Admiralty Law and Maritime Law and Personal Injury

Maritime law and admiralty law govern what happens on the seas (offshore), including accidents leading to personal injury cases, such as a boat accident injury. The terms ‘admiralty law’ and ‘maritime law’ are usually used interchangeably.

An admiralty or maritime injury lawyer is a personal injury lawyer who specializes in admiralty law and maritime law. An admiralty and maritime injury lawyer understands not only the general rules of personal injury law, but also the unique requirements of maritime and admiralty law which govern legal claims arising out of incidents which occur at sea.

A maritime injury lawyer must be familiar with such laws as the general maritime law, the Jones Act, the Death on High Seas Act, and the Public Vessels Act. In addition, they must be skilled and versed in international law, as injuries which occur on ships which originate from another country are often governed by the laws of that other country even if the ship was in United States waters at the time of the incident.

This means that even if the personal injury suit arises from a fairly common event, such as a slip and fall, the maritime injury lawyer must be familiar with and able to address the added layers of complexity presented by maritime law and international law in addition to the personal injury laws of the jurisdiction, and must be familiar with how the varied legal schemes conflict, overlap and interact.

For example, in many instances an employee who is injured while working at sea will not be covered…

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[tags]maritime law,admiralty law,boat accident,boat accidents[/tags]