As the victim of a serious maritime accident, you may be entitled to damages for physical and emotional pain and suffering. This is in addition to damages for medical expenses and lost wages.
“Pain and suffering” is a phrase used to describe many intangible factors related to the emotional distress and life changes that may result from a serious offshore accident. An injured seaman may be able to recover some compensation for these damages through a Jones Act insurance claim, but often needs the help of a Jones Act lawyer to do so.
Pain and suffering damages can cover many aspects of life after a serious offshore injury. Some of the common points considered when calculating these damages include:
Compensation for these damages is often based off of opinion and estimation rather than facts and solid figures. For example, your Jones Act lawyer may argue that the loss of a leg will require you to purchase and maintain or replace prosthetics for the rest of your life.
In cases of pain and suffering damages it’s best to leave the estimation and negotiation process to an experienced Jones Act lawyer. Because the values may seem too high in many cases, these settlements are often highly contested by the Jones Act insurance companies.
There are many other damages you may not know about that you could be entitled to under the Jones Act laws. Before you agree to a settlement, talk to a Jones Act lawyer to learn more about your rights as an injured seaman.
Damages for Physical and Emotional Pain and Suffering
To determine the dollar amount to award for physical pain, a jury may consider:
Emotional pain is considered emotional distress and mental suffering. A jury may decide emotional pain merits payment if it includes:
It’s important that you have New Orleans, LA attorneys with maritime experience review your case because you could be entitled to damages that you weren’t aware of.
Contact New Orleans, LA Attorneys with Maritime Experience
Attorney Timothy Young in Louisiana understands that maritime law provides you with certain protections your employer may not want you to know about. The maritime law firm in New Orleans, The Young Firm, can help you if you have suffered boating accident injuries, an offshore accident or other injuries that fall under maritime law or the Jones Act. Though we are based in Louisiana, we are ready and able to help injured victims throughout the U.S. Order our free Maritime Injury Law guide and/or our guide to what to do when you are injured offshore to learn all about your rights as an injured worker.
When you are ready to get started with your Jones Act injury case, we urge you to contact us today for a FREE case evaluation – call us at 504-680-4100.
