Railroad injury lawyer for FELA claims and derailments

FELA is a federal statute that gives railroad workers the right to sue an employer over a job injury. It makes the railroad pay whenever its negligence played any role in your injury, meaning the company or its employees failed to use reasonable care. That includes problems with its cars, engines, equipment, track or roadbed.

After an injury, the railroad cannot deny, delay or interfere with your medical treatment or punish you for reporting the injury.

When retaliation does happen, a separate complaint has to be filed within 180 days. That window is far tighter than the one for the injury itself, so bring up any discipline or firing when you call.

Each on-the-job injury the railroad's carelessness helped bring about, even where your own carelessness contributed too. Your share of blame simply reduces what you receive in proportion and never wipes out the claim. And where the railroad violated a safety law that contributed to the injury, no reduction applies at all.

Anything you signed that attempts to excuse the railroad is void. The railroad can, though, deduct insurance or relief payments it already made to you.

You have three years from the day your legal claim arose to file a FELA lawsuit, and that day is not always the day you were injured. You may sue in federal court or in state court; a federal case may be brought where the railroad resides, where the injury happened or where it does business. When a worker is killed, the personal representative brings the case for the spouse and children.

Enter the day you were hurt in the date check to see your last day to sue. Then call so a lawyer from the firm can start well before that day.

Passengers injured in a derailment have a different sort of case than workers, with its own rules. Federal law limits the total amount all passengers can collect from a single accident, and that limit is now $401,900,000. That limit applies to all passengers' claims together, not to each passenger separately, and your own filing deadline is a separate reason to call now.

Amtrak riders should know its ticket terms route injury claims to binding arbitration, so a single private arbitrator decides the case rather than a judge or jury. If your ticket was with Amtrak, say so when you call, and a lawyer from the firm will explain how arbitration changes the way your claim is handled.

Each commuter and transit railroad sets its own deadline, and some demand written notice first. Metra and the CTA allow only 1 year to file suit, while NJ Transit requires notice within 90 days.

How do I start a FELA claim?

What if my retaliation complaint goes nowhere?

How much does the firm charge?

What should I have on hand when I call?