries each year in the U.S. There are also 30,000 nonfatal electric shock incidents, and about 5% of burn unit patients are admitted following electrical accidents.  

There are several possible health effects from electrical injuries, including:

• Limb amputation
• Burns (first to third-degree)
• Broken bones
• Cardiac arrest
• Organ damage, dysfunction, and failure
• Respiratory paralysis
• Brain injuries
• Nerve damage
• Muscle and tissue destruction
• Spinal or traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)

Some injuries are caused by the electrical accident victim falling or being thrown from an explosion when an arc flash occurs. For example, when power line workers maintain, fix, or construct new grids, they’re hoisted high into the air. There are safety mechanisms in place, but sometimes, they fall from great heights, leading to broken bones and TBIs.  

Not every injury caused by an electrical accident is physical. Victims may experience mental disorders following electrical injuries, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders.  

Types of Electrical Accidents

Electrical accidents can happen anywhere. Nationwide, there were 2,220 non-fatal workplace electrical injuries in 2020. Many types of electrical accidents occur at home. In fact, according to the Electrical Safety Foundation, there are over 50,000 house electrical fires each year that result in around 1,400 injuries and 500 deaths.

There are three types of electrical accidents:

1. Electric shock: This occurs when someone comes in contact with an electric circuit or conductor. Injuries from electric shock depend on various factors, such as where it enters and exits the body, the path it takes, the current’s strength, and how long the body is exposed to it.
2. Electrical burn: Damage to the skin is common in electrical burn accidents, but the path the current travels can also damage muscles, organs, and bones. Contact with heated surfaces and overheated equipment can lead to serious burn injuries.
3. Electrical fire: If the current is strong, fire and explosions may occur in electrical accidents. Electrical fires can cause significant personal injury, especially when equipment breaks apart and strikes victims.

Whether you’re injured on the job, in your home, at someone else’s home or business, or in public, it’s important to consult with our experienced Louisiana electrical injury attorneys. If a loved one died from their electrical injuries, a wrongful death claim may provide compensation for the surviving family. But without the right legal representation, you and your family may suffer further.  

Legal Requirements of Electric Utility Companies

Electric utility companies are required by law to use the “utmost care” to reduce potential hazards to the general public. They’re required to recognize that people may make mistakes and unknowingly venture too close to electrical lines – and must account for this reality when determining how best to safeguard the public from their power lines.

Electric utility companies are required to insulate their lines. They may insulate lines by coating the exterior of the wire with a mineral substance such as rubber. Utility companies may also satisfy their duty to insulate by a method commonly known as “insulation by isolation.” “Insulation by isolation” refers to the process of isolating an overhead electrical line by hanging it so high that it is effectively isolated from the public. In other words, the line is isolated because it is not readily accessible to people.

Electric companies in Louisiana are also legally required to routinely inspect their lines to make sure that they remain isolated. Over time, the rubber insulation that coats a wire and makes it safer for the public may deteriorate. Likewise, an overhead electrical line, once “insulated by isolation,” may begin to sag dangerously close to the ground. Utility companies are required by law to catch and fix these problems before they result in personal injury or wrongful death.

Filing Electrical Injury Lawsuits Against Utility Companies

Electric utility companies are essentially big monopolies that are regulated by governmental agencies. These companies are profit-motivated. Unfortunately, in an effort to cut costs and maximize profits, some electric utility companies do not fulfill their duty to routinely inspect their equipment and replace it before it becomes dangerous.

Old lines with deteriorating rubber insulation remain in the field. Lines that once hung at the proper height are allowed to gradually sag dangerously low to the ground. Wooden poles are allowed to rot. The manpower needed to properly check this equipment is simply too costly in the eyes of many electric utility companies.

Within minutes of electrocution, utility companies have investigators at the site measuring, photographing, and collecting evidence. Armies of attorneys are deployed to the scene to begin evaluating the utility company’s potential exposure. In even the most clear-cut cases of utility company negligence, corporate attorneys are used to fighting innocent personal injury victims for as long as possible; they work hard to maximize the company’s profits by minimizing the compensation they pay to victims.

If you or a family member have been seriously injured in an electrical accident, you need to hire an attorney with experience in these types of personal injury cases immediately. Our firm has extensive experience fighting big electric utility companies on behalf of personal injury victims. We are proud of the fact that we have some of the highest recorded verdicts in the state of Louisiana for cases involving electrical accidents.

Finding a Louisiana Electrical Accident Attorney

In an ideal world, utility companies, employers, and insurers pay electrical accident victims fair compensation for the current and future costs of their injuries and other damages like emotional suffering. But this rarely happens without the help of an electrical accident attorney. Finding a Louisiana electrical accident attorney immediately following an accident is crucial to ensure your rights are protected and proper compensation is paid.

The fact is electrical accidents are usually preventable. The National Electric Safety Code (NESC), LOPLSA, and NEC, combined with workplace safety practices, exist to reduce the risks of electricity-related accidents. However, electrical injuries happen far more than they should in Louisiana and throughout the U.S., and victims deserve to be compensated for the full impact it has on their lives.

If you or a family member have been severely injured in an electrical accident, the attorneys at HKGC are here to help. Learn about your legal rights from our experienced New Orleans electrocution lawyers by calling 504-581-4892 or by filling out our free, no-obligation case review form.