Maritime accidents usually cause severe mental and bodily injury. Whether you're working on a barge, sea vessel or oil rig, there are many factors that can lead to an accident.
Employees who work on boats or oil platforms are covered by The Jones Act law. This law covers workers should they become injured on maritime or sea-based jobs. The Jones Act allows workers to file a claim to receive compensation for their injuries as many of these injuries are caused by employer negligence.
This type of case is very hard to prove and it is up to your attorney to prove the employer was negligent in providing a safe working environment. This type of work can be dangerous regardless of the environment provided so this is why it's important to hire an experienced Jones Act lawyer that has handled multiple cases and knows what to expect from the heavy hitting defense team and potential jurors that will review the case details should the defense refuse to settle.
Generally speaking, a successful plaintiff under the Jones Act can win the following sorts of damages:
1. Wages lost from the time of the injury to the time of trial;
2. Wage loss in the future;
3. Medical expenses in the past and in the future; and
4. Pain, suffering, and mental anguish in the past and in the future.
Without a doubt, the most important element of any Jones Act case is the measure of future wage loss. Obviously, seamen who have been on the job for a long period of time can earn a very good living. If an injury physically prohibits the worker from returning to work on a vessel, the difference between the earnings of the worker before the injury and after the injury are determined and then multiplied by the worker's expected work life. For example, if a seaman that was making $80,000 a year is injured and can only return to work to a job making $10,000 a year, the worker has a $70,000 a year wage loss. If the worker is twenty-five years old, his work life may be 35 years, and the future wage loss is a very significant amount. Federal law provides that any award for future wages must be reduced to present value and reduced further for the taxes the seaman would have to pay on his wages. That means an economist must calculate what sum of money paid today would deliver a stream of payments into the future equal to the amount the worker could have earned if he stayed on the job. Punitive damages are not recoverable in any maritime case.
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