If you have been injured working on a vessel at sea, it’s highly likely that you are looking at a struggle with your employer to recover your claim. Fortunately, there are simple steps you can take to enhance your chances of recovery.

• Make a list of witnesses at the scene of the accident, and note down their addresses and telephone numbers.
• Maintain all records relating to your case. This includes all your medical records, x-rays, scan reports, and MRI reports etc.
• Also, retain your accident report, and any correspondence you have received from the company.
• Note down important details at the site of the accident, like defective machinery or grease on the floor. The more details you can note down, the better your chances of a successful maritime injury claim.
• Avoid giving a written or recorded statement to the insurer, and don’t blindly sign any piece of paper that gets shoved under your nose.

If you have been injured on a vessel at sea, then it’s highly likely that you are covered under the Jones Act.  Your claim should therefore, be handled by a Jones Act lawyer, a maritime lawyer who specializes in representing workers under the Act.

As a Jones Act lawyer with hundreds of cases worth of experience, I can tell you that it’s extremely rare that a maritime employer will simply hand over your settlement to you without a squeak. Settlements under the Jones Act can be substantial, and you can be certain that your employer will resist being fair with you, even if it means going to trial.

Maritime lawyer Brian Beckcom is a Board Certified trial lawyer, whose primary focus is the representation of injured Jones Act seamen, tankermen, galleyhands, deckhands, drillers, oilrig workers, offshore workers and other maritime workers in accidents in Texas, around the country and in international waters.