When to Call an Attorney

If you have been injured on the job, especially if you are a maritime worker, you should seek the assistance of a skilled, reputable maritime lawyer as soon after the injury as possible.  There are issues early on in maritime claims that require the knowledge of an experienced maritime lawyer.  Incorrect election of remedies can prevent full recovery under the proper division of the law and mistakes with your medical care can have negative life changing effects

Hiring an attorney at the start can provide you with someone who knows your rights regarding maintenance benefits, the acceptable rate of pay for these benefits, understands your rights to select your own doctors and the importance of this early in the process.  A delay in seeking legal representation can be disastrous to your claim as can enrolling the assistance of an inexperienced attorney to handle the claim.  You cannot trust the benefits coordinator, insurance adjuster, or even nurse case managers assigned to your claim.  All of these individuals serve only one purpose, to keep the claim costs down and cut off benefits as soon as possible.  For this reason, you should be apprehensive about referrals to doctors selected by these individuals. 

All lawyers are licensed to handle all cases but that does not mean you should consider hiring a lawyer just because he is licensed.  If you have a maritime or Jones Act injury it is vital that you hire an attorney who is knowledgeable in the field of maritime and Jones Act law.  However, experience alone is not sufficient criteria for you to select a lawyer.  The best lawyers will be persuasive and able to communicate with everyday people, with lawyers, with judges, with juries and with you.  If you talk to a lawyer and you don’t like them, don’t hire the lawyer.  If the lawyer doesn’t have time to talk with you, go elsewhere.  If the lawyer doesn’t want to help you with loans and with his time, don’t hire him.  If you’ve already hired a lawyer and you are unhappy, consider firing that lawyer and hiring another. 

The time to hire a Maritime lawyer is immediately after your injury.  If you’ve waited, then hire a Maritime lawyer now.  The sooner you act the less damage you are going to do to your own case.  A good Maritime lawyer can sometimes undo damage that unrepresented workers do to their own case.  However, it’s better to avoid damage to your case and start off with the right kind of lawyer, a Maritime lawyer.

All lawyers are not created equal.  All lawyers do not have Jones Act experience and out of those that have Jones Act experience some of them are too closely connected to the law firms and insurance companies that represent ship owners, oil companies, shipping companies, maritime employers and other corporations that have responsibility for your injuries.  Be cautious when a lawyer says that they have connections or are well known by the law firms that represent the other side.  Be cautious of hiring a lawyer that has previously represented the other side and now claims to help injured workers. 

If you make a mistake in hiring the wrong law firm you will discover that a good lawyer and law firm must know more than just the law.  Good communication is vitally important to obtaining a good result.  Look for a lawyer that listens to you, gives you respect, spends time with you, is able to sympathize with you, returns your calls quickly and offers to help you and your family just like a family member or friend would try to help you if they could.  Is the lawyer concerned about your finances and how you are going to be able to pay your bills? Does the law firm have the resources to help you financially?

“If I hire a lawyer won’t I end up with less money than not having a lawyer?” The answer is a very empathetic “No”! Do you really think that your company, their lawyers and their insurance company are going to voluntarily step forward and offer you a fair settlement out of the goodness of their heart? Do you think that your company’s lawyers and claims adjusters are kind and generous? Why do you think everyone is asking you if you’ve hired a lawyer yet?

Consider this; professional athletes do not negotiate their own salaries and benefits. Did you know that many agents for athletes and movie stars are attorneys? Some Jones Act settlements can go into the millions; just like the sports and movie stars’ salaries.  Even smaller injuries with no surgery can go into the hundreds of thousands.  There is no way for an untrained, inexperience lay person to have an idea of how much their settlement should be. You should rely on the verbal persuasive skills of a maritime attorney.  Then, even if you have both of the previous skills, you will not have the power and authority of the maritime trial lawyer in his ability to file a federal lawsuit, his ability to argue persuasively to a federal judge and then possibly to a jury.  After the court decision in your favor it may also be necessary for a lawyer to protect your verdict on appeal. 

When you first call a maritime law firm you should speak to an attorney not a legal assistant.  It is more important that you listen to how the attorney talks to you than to what the attorney says to you.  A reputable maritime attorney should answer your questions directly and fully in such a way that you can easily understand what he or she is saying.  It’s not difficult to use big words but an effective attorney should know how to communicate to workers as well as to judges and lawyers.  You are hiring an attorney primarily for their persuasive ability.  If they are too formal, arrogant or do not have the right type of personality, you could end up with a lower settlement or an unwanted trial.

Make sure that you choose an attorney who has time to talk to you.  If they will not take the time to talk to you before you hire them it will not get better afterwards.  An attorney should be willing to spend as much time with you on the telephone as you deem necessary.  If they are too busy to spend time with you then call someone else.

Avoid attorneys who do not treat you with respect.  Jones Act cases are big cases for attorneys, which means you are paying them big money to represent you.  If your final settlement is $1,000,000.00 (one million dollars) the attorney will receive between one-third and forty percent of your settlement, depending on whether or not litigation is required.  Do the math.  It’s worth it to pay a good maritime attorney this much but you should receive due attention and respect from the law firm because you are a VIP client. You should never hire a maritime law firm that does not realize your status and treat you accordingly.

Why do attorneys deserve such high fees?  First, don’t look at how much the attorney gets, look at how much you get.  Without a good maritime attorney it is likely that you will end up with peanuts.  Also consider that the maritime law firm will spend from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars prosecuting your claim just in expenses. If you could afford to pay your lawyer by the hour, rates for lawyers can be higher than $500.00 per hour.  The costs of your experts, doctors, legal research, brief writing, evaluation, analysis, exhibits, photographs and illustrations, computer programming trial preparation, jury consultants, travel, investigators and many other elements that go into successful preparation for settlement negotiations, mediation and trials quickly add up as well.

There are also the expenses that a law firm must advance before they ever get a dime; such as paying their employees, associate lawyers, paralegals, clerks, assistants, copying, postage, couriers, overnight express, delivery, long distance telephones, court reporters, doctors, medical reports, deposition cost, filing fees, court costs and numerous other expenses that must be invested in your case to take it to the level and  to the settlement amount that is right and fair.

The contingent (percentage) fee enables you to hire a great law firm without having a dime in your pocket. Your attorneys will battle with the attorneys that the largest employers and corporations can buy. 

Your can afford us because we work for percentage of what we recover for you.  If there is no recovery, you owe us nothing.  You don’t even pay us back what we have spent out of our own pocket to prepare your case.  If there is a settlement or judgment in your favor, advanced expenses are deducted from your share of the money.  You are invited to call Ogletree Abbott Law Firm at 1-800-Jones Act or visit out website at 1800JonesAct.com or OgletreeAbbott.com.  We will be happy to visit with you over the phone, at out offices, in your home (regardless of where you live) or do whatever it takes to get it done for you.