Maritime Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Vujasinovic & Beckcom : Jones Act : Serving Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi

We handle a lot of offshore injury cases.  The workers who work on vessels, be they barges, dredges, boats, cruise ships, oil rigs, crane barges, or any other type of offshore vessel typically are asked to do hard, heavy manual work. 

All too often, in our experience, those workers suffer back, neck, shoulder, knee, or other serious orthopedic injuries as a result of inadequate equipment, staffing, training, safety precautions, or by being pushed to do their work too quickly or in unsafe conditions.

These types of injuries can be career-threatening or even, in some cases, career-ending.  Workers who must have strong backs, legs, and arms often find themselves unable to do the work when they suffer one of these types of injuries.

Often, what will happen after an injury is the company will send the worker to company-sponsored or company-affiliated doctors.  After a cursory or quick medical examination, the doctor will simply send the worker back to work on "light duty" or will even give a full release, without doing a complete or thorough medical examination and before the worker is ready to return to work. 

When the worker tells the company that he is not ready to return, the company will give two stark choices--return to work or lose your job.

Not much of a choice.

Fortunately, the Jones Act and maritime law provides some legal protection to workers in this situation.  For example, under the Jones Act  and maritime law, you are allowed to go to a doctor of your own choosing.  If you are not physically ready to go back to work, the companies should be paying part of your salary in the form of maintenance payments and should be faciiliating your medical treatment and paying the doctors promptly.

If the company (or its insurance companies) don't cooperate and do everything reasonably in their power to assist you during your recovery, they may very well be running afoul of the law.

You can make a legal claim if the company and its insurance company do not help facilitate your medical care and act reasonably when you are injured.  In these situations, it is important that you talk with an experienced Jones Act or maritime injury lawyer, a lawyer you are comfortable with who has the experience and resources to help you get a full and fair recovery.

This is particularly important when your injury is career-threatening or possibly career-ending.

Don't fall into the "trap" that you must listen only to the company-referred doctor. 

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The first suggestion would be not to negotiate the case yourself if it involves a serious injury, significant time away from work, or otherwise involves more than just a minor injury or a few days away from work.

Why?  Because you will be entering a war zone.  The company will have experienced insurance adjusters, insurance investigators, and lawyers working "behind the scenes" to try to make your case worth as little money as possible.  They know the "tricks" that can hurt your case and they will use them on you with a smile on their face so you won't even see it coming until it's too late.

The insurance adjusters, investigators, and lawyers for the company make their living negotiating cases like yours.  This will not be their first time to negotiate a case or the last. 

If your case is serious, you should strongly consider consulting with a Jones Act or maritime law attorney.  At the very least, you should try to talk to such an attorney (or, better yet, talk to a few of them) before deciding whether to try to negotiate your case yourself.  Most of the time, such attorneys will give you a free initial consultation.

If your case is a smaller one, involving minor injuries or just a few days away from work, then negotiating yourself may be more efficient and effective.  Here are some "tips" for negotiating these small cases yourself:

1.  Get a copy of the accident report;
2.  Gather together all of your medical records and bills;
3.  Ask to take statements from all witnesses;
4.  Type up a letter to the insurance company, include the accident report, medical records and bills, and witness statements.  In the letter, set forth your opening "demand" (your first settlement number) by multiplying your medical bills and lost wages by some factor you think is fair;
5.  Give the company a deadline by which to respond.  If they do not respond by the deadline, you know they are not serious about your case.

Good luck.

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According to reports, a worker for New Port Building and Construction obtained a $1.47 million dollar settlement after he was paralyzed while working at the company president's personal residence.

The insurance company discovered after the accident that the injured worker had not filled out the proper insurance forms before the accident.

One of the most important things consumers must remember when purchasing insurance is to be honest and forthright on the application and to fill it out completely.  Do not fail to list information you think may increase your premium slightly or leave out requested information.  If you do, you run the risk of losing coverage for a later accident or covered claim.

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On October 22, 2007, Carlos Guzman filed a Jones Act lawsuit  against CBH Services Inc. and Horizon Offshore Contractors Inc. in Jefferson County District Court.

Mr. Guzman claims that he hurt his back while moving a heavy ladder.  Mr. Guzman worked as a welder aboard "The Atlantic," a Horizon owned vessel.

Mr. Guzman's lawsuit claims more than $50,000 in damages.  Mr. Guzman sought out medical treatment shortly after the incident and continues to receive medical treatment from doctors and medical service providers.

According to Mr. Guzman, the defendants failed to provide a safe place to work, failed to provide safe tools and equipment, and failed to provide adequate supervision, among other things.

Back injuries are a common occurrence in the offshore industry.  Far too often, maritime workers are required to manually lift pieces of equipment that should not be lifted manually.  Faced with a choice of complying with the orders of the boss or losing a well-paying jobs, maritime workers often have no realistic choice.

Have you suffered a back injury or other serious injury offshore?

www.vbattorneys.com
www.themaritimelawyer.com
www.maritimeaccidentattorney.com

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About the firm

Vujasinovic & Beckcom, P.L.L.C. is a firm of board certified personal injury trial lawyers who handle serious injury and death cases, as well as business and insurance cases, on a contingency fee basis.  The firm has a substantial docket of Jones Act and maritime injury cases.

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One of the most commonly asked questions I get from our offshore client's is "What is my case worth, and when should I expect to settle it?"

There are a number of factors that determine what your case is worth, and how quickly it settles.

Offshore Injury Settlements - What Is An Offshore Injury Case Worth?

The settlement or jury verdict amount for an offshore injury case depends on large number of factors.  First, the seriousness of the injury itself.  For instance, is the injury something that will keep you out of work forever?  For a year?  For a month?  Not at all?  These questions must be answered by experts trained to evaluate such things, and obviously, the more serious the injury, the higher (in general) the settlement value.

Another factors is whether you have a Jones Act case, a General Maritime Law case, a Longshore & Harbor Worker's Compensation Act case, an Outer Continental Shelf Land's Act case, or some other kind of cases.  In general, Jones Act cases are valued more highly because the law (in general) is better than most other laws.  But this is not always true and depends on the facts of each individual case.

Another fact is where the injury happened and where you file it.  Some places are better to file a lawsuit than others--some places tend to be more pro-business and anti-injured employee, while others are more pro-injured employee and less pro-business.  Offshore injury claims have extremely complicated venue rules about where you can file your case--you MUST talk to an experienced offshore injury lawyer to make this determination.

There are a lot of other things to consider when determining the value of an offshore injury settlement or jury verdict, including:

--How good is your lawyer?  How experienced?  Can your lawyer actually win at trial?  Does your lawyer have the resources to take on large offshore companies?
--How good is the defense lawyer?  How experienced?  Can the defense lawyer actually try a case?
--How clear is the "liability", or, to put it another way, how clear is it about who was at fault?
--Were any safety regulations violated?  By whom?  How serious were the violations?
--Has any employee been injured in the same way, or by the same equipment, before?
--Were there pre-accident warnings?

The list goes on and on.  This is just a sample of the many things that an experienced offshore injury lawyer can help you evaluate.

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