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Injured maritime workers claims are subject to different rules and regulations than most land-based workers. The Jones Act and the Longshore Act generally control maritime injuries as opposed to workers’ compensation. So, seeking the counsel of a qualified maritime attorney to assess your options and provide practical advice is always recommended.

Practical advice

We asked Tim Young, an attorney from New Orleans, Louisiana whose firm’s practice focuses on maritime injury cases, to provide us with some practical advice on what an injured worker can do to increase their chances of prevailing in a maritime lawsuit. Here’s what he said:

1. Follow through with medical treatment
   
   The injured person should follow up with their medical treatment as quickly as possible and be aware that many companies will try to obtain video surveillance on them.
   
   Many injured maritime workers that we help have a misunderstanding that their claim is going to be handled by their boss on the rig or their co-workers. However, when a maritime worker gets injured, his or her claim is normally handled by either an insurance company or by the risk management division of that company. They normally have no allegiance to the employee, have no history with the employee and will hire investigators normally to go out and videotape the person.
   
   They will not believe that the person is injured unless they’re going to see a doctor on a regular basis. A maritime worker needs to follow up with their medical treatment and be aware that the company is going to disbelieve him first, so he needs to prove his case to the company.
   
2. Evaluate your future with the company
   
   We tell our clients, and potential clients, that if they do not believe they have a future with the company that their best avenue at that point is to simply file suit and part ways with the company. The reasons for that vary; it may be because their injury is so serious that they’re not going to be able to go back to work or that the company may fire or run the person off because of the accident.
   
3. Be comfortable with your attorney
   
   I think it’s very important to be comfortable with your attorney. In addition to the experience, the financial resources and the willingness to go to court, I think people need to find attorneys that they trust that will explain their rights to them and not simply say, ‘This is what the law is, trust us on it.’
   
   We make a serious effort to educate our clients and explain not only what we’re recommending, but why we’re recommending it. We've interviewed several clients who were not satisfied with their attorney before coming to us and they usually tell us that their previous attorney did not communicate with them by explaining their rights and why recommendations were made.

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.