Offshore Injury Settlements - What You Should Expect
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.
When Will I Get My Settlement or My Court Date?
This completely depends on the Court you are in, how hard your lawyer fights for you, and how hard the company's lawyer tries to delay the case.
Generally, we try to settle cases or try them to a jury or judge within 1 year from the first interview with you. We do not try to "negotiate" before filing suit because it is almost always a waste of time. We file your lawsuit immediately and get a trial date as quick as we can--in our experience, that's really the only way to force a reasonable and fair settlement.
Conclusion
You must have your case evaluated by an experienced offshore injury lawyer to determine a fair and reasonable settlement or jury verdict range. You also need to make sure your lawyer will be willing to push your case to trial without unnecessary delay, and spend the time and money to win the case as quickly as possible.
After all, in many cases, it is you and your family's future on the line.
About the author
Brian Beckcom is a Board Certified Injury Trial Lawyer who handles serious offshore injury cases, dangerous products cases, truck accident cases, wrongful death cases, paralysis and burn cases, plane and helicopter crash cases, and other difficult and serious personal matters. He is based in Texas but handles cases nationally and internationally.
Mr. Beckcom has a history of winning offshore injury cases, including Jones Act cases, Longshore cases, Maritime Law Cases, Offshore Oil Rig cases, and other similar cases.
Mr. Beckcom has never lost an offshore injury case at trial.
Mr. Beckcom can be contacted directly through his firm's main website, www.vbattorneys.com.
