If my employer, or an insurance company, offers me money after a New York maritime accident then do I still need to contact a New York maritime injury lawyer?
A maritime employer, or the employer’s insurer, may offer you a settlement soon after your maritime injury. The settlement may sound good to you – especially if you are out of work and need money quickly to pay your bills and medical expenses. Some of these settlement offers may be made in good faith. However, not all of these maritime accident settlement offers will consist of fair and equitable compensation for your accident injuries.
In order to know if the offer being made is fair and equitable given the specific injuries that you suffered, it is important to contact an experienced New York Jones Act attorney. A New York Jones Act lawyer not only knows what a fair settlement should be under the law, but will also fight for your personal recovery. Your employer and your employer’s insurer do not have a similar obligation to look out for your best interest. Instead, they may be looking out for their own best interests and that may be to get you to agree to a lower settlement amount.
You have nothing to lose by contacting a New York maritime injury attorney, but you have a lot to lose by not contacting a lawyer. For more information, please call the experienced maritime injury lawyers of Hofmann & Schweitzer at 1-800-3-MAY-DAY or 1-800-362-9329. We also encourage you to learn more about your rights and possible recovery in our FREE publication, The Legal Rights of Injured Seamen and Other Commercial Mariners.