Legal Question in Product Liability in New York

Re: Who should be sued?

The very first case I worked on as an attorney was a Labor Law 240 case. I have been handling them ever since. The labor law case should be pursued immediately and against all available parties. Not just the GC. In most circumstances you also have a case against the owner of the property on which you were working. You need to consult with an attorney with significant experience in this specific type of action. I would be able to put you in touch with such an atytorney in your area. As to the Products case, you need to immediately send a notice to the ladder's owner not to modify, repair or alter the ladder because if they do the products case will become much more difficult. This notice is called a spoliation notice and should be done as soon as possible. Please feel free to contact me with any questions about either of these areas.

Re: Who should be sued?

Under the facts that you supplied, my suggestion would be to name all of the parties mentioned. This would appear to fall under the Labor Law statutes against the General Contractor, but you never know the insurance and financial status of a particular party and if you do have valid product liability claims, those should be pursued as well. As to case "value," it doesn't go up with more defendants, however with more potentially liable defendants, there would be more coverage available so that you can insure that you would be fully compensated for your injuries. There also would appear to be a workers' compensation claim available to you outside of the labor law/products liability lawsuit. In view of the varied legal issues involved, it is strongly suggested that you retain an attorney to represent your interests. This is an area that my firm is quite familiar with and I would be happy to speak with you further to discuss this with you in greater detail.