A manufacturing plant worker was pinned by a heavy steel coil. He died at the scene.
This was an accident that no one anticipated happening, and could not have predicted, unless plant workers knew something about how the overhead crane was maintained mechanically, or that the steel coils in the warehouse were not stacked properly.
The day started out as usual for Richard Licina, off to work, getting ready for a full day of moving steel coils and then calling it a day. Richard never made it home. One morning in late February, 2013, he was working a 15-ton overhead crane with the goal of moving a large steel coil to another location. The coil he wanted to move weighed 10,000 pounds. While he was lifting the first coil, a second one, weighing 5,000 pounds, slid out of position on the stack, slamming into the worker. The force of the impact crushed him up against another stack of coils.
When emergency response crews arrived on the site, they pronounced Richard dead. He died of massive chest injuries. While the initial reports of this incident state the death was an accident, the police and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration would each conduct an investigation of their own. They would want to know why the second coil shifted out of place and about the maintenance of the crane. They would also want to know if the crane operator was operating his machine while under the influence of a drug or other substance. All possible scenarios would need to be ruled out.
This is a wrongful death, and the man’s family may wish to seek experienced legal counsel to discover if they have a case to take to court. Knowing why the second coil shifted, perhaps due to carelessness on the part of the person who stacked them in the first place, would determine if negligence played a role in Richard’s death. In the meantime, his family would have to cope emotionally and financially with his sudden loss.
If the family does hire a lawyer, they could then contact a litigation funding company for a lawsuit loan. This kind of legal funding is often referred to as pre-settlement funding, and it is an emergency loan made to a qualified plaintiff that lets them handle all their bills while waiting for their case to be settled or go to court. They are not required to jump through any hoops to get the legal funding; they just need to present their case and have it assessed.
If the litigation funding company feels the case stands a chance of winning in court, the loan is approved and sent the fastest way possible to the plaintiff’s bank account. From there, the plaintiff may spend the funds on what they wish, but most pay medical expenses and/or funeral and burial expenses. While this type of funding does not suit all situations, checking into it may make an enormous difference for a financially strapped plaintiff.
Daren Monroe writes for Litigation Funding Corp. To learn more about lawsuit funding and litigation funding, visit Litigationfundingcorp.com.
