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Knowing when to contact an attorney, what questions to ask and how he or she is compensated can save you time, money and headaches – especially when dealing with complex maritime issues. Tim Young, an attorney from New Orleans, Louisiana whose firm’s practice focuses on maritime injury cases, provided us with some best practices for hiring the right maritime attorney.

When to contact a maritime attorney

Young told us that injured maritime workers should consider contacting an attorney right after an accident occurs. Here’s what he said:

We treat every case confidentially; we do not do any work for maritime companies or offshore companies, so there’s no fear of us contacting them or letting them know that a potential client has called us. We encourage clients to contact us even if it’s to simply to make sure that the company is doing everything right at that stage. I think it’s a smart idea for the person to call lawyers and become informed of their options.

There are also significant reasons to file a suit early, such as getting all of the documents that are involved in your accident and making sure that documents are not lost or destroyed. We find that after a few months, memories become worse on how an accident happened. People will forget items over six months to a year. That’s especially true when an accident report has not been completed for some reason as that person will need to rely on the memory of all their co-employees to be successful. So, taking action as quickly as possible is very important in this situation.

Ask the right questions

In order to hire the right attorney in a maritime case, you have to ask the right questions. Young continued, “I would ask the attorney how many maritime claims he or she handled over the last year or two and how many of those went to court or were prepared to go to court? I would also ask that attorney what type of funding he has available as maritime cases can be expensive to prepare and try. Our office understands that and we have no problem financing cases. It’s the area of law that we choose to practice.”

“I would also ask the attorney if he has worked with maritime experts. They can be very intelligent attorneys, they can go to court every other week, but if they don’t know what experts should be involved in the case, then they’re going to have a hard time proving that the company did something wrong.”

Find out about compensation

Maritime lawyers are generally paid a contingency fee, which means they receive attorneys’ fees only if they are successful in receiving money for the client – but it’s always important to find out what lawyers charge up front. Young provided the details, “Our office typically will charge 40 percent as the contingency fee, which is the standard in maritime cases. The client does not need to advance any of the costs and they are normally not responsible for any attorneys’ fees if the case is not successful.”

“Different law firms may charge different rates if they have to appeal a case. Our office believes that it’s fair to simply charge a flat rate because we treat every case with as much effort as the next one. Some firms do have a graduated scale, or an increasing scale, depending upon the effort and the stage that they’re able to settle or resolve the case. In our view, we are not going to receive the best offer until the case is fully worked up and prepared – and that’s why we believe that the same fee is fair for each client.”

Look for commitment

Maritime cases generally take more time to resolve than other cases, so it’s important to find an attorney who will be committed to your case. Young explained, “We are in it for the long haul. We have no problem and no misunderstanding about that going into each case. We may be more selective in screening cases than another firm who charges a lesser fee, but that firm may get in and out of the case within a month or two and simply move the case in and out of their door as quickly as possible.”

If you have been injured in an accident on or near the water, contact an attorney whose practice focuses on maritime issues. To contact an experienced maritime attorney, please click here.