Maritime Accidents: Finding the Right Lawyer

Even experienced workers’ compensation lawyers don’t often deal with workers injured at sea. Only an experienced maritime attorney can really handle all the details of your case and make sure you get maximum Jones Act compensation. 

And even an experienced personal injury attorney will have difficulty understanding who was negligent and why without understanding that the law binds recreational boaters to the same rules as commercial vessels and what those rules entail. 

Maritime attorneys: experts in maritime injury

When you first meet with your maritime attorney to explain what happened and how you were injured, you don’t want to also have to explain how things work on ships or boats, what certain equipment is for, or why the drunk boater who struck you did not have the right of way.  You want to meet with a maritime lawyer who already knows and understands these things, not with someone without intrinsic understanding of the subject matter.

Maritime law firms: experts in maritime law

If your injury occurred in the course of your work on a boat or ship or anything the law classifies as a “vessel,” you qualify for Jones Act compensation instead of lower workers’ compensation.  Only an experienced maritime attorney will know right away whether you qualify for Jones Act compensation, how to preserve your Jones Act rights even if you unintentionally waived some since your accident, and how to maximize your cash award. 

Most lawyers who work with injured employees never have cause to use or understand the Jones Act.  They may treat your case as a run-of-the-mill workers’ comp case, without realizing that such treatment costs you money and may decrease your employer’s responsibility for your medical bills.

If your injury occurred during recreational boating, you want to work with maritime attorneys who know navigation rules just like most personal injury attorneys know the rules of the road.  Imagine suffering a car accident and trying to explain to your attorney—who had never driven before—that you are supposed to stop at red lights and drive on the right side of the road.  Just as you would not want someone who does not know the rules of the road to represent you in a car accident case, you do not want someone who does not know navigation rules and water safety to represent you if you have had a maritime accident.

The Gaar Law Firm: maritime attorneys

We have the expertise to represent anyone injured in a maritime accident. We know maritime law and maritime accidents, and can put our experience to work for you.  We have successfully represented hundreds of injured maritime employees and recreational boaters, and bring care and expertise to every case.  Contact us today to set up a free consultation.