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- January 2009
- January 2008

Contact our New Orleans personal injury and maritime attorneys today for a free, no-pressure case evaluation and consultation.

The Young Firm
400 Poydras Street, Suite 2090
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

Toll Free: (866) 920-8471
Facsimile: (504) 680-410

Read About Personal Injury Law in our Legal Blog

Maritime Claims Get Settled By Fear (How To Get Your Maritime Claim Settled)

By admin on January 22, 2009

I recently read an article that stated insurance companies settle most injury claims due to fear, not any desire to help the injured person. Fear that they could be held responsible by a judge or jury for an amount of money greater than the settlement amount.

This applies to offshore injury claims even more so. Every time we obtain a good settlement for one of our injured maritime clients, the company pays that settlement because we have prepared a great case against them, and they are fearful of going to court. If you have been injured and you think your company will negotiate a fair settlement because of some sense of fairness or obligation your company may feel towards you, I am sorry to say that is very unlikely. Once you sustain a serious maritime injury working offshore or on a vessel, your claim is typically handled by an insurance company. These insurance companies see dollars and cents, not hard working injured employees. They understand the language of fear, not obligation to you for past service with the company. The Jones Act and maritime law give you significant rights to level the playing field between you and the insurance company, but you have to know the law and your rights.

Posted in Maritime Claims | Comments Off

5 Tricks Your Company Will Use To Fight Your Offshore Injury Claim

By admin on January 22, 2009

Most offshore companies use 5 common tactics (or tricks) to fight your claim: (1) take a quick recorded statement from you trying to show that they were not at fault, and you may have been at fault, (2) send you to their choice of doctor as soon as possible, who will very often refuse to perform basic needed testing, (3) refuse to allow you to see a doctor of your choice, who may actually perform early needed medical testing that could prove your injury, (4) obtain video surveillance on your, often immediately after your injury occurs even before you have talked to or hired an attorney, and (5) catch you in a misstatement about ANYTHING (this is often done when they take the recorded statement from you- #1 above). Be very careful. These tricks can ruin your maritime injury claim and make it impossible to recover under the Jones Act or maritime law for your injury. Send us an email today if you have questions about these common tricks used to ruin your offshore Jones Act or maritime injury claim.

Posted in Maritime Claims |

Do I Have To Provide A Recorded Statement Under The Jones Act If I Am Hurt Offshore?

By admin on January 18, 2009

NO, NO and NO! There is absolutely no legal requirement that you provide a recorded statement to your employer or its insurance company or adjuster if you have been hurt offshore or on a vessel. Providing a statement can only help the company, not you. Your company may threaten that they will refuse medical treatment to you if you don’t provide a statement. If they do so, what does that tell you about who they are looking out for? Maritime law and the Jones Act give you the absolute legal right to receive medical treatment from a doctor you select. Insist on seeing your own doctor after a maritime injury. If you are told you must give a statement first, they are lying to you, and that means they will lie to you again. Call our maritime lawyers in New Orleans, Louisiana if you have questions about your rights.

Posted in Maritime Claims |

Medical treatment while working offshore

By admin on January 25, 2008

Maritime workers are entitled to immediate, proper medical treatment if they become ill or injured while working offshore. If the company chooses a local doctor or hospital to provide treatment to the worker, and the worker receives improper treatment, then the company is responsible for such damages. Our office of maritime lawyers have successfully handled several major cases against offshore companies that failed to provide the right medical treatment to an injured employee. The cases can be difficult since they often involve complicated medical issues of proving that the employee should have received different treatment AND that the treatment would have made a difference in his outcome. If the employee suffered damages or a worsening of his injury due to the company’s failure to provide medical treatment, he has a claim aginst the company for such damages.

Posted in Maritime Claims | Comments Off

Did You Know–You’re Entitled to Time Off!

By admin on January 24, 2008

Did you know that under the Family Medical Leave Act, certain larger companies must provide their employees with up to 90 days of allowed leave if the employee is injured and cannot return to work. If you have an injury, make sure you ask about the FMLA to see if you are eligible. It’s a great way to avoid hurting yourself worse by continuing to work if you should be at home recovering from a small injury. Here is a free link to the Act- http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/ , and you can call our office for more details.No Doctor Approval Phentermine

Posted in Maritime Claims | 1 Comment

The most important aspect of a vehicle accident case

By admin on January 22, 2008

Most potential clients immediately tell us how the accident occurred and describe the fault of the other driver. While this information is certainly important, the first question a person injured in a vehicle accident should ask is if there is sufficient insurance to cover their injuries. Of the many potential clients we speak with, there are more claims that go unpaid or under-paid due to lack of insurance then there are claims that are under-paid due to lack of injuries or fault of the individual causing the accident. You can protect yourself from this situation by purchasing uninsured motorist insurance coverage, or ‘UM’ coverage. Some state laws, including Louisiana, require that your insurance company MUST provide you with this type of coverage unless you specifically reject it in writing. Talk to our attorneys if you have questions about UM insurance coverage.

Posted in Personal Injury |

Maritime publications now available

By admin on January 16, 2008

Our office is proud to offer maritime help guides for injured maritime workers and their families. Check out this free information by downloading our e-publication or requesting our booklet by mail. This is FREE information to help you with your maritime claim and Jones Act law case. We have tried to include practical simple information and answers to many of the questions we regularly receive from our clients.

Posted in Maritime Claims |

Our Most Rewarding Cases

By admin on January 14, 2008

Clients often ask what is the most rewarding type of case that we handle in the office. Typically they expect to hear about the serious brain injury claims or the large jury verdicts our clients have received. In fact, one of the most rewarding types of cases we handle are those that have been told by other attorneys that their case has little value or that they have no real rights and thus no chance at recovery. Or cases wherein the company made a small settlement offer to the client and we ultimately receive a much, much large settlement for our client. We recently settled a case for 5 to 6 times the amount that one attorney was recommending as a ‘good’ settlement. Earlier this year we obtained a settlement for many time more what the company had offered the individual. In fact, we had offered to settle for less than $100,000 for his serious ankle injury before hiring our office. Once we prepared his case and approached trial, the company offered more than $200,000 to settle.

These cases are so rewarding because not only have we helped our clients obtain great settlements, but we did so after they thought they would receive little or no recovery.

Triphala

Posted in Maritime Claims |

Why should I work offshore?

By admin on January 9, 2008

Our law office has learned that most workers who are hurt offshore love their jobs. This fact is often what makes their injury cases so difficult for them. Even our clients who have received very high awards or settlements still miss the offshore work life. Working offshore provides excellent income, a very enjoyable schedule of many days off at home with their family or friends, and in most cases, great job security with a large oil or marine company.

Posted in Maritime Claims |

The most frequently asked questions by injured maritime workers

By admin on January 7, 2008

Our office speaks with injured maritime and Jones Act workers on a daily basis and they almost always want to know: (1) do I have the right to select my own doctor, (2) how long will my employer keep paying me maintenance and/or advances, and (3) will I be entitled to some sort of settlement at the end of my claim. If you are injured while working as a seaman, you absolutely have the right to select your own treating physician. You should continue to recieve maintenance payments until you reach ‘maximum cure’ which is generally the point at which the doctor releases you from his care. Unfortunately, most companies will never offer a fair settlement at the end of the claim for several reasons. If you have allowed your employer to control your medical treatment and fully ‘defend’ your claim for months and months after your injury, most employers will have successfully lowered the value of your claim during this time. In other words, if you wait around until your employer makes a settlement offer, your claim is likely to be worth very little at that point. We have also found that most voluntary offers made by an employer or insurance company are very, very low, and you should ALWAYS discuss the offer with a good maritime attorney before you even think about accepting it.

Posted in Maritime Claims |

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