Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Wanted Qualified Boating Accident Attorneys

If you are someone who loves adventure on the water, then boating can be a great sport for you. Boating involves many fun-filled activities because it allows you to navigate lakes, rivers, canals and even open oceans.

Boating activities are a great way to spend a weekend with friends and loved ones. However, the fun ends when you meet accidents along the way. Boating accidents can be a terrible tragedy. The sad thing is that, many people underestimate the eventuality of a boating accident. Many of these accidents catches the persons involved, unawares, even the one who caused it.

Boating accidents are usually because of negligence. Some happen as result of natural disasters. It can involve cruise ships, navy vessels and other maritime crafts. It can also happen to small crafts such as water runners or jet skis.

If we look into the U.S. Coastguard Boating Safety web site, the statistics they report about the occurrence of boating accidents can be sobering. Boating accidents may take place on navigable waters or non-navigable ones like lakes, canals or rivers.

What’s more, during the accidents, many are injured and a not-to-be ignored number are killed. Moreover, many properties are also damaged, like sea walls, docks, and other equipment for boating.

Have you or someone you know been a victim of an accident on board a boat? Then, you need someone who would understand your situation perfectly.

Whatever magnitude the type of boating accident and the injuries that happened involving you, or a loved one, a boating accident attorney can be a great help in evaluating the legal implications of your case, whether you are qualified to file a claim for damages or not.

A lawyer or attorney specializing in boating accidents is well versed with the admiralty and maritime laws that may apply especially if the accident occurs on open ocean. Likewise, they are also aware of the state laws that apply if the accident happened to be on non-navigable waters.

Boating accident lawyers can help fight for the financial compensation a victim is entitled to and can help protect the victim's rights. If an accident resulted to death of the victim, then the victim’s family can file a wrongful death suit.

Boating accidents causes a chain reaction of family suffering, financial difficulties and loss of income. While the family is experiencing the pain of having a loved one injured or killed, there are the other worrying concerns like medical expenses, costs for treatments. Meanwhile, if the victim is the breadwinner of the family, then the financial crisis extends further.
These concerns can be greatly helped if an experienced boating accident attorney would handle the case for you. You have to look for someone with the excellent knowledge in handling similar cases and an impressive professional background.

By hiring this kind of attorney, you can expect that your case will be evaluated expertly and all legal grounds can be covered for you to attain the amount of compensation you deserve.

Many boating accident attorneys can be contacted locally or online. Friends or co-workers who have similar experiences can also be asked for recommendations. If you know a lawyer who specializes in other legal issues, you can ask him or her if he knows an associate who have outstanding record in boating accident-related cases.

A fellow lawyer’s recommendation is as good a recommendation you can get. Meanwhile, there are also referral services online where they have a list or attorneys screened previously where you can find one that may match your requirements.

Wherever source you look for, make sure that you are hiring a proficient specialist on boating accident cases.

Once you find one, expect that he will guide you throughout the process until a successful outcome has been attained. He must also have all the tactics necessary to win your case as soon as possible. Anything less does not deserve you.



http://www.articlebliss.com/Article/Wanted-Qualified-Boating-Accident-Attorneys/126891

Get to Know Workers Compensation Claims Laws

In this life, accidents are always omnipresent. Everyone has their share of accidents in the span of their lifetime. Especially for employees, everyday there is a possibility of getting into an accident or catching a work-related illness as result of an accident.

What can we do, getting into accidents is an unpleasant and unfortunate fact of life.

Even during times when we believe we had done everything possible to prevent an accident from happening, there are factors that we cannot control.

The workplace of an employee is among the prime area where accidents can happen. There are many policies for upholding the safety and security in a workplace. There are federal and state policies passed in order to keep the workplace safe and secure enough for employees. There are even government agencies created to look into the compliance of health and safety by the employer.

By principle, the employers should comply with these policies. If ever an accident occurred and an employee is injured, the brunt of liability is always on the employer.

There are compensation laws that ensure employees who are injured or disabled while at work to be provided with payment for damages. Likewise, there are also benefits for the dependents of workers who are killed because of accidents in the workplace or work-related illness. These kinds of benefit aim to mitigate the implications of an accident that happen to an employee, somehow.

The Workers Compensation claim is a law that provides preset monetary awards for an injured employee. This eliminates the process of litigation.

Meanwhile, there are also laws protecting employers and co-employees because it limits the amount an employee can claim for damages. There are laws that eliminate the legal responsibility of fellow employees in case of accidents to a co-worker. The statutes in the State Workers Compensation established this framework for most employment.

There are also federal statutes for employment that covers only federal employees or those workers employed in most major aspect of interstate business.

Categories of Workers’ Compensation Act, passed by Congress:

1. FELA - Federal Employment Liability Act
2. Black Lung Benefit Act
3. Federal Jones Act
4. LHWCA - Longshore and Harbor Worker Compensation Act

Meanwhile, the Federal Employment Compensation Act gives provision for compensation of non-military and federal employees. Many of the conditions included in this act are characteristic of most of the laws regarding worker compensation.

The damage payments are restricted only to death or disability suffered during the employee’s performance of his or her duties but not due to the intention of the employee or because of intoxication. The act provides the funding of medical expenses for the employee with disability with requirement for job retraining by the employee, if needed.

Furthermore, during the disability, the employee may receive some two thirds of his or her regular salary each month. The compensation may be more if the injuries sustained are permanent or if the employee has dependents.

Likewise, the act also provides compensation for the survivors of employees that are killed. The agency administering this act is the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs.

An example of an all-inclusive state’s compensation program is the state of California's Workers Compensation Act. It can benefit employers because its statute limits the employer’s and fellow employees’ liability.

The California statutes of workers compensation further necessitates the employers to get insurance, which will encompass claims of employees for compensation.

It is said that prevention is better than cure. Nevertheless, there can also be ways to make the cure a little better. This could be the guiding principle of Workers Compensation claims.



http://www.articlebliss.com/Article/Get-to-Know-Workers-Compensation-Claims-Laws/126900