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Lawyers who represent clients in any type of case must be certain that every “t” is crossed and every “i” is dotted to obtain the best possible recovery. In maritime injury cases, those where a worker has been injured on or near the water, lawyers generally need to do a bit more.

Companies fight maritime cases

Maritime cases are normally fought very hard by defendant companies, according to Tim Young, an attorney from New Orleans, Louisiana whose firm’s practice focuses on maritime injury cases. In a recent interview, Young told us that his firm understands that these companies fight maritime cases hard. He added, “That’s fine with us. We have no trouble litigating a case. Maritime claims normally will not be settled for anywhere near their fair value unless the case is prepared and ready to go to court.”

Why filing a lawsuit aids in recovery

Many claims can be settled without actually filing a lawsuit. However, as Young told us, that’s not always the best idea:

Whereas automobile accidents can sometimes receive settlements quickly – sometimes after the injured person sees the doctor one or two times; maritime cases normally require the person to be fully evaluated and normally require a lawsuit to be filed. In our view, it’s dangerous and most of the time it’s not a very good idea to try to settle a case without filing suit, receiving all of the documents that the company has in their possession and having an expert look at those documents – or at least discussing them with an expert to find out what the company may have done wrong.

In our view, it’s impossible to intelligently settle somebody’s case without having all of the information in front of you. The only way you do that with a maritime case is by filing a suit, taking depositions and working the case towards trial. That is sometimes very different from automobile accidents where all of the information is available to the parties right away. In maritime cases, the discovery process is a key factor in the settlement.

Where general practitioners often fall short

Young’s firm litigates maritime cases that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico involving oil rig workers, the Mississippi River involving tug boat workers and other bodies of water. In his years of practice, he’s seen general practitioners take on maritime cases and get in way over their heads. He explained:

What we see is that general practitioners will often become involved in a case for a few weeks or months and have repeated conversations with the company to try to settle the case. They may even propose what we believe are very low settlements, but the company simply ignores them or they don’t give serious thought to the settlement. In our view, companies do that because they have no incentive or pressure to try to settle the claim at that point.

Young says that fortunately, some general practitioners will get his firm involved. When that happens, they file the suit, do discovery and show the company what they did wrong and what it’s going to cost them if they go to court.

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.