Michigan Electrocution Lawyer

An experienced Michigan electrocution lawyer can get you compensation for your electrical injuries. Suffering an electrocution injury is traumatizing and overwhelming. Along with the physical pain, the ensuing medical bills and inability to work may leave you feeling hopeless and unsure of how to proceed.

Electrical injuries are a spectrum of injuries—ranging from mild electrical shock caused by a low-voltage household current to a devastating electrocution injury from a high-tension electrical wire. No matter the circumstances, an injury attorney at Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. will help.

• What Types of Injuries are Caused by Electrocution?
• Understanding Power Company Liability
• How do you Prove Negligence against a Utility Company?
• Call a Michigan Electrocution Lawyer for Help

You Need an Experienced Electrocution Lawyer

Our law firm and attorneys have won the top awards in the legal profession, including:

• Super Lawyers
• Best Lawyers in America
• U.S. News & World Report Best Law Firms
• Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America
• Multi-Million Dollars Advocate Forum

Electrocution cases are more involved than standard personal injury matters. For this reason, you need a top-rated electrocution lawyer on your side.

What are the Most Common Causes of Electrocution Injuries?

Electrocution injuries can occur anywhere there are electrical outlets or power lines. The most common causes of these accidents are:

• Downed utility company power lines touching fences or on the ground in neighborhood areas
• Direct contact by a worker with an energized power line
• Direct contact by a boomed vehicle with an energized power line
• Electrical equipment that is improperly installed or maintained
• Electrical equipment that is not secured or fenced in from the public
• Faulty wiring by a contractor or repair person
• Defective machinery
• Lightning strikes
• Improper equipment or the lack of proper safety protection

Who are the Most Common Victims of Electrocution Accidents?

Anyone can be the victim of electrocution in their own home, in their yard, or in their workplace. Common victims of these accidents include:

• Children
• Utility workers
• Construction workers
• Repairmen
• Tree trimmers
• Transportation workers

Many electrocution injuries occur when an innocent person comes into contact with a downed power line or electrical wire in their neighborhood, or even in their own backyard. A person may even step in a puddle of water in the vicinity of a live electrical wire without even coming into direct contact with the wire. Other times, an unsuspecting victim may touch a fence where a downed electrical wire is resting on the top of a fence, even a good distance away from the victim.

Furthermore, workers are often the victims of electrical injuries and shocks. Many workers, especially in construction and utility jobs, work near live wires and electrical sources. For example, tree trimmers, sign works, utility workers, and telecommunication employees work near these dangers on a daily basis.

Electrocution Injury Statistics

Serious injuries occur when there is direct contact with an electrical source or when a piece of equipment, like a crane or even a tool, directly touches a power wire or electrical wire. It only takes an instant for a large amount of electricity to cause serious injury or death. The line chart below shows the number of electrocutions with consumer products in the United States from 2004-2013.

• 2004: 358
• 2005: 350
• 2006: 348
• 2007: 321
• 2008: 263
• 2009: 232
• 2010: 286
• 2011: 285
• 2012: 252
• 2013: 239

A Michigan electrocution lawyer familiar with these injury claims will determine if another party or company is to blame for an individual’s injuries. Our attorneys will fully investigate the accident and pursue your legal rights to the fullest extent.

What Types of Injuries are Caused by Electrocution?

Electrical injuries are very serious and can lead to permanent injury and death. The treatment for these injuries is often extensive and requires lengthy hospitalization and rehabilitation. Common injuries include:

• Burns
• Seizures
• Irregular heartbeat
• Nerve damage, including numbness and tingling
• Breathing problems and lung failure
• Problems with hearing and swallowing
• Problems with vision, including blindness
• Damage to internal organs, like the heart, kidneys, and liver
• Permanent brain damage and cognitive impairments
• Death

Many times, the harm caused is permanent and irreversible even with prompt treatment and the best possible medical care. Therefore, the costs associated with treating these injuries are often significant.

Understanding Power Company Liability

Because of the high risk of serious injury or death from escaping electricity, a power company or person maintaining electrical wires must use increased care proportionate to the danger. These electrical companies have a higher standard of legal care because of the known danger of electricity.

Important factors include the amount of current. For example, a low-voltage household has 120-440 V, a high voltage one has 440-1000 V, while high-tension voltage is anything greater than 1000 V. Furthermore, the type of current—alternating current or direct current—the path of the current, the length of contact, and the events associated with the injury are all considered. Power companies are heavily regulated by local, state, and federal governments. Regulations include:

• Adequate clearance between the road and an electrical line
• Proper clearance between the ground and an electric line
• Sufficient maintenance of materials that help with insulation
• Marks on poles that contain high voltage lines which specify their type
• Raising any lines which have become too low

Therefore, when these regulations are disregarded and an injury occurs, the power companies might be held liable. A tenacious Michigan electrocution injury lawyer could help an injured individual to understand how these legal nuances might impact their claim.

How do you Prove Negligence against a Utility Company?

In order to recover, a person must prove that the power company was negligent. Essentially, recovery for personal injuries or death to a family member can be obtained if it is established that the utility company violated the expected standard of care in its electrical operations. Examples of negligence include electrical lines that were either installed or maintained without proper insulation, electrical lines without enough clearance from the ground, buildings or combustibles, or lines that were improperly guarded.

Further, a claimant may be able to establish liability against the power company. This may happen if they can demonstrate that the power company failed to perform thorough inspections of its lines and failed to keep them safe from natural deterioration, foreseeable uses of the underlying or adjacent property, and changed conditions that made the power lines hazardous.

The same rules that apply to children apply to adults—however, a power company will have to use extra care if it knows children play in the area of its lines. Proving negligence is often difficult for underprepared claimants in Michigan, however, due to the nuances of the legal system. Therefore, the aid of a seasoned electrical injury lawyer may prove to be essential.

Can I file an Electrocution Lawsuit?

You can file a lawsuit if you or someone you care about were electrocuted due to the negligence of a person, business, or power company.  The lawsuits demand compensation payouts for the injury and harm caused by the electrical injury. Settlements include payouts for physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma, disability, scars and disfigurements, and other damages.

In cases involving fatal electrocution, the surviving family members can file a wrongful death lawsuit. These cases result in substantial settlements for the family and include compensation for the pain and suffering before death, loss of companionship, and financial losses suffered due to the death.

Call a Michigan Electrocution Lawyer for Help

No matter the circumstances of an electrical injury, the resulting damages may include severe burns, electrocution, and even death. If you or a loved one was injured in any of these types of incidents, our Michigan electrocution injury lawyer will help you pursue compensation against an at-fault company.

However, due to important deadlines on filing a claim, the sooner you reach out to a knowledgeable electrocution lawyer at Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. the better chance you have of filing a successful claim.

To start building a claim today, call our law firm. 

We do not charge any legal fees unless you receive a settlement.