Making a Claim for Spinal Cord Injury Compensation

Suppose you injured your spinal cord while working in the maritime industry offshore or in or near navigable waters. In that case, you can pursue full and fair compensation via an insurance settlement or jury verdict. Our maritime spinal cord injury attorneys in New Iberia, Louisiana, will guide you in the appropriate direction.

How the Jones Act Applies to Spinal Cord Injuries for Seamen

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, known as the Jones Act, extended rights granted to seamen by the Federal Employer’s Liability Act (FELA). (“Seamen” under the Jones Act refers to the individual, regardless of gender.) This law allows you to file a lawsuit against your employer if you sustained an injury while working at sea.

You could also pursue compensation if your spinal cord injury were due to the ship or boat being unseaworthy. However, it’s critical to note that the Jones Act and the unseaworthiness doctrine are the only two paths for a seaman to pursue compensation for a personal injury.

To claim under the Jones Act, you must have spent 30% of your time working on a vessel “in navigation,” and that work must contribute to the work or operation of the vessel. Our spinal cord injury lawyers will explore your eligibility during your initial consultation.

Maintenance and Cure Claim

Once we determine your spinal cord injury is work-related, we’ll help you file a claim for compensation that covers your living expenses and medical costs—your “maintenance and cure” under general maritime law.

Statute of Limitations

The Jones Act establishes a three-year statute of limitations for filing a claim.

Negligence Claim

If your employer’s negligence contributed in any way to your spinal cord injury—which can include negligence by the vessel’s owner, captain, or other crew members—you could file a claim that covers more than just “maintenance and cure,” such as:

  • Lost wages from the time of your injury. This category also includes the difference in wages if you had to take a lower-paying job, or lifetime wages if you can no longer work.
  • Medical costs beyond what you may have collected from a maintenance and cure claim, including long-term care, rehab, in-home care, and adaptation of your home or vehicle if your needs and abilities have changed.
  • Pain and suffering, both current and projected.
    Loss of companionship.

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Unseaworthiness Claims for Maritime Spinal Cord Injuries

You could file an unseaworthiness claim if you sustained a spinal cord injury due to the vessel, equipment, or crew not being reasonably adequate for the intended job.

Did you work on or adjacent to navigable waters in the maritime industry and sustain a spinal cord injury on the job? Then, the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (LHWCA) is typically your path to pursuing a claim for compensation.

One key difference between the Jones Act and the LHWCA is that you do not need to prove negligence to file for appropriate compensation under the LHWCA. Again, our maritime spinal cord injury attorneys in New Iberia will help you determine where to file your claim based on your job and circumstances.


LHWCA Claims

To file a claim for compensation under the LHWCA, your injury must be:

  • Work-related.
  • Reported within 30 days of sustaining the spinal cord injury (there are exceptions to this timeframe, as our attorneys will explain).
  • Filed as a claim within the two-year statute of limitations, although exceptions exist for this timeframe as well.

The LHWCA provides for:

  • Temporary total or partial disability
  • Permanent total or partial disability
  • Transportation costs
  • Vocational rehab

There are numerous steps to filing an LHWCA claim. Our maritime injury attorneys can guide you through the complicated route in pursuit of an appropriate compensation settlement.

Laborde Earles Injury Lawyers and Spinal Cord Injuries

Our New Iberia maritime spinal cord injury lawyers aggressively advocate for our clients. We’re fiercely proud of our combined 350 years in the legal arena, and we’ve used that experience to help clients recover more than $1 billion in compensation settlements and verdicts.

When you’ve suffered a severe maritime injury like a spinal cord injury, monetary compensation might not get you back to where you were before the accident. However, it can help you carve a new path in life.

In the legal community, our peers have generously acknowledged the value of our work, recognizing us with these honors:

  • The National Trial Lawyers Top 100
  • AV Preeminent Highest Level of Professional Excellence Martindale-Hubbell
  • The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40
  • Super Lawyers at SuperLawyers.com
  • Trucking Trial Lawyers Top 10

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Each time I interact with a member of the Laborde Earls team I am always extremely satisfied with the service provided. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mrs. Marsh today. She was extremely knowledgeable in addition to being patient and empathetic. She was able to provide me with the necessary resources and provided me with encouragement throughout the process. I definitely recommend Laborde Earls! Ask for Courtney!

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I just want to say that Kelby is a wonderful Attorney and will do what ever it takes to make sure you are taking care of. And his Team of Paralegal's, Amber, Toni, Debbie, Alana & Erica are absolutely amazing. You couldn't have ask for better. And to Rachael, she was so sweet the other day when I needed some information about when my advance was going to be ready. Thank you Laborde Earle's Law Firm for always being the Best.

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I highly recommend Derek Hebert to anyone in need of a skilled and trustworthy attorney. From the very beginning, Derek was professional, honest, and incredibly responsive. He took the time to explain every step of the process in clear terms and always made sure I felt informed and supported.

His attention to detail, strong communication, and genuine dedication made a stressful situation much easier to navigate. Derek went above and beyond to achieve the best possible outcome, and I’m truly grateful for his hard work.

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