What Accidents Our La Porte Injury Law Firm Helps After
Our accident attorneys help after all types of preventable incidents and injuries in the La Porte area. Ultimately, an accident must have one important quality for us to take a case involving it: it had to have been preventable by at least one party.
Issues our La Porte accident lawyers help with include:
If you’re uncertain if your issue is something that our firm can help you with, call us at (888) 493-1629 or fill out our contact form. A member of our team is standing by to listen to what happened and help you decide what steps you should take next.
What a La Porte Personal Injury Law Firm Can Help With
Accidents often cause serious injuries that require extensive treatment and lengthy recovery. In the worst instances, they cause family members to lose a loved one—leaving them wondering what to do next. Our La Porte personal injury lawyers always focus on recovering all losses associated with an accident.
We help recover compensation for things such as:
- Lost wages
- Lost ability to work
- Medical debt
- The cost of future care
- Emotional suffering
- Physical pain
- Loss of a partner
Importantly, it takes a law firm that’s willing to do the work it takes to recover all possible losses associated with an accident. For example, getting compensation for things such as pain and suffering is not always obvious—it takes a dedicated team and exhaustive investigation of an accident to make sure these things are secured.
At Arnold & Itkin, we make sure we listen to what happened, examine the claims of the other side, and spare no expense to make sure a thorough and honest investigation of the incident happens. If the other side isn’t being fair, we always work to make sure they’re held accountable—even if it means taking a case to court. In fact, our reputation as trial lawyers means that companies and their legal team knows that they’re in for a fight after seeing we’re involved with a case.
Helping Survivors with Catastrophic Injuries
While all accident injuries are difficult, there’s a set of injuries that are so serious they’re given a special legal and medical designation: catastrophic. Simply defined, a catastrophic injury is one that impacts a person for the rest of their life. When a person has a catastrophic injury, they face lifelong issues with things such as pain, discomfort, mobility difficulties, a lost ability to work, cognitive issues, and more.
Catastrophic injuries often include:
- Burn injuries: A person with burn injuries often faces issues with painful scaring that can even limit their ability to move freely. In addition to the physical struggles caused by burns, survivors often face mental trauma after having their physical appearance altered by their burns.
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs): TBIs are notable because they’re serious injuries that aren’t always immediately recognizable. A person with a TBI might experience cognitive issues as well difficulties with mobility. In some instances, a TBI can change a person’s behavior, making families feel like they've "lost" a loved one who has sustained one.
- Amputations: A loss of limb can occur during a serious accident, or can be the result of a medical procedure required after one. Those with amputations might face lasting pain, difficulty working, and reduced independence.
- Loss of vision/hearing: Acoustic trauma and eye injuries can significantly reduce or eliminate a person’s ability to interact with the world around them.
Catastrophic injuries are important to note because they often require a person to seek compensation that’s far greater than the settlement they might have been initially offered. Getting an attorney that understands the lasting financial repercussions of catastrophic injuries can be a crucial step toward a person getting the justice they deserve and having the means to live as comfortably as possible after their injuries.
For example, our La Porte burn injury lawyers have fought to make sure clients have their medical bills taken care of, the cost of future care covered, and their lost wages replaced.
Our La Porte Wrongful Death Lawyers Help Families Find Answers
When families get the message that their loved one didn’t survive an accident, they deserve help from a team that will fight for their recovery. After a wrongful death, families need a path forward—funeral costs, medical bills, and other financial difficulties can make an already stressful time worse. Our La Porte wrongful death law firm focuses on securing these things, so grieving families don’t have to worry about the financial consequences of their loved one’s death.
Our wrongful death lawyers in La Porte seek compensation for things such as:
- Funeral expenses
- Medical bills
- Lost income
- Lost guidance/mentorship
- Loss of consortium
- Emotional suffering
As with serious injuries, families need help from an experienced law firm after losing a loved one. A wrongful death attorney should always be focused on recovering what a family needs to move forward financially after the accident. This means making sure all responsible parties are held accountable and that every possible loss—past, present, and future—is accounted for.
Additionally, filing a wrongful death claim is important because it shows negligent parties that their behavior has consequences. Holding negligent parties accountable for failing to prevent deaths helps ensure that other families won’t suffer in a similar way.
Plant & Refinery Accidents in La Porte
La Porte and the surrounding cities are important part of the Texas economy. As an energy and production hub, the area has numerous industrial sites including oil refineries, chemical plants, and other facilities that handle dangerous materials.
If properly maintained and supervised by plant owners, these facilities are safe for workers and nearby communities. However, even the most minor oversight or cost-cutting measures from a plant operator can results in accidents that harm workers and anyone else who is near a facility. No one should ever suffer because a company failed to honor its legal and ethical obligations to safety.
Common industrial accidents in the La Porte area include:
- Chemical leaks / toxic exposure: Plants and refineries use and refine dangerous chemicals during their operations. Employers must provide safety equipment that protects workers from toxic exposure. They also must ensure that maintenance is performed to avoid accidental exposure to chemicals.
- Fires and explosions: Many substances used by plants and refineries are highly combustible. When a fire or explosion breaks out at these facilities, the situation can quickly worsen. This makes having adequate fire and explosion prevention steps important for any type of industrial setting.
- Equipment malfunction: Every aspect of a plant’s machinery needs to be maintained. For example, a broken valve might be ignored for years before it triggers a catastrophic accident. Maintaining equipment—no matter how unimportant it seems—is crucial for worker safety.
- Falls: When workplaces have high areas that workers utilize, adequate fall protection must be present. This includes effective railing as well as safety harnesses.
Accidents such as the ones listed above are almost always preventable. Yet, too often, companies cut corners with safety, risking the well-being of their workers. When they do this, they should face repercussions.
The LyondellBasell La Porte Chemical Leak
On the evening of July 27, 2021, a chemical leak occurred at the LyondellBasell plant in La Porte. The incident took the lives of two contract workers and sent at least 30 people to the hospital.
The La Porte chemical plant produces acetic acid. Approximately 100,000 pounds of it were released at the time of the accident. Acetic acid is corrosive by nature but is relatively harmless if used properly as vinegar. However, industrial amounts of acetic acid can quickly cause vision loss, burns, and respiratory injuries.
At the time of this writing, the cause of the accident remains unknown. The chemical plant was partially shut down for maintenance. The contractors were working in the area that the maintenance was being performed.
Incidents that happen during plant maintenance are called turnaround accidents. While important, turnarounds can be dangerous if not handled under careful supervision. They happen most often when companies fail to implement proper safety standards before, during, or after a turnaround.
All About La Porte, TX
La Porte was founded in 1892 by an investment group as a real estate venture, and a 22-acre space known as Sylvan Grove was developed as a vacation destination, complete with bathhouses, piers, and even a hotel. It soon became a popular spot for tourists, and in 1896 a company purchased Sylvan Grove and renamed it Sylvan Beach, building cottage retreats along the shore. In 1900, however, the Galveston Hurricane hit the area hard, and most of the attractions in the area were destroyed. La Porte rebuilt quickly, fueled by the Texas Oil Boom, but a fire and another hurricane hit in 1915.
Again, La Porte rebuilt. Sylvan Beach Amusement Park reached its peak in the 1920s and 1930s and was a top destination for tourists and performers, but this success was short-lived. The beachfront started to disappear, as a result of erosion from shipping traffic and groundwater extraction. World War II further slowed tourism, and another hurricane struck in 1943, destroying most of the Sylvan Beach attractions.
Although tourism did not recover, La Porte soon established itself as a successful industrial community. Today, La Porte is home to the second-largest petrochemical refining complex on the planet and serves as the gateway to the Houston Ship Channel. La Porte is also known as a small town where people can escape some of the hustle and bustle of large Texas cities, enjoy bay views, and experience the area’s rich history. Sylvan Beach Park, which has been restored, features the longest fishing pier in Texas as well as two beaches to enjoy. The San Jacinto Monument is located in the unincorporated part of La Porte; the 567.31-mile-high column commemorates the site of the Battle of San Jacinto, which was the final battle of the Texas Revolution.
La Porte Links & Resources
Our La Porte Accident Lawyers Never Back Down From Results
If you’re suffering from an accident that could have been prevented, you deserve help from a team that’s known for getting the results clients deserve. From powerful corporations to stubborn insurance companies, we’ve faced off against the most opponents and have won. It's simple: we’re known for getting record-setting results for clients.
In fact, we hold the record for the largest workplace accident settlement in Texas history. We obtained this $357 million result in just 16 months for our clients.
We’ve secured record-shattering results by never backing down from a fight. When the other side has an army of lawyers, we outwork them to get the justice that clients need. If the other side isn’t being fair, we refuse to allow them to get away with it. As trial lawyers with an extensive history of victories in the courtroom, the other side knows it’s in for a fight when they see we’re on a case.
Get help from La Porte personal injury attorneys known for getting the results clients need, no matter what. Your consultation is free when you call (888) 493-1629.
