Suffering an injury due to someone else’s negligence can be a traumatic experience. When you’re a maritime worker, other occupational hazards can easily go unchecked by employers used to the routine labor of maritime work. But no injury is worth staying silent for.
If you’ve sustained an injury offshore and on the job, you could retain the help of a personal injury lawyer. Luckily, Jeanerette offshore injury lawyers have years of experience and are here to get you the compensation you need for your pain and suffering.
Our Jeanerette Lawyers Can Handle Your Offshore Injury Case
Trying to deal with a legal claim while recovering from an injury or mourning the untimely loss of a loved one is beyond stressful. Not only do you have to deal with:
- The potential loss of pay and a job (an employer does not have to hold your job for you)
- Working with legal terminology, nuances, and loopholes
An offshore injury lawyer knows what to expect and can help you with the paperwork, defend your rights, and get you the money you need. Our maritime lawyer understands Louisiana laws and local ordinances that could affect your benefits.
Laborde Earles injury was great for me they took care of me very fast and professional. If for any reason I need legal help they will be who I use.
ClientWhat Kind of Offshore Injuries Are Compensable?
Whether it’s a back injury or wrongful death on an oil rig or a riverboat casino, any injury you or a family member sustains on an offshore job is worth seeking compensation for. Unfortunately, maritime accidents are all too common. Our team has seen the following injuries at our practice:
- Head injuries
- Back injuries
- Burns
- Fatalities
- Electrocution
- Loss of a limb
Any one of these injuries can seriously impact your quality of life or lead to emotional suffering. Also, such injuries could happen at any point. Every job has its risk and occupational hazards, but maritime work is especially risky. That’s why the negligence of a co-worker or another kind of accident is so serious.
I thank God for Digger & David. I don’t know what we would have done if it hadn’t have been for them.
Rick Smith | ClientWhat Can I Be Compensated for After Suffering an Offshore Injury?
The legal term for physical and emotional injuries you sustain after an accident is pain and suffering. When you submit a personal injury claim, you collect damages for pain and suffering like offshore injuries. You can also collect damages for medical expenses related to the injury, loss of pay, and any long-term disabilities and emotional suffering as a result.
In the case of long-term disabilities and emotional suffering, you’ll need to provide clear and convincing evidence that your suffering is directly related to the accident/negligence. You can only file a personal injury claim if a third party is to blame for your losses. You cannot sue your employer in Ohio. A lawyer can help you file a third-party lawsuit or apply for workers’ compensation.
The reassurance from Digger and his staff gave me that renewed hope that it’s going to be okay down the road.
ClientHow do I Prove Negligence in a Third-Party Lawsuit?
When you team up with an offshore injury lawyer working in Jeanerette, they will need to prove that you did not cause your injury (you weren’t voluntarily intoxicated, did anything to entice a fight that led to the situation, etc.). An attorney will also need to show that:
- A third party was supposed to keep you safe.
- An accident happened on the job.
- A third party caused the accident.
- The accident was the direct cause of your resulting disability or injury (you did not have this injury before the accident.
Duty of Care
Contractors need to follow reasonable rules of factory or industry code. For instance, they should place wet floor signs on a wet floor, make sure machinery is up-to-date, secure heavy equipment safely to a wall, etc. This is called duty of care.
In Louisiana, maritime contractors’ duty of care includes:
- Ensuring the safety of the ship
- Properly training workers to avoid seasonal and environmental injuries
- Providing a safe and seaworthy vessel
When a third party violates your safety, they breach their duty of care. You also should not have to work in negligent or hazardous conditions.
What If the Accident Is My Fault?
Regarding personal injury law, each state is different. In Louisiana, you can be partially at fault for the injury and still receive compensation so long as the third party is still primarily at fault. Additionally, workers’ compensation claims do not concern fault. All that matters in pursuing these benefits is that you were hurt and need help.
Don’t let other people tell you not to seek compensation because you may have been the reason for your injury. Let your Jeanerette lawyer tell you the facts about your offshore injury case.
They treated us like no other people would. Whenever we needed something they were there for us. I put my trust in them and I don’t regret it.
ClientJones Act Seaman vs. Longshoreman
If you’re seeking compensation for an injury under maritime law, don’t assume that the insurance company will classify your injury correctly.
Classification is one of those tricky loopholes insurers can use to limit what you receive for damages. That’s because maritime workers don’t necessarily have the right to claim workers’ compensation in the same way land-based workers do.
A lawyer with offshore expertise can ensure that you’re classified correctly, not as a longshoreman but as a Jones Act Seaman. Under the Jones Act, maritime workers can sue for personal injury damages.
How Long do I Have to Make a Claim?
You have exactly two years from the date of your injury to file a lawsuit under CC 3492. Once you are feeling well enough to contact our team, do so. Make sure you or a close family or friend secures copies of the initial accident and medical reports.
Take photographs of your injury and keep a daily journal documenting the challenges you now face due to the injury. All of this information will help get the ball rolling once your lawyer takes on your maritime injury case.
Our Offshore Injury Lawyers Will Fight for Fair Compensation
Don’t let the insurance company cheat you out of the compensation you need by classifying you incorrectly or telling you that the accident was your fault. If you were injured on the job as a maritime worker, you could collect damages.
Contact Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers today at (337) 777-7777 and gain a sense of peace and justice.
