Question: I got injured last year in a boating accident, and I am facing problems in dealing with the boat owner’s insurance company. Then I decided to contact a lawyer, and a friend referred me to a personal injury attorney who had represented him a few years back. When I met with the personal injury attorney, I learned that he has no experience with maritime law. Should I go for a maritime lawyer instead of personal injury lawyer?
Answer: It is always a good idea to interview a number of attorneys when considering a lawsuit, and you may face a trouble finding someone with all of the skills that you are seeking for your particular case. The accident told by our reader took place on navigable waters, and it may be subject to federal maritime jurisdiction as such and the personal injury lawsuit could be filed in federal court. An experienced maritime attorney may be better suited to handle a case like this, since maritime legal practice includes many specialized rules and procedures that may not be known to other attorneys. Those procedures are as follows. The arrest of a vessel, limitations on the amount and type of loss that are complained of, or whether the case will be heard by a jury or decided entirely by a judge, and even the question of whether to file the lawsuit in state court or federal court. After considering the decided rules and procedures, the issues in a maritime personal injury case may be like the difficulties faced when dealing with an accident that had occurred.
The two important points in most personal injury lawsuits are damages and liability. The term “damages” refers to the nature and extent of the harm faced by the injured person or party. Personal injury lawyers are very professional at evaluating a patient’s medical records, lost earnings, pain, suffering, other damages, and at presenting this information to a jury or the judge. This point of the personal injury case will be alike in most circumstances, regardless of the fact that whether the accident occurred ashore or at sea. The injuries suffered by a plaintiff in a lawsuit are only a part of the situation.
The question of liability must also be discussed. Who was in the wrong? Does the injured party himself bear some of the responsibility? The judge and jury will only trust upon the testimony of expert witnesses to make that determination. In a maritime personal injury case, the plaintiff’s attorney may depend on the testimony of a retired coast guard investigator to assign fault between the parties. An experienced maritime attorney is more likely to have approach to these types of professionals than a land based personal injury attorney. Our readers searching for an attorney to handle her/his case will depend mostly upon the facts of her/his particular case. An experienced maritime personal injury attorney would be better able to evaluate the facts.
